Our Favorite Board Games
So Max and I have always loved to play games. We got more into games during the pandemic and went on a mission to find more 2 player games.
Ok and I know some people are going to roll their eyes at me for being nerdy and liking board games but I honestly think it's a better way to spend time with your significant other/family than just watching tv. Don't get me wrong I'm all for a movie date night but game nights are also very fun at our house. For me it is fun to play with Max and then once we have played a game a few times we always have a discussion about how we can "break" it by making house rules and- in our eyes making it better.
The other thing I realize is that these games are expensive. I make it a tradition to get us a new game for Christmas- and we usually play it together that day.
Azul
Type of game: Strategy/Luck
Difficulty: Easy to pick up
Time Commitment: 1/2 hour
Concept: You take turns picking up colored tiles and are trying to complete the patterns on your board. You score points by how many tiles you are able to move over to the main tile section.
Comments: Very easy to learn and play quickly. Fun as a two player game or a 3,4 player as well
** I highly recommend this as a first game if you are new to board games***
Harry Potter: Battle of Hogwarts
Type of game: Cooperative deck building
Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult. There are a lot of rules
Time Commitment: Hours- all day.
Concept: You are the hogwarts heros (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville- Luna and Ginny with expansion packs) and you are fighting against voldemort and the death eaters. This is deck building game where you work together to defeat the villians.
Comments: This is not a great first board game ever type of game. There are a lot rules and a lot of moving parts. It is really fun once you get the hang of it and they have since come out with expansion packs to change the game.
Photosynthesis
Type of game: Strategy
Difficulty: Moderate
Time commitment: 30-45 minutes
Concept: You are all trees and you utilize the sun to gain energy to grow and or plant more trees. The bigger your trees the more they cast shadows on other peoples trees and they do not get as much energy. You win by harvesting your trees and collecting points.
Comments: I think the game is better as a 3-4 player because it gets more crowded and therefore more competitive. Still it is a fun 2 player couple game. This game is very visually appealing the art is so pretty!
Settlers of Catan
Type of game: Strategy/ Luck
Difficulty: Moderate
Time commitment: 45-60 minutes
Concept: You are a settler attempting to build roads, towns and cities. You compete with others for resources. You score points by building roads, settlements and gaining victory points.
Comments: Can be hard for some people to understand initially but is very fun. More fun with 3-4 people but works as a two player game as well.
Flashpoint
Type of game: Cooperative game- strategy and luck
Difficulty: Easy- Moderate- has harder aspects if you choose to use them
Time commitment: Depends usually 30-60 minutes
Concept: You are firefighters responding to a house fire. It is your job to work together to save the family trapped in side meanwhile the fire is spreading. You can play on easy mode where everyone has the same abilities or hard mode where different people have different skills.
Comments: A really good game for teamwork and team building. I bought this kind of on a whim for Max and he ended up really loving it. It's fun to have a game where you work together instead of competing against each other sometimes. You can also play at different levels of "hardness" depending on how young your other players are.
Trekking the National Parks
Type of game: Strategy/ Luck
Difficulty: easy-moderate
Time Commitment: 30-45 minutes
Concept: You are collecting resources and "buying" National Parks. Each park has an assigned point value. You win by collecting the most national parks and scoring the most points.
Comments: This is a fun game for adults to as young as school aged kids and is very fun to learn about the different parks in different parts of the county. This is how I discovered Dry Tortguas national park existed.
Villainous
Type of game: Strategy/Luck
Difficulty: Moderate-slightly difficult
Time Commitment: 30-60 minutes
Concept: You are the villians (there is Dinsey or Marvel) trying to defeat the heros of the stories. Each villian has their own individual objective that you are trying to complete in order to win the game.
Comments: This one can take a few times of play through to pick up on, but it is fun once you get the hang of it.
Horrified
Type of game: Cooperative
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Time Commitment: 30-45 min
Concept: You are various characters (scientists, archeologist, professor) trying to save the village and villagers from the classic villains (Dracula, Frankenstein, invisible man, creature from the lagoon etc). You must collect items and complete tasks working together to defeat the villains before the clock runs out.
Comments: Fun cooperative game- especially fun to play around Halloween! Can also be played solo but I've never done it.
Sequence
Type of game: Strategy
Difficulty: Easy
Time Commitment: 20-30 min
Concept: Essentially playing card bingo. You are drawing cards and attempting to get a sequence of four chips in a row.
Comments: A great game for kids or a good first board game. Easy to pick up. Only downside is there can only be 3 players unless you want to create teams.
Pandemic
Ticket to Ride
Type of game: Strategy
Difficulty: Easy- Moderate
Time commitment: 30-45 minutes
Concept: You have secret "tickets" that you must create railroad lines to reach specific cities in the US. You get points for completing your routes and having longer routes.
Comments: Overall an easier game and fun for someone who likes trains. Perhaps not one of our favorite games but a good game for someone who is newer to games.
Games that we have on our "Christmas lists" and I will review once I play them
- Wingspan- this is supposed to be an amazing game that won a ton of awards a few years ago. It is a strategic game about birds
- Harry Potter Death Eaters Rising
-Scythe
-Everdell
Comments
Post a Comment