5 Board Games To Get You Started

Mainstream board gaming titles really dominate most shelves in your average high-street shops (Waterstones, and the like), meaning it can be difficult for people getting into the hobby to find new games that aren't intimidating.

Or perhaps you need a gift that goes beyond yet another version of Monopoly or Cluedo (I'm looking at you Monopoly: Bass Fishing Edition). To help we have compiled a list of board games that are well priced, accessible, and can be found easily online or on the high-street.

We've steered clear of "party games" as that feels like a whole different kettle of fish (Happy Salmon, anyone?).

What games would make your Top 5 for getting started?

Forbidden Island, Matt Leacock. Gamewright

1-4 players, 30 minute play time. Cooperative.

Forbidden Island is at the top of this list because it perfectly balances its accessibility to new gamers, replay value, and edge of your seat excitement.

The game involves trying to retrieve four mysterious artefacts from the Forbidden Island (sound FX: Roll of Thunder), whilst trying to survive its ancient security measure of *checks notes* "sinking".

This game is simple to learn, hard to master, and has a pleasing visual style. Plus the random layout of tiles and the different character abilities means you'll never visit the same Forbidden Island twice. It feels like there's a perfect balance of skill and luck (we've lost within 2 turns before) that will keep things from feeling too overwhelming.

Above all else, the real reason this game makes the top of the list is that it effortlessly introduces new players to so many mechanics that appear in other games, from cooperation (it's amazing how many new players I speak to who are unaware of the concept of cooperative games - thanks Monopoly), to hand limits, to the concept of a danger meter.

Horrified!, Prospero Hall. Ravensburger.

1-5 players, 60 minute play time. Cooperative.

Horrified! is a brilliant game to move onto from Forbidden Island. Many of the same mechanics appear but with slightly more complex objectives. 

In Horrified! you play as a number of Universal hero architypes (the explorer, the scientist, etc) in a battle to defeat a number of classic Universal Monsters (Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, etc) who are terrorising the town. Each monster has its own unique conditions for defeat, and a de facto time limit in the form of drawing cards from the monster deck creates a satisfying tension that increases as time goes on.

The monsters are controlled through actions outlined in the monster deck. This is incredibly effective in creating the sense that the monsters really are stalking the town in search of the player characters or the random NPCs that pop-up requiring rescue. The different character types and different monsters to battle make the game highly replayable and it still makes a regular appearance at our game nights.

Ravensburger have a good track record for movie tie-in board games and have the resources to really do justice to the IP. As such the artwork of the game is a direct reminiscence of the classic movie posters for the Universal Horror films and is incredibly striking.

The game accommodates up to 5 players, which increases the speed of the game as the monster deck rapidly diminishes and will have all players on the edge of their seats as you all desperately try to force The Mummy back into his tomb before the time is up.

If Universal Monsters are not your thing I would like to make mention of the Horrified!: American Monsters version. This replaces the classic monsters with famous cryptids of North America. The stark colours of the vintage movie posters is replaced with Pacific Northwest Americana (think Twin Peaks). This is more than just a reskin as the monsters (Mothman, Jersey Devil, Bigfoot...) have unique defeat conditions and it is accompanied with a new map.

Special Mention: Alien: Fate of the Nostromo

Another Ravensburger title that is the cousin of Horrified! Using the same mechanics, play as the team of the Nostromo as you battle a xenomorph to try and get it off your ship. If sci-fi is more your thing, this is all the fun of Horrified! but in deep space.

Kingdomino, Bruno Cathala. Coiledspring games.

2-4 players, 25 minute play time. Competitive.

Harrowing experiences of family game nights turned sour may have put people off player vs. player (PvP) games but games like Kingdomino exist to help heal those wounds and show how competitive games don't need to incite table-flipping rage.

In Kingdomino players compete to make the most valuable kingdom by placing domino-like tiles with a 5x5 grid. Rather than numerical dots, Kingdomino tiles have different terrain such as grasslands, wetlands, very wetlands (water), and forests. As with dominoes only matching tiles can be connected. At the end of the game, the score is tallied based on how much of each terrain you have connected and how many "crowns" pieces have been included.

Although players all draw from the same tiles, which does allow for some healthy competition as you all vie for that one mine piece with 3 crowns, the game avoids too much sense of aggressive competition. Players mind their own kingdoms, building aesthetic little havens, until the last tile is drawn and it's time to add up your score. The satisfaction of laying pieces of your kingdom in just the right way and the ease of set up, lends itself perfectly to a gentle, almost mindful, lunchtime game with friends.

The art style is bright and bold, which can be construed as childish and although this game can be played with younger children, this is an enjoyable game in its own right and through the basic colour palette it deftly sidesteps the often over-used style of many medieval fantasy games.

Patchwork, Uwe Rosenburg. Lookout Games.

2 players, 30 minute play time. Competitive.

Continuing the theme of competitive but chill games, look no further than Uwe Rosenburg's Patchwork. The premise may not instantly appeal to a lot of players but the gameplay is fantastic regardless of your initial impressions. Rosenburg specialises in cottage-core games and Patchwork, available in a variety of different styles (the Halloween one is particularly awesome), is no exception.

Players take it in turn to spend buttons to purchase Tetris-like tiles that they can then assemble on their own boards to create a marvellous patchwork quilt. Certain pieces grant you bonuses to earn more buttons as time passes, which allows you to purchase higher value tiles in later turns. As with Kingdomino, both players draw from the same pool of resources so there is a mild competitive element, but this is outweighed by the "mind your own quilt" mentality of the game.

The player with the most buttons at the end of the game wins. It's as simple as that.

This is a great game to play over a cup of coffee and there is a lot of fun in replacing the cardboard buttons provided in the box with real buttons to add a lovely tactile element, which enhances the good-vibes experience.

Colt Express, Christophe Raimbault. Ludonaute.

2-6 players, 40 minute play time. Competitive.

Our final game is a departure from the relaxed gameplay of Kingdomino and Patchwork, and dives headlong into chaos and underhanded sabotage. 

"There are few games that can inspire such hilarity. I don't think I've ever played a game that makes me laugh quite as hard" - Skullen Boots

Colt Express has players take the roles of Wild West Bandits robbing a train, the player with the most cash at the end of the game wins. It's as simple as that.

Except, oh wait, no it's not simple at all, because Colt Express is the board game embodiment of the proverb "the best laid plans of mice and men". The game is constructed into rounds, turns, and phases. Each round has a different number of turns, sometimes with certain effects in play, and is split into two phases; "Schemin'" and "Stealin'".

During the Schemin' phase, players take turns to lay down action cards that will control what their movements are in the next phase. Mostly these are visible to everyone on the table but occasionally not. Then when it comes to the Stealin' these actions are played out in the order they were played around the table. In this the game bares resemblance to the idea of programming in actions, which can conflict with or outright ruin another player's plans.

For instance, player 1 might have carefully planned out their entire movement to get their hands on some of the high grossing loot, only for player 2's first move to be punching them so hard they fly into the adjacent carriage. Player 1's actions then still play out as programmed, but one carriage off, which could spell the difference between victory and being riddled with bullets.

The chaos of this game is a thing of beauty and in providing this unusual method of planning out your actions and then having them play out, Colt Express ensures that failing spectacularly is just as entertaining as pulling off a daring heist and leaving your fellow bandits in the dust.

Also, the board is a heckin' train!

(No Monopolys we’re harmed in the making of this article)

[Monopolies?, Ed]