The new disease outbreak happens with every single move. In this co-op game, each player has different abilities that help beat the pandemic only when combined.
The rules are a little ambiguous and easy to misunderstand.
The fate of humanity is in your hands! Only you and your team can save the world from a deadly pandemic. Your goal is to find a cure before the disease spreads too far. Hence, this cooperative game bonds players together and keeps everyone involved.
Strategy
8+
2 to 4 players
45 minutes
Game board, 7 role cards, 7 pawns, 6 research stations, 6 wooden markers, 96 disease cubes, 48 infection cards
Create cities, plant and harvest fields, build home and roads in your area! That way, you will be able to collect as many points as possible and win the game.
Some tiles aren't properly aligned.
This game is extremely popular - there were 10 million games and expansions sold. The gaming process is very captivating and helps improve your intelligence. This is an extended pack for the most immersive experience possible.
Trading and economic strategy
7+
2 to 5 players
30 – 45 minutes
72 land tiles, 12 river tiles, Scoreboard, 40 followers in 5 colours, 5 abbots in 5 colours, Rulebook, Supplementary sheet
This game is very simple yet entertaining. You need to describe as many cards as you can in 30 seconds without using the words with the same root.
Some categories can be difficult for younger players.
If you want to have fun at any party, you need the Drumond Park, the board game that can bring joy to people of all ages. This game allows you to play as long as you want and can engage you and your friends in playing for hours.
Entertainment
12+
4 to 20+ players
Around 45 minutes (for 4 teams)
500 cards with 3000 entries, Board, 4 playing pieces, Spinner, Sand timmer, Rules
The game offers 84 lovingly illustrated cards that allow you to use your imagination to the fullest and tell a cool story.
The cards are a bit too large and difficult to handle.
When playing the Libellud Dixit, you need to follow your intuition and give the gaming process your full attention. It is an emotional game with interesting twists that will help you have a great time with your family or friends.
Storytelling, Associative
8+
3 to 6 players
30 minutes
84 lovingly illustrated cards, 6 wooden rabbit score markers, 6 sets of voting markers
The game is great for playing on-the-go since it doesn't require a gaming board or a table. It comes in a robust case for easy carrying and storing.
Players have to remember which segment they have won, which is a bit difficult.
This board game will suit all fans of the Friends TV show. The quiz includes questions about all the key moments from season 1 to 10, so you can show off your knowledge. The other quiz games based on TV shows are also available.
Entertainment
12+
2+ players
Unpredictable
Coloured dice, 600 cards, Bite-sized wedge case
Team Up to Find the Cure
The Z-Man Games company is very popular among board game aficionados thanks to its wide selection of fascinating games that fit all tastes. One of their most popular products is the Pandemic.
This game came out back in 2008 and got the second edition in 2013. Since then, it got multiple expansions and spin-offs. You may extend the world and add more and more interesting details and twists to the story, which makes this board game replayable and allows you to spend multiple evenings without getting bored. So what makes it so interesting?
The game is cooperative and makes you team up with your friends to find the viruses that are spreading all over the world and to stop the pandemic. When purchasing the set, you get a board with a world map. The cities on the map are connected with lines that show the ways the disease may spread. Apart from that, you get 4 sets of cubes of different colours that symbolise the disease. Plus, you get 7 pawns for players. There are also two decks of cards: one deck for players and the other one is for the pandemic. And lastly, the set includes 6 research stations - when you get a card that allows you to build a research laboratory in your city, you can put it on the map, and thus, boost up the curing.
If you thought everything is so simple, don’t be so happy yet. Remember that there is always a possibility you can lose the game. Setting the lab doesn’t mean you will be able to find a cure. You need to get 5 player cards that match the city the lab is situated in. To do so, the players need to thoroughly coordinate their moves, which requires concentration and attention. That way, the game helps you improve your strategic skills.
The Fate of Humanity is in Your Hands!
This interactive game can be played by a small group from 2 to 4 people. It is also suitable for 8+ years old children. As you see, the Pandemic can become great entertainment for the whole family. What also makes this game family-friendly is that you can adjust the difficulty level until you make it easier for your kids to play. As for the playing time, one game lasts for about 45 minutes.
