Mine is Ludo: A solid 2 to 4 Player board game.
Fun Fact: It causes a war in Hindu Mythology.
Second is Chess because dev abandoned their game.
My wife and I really like Agricola. It’s a farming-based people-placing game created in Germany for 2-4 players (with the base game), but there is an expansion for 5-6 players. We do play with a decent amount of house rules, though.
Cameroon. It’s like a mix of air hockey and pool.
I wish I had an actual board still… I only have it via 52 Clubhouse Games on switch. I find it much more fun when you’re actually flicking the pieces with your finger.
My absolute favourite is Spirit Island. A co-op game where you work together defending your island and kicking out explorers and settlers. Expanding your presence and getting new powers along the way. Every game with new combinations.
When we got the game we played this more than once every week for over a year. With each game taking 1-3hours with our playstyle. Sometimes longer with four players (but that’s partly because of not actively playing the game then). We play less now only because of moving with the renovation taking too much time.
I love Spirit Island so much.
though usually unless folks are also as into complicated stuff as I am I end up playing horizons of Spirit Island for a simplified experience
Silver
I have WAY more games than I should, and I have so many better games, but Silver is the one that my wife and I have played more than ALL the others put together.
Technically, we play what we call Super Silver, which is using all the cards from every expansion (except a few we hate) and don’t shuffle them back in between rounds. The game ends after four rounds or the deck is gone.
It’s just easy to pick up and go, and random enough that every game is a little different.
Wingspan is really great plus it has stunning visuals too!
Have you tried Wyrmspan? It’s an improved version with Dragons. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/410201/wyrmspan
What makes you say it’s improved over Wingspan? I own both. I like them both separately but I disagree with saying it’s an improved version. For context, I own all of the expansions to Wingspan, play it at least a few times a week with my wife, and it would be my answer to OPs question hands down.
Wyrmspan doesn’t have any expansions so are you saying it’s better than the base game of Wingspan? I could definitely see that argument since there is more strategic diversity in the base game than base Wingspan. However if you include the expansions I think Wingspan mops the floor with Wyrmspan.
Only briefly seen it exist, defo want to try it in the near future. looks awesome 👍
Ticket to Ride. Building out your rail network is so satisfying.
I wanted to like the game, but one game where the other players adopted the ‘backstabbing’ style ruined it for me.
It is definitely high up there for me.
Ahhh Ticket to Rage. My wife’s family is not allowed to play that anymore.
Why not? Does a proverbial train crash through the event?
This is mine too. I don’t really like board games, but Ticket to Ride really clicked with me and I had a blast playing it. Will get it for myself but damn it’s expensive (I guess that’s a problem with board games in general, and I do see the value of the investment).
I love the second edition of Merchant of Venus.
Odin’s Ravens for a quick game, Game of Thrones for a very long and infuriating game of strategy.
Labyrinth - if you’ve never played it, all the players are moving around a maze collecting items on cards they draw from a deck. Whoever collects them all first wins. You can move as far as you want each turn, but the catch is you first change the maze (the whole board being made of movable tiles), then move your totem. It encouraged complicated spacial reasoning and leaves room for sabotage of other players. Any number of players can play; you can even solitaire it if you want.
Cosmic Encounter
No two games are ever the same. So are the attempts to lure people in and out of encounters, and the following betrayels. Great fun.
Love Cosmic, any time people are coming round I try to lure them into a game. Too bad my regular group got derailed by someone buying Gloomhaven
Champions of Midgard - Because Vikings! Its a resource management based game where you go on journeys to fight magical monsters. Its pretty tight and you can play a complete game in one-two hours.
Pandemic - I mostly enjoy this because it is a co-op game. You all fight the disease! That said the game mechanic is pretty fun and can be challenging.
Is ludo parcheesi?
Yea, Kinda same. Ludo is originated from parcheesi after all.
I treat Chinese checkers with the same reverence and over-seriousness that chess players have towards chess. I’m not especially good at it, but I really enjoy it.
Mancala, if that counts.
Great board game for 3+ people. Best with a full crew. You and your mates explore a mansion. As you explore a new room you place a tile and something can happen.
It’s meant to have a lot of replayability as each time you play there’s a booklet full of potential end games that you can trigger. Such as the mansion is burning down and you need to escape.
Have you played the Legacy version of the game? I have and I would recommend it.
I love the idea of that game. But in practice, I hate it.
Exploring the house is fun. And then the haunt usually ends up with a lopsided win. I can’t remember a time where the haunt didn’t feel like a forgone conclusion once revealed. Basically, I’ve never felt like I had any way to impact the outcome outside of potentially just throwing it.
Edit: in my mind, it’s less of a game and more of an experience or story generator.
Ayy, I was going to mention this one. Crazy fun game.
