When you marry a strategist: Boardgame recommendations

We get requests for boardgame recommendations throughout the year - especially around the holidays - so we figured we’d capture some thoughts for those interested in getting into the hobby or those who’ve been playing games for a while and are looking for something new from the overwhelming number of games populating the shelves of your friendly local game store.

(Shout out to Labyrinth Games & Puzzles, our favorite local game store in Capitol Hill. Kathleen, the owner, has never steered us wrong, and she and her staff recommended many of these to us throughout the years.)

We will each recommend a game in each category with a combined list of honorable mentions (in alphabetical order) as appropriate. There are no games on this list that we don’t both love (albeit sometimes to different degrees). And frankly, there are many games we like quite a bit that didn’t make the cut.

Best game for those new to boardgames:

Eamon: Ticket to Ride (2-5 players)

This is our gateway game. Approaching eight Christmases later, it’s still our go-to when my family visits (or when we visit them to play their copy). The rules are simple. You can do one of three actions each turn, so its a quick learn, and final points aren’t tallied til the end, so you won’t know who won til its over. It’s best played with 4-5 for a friendly game. It can be a bit cut-throat with just 2-3 players.

Added recommendation: Grab the 1910 expansion. It has full-size cards which I find easier to hold than the mini cards that come with the core game. It also has more route cards that make a big difference in scoring. We almost never play the base game without the 1910 expansion.

Nicole: Splendor (2-4 players)

This game is easy enough that you can teach your kids and your in-laws, and quick enough that you immediately want to play again because you think you can do better a second time around. It’s an entry-level engine builder with just three options each turn. And it’s just so satisfying to hear the chips clink together.

Honorable Mention: Carcassone, Kingdomino, Lanterns, 7 Wonders

By Player Count:

Best game designed just for 2:

Eamon: Star Wars: Rebellion

All right, TECHNICALLY, this is a game for 2-4 players, but since playing with more than 2 just splits the Empire and Rebellion into “teams” with a space commander and a terrestrial commander (is “terrestrial” correct when talking about planets that aren’t Terra? I digress)... Anyway, splitting the sides into teams just steals half the fun from everyone on a team and adds nothing.

As for gameplay, it’s a lot. Your starting status is about where the original Star Wars kicks off from a capabilities/assets/resources standpoint. The Empire has a ton of gear (a Death Star, Star Destroyers, Tie Fighters, AT-ATs, AT-STs, stormtroopers) spread all across the galaxy, with industrial might to match. The Rebellion is tiny but hidden. All it has to do is survive. The Empire must find and crush it. All your favorite characters (1977-1983 anyway) are there, along with a few folks you might need to google, and they’ll accomplish or thwart missions and lead battles along the way that will accelerate or dial back the Rebels’ victory clock. It’ll take you a few hours, so this probably isn’t a school-night game, but it’s great for a day that’s too hot/cold/rainy/sunny to go outside.

Nicole: Caper: Europe

Artwork and theme go a long way for me. This is a newer game for us that I picked up at PAX Unplugged that I knew was never going to be Eamon’s favorite but would be a good weeknight game for us. You play as a criminal mastermind, sending your crew across Europe to steal art and goods. There’s card drafting and an interesting tug-of-war mechanic for securing the locations. The iconography is on point, and the artwork just hits for me. I want to write stories based on all the characters.

Honorable Mention: Hive, Imhotep Duel, Jaipur, Santorini

Scales well to 2… or more

Eamon: Viticulture: Essential Edition (2-6 players)

Another game we picked up early on that has stood the test of time (and the 200+ games we’ve bought since). As a game about making wine, it’s best played with a topical beverage, but don’t overdo it, as it’s got enough strategic complexity that you’ll want to keep your wits about you. It’s a worker placement game, so you manage workers, earn/spend money, welcome visitors, plant and harvest fields, age grapes and wines, and develop your vineyard to maximize victory points. It’s made by Stonemaier, so the components are excellent and will stand up through lots of playthroughs. It can be a longer game, with 6-player games taking 3-4 hours, but with players who know the rules and think ahead of their turn, you can play a game in as little as half that.