In conclusion, the Pandemic from Z-Man Games is an extremely interesting board game that entrusts you the fate of humanity. So, team up with your friends to beat deadly diseases and save the planet! If you don’t like competitive games, this option is the best board game for family entertainment.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £24.95 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00A2HD40E |
Build Your City
The next product in our list is created by Z-Man Games as well. But this time, it is not a cooperative game but a competitive one. The Carcassonne Board Game is a tile-based game that allows you to build your own city, which requires an understanding of strategy and attention.
When purchasing the set, you get a chance to build a completely new world. The game was actually named after an old city in France, so the map has a medieval setting - there are 72 tiles included in a box. When you start the game, you get only 1 tile (all the others are facing down). With each move, the person can get a new tile to set near the corresponding piece. For example, you should place the piece with a road near the already existing road, a city piece should expand the city and so on. The game we review here is a new edition, so you also get tiles with a river and an abbey (there are 12 river tiles and 5 abbey tiles).
The next thing that is included in the set is a scoreboard. To understand the scoring system, you need to thoroughly read a rulebook. But to put it briefly, you get a different amount of points for each tile your get. For example, a tile with a road equals 1 point, but a tile with a city piece can bring you up to 4 points. Do note that the number of points can vary depending on where you place the tile. Hence, choose the position wisely. The winner is the person who will manage to create the most well-developed city and gain the most points when there will be no tiles left. The whole gaming process can last from 30 to 45 minutes.
Workout For Your Brain
If we had to determine a bit more definitive type of this board game, we would call it an economic and trading strategy. You need to figure out what facilities will work best for your city. Hence, we consider this strategy a good workout for brains.
The game is extremely popular all over the world and there was a huge amount of copies sold. After its publishing back in 2000, the game got multiple mini and full-on expansions, and new ones are being published up to these days. The game doesn’t lose its popularity among people of all ages. You can play this board game not only with your friends but also with children who are 7 years and older. The game is suitable for 2 to 5 players.
In the end, if you really love strategies, we think that the Z-Man Games Carcassonne will be a good choice for you. Build a new city, compete with your friends and have fun!
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £24.99 |
| Stock | May be out of stock |
| ASIN | B00NX627HW |
Great Team Game
The Drumond Park is the best party game on our list. Once you and your friends start to feel bored, take out this game and shake everybody up! It is fun, interesting and allows you to boost your imagination. So, let's check the reasons why this game is considered to be such a great choice for parties.
First things first, it has very clear rules and is easy to play. The set of this modern board game includes 500 cards with 3000 entries. Plus, there are 4 playing pieces that represent each player or a team. There is also a board with categories and a spinner that helps you determine what category you get. When you select a category, you get a card with a few words but you need to describe only one that suits your category. You need to explain as many words as you can in 30 seconds (your teammates should guess them). To measure the time, you don’t have to use a separate stop-watch or smartphone since there is an hourglass included in a set.
Yet, there is a twist - you can't use words that sound alike or have the same root. For example, if you get the word “cowboy”, you can’t use the words “cow” or “boy in your description. It will be considered cheating and even if your teammates will get the word right, you won’t get a point. Hence, you will need to get a little bit more creative with your words and use your imagination.
The next thing that makes this game so great for parties is that you can play it with a crowd of up to 20 people, or even more if you want to. And there can be no less than 4 people playing (to make 2 teams). If you split up in 4 teams, the gameplay will last for about 45 minutes. Yet, you can continue playing until you get bored or stop at any moment since there is no storytelling or progress that needs to be saved.
Use Your Imagination
Moving on to the age limitations, the manufacturer recommends the Drumond Park board game for people who are older than the age of 12. Yet, there are still some categories that may be a bit confusing for teenagers, so you may let them cheat a little and re-spin for a different category.
As you can see, the game has a pretty simple yet so entertaining concept. There are lots of analogues or similar board/mobile games, but we consider the Drumond Park the most exciting one for home entertainment. This guessing game has wisely selected words and categories that will help you boost your imagination and have fun with your family and friends. Everyone will stay involved and no one should get bored.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £15.99 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B00006L99R |
Tell a Beautiful Story
To make your creative juices flowing, you don’t need any special exercises. You can stimulate your imagination by having a good time with the Libellud Dixit Board Game. It can bring great entertainment for the whole family.
