The Best Board Games for Under the Christmas Tree

Christmas is just around the corner, and many of us are wondering what to get our loved ones. In this article, we'll give you a few tips that might inspire you to pick the perfect board game. We'll recommend popular titles we've tested ourselves, for both experienced and beginner players. Whether you play board games regularly or are a complete newcomer, these few lines are definitely worth a read.

Games for Families and Casual Players

In this category, we'll look at games for the whole family, designed for older kids or casual players.

Bang!

Bang hardly needs an introduction. For those who don't know it, Bang! is a card game with hidden roles set in the Wild West. You'll be a sheriff, a deputy, an outlaw, or even a renegade. Using cards, you'll acquire weapons, drink beer, and shoot at each other – just like in the Wild West, all in a very fun way.

Bang! is designed for 4-7 players aged 8 and up, with a playtime of about 20-40 minutes. The game also offers plenty of expansions that either reduce the player count to three, add new cards, and much more. You can play Bang! anywhere there's a table; it's great for travel, the pub, or the cottage. It also works very effectively as a party game. Both kids and adults will enjoy Bang!, and with your purchase, you get a small box full of fun that never gets old. Because even if you play Bang! for the hundredth time, you'll still have a blast.

HEAT

In Heat, you'll take on the role of a racer in 1960s car races. The game is for 1-6 players aged 10 and up, lasting about 30-60 minutes. Choose one of 4 circuits, get behind the wheel, and let the race begin. During the race, you'll shift gears, cool your engine, and plan how fast to take corners. The game features simple mechanics based on turn planning. You can apply upgrades to your car to help you accelerate better, hold your line in corners, or brake more effectively. If you don't have enough players, no problem!

Heat offers AI-controlled opponents that are tough to beat. For the most experienced, there's also a championship mode—a series of races where you track your ongoing results. Heat is a great family game where you can unwind and experience plenty of thrilling moments you'll remember for a long time. Thanks to modifications, you can adjust the difficulty, making Heat suitable for both beginners and advanced players. Get ready for a real ride. Show everyone who the king of the circuit is.

Robin Hood and His Adventures

Robin Hood is a cooperative board game for families or casual players where you'll roam the forests of Nottingham as the famous outlaw and his companions. Your band can consist of 2–4 players, recommended for ages 10 and up. The box includes a brilliant dual-layer game board, wooden figures, and a storybook.

The best thing about this game is the rule difficulty. At the start, you just need to set up the board, read one double-sided sheet, and you're ready to go. The storybook then introduces you to the plot and gradually teaches you how to play. Initially, you'll master skills like hiding in the woods, avoiding guards, and moving better across the map. The further you get in the story, the more you learn, which is what's great about the game.

The game board is dual-layered and changes during play. You'll be pulling tokens off the map, flipping them, or removing them entirely. The story branches out and draws players into the adventure. The ratio of playing to reading is very friendly; I'd say you play more than you read. This is a big advantage, especially when playing with children. You don't have to worry about them getting bored by the story. Another advantage is that if the game tells you to "Escape the castle," it's entirely up to you how you do it. You have a wide range of options for how to play Robin Hood. It's a fantastic story-driven game that will take you on an adventure.

Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West

Ticket to Ride has been on the market for a few years now. It has several editions, but the core is the same. A game where you use simple mechanics to try and connect a railway network and score the most points. I've always considered all titles in the Ticket to Ride series as very simple entry-level games that wouldn't satisfy more demanding players.

Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West changes a lot. In this new installment, you'll lead your North American railway company toward wealth and prosperity. Just like previous editions, you'll learn it quickly, but Legends of the West includes a large adventure story campaign that will bring you new rules as you progress.

If you're a passionate Ticket to Ride player, the beginning will be business as usual. However, as you progress through the story, you'll open expansion boxes that unlock new rules, content, and many other surprises. Your task will be to complete tickets and routes. Game after game, Legends of the West will become larger and more complex. After playing twelve games in the legacy campaign, you'll have your own completely unique copy of the game that you can play forever.

