5 Games Every Home Needs In 2023
These games should provide enough diversity in style, gameplay, strategy and intensity for you to always have a suitable game choice to hand.
Written by Aaron Simpson
07.04.23
In times gone by, if you we’re to be playing a game with friends or family, you could be fairly certain it would have been something you had played before. Perhaps it would be a game of monopoly, ending in a soul crushing monotonous loop around the board to bankruptcy, whilst a single player slowly increases there wealth with an apologetic grimace. Or maybe it’d have been a game of scrabble, which whilst has its place, you know what you’re going to get.
These days are long gone, with it now being perfectly feasible that you may never have played the game your friend emerges from the cupboard with. With 1000s of new games being published every year, it’s never been a more exciting time for board gaming. But equally, it’s never been more confusing. To help with this, here is a list of our 5 favourite games we believe every home should have. They are accessible for beginner gamers whilst providing enough strategic value for more experience players. So with that said, lets get onto our list.
Ticket to Ride – By Days of Wonder
Quick Guide
Players: 2-5
Age: 8+
Run Time: ~45 Minutes
Price: £35 (at time of publishing)
What we like:
- Good Looking Board and Pieces
- Simple Gameplay
- Plays well as a 2 player
Ticket to Ride is going to be first in this list, as for me, it was really the first non-traditional Board game I ever played. I loved it then and I still do today. It is an ideal starter into the alternative game world as the gameplay is incredibly simple, whilst still feeling new and interesting.
The game itself is visually very appealing, with a simple map, bright, vibrant train pieces and matching ‘rustic style’ cards. Each player essentially plays as a Train Tycoon aiming to build routes (determined in game set up) between destinations on the board. Throughout the game you are able to pick up other routes and block other player by building on tracks you think they may need.
Players score points by exchanging cards to place train carriages on the board and at the end of the game will score points for each completed route. Additionally, players will lose points for any incomplete routes they have at the end of the game.
Another huge plus for this game is that it plays really well regardless of how many people you have. As a 2-player game, you have a less crowded board and strategy focuses more on card collection and route optimisation. With 3+ players the game becomes or lot busier with routes being harder to achieve and there being more opportunities to sabotage one another.
Ultimately this is a great game, providing high replayability that you won’t regret adding to your collection.
Buy at Amazon
Catan - By Catan Studios
Quick Guide
Players: 3-4
Age: 10+
Run Time: ~ 60 minutes
Price: £38 (at time of publishing)
What we like:
- Very replayable
- Luck and strategy based
- Multiple ways to win
Right, so now we are stepping away from boards and moving towards tiles. Tile games are a huge part of the gaming world and one the big ones is Catan. In this game you play as new inhabitants of the island of Catan, a place rich in the resources (cards) Coal, Sheep, Brick, Ore and Wheat. Your aim is to use these resources to build your new settlement and in doing so reach 10 victory points and win the game. However, your fellow players are also attempting to do the same, competing for space and resources in the process.
Resources are gathered by building settlements on the tiles, if the number on that tile is rolled, you can then gather the resource depicted on that tile. These resources can then be used to further develop your settlement or purchase bonus cards that award a variety of helpful effects and points.
One of the more unique and interesting aspects of gameplay in Catan is the ability to trade resources with other players. This tends to lead to a large amount of negotiations between players and makes for a lively dynamic game.
Lastly, this game is incredibly replayable due to the nature of the set up. Each tile can be placed at random and the numbers associated with it. The effect of this is a game that feels fresh and exciting every time its played.
Buy at Amazon
Pandemic - By Z-Man Games
Quick Guide
Players: 2-4
Age: 10+
Run Time: ~ 45 minutes
Price: £35 (at time of publishing)
What we like:
- Co-operative board game
- Nice pieces
- Unique gameplay
- Different difficulty levels
So I know we have all lived through a Pandemic recently are playing a game about one might not be the most appealing prospect. But if you can stomach it, I highly recommend giving this game a chance. Unlike most games where you’re playing against each other, in Pandemic you play against the game, working together to control the spread of four dangerous pathogens and save the humanity in the process.
Each player takes on the role of a different responder to the pandemic which grants them special powers within their turns. This makes each player feel useful and allows for different move combinations between players. With 7 different roles available, the active roles within each game will be vary between plays making the game highly replayable. Once in the game, each turn disease cubes will be added to cities based on card draws. If these cubes are allowed to build up, they will outbreak and spread to surrounding cities. If enough outbreaks are allowed to happen, the game is lost. Before this happens, the players have to work together to find a cure for each of the diseases to win the game.
This game can be played at three different difficulty levels (Introductory, Standard and Heroic), expect to lose a few times when you start. Once you get the hang of it step up the difficulty. I’m currently playing Heroic and it still feels like a challenge after many many play throughs, but that just makes the wins that much more satisfying.
Pandemic is the best co-operative game I’ve played by a long distance. If you are after a different, fulfilling gaming experience, you should absolutely play this game.
Buy at Amazon
Wingspan - By Stonemaier Games
Quick Guide
Players: 1-5
Age: 14+
Run Time: ~ 60 minutes
Price: £50 (at time of publishing)
What we like:
- Beautiful Illustrations
- High Replayability
- Simple gameplay
Players: 1-5
Age: 14+
Run Time: ~ 60 minutes
Price: £50 (at time of publishing)
- Beautiful Illustrations
- High Replayability
- Simple gameplay
Ever dreamt of being a Bird ornithologist, discovering and attracting birds to your aviary? Of course you have! Well Wingspan offers the next best thing after actually doing that. In this card engine building game, you collect bird cards in three habitats on your player board. These birds score you points whilst granting you abilities to grow your collection further and subsequently score more points.
The gameplay is incredibly simple, with each turn you having the option to either play a bird from your hand, collect food from the bird feeder, draw new bird cards or lay eggs. However, the strategy of how you choose to use these moves is vital to having an effective collection of birds within your habitats. Will you play, high value birds which cost additional food or will you opt for volume, playing cheaper birds in abundance?
Within each game you receive bonus cards which provide aims for extra points (such as collecting birds with geography terms in there names) as well as round goals which change each game. These prevent the game from seeming stale and make you think about your strategy from the very start.
It is an absolute pleasure to play.
Buy at Amazon
Dixit - By Libellud
Quick Guide
Players: 3-6
Age: 8+
Run Time: ~ 30 minutes
Price: £33 (at time of publishing)
What we like:
- Very Accessible
- Beautiful Artwork
- Rewards Creativity
Of the 5 games on this list, Dixit is by far the most accessible. Each player has a a deck of cards with different, beautifully surreal images on them. Players take turns playing the first card face down, as they do, they say something to identify the card. Each other player also plays a card after this with the aim to have their card being falsely identified as the original card played. Players score points by having their card guessed correctly if they played the original card, or by being guessed incorrectly if they played a decoy card. Then that is it.
What makes this game truly great is the players that play it. It is such a simple concept, but there is ample room for strategy and manipulation in both the play of the original or decoy cards. You really need to think about the players around the table, what in the bizarre image you are looking at will resonate with them, a song lyric, a word, an inside joke, a name or a sound
Buy at Amazon
Well that is our list, it is by no means an exhaustive one, but all of these games are really accessible and will consistently be enjoyable to play. Let us know what you think down below, or any other suggestions you think should have been included!
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