The Dixit is a competitive game with a scoring system that will help you determine the best storyteller. When purchasing this set, you get 84 cards with beautiful illustrations. The game is suitable for 3 to 6 people.
To start playing, each person should get 6 cards. The first person to go (aka a storyteller) looks at his/her deck and selects one random card. Then, he or she should describe what’s going on in the picture and other players should try to guess what card from their deck the storyteller is describing. You need to make your description not very clear and obvious since if everybody makes a right guess, you get no point and all the other players get 2 points each. On the other hand, if you make your description way too confusing and no one gets it right, you will get no points as well. The trick is to find a perfect balance in your story so at least one person would figure out your card. In that case, you and the guesser will get 3 points. Also, other players can vote for each card offered by their rivals. If you vote for the right card, you get 1 point.
The players should take turns and tell stories based on the picture they like the most. Thus, everyone will be a storyteller and fantasise about the cards. The set also includes score markers. The person that gets the most points becomes a winner. On average, the game lasts for about 30 minutes.
Find the Inspiration
This storytelling and associative game is great for the whole family. It is suitable for children who are 8 years and older. It involves high-quality cards with amazing illustrations that will please you and your children.
The game we review here is a classic edition. But if you like such type of games, the manufacturer also offers you plenty of other editions such as the Dixit Odyssey and the Dixit Journey. Thus, you will get more stories to tell. Do note that the rules may slightly vary depending on the chosen edition.
To wrap the whole thing up, if you want to get a little more creative, the Libellud Dixit Board Game is a fun and easy way to do so. It has cute cards with touching pictures that will help you create the most inspiring stories.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £28.20 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B001OH9EDW |
Spend Time With Friends
If you really love TV shows and especially adore funny sitcoms, you most definitely have heard about Friends. The TV show became a huge hit not only in the UK but all over the world. In 2019, it was 25 years since the release of the first episode. However, the show doesn’t lose its popularity and is still deeply loved by different generations.
If you are one of the hardcore fans who have rewatched the show multiple times and share your passion with friends or family members, we have a treat for you. The Winning Moves offers the Friends Quiz Game that allows you to check your knowledge.
This entertainment game is very fun and doesn’t have any tricky rules. The game includes 600 cards with questions that are based on the key moments from season 1 to 10. On each card, there are 6 questions and each of them applies to a different season. To play the game, you need at least 2 players who are older than 12 years (the number of participants is not limited). There are also coloured dice that will determine the question you need to answer. To play this game, you need to take turns and answer questions. One person asks and another one answers. If you answer the first question correctly, the card goes back to the deck, and you get a chance to throw the dice again and answer the second, WEDGE question. If you answer correctly, you can keep the card. If you fail, it is the end of your turn and the card goes back to the deck too. To win this game, you need to collect 6 cards before your friends do.
Play On-the-go
What makes this game so great is the fact that you can play this game on the go. Planning a long trip? Well, this game will be a good way to entertain yourself! It doesn’t require a board or a table to play on and comes in a compact and robust case so that you won’t lose any cards. In addition to this, it has unlimited playtime, so you can enjoy this game as long as you want.
If Friends is not the only your all-time favourite TV show, the manufacturer offers a few more quiz games based on a sitcom Big Bang Theory and a horror drama The Walking Dead. For all the movie fans out there, there are Harry Potter and 007 quiz games. A few other topics are available as well.
We consider the Winning Moves Friends Quiz a great choice for film lovers. This quiz will help you determine the biggest Friends fan. Just don’t wager your apartment as Monica and Rachel did.
Additional Info
| Last updated price | £7.13 |
| Stock | In stock |
| ASIN | B0794TLDLD |
What Are Board Games for Adults?
A board game has always been a favourite source of entertainment for many people. Even in ancient times, long before the PC and console games, it was one of the main fun and exciting activities during gatherings.
As the name suggests, this kind of tabletop game is usually played with the help of the board. Hence, such a famous game as chess is considered a board game too. The board itself is not enough, so the set of a game usually comes with additional cards, tiles and figures.