Legends of the West is for 2-5 players aged 10 and up, with a playtime of about 20-90 minutes per campaign chapter. The game brings so much fun, surprise, and twists that it's worth it. Even though Ticket to Ride has a "simple game" label, that doesn't apply to Legends of the West, and any player will find their way to it. So, ALL ABOARD!

Escape from Prison

Escape from Prison is a fast-paced strategic board game full of ingenuity, wit, "physical" pressure, tension, and above all, fun. As the name suggests, you're in prison surrounded by many other inmates, including members of several gangs. The game is designed for 2-6 players aged 14 and up (the age is mainly due to the theme), with a playtime of about 40-45 minutes.

Your goal is to dig a tunnel and escape before your opponents. In prison, you have to craft your own tools and trade them for cigarettes. You can also join a gang, get an improvised weapon, and use it to blackmail other players. Escape from Prison is an ideal party game for a group of people who don't mind a good dose of confrontation and a bit of rougher humor.

Detective: City of Angels

Do you have some gaming experience, but just ended up with friends who know at most Ludo, but would like to try something bigger? Detective is the ideal game! One player (the more experienced one) takes on the role of the narrator and game director, while the others become detectives tasked with investigating a set of interesting and brilliantly written scenarios.

The game mechanics are very simple; you can explain the rules in a few minutes and start playing. The whole game uses a well-crafted system of questions and answers, and it's up to the players to correctly evaluate the information they receive to uncover the motive, murder weapon, and perpetrator in the scenario. The stories are stylized to 1940s Los Angeles, so there's no shortage of mobsters, femme fatales, or big money. Everything is written in an engaging way, and there's no shortage of surprises.

For Demanding Players

In the final category, we'll take a look at games for experienced and demanding players who carefully select every title.

Ark Nova

In Ark Nova, you'll briefly become a designer of a modern, scientifically managed zoological garden. The game is for 1-4 players aged 14 and up, with a playtime of about 90-150 minutes. The game features illustrations complemented by real photos of animals and zoo staff. During original action planning, you build enclosures, find sponsors, acquire animals, and complete conservation projects.

Although the theme might not show it at first glance, behind the innocent zoo building lies an amazing Euro game. It has everything a demanding player expects from a Euro game – complexity, depth, replayability, an unconventional theme, and strong addictiveness. The foundation is over 230 animal and sponsor cards, so the animals won't get old on you anytime soon.

Ark Nova climbed to the top of the BGG rankings within a few months of its release and is currently the 4th best game of all time. It's intended primarily for players who already have some experience in the board game world. It's not that a newcomer couldn't play it, but the first few games will be really challenging; they'll have to plan everything carefully to enjoy the game. However, the very pleasant and fresh zoo theme can help mitigate this.

Nemesis: Lockdown

If I say words like Ridley Scott, Nostromo, or Ellen Ripley, you'll surely think of the 1979 film Alien first. The first part of the Nemesis board game, released in 2018, was just like that – like the aforementioned film.

Together with other players, you're a member of a spaceship crew; you suddenly wake up in a hibernation chamber and soon realize you're not alone on the ship. Nemesis, as an "Ameritrash" game, has gained huge popularity. A sci-fi setting with hidden roles, a fight for survival, and a very strong atmosphere. Not only do you have to face aliens on the ship, but you never know which player has the task of killing you. All of this created an absolutely perfect game.

In 2021, the second part, Nemesis: Lockdown, was released. Lockdown moves from a spaceship to a desolate Mars base. The game contains familiar and newly spiced-up rules, and another horror story from the Nemesis world. The game is for 1-4 players aged 12 and up, with a playtime of about 90-180 minutes.

Just like in the first part, it includes high-quality and very nice plastic miniatures and cardboard components. The content can be improved with all sorts of expansions, whether with other aliens, plastic terrain, or many other components. While Lockdown loses a bit of the Alien movie charm for me, it's still a great horror game. The higher price is mainly due to the many plastic figures. However, I guarantee that after playing it a few times, you won't be able to tear yourself away from it.

Can you outsmart your opponents and be the one to survive?