Nicole: Castles of Mad King Ludwig (2-4 players)

I love blueprints and house design, and this tile-laying game is ridiculous in the best ways. A top-five, maybe top-three game for me…despite the fact that I rarely (if ever) win. It’s all about the journey, kids, and I just straight up enjoy playing this. You are building a castle for King Ludwig, and you get points on how your rooms fit together. If you are like me, you’ll like comparing castles with your opponents, and I feel like you should get extra credit for the most bizarre tiles. Who wouldn’t want a dedicated cheese room?

Honorable Mention: Agricola, Brass: Birmingham, Carcassonne, Carnegie, City of the Big Shoulders, Dead Reckoning, Distilled, Fit to Print, Foundations of Rome, Obsession, Splendor, Taverns of Tiefenthal

3-5 Players

A quick thought. This is the plurality of games, so your options here are nigh endless. Theme matters, so while these are our favorites, we’ve played a LOT of games best for 3-5 players, and we have some 10/10s in the honorable mentions, so if neither of our top picks pique your interest, ask about one of the honorable mentions.

Eamon: Food Chain Magnate (2-4 players)

If you like org charts, boy do I have the game for you! Still reading? Cool. This is a game about building the most efficient organization to sell fast food. One of the key features is that there is NO LUCK INVOLVED. Everything comes down to your decisions. It takes about 30 minutes per player, and in that time, you’ll hire cooks, waitresses, truck drivers, ad execs, managers, blimp pilots… wait, what? Yes. Blimp. Pilots. All to market, produce, and sell your food for the most money. And just when you think you’re a turn away from hitting the big bucks, your opponent will beat you to market and win 70% of the money in the game in a single round, ending the game and your dreams like a car driving into a brick wall. And the best part? There was NO LUCK INVOLVED. This was all your fault! Doesn’t that sound fun?! I love this game. It’s ruthless. If, on the other hand, you prefer games about cute woodland creatures in serene landscapes, play Nicole’s choice.

Nicole: Everdell (1-4 players)

Ah, Everdell, you beautiful boardgame. Unlike Castles, I rarely lose Everdell, but that’s not the only reason this is a top pick for me. There’s a little bit of everything in terms of mechanics - worker placement, card and resource management, engine building - and it’s just so freaking CHARMING. You’re leading the building/expansion of the fantasy woodland village of Everdell, playing a variety of critter and construction cards that interact in different ways. It’s definitely a game where the mechanics are simple to understand, but individual strategies can be more complex. The artwork and the components are gorgeous in a children’s picture book sort of way. Wait, do they make Everdell picture books?

Honorable Mention: Arboretum, Bar Fight, Blood Rage, Firefly, Gallerist, Islebound, Rising Sun, Scythe, Small World, Ticket to Ride, Tokaido

6 Players or More

Eamon: Carcassone (2-6 players)

This could easily have been my choice for either of the previous two categories. It is the simplest game we own. You have one mandatory action and one optional action each turn. That said, it has endless replayability, and if you like games that give you the option to screw over your buddy, spouse, kid, etc, this game has that potential in spades. It’s a tile-laying game where you draw a tile each turn and must play it immediately. You have “meeples” that you may play to score points. The way in which you do each can either help you, screw someone else over, and in the best of times, both! If you want to add complexity, there are well over a dozen expansions with added tiles, meeples, and rules, but the base game is all you need for a great time. And despite the potentially high player count, this is one of the faster games we own, as even with 6 players, we’ve finished a game in under an hour.

Nicole: Rival Restaurants (2-8 players)

Hey look, it’s another game where the artwork and theme are on point. In Rival Restaurants, you want your restaurant to gain the most popularity points, which you do by gathering ingredients and cooking recipes. Each chef has asymmetric powers that change up gameplay, and you can upgrade your restaurant along the way. My favorite thing about this game comes in the second phase - the timed “Buy and Barter,” which is absolute chaos in the best way possible - but can be overwhelming depending on how many people are playing and how cutthroat they are.