The aim of any board game is to keep you interested and focused, as well as to make your creative juices flowing. There's a variety of board games to fit the preferences of different users. You can play strategies, cooperative, entertaining and role-playing games, and many more. You can also find and take part in board game tournaments if you like.
For our review, we have selected the most interesting games that will appeal not only to kids and teenagers but to adults as well. And if you want to make your parties even more fun to your household, check out our list of the best air hockey tables.
What Features to Compare
Type
When searching for a new board game, take note that there is a huge variety of game types. If you and your friends or family like to have a little workout for your mind and spend evenings wracking your brains, then you should go with strategies. This type is also divided into different kinds like economical strategies, trading strategies, abstract strategies and so on and so forth. Some of them require that every player should come up with a separate strategy for themselves, while cooperative games allow you to team up with your friends and search for the best solution together. If you want a little bit more action, you can choose adventurous, war games or fantasy RPGs. For all the card lovers, the market offers deck-building options and card collecting games. And, of course, there are simple games just for fun like guessing games, associative games, secret identity games, party games and the like.
Number of players
The other feature that makes board games stand out from each other is the fact that every game is designed for a different number of players. Starting off with single-player games, the number of players can go up to dozens of people. The most common number of people that can participate in gameplay is from 2 to 6 people, which we consider to be enough for a family or friends' gathering.
Duration
Taking into consideration a huge number of board game types, we can conclude that all of them vary in complexity and, thus, have different durations. If you are playing a simple guessing game, you are free to stop it wherever you want. Yet, when you choose a complicated strategy with a lot of players that requires memorising lots of details, you need to be ready that it will take you at least one hour. The playtime of an average board game varies from 30 to 45 minutes. Though, you can find some games that have unpredictable playtime: depending on the decisions you make, you can finish it in 10 minutes or keep playing for a few hours. And, lastly, there are a few infinite games that have no particular end, so you can continue one gameplay until you get bored of it.
Recommended age
Even though our selection of games is intended mostly for adults, there are some options that can be interesting for people of all ages. Take note that some games may have age restrictions due to the events they describe. Also, some educational board games or strategies have limitations since they require a certain level of knowledge and may be too hard for children or teenagers.
Did you know?
The history of board games goes way back in ancient times. Vikings, Egyptians and ancient Asians came up with different games to keep them entertained. There is a great variety of such examples, but we want to tell you about a few of the most exciting ones.
Mancala
Mancala is considered to be one of the oldest games. Technically, it is not a single game but a collective name for a group of games. Its history goes 5 to 7 thousand years back. These games were played all over Egypt, Siria and even in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. The point of this game was to move stones around the holes to capture the opponent’s stones and collect as many pieces as possible. There were special boards for playing this game. But what made this game so popular among ancient people is the fact that they didn’t have to carry the board and stones with them. People could simply dig holes in the ground and collect small stones wherever they were. As we mentioned before, mancala is a collective name for groups of games. Even though all of them had a similar concept, there were some minor differences between them, like the number of holes or stones. Also, each folk had a different name for it.
The Royal Game of Ur
The other extremely old game was found during the excavations in the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The board for this game consisted of 2 rectangular pieces with a different amount of squares and was connected with a little bridge. This game holds a title of one of the first games ever created. Its point was to move your chip along the route on the board faster than your opponent. The number of moves you could make was determined by throwing dice.
Senet
Probably the most well-known game from the ancient world is Senet. Played by Egyptians, this game was found in many pharaoh’s tombs. The gaming set consisted of a board with a locker that was meant for storing the gaming figures. It was the first game that used not flat chips but complex carved figures that resemble modern chess. Unfortunately, the exact rules of the game did not survive to our days, yet there were a few notes about Senet in ancient manuscripts that helped the scientists reconstruct the rules. Now, there are a few ways you can play this educational game. A beautiful Senet set is now a fairly popular souvenir in modern Egypt.
Go
Go is one of a very few ancient games that stays popular up to these days. It originated in China approximately 2,500 years ago. Go is a strategy that resembles checkers and is played with flat chips. The game is suitable for two players. The main task is to cover a bigger territory on the board with your chips than your opponent.
As you can see, board games have been bringing people fun for long years. So, if you are looking for a new hobby to pick up, playing board games will be a great choice.