I know there are loads of websites out there that give reviews of board games, but I always find it hard to find games that I would like personally, so I thought I would start this page to give an overview of all the board games that I’ve played in recent years, so that you can hopefully get a bit of a nudge towards a game that you might like, based on the kind of games that I have liked and disliked. The idea is that if we have similar tastes, then it might help you find your next game!
I’ve tried my best to give as much of a feel for the games without going into too much detail on how it works, so I don’t bore you with rules! This is a live page, so I will keep adding to it as we play new games (or I remember games that I’ve played and forgotten to add to the list!)
If you have any recommendations too, I would love to hear them!
Secret Hitler – 10/10
Secret Hitler is a hidden identity social deduction game where players are randomly divided into two teams: liberals and fascists! The Fascists also includes a hitler role. The idea is that the fascists need to help hitler become president, and the liberals need to try and weed out the facists and eliminate them. It’s not quite as simple as it sounds though, as the first team to reach the threshold of fascist/liberal policies in play (one in play each round) wins, so you are also against the clock!
Ever since playing this game for the first time, it has been one of my go-to favourites! This game is just a whole lot of fun and really gets your blood pumping. There is nothing better than discussing how it all went down after the game. Finding out who were truely in your team and not!
| Players | 5-10 players |
| Fun Score | 10/10 |
| Ease to play | 8/10 |
| Ease to set up | 8/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – 6/10
Game of Thrones: The Board Game is a strategy board game, based on the A Song of Ice and Fire series of high fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. It was followed by the expansion A Clash of Kings (2004) and A Storm of Swords (2006), as well as second edition expansions A Dance with Dragons (2012), A Feast for Crows (2013) & Mother of Dragons (2018).
Game of Thrones allows players to take on the roles of several of the Great Houses of Westeros vying for control of the Seven Kingdoms, including House Stark, House Lannister, House Baratheon, House Greyjoy, House Tyrell. Players maneuver armies to secure support in the various regions that comprise the Seven Kingdoms, with the goal of capturing enough support to claim the Iron Throne.
The basic gameplay mechanics are reminiscent of Diplomacy, especially in the order-giving process, though this game is significantly more complicated overall.
We have had a few nights playing Game of Thrones the board game, and we have had an absolute blast playing it. The only thing is that it TAKES A LONG TIME TO FINISH! Not only that, it takes quite a lot of effort to learn the rules and just to set it up. If you are thinking about playing this game, just prepare yourself for the admin and the full day session! (It’s worth it though)
| Players | 3-6 players |
| Fun Score | 8/10 |
| Ease to play | 2/10 |
| Ease to set up | 1/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
Catan – 8/10
Catan is a multiplayer strategy board game where players collect resources to build roads, settlements, and cities on a modular hexagonal island. Use your resources to trade and build alliances, and gain you precious victory points. Be the first to reach 10 victory points to win!
When we had a few dropouts from our board game nights, we would fire out Catan to get us into the flow. We have sometimes chosen Catan as an icebreaker game and played it for most of the night because it is fun and easy to reset and play again!
| Players | 3-4 players |
| Fun Score | 8/10 |
| Ease to play | 8/10 |
| Ease to set up | 8/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
Carcassonne – 8/10
Carcassonne is a tile-placement board game where players take turns drawing and placing tiles to build a medieval landscape of cities, roads, monasteries, and fields. The game ends when the last landscape tile is placed, then all the victory points are added up to declare the winner
We have only played this a couple of times, but it was an excellent little game, and to be honest, I had a lot more fun than I thought I would! It’s really simple to learn (although there are a couple of rules that we got mixed up with).
| Players | 2-5 players |
| Fun Score | 8/10 |
| Ease to play | 7/10 |
| Ease to set up | 10/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
Munchkin – 10/10
Munchkin is a card game mixed a board game. All players start at level 1, with the goal of reaching level 10 (or level 20 in Epic Level games). Players primarily progress by killing monsters, and level up every time they kill a monster.
Players can freely use cards against monsters and other players during play, allowing them to either assist or to sabotage others during their turn. The game ends once a player reaches the target level and wins the match!
This was one of the first ‘adult’ board games I played. At the time there was only the three of us playing it. The only annoying thing is that I’ve misplaced my copy, so i’ll need to get a new one! Overall though, this game scores top marks because it is just so much fun, easy to understand, set-up and play over and over again!
| Players | 3-6 players |
| Fun Score | 10/10 |
| Ease to play | 10/10 |
| Ease to set up | 10/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
Pandemic – 8/10
Pandemic is a teamwork based strategy game that players must work together, playing to their characters’ strengths as they plan their strategy of eradicating the diseases before they overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. A truly cooperative game where you win or lose together.
We played this one recently and we got SO CLOSE to winning, but ultimately failed. The game is unforgiving, but in a good way. I can’t wait to give it another try.
| Players | 2-4 players |
| Fun Score | 8/10 |
| Ease to play | 7/10 |
| Ease to set up | 7/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
7 Wonders – 7//10
7 Wonders is a civilization game where you need to build up your city by making scientific discoveries, military conquests, trade agreements and prestigious buildings to lead your civilisation to glory. The games are only usually around 45 minutes each, so you can get loads of games in throughout games night!
This game is a little bit difficult to grasp the first couple of times you play it. In our oppinion, some of the rules for the cards are a bit vague and open to interpretation, which did result in a lot of debating!
| Players | 3-7 players |
| Fun Score | 7/10 |
| Ease to play | 4/10 |
| Ease to set up | 7/10 |
| Replayability | 10/10 |
John Gorevan is one guy doing no BS reviews and serving up nostalgia dopamine hits since 2019. He tests products properly with honest review and No BS fluff and writes about the geek culture and childhood memories that still hit different. Over 135,000 readers and counting.