Just don’t forget to take out the trash.

Honorable Mention: 7 Wonders, Dixit, Extraordinary Adventures: Pirates!, Parade

Party Games

Eamon: Secret Hitler (5-10 players)

This is a social deduction game, where one group is playing the Fascists of 1930s Germany, and the other group is playing the opposition. The trick is that almost no one knows who is on their side. The pro-democracy players must ID Hitler before he (or she) rises to the Chancellor or passes a number of pro-Fascist policies. A skilled bluffer playing a fascist (especially Hitler) role can make the room go absolutely nuts if the Fascists win. It’s a relatively quick game at about 45 minutes regardless of the number of players, and is probably best in the 7-10 player range.

Nicole: Welcome to… (2 to infinity players)

This a roll-and-write game (except you use cards instead of dice…flip-and-write?) to create the best 1950s-era subdivision you can with a variety of scoring conditions that feel both puzzly and nostalgic.

Welcome to.. supports an unlimited number of players, and we actually played this via Zoom quite a bit during the pandemic. Gameplay is simultaneous and moves along quickly, making it an easy < 30-minute game that you can break out after dinner.

Honorable Mention: Anomia, Code Names, Concept, Dixit: Odyssey, One Night Werewolf

Kids’ Games

Eamon: Catapult Feud (2 players, but more if you buy more copies)

You build a castle. Your opponent builds a castle. You use catapults to launch boulders at each other’s castle until one side’s army (five guys) is all knocked down. Clean. Simple. Destructive. Perfect for kids from 5 to 95.

Nicole: My Lil’ Everdell (1-4 players)

Is anyone shocked based on my review of Everdell above? You shouldn’t be, but it’s worth noting why this game is so great - and not just for kids. It’s an introduction to worker placement games and game mechanics in a simple setting. Place a “friend,” play a card, collect rewards. It’s just as gorgeous as the original, condensed to make it more digestible for younger audiences.

Ruari: Risk Junior (2-4 players)

Lochlann: Treasure Hunt Game (1-infinity players)

Honorable Mention: Castle Panic, Dragomino, Eye Found It, Kids of Carcassone, No Thank You Evil

By Game Mechanic:

If you’re reading this section, you’re probably not new to games. As you probably know, most of these will have more than one mechanic, but we’ll try to group them by the most prominent mechanic in our minds. To avoid recommending the games above several more times, we exempted those with writeups above from the categories below. Again, feel free to ask about details.

Area Control

Eamon: Small World

Nicole: Rising Sun

Card Drafting

Eamon: Blood Rage

Nicole: Sushi Go

Deck Building

Eamon: Dead Reckoning

Nicole: Obsession

Dexterity

Eamon: Flick ‘em Up

Nicole: Flick ‘em Up

We don’t play a lot of dexterity games, but this is solid.

Economic

Eamon: City of the Big Shoulders

Nicole: Carnegie

Engine Building

Eamon: Wingspan

Nicole: I can’t use Splendor or Everdell? 7 Wonders.

Puzzles

Eamon: Cottage Garden

Nicole: Fit to Print

Worker Placement

Eamon: Scythe

Nicole: The Gallerist

A couple last categories: quick games and stocking stuffers. The first can be played in under 45 minutes. The latter are small games that can fit in a stocking and thus are easy to bring with you wherever your travels take you.

Quick games

Eamon: Bar Fight

Nicole: Arboretum

Stocking Stuffers

Eamon: Sushi Go

Nicole: Cat Lady

There are plenty more games we like that don’t fit neatly into any of the categories listed, that we’ve only played once or twice, or that have mechanics that one or both of us don’t enjoy. If there’s something you’re interested in, let us know, and we’ll be happy to relay experiences or provide recommendations as possible.

Good Luck, and have fun!

You’re still here? It’s over. Go home… Go… and play a boardgame.