War of the Ring (Second Edition)

Absolutely everyone knows the Lord of the Rings film, and the author J. R. R. Tolkien is a legend of the fantasy genre. There are many board games from this world. The best of them is War of the Ring (Second Edition). The game is primarily intended for 2 players, but can be played by up to 4, aged 13 and up, with a playtime of about 150-180 minutes. In this epic game, you'll find yourself in the familiar world of Middle-earth, where, just like in the film, the forces of good and evil clash.

One player takes command of the Free Peoples, Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits; the other player will be the Dark Lord, ruler of Mordor and all his followers. War of the Ring is an area control game where you measure your strength not just militarily. Players also have legendary heroes of Middle-earth at their disposal. The game features hidden movement in the form of Frodo and Sam, who are traveling to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring. The Dark Lord tries to find and catch them before they succeed.

The game can be won in several ways, and the whole time it's a tug-of-war; one moment one side has the upper hand, the next the other. The ending is usually very tight, decided by small moments. Whether you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings world or not, War of the Ring is a polished masterpiece down to the last detail and should definitely not be missing from any board game collection.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Tainted Grail is a cooperative board game RPG – a story-driven game set in the world of very dark Arthurian legends and Celtic mythology. The game is for 1-4 players aged 14 and up, with a playtime of about 60-120 minutes per chapter. You might expect to take on one of the legendary heroes and mow down hundreds of enemies, but the opposite is true.

At the very beginning, you choose one of the characters who are somewhat on the fringes of society and definitely can't be called heroes. The world has been shrouded by the Wyrdness – a fog that changes the world of Avalon beyond recognition. Menhirs were supposed to prevent the Wyrdness from spreading, but they are starting to go out. Your task is to find out what's happening on the island and, most importantly, survive it all. Tainted Grail is primarily about the story, which is terrifying, dark, deep, and immensely branching. The problems you encounter can be solved in several ways, and the decisions you make are often not for the faint of heart. On top of that, all sorts of monsters, enemies, and other unexpected events await you at every turn. Throughout the game, you live your life on a knife's edge, and every day will be a fight for survival.

You won't find a better story-driven game on the market than Tainted Grail. The storybook is truly thick and packed with narrative. Every decision you make has a huge impact on how the plot develops. Even if you go through the story several times, you'll always encounter something you haven't met before, and every situation will be a little different. So, if you don't mind a harsh and dark world full of unexpected events and furious monsters, and you appreciate a story worthy of a Hollywood film, Tainted Grail is exactly for you. Several expansions have already been released, adding more storybooks, so you can continue the adventure. Will your character become the hero?

Earthborne Rangers

Earthborne Rangers is a game that's a bit deceptive. Based on the artwork on the box, you probably won't realize it's a surprisingly complex, adventurous Euro game that even less experienced players can handle, but at the same time offers enough challenges and fun for advanced players. Civilization has been hidden underground beneath the ice for 5,000 years. But the thaw has begun, and there's finally a chance to get out and settle the surface. Players choose from six different tribes, and off they go! Here they build a new house, there they unlock a new technology, or discover a new resource.

The game itself combines elements of worker placement, engine building, and a bit of deck building. In the end, it's quite brisk, and you don't have to be a professional chess player to calculate and plan everything. It's a beautiful and perfectly functioning game – a big surprise of 2023.

Expeditions - A Game from the World of Scythe

When the original Scythe was released years ago, it was a huge success. Even here, it's still one of the most played games. A tactical affair about conquering territory in a beautiful steampunk setting by artist Jakub Rozalski has a few flaws (which more advanced players will discover), but the fun and top-notch production more than compensate for them.

Expeditions is from the same world and follows the original game in many ways. But in the end, it's a completely different game. Instead of a classic area control game, it's more of a tactical adventure Euro game that will make even a seasoned board gamer sweat. So many options, so few actions, and your success or failure depends on each one. A contagion called the Corruption is spreading, your fellow players won't give you anything for free, and the fate of your expedition is constantly hanging by a thread. And that's what we love about more demanding board games!

author: Daniel Korčák