Top 20 Best Board Games of the Century (So Far)

it's good you just ranked it a little bit too low welcome to watch Mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 best board games of the century so far where players will explore the open Waters while expanding their influence exploit resources and attempt to eliminate each other's Providence for this list we're looking at the best tabletop experiences released between the years 2000 and 2023. which modern games are your favorites let us know in the comments below number 20. power grid considering how dominant Euro style games have been this Century it's fitting that we start off with a game that originated in Germany can you build a pattern it with good works manage Market scarcity and build the power plants that people need or will you be the leading cause of blackouts an updated version of finkenschlag a game that utilized crayons power grid sees players building a network of connection cities by acquiring power plants and resources the game features resource Gathering and expansion mechanics reminiscent of popular European games like Catan only one house can be placed per City it costs a number shown on the connector plus 10 to place the first house it combines these features with economic structures that hearken back to American Classics like Monopoly it's wide appeal and mechanics make it unsurprising that the game remains popular around the world number 19. Sushi go party based on the rather simple deck building card game Sushi Go the game was expanded to become a full board game by including something most people would consider essential to board games namely boards the family card game with the menu items you know and love party retains all of the charm from the original keeping the cute Sushi characters and fun style while making it a more complete experience sushigo is a fun card game for two to five people where players try to score the most points by playing different Sushi cards despite expanding to a board game with slots for different courses and a new dessert mechanic the game doesn't lose its signature Simplicity Sushi go party works as a great introduction for younger players looking to get into the hobby or for a more relaxed party game after finishing three rounds players score their pudding cards and add those points to their total score number 18 King of Tokyo drawing inspiration from Japan's classic Kaiju films this dice rolling game sees players taking on the role of giant monsters attacking the titular City while vying for dominance while a number of the games on this list can get fairly complex King of Tokyo is a simple and fast-paced experience this makes the game easy to pick up for beginners and requires less time investment now that you've used your dice you must enter Tokyo if there's an open space erding one Victory point a typical game will usually last around half an hour if you're still inside Tokyo at the beginning of your turn you receive two bonus points and that's the game while the Casual nature of Tokyo is great players who wish to change things up can try the spin-off King of New York this new experience features a larger board that allows monsters from the original to stomp onto the new game number 17 dice Forge this game takes the core idea of deck building games and applies it to a core element of classic board games rolling dice players dice can give them gold sun and moon shards or victory points with each player starting with two identical dice at the game's beginning over the course of the game players are able to use gold to upgrade their die faces and spend shards to earn rewards and bonuses overspend on Victory Point dice too early and you'll be unable to afford necessary upgrades but do it too late and you'll have too few points to claim victory dice Forge manages to throw back to classic games that rely on chance while being modern in terms of strategy providing a perfect balance number 16 Agricola once upon a time not so long ago I saw a gathering of very strange fellows at the lookout if you're in the mood for something more in-depth than your casual game night might provide then you need look no further than Agricola a favorite among the more devoted board game enthusiasts Agricola is frequently praised for the way it uses its theme to tie into the mechanical complexity of the game starting as a poor farming couple living in a Hut in the 17th century the game gives you an opportunity to grow and expand into an agricultural Empire however doing so is no easy task and many beginning Gamers may find the game punishing and unforgiving seasoned veterans on the other hand are handsomely rewarded by mastering its immersive gameplay begging the game to be replayed again and again and if it's not true Lookout couldn't have made it up any better number 15 seafall any discussion of modern board games would be incomplete without the mention of Legacy games in seafall and other Legacy games the game is meant to be played a number of times over the course of weeks or more players command two ships while attempting to achieve a predetermined amount of Glory during each game each gameplay has ramifications for future sessions and changes the board itself this long-form style of play lends itself perfectly to more epic and Grand scale contests and an overarching narrative that the players are able to manipulate the game which mirrors the age of Discovery sees players slowly revealing more and more of the vast ocean over roughly 15 games players must make difficult choices propelling The Narrative forward and getting one of them closer to a Victorious campaign if you get stuck for free you're gonna pay for it later number 14 machikoro while many of the games on this list come from Europe or North America machicoto hails from Japan and the city building game is a great entry point for those curious about board games in Machi Koro players will use coins to buy additional buildings that they will place in front of themselves these buildings have abilities that are activated when the dice are rolled it features features engine building mechanics that are often fixtures of more detailed experiences but delivered in an easy to learn system its quick pace and play time make it perfect for game nights with friends or family players will gather resources after dice are rolled and use them to construct buildings and eventually landmarks the game ends when a player is able to complete all their landmarks as soon as a player has completed their fourth landmark they immediately win the game and as a reminder you do not have to complete them in orders number 13 Atul one thing that might not get talked about enough when discussing board games of this century is how good they often look inspired by Portuguese ceramic tiles Athol is undoubtedly one of the most aesthetically pleasing board games around each player attempts to complete their wall by filling in the variously colored starburst shaped tiles to create a work of abstract art of course there's more to this game than just artwork as players grab tiles and rounds move forward the game becomes more and more intense players who think one two or even three turns ahead will often be rewarded with a beautiful board and enough points to claim victory number 12 seven wonders in Seven Wonders each of the three to seven players takes on the role of an ancient civilization constructing one of the wonders of the world but the historical Flair isn't the only thing that's made this game so memorable its mechanics have been massively influential in the years since its release and each stage must be built in order must have the resources and place one card from your hand under the Wonder to show it is built many game developers have cited it as popularizing Drafting and simultaneous play both of which are trends that helped shape gaming in the 21st century single best thing about this game is that it scales very well to the number of players as almost all actions are simultaneous one of the games it inspired was its own spin-off Seven Wonders duel which was designed for two players and rivaled the original in popularity number 11 Forbidden Island I mean they should make it very clear that the island was forbidden the gaming hobby has changed greatly in the 21st century with most games becoming less directly competitive or in many cases Cooperative forbidden island is one of these great co-op games for a number of reasons but one of the most important reasons is the diverse roles players take on in a race against the clock each player chooses a unique role with distinct Powers they work together to collect all of the Island's Treasures before it sinks into the ocean and they escape on a waiting helicopter we're a team of adventurers trying to recover these four magical relics from this island that is sinking into the sea the game proved popular enough to receive a number of sequels the first Forbidden Desert keeps the core mechanics but gives players new role options and new challenges number 10. carcassone easily the oldest game on our list Carcassonne was one of the so-called Euro games that helped reshape the hobby into what we know today many board game enthusiasts credit Carcassonne as being a Gateway game for them and in fact helped usher in the Golden Age of gaming on a player's turn they will place a tile by drawing one from any stack and placing it face up on the board to continue the landscape unlike many older American games which could go Untold hours into the night and eliminate players Carcassonne features quick gameplay where no one is knocked out while not the first game to introduce these elements the game helped popularize many things now commonplace in games these include no rolling dice a historically inspired setting and of course the iconic meeple this award-winning two to five player game is a modern classic number 9. Scythe Scythe takes the style and feel of the hugely popular strategy war games of the 20th century and blends them with the modern play and feel of Euro games much like its style of play The Game's setting a diesel Punk alternate history of 1920s Europe combines the old with the new that setting known as Europa has players engage in combat to take their Rivals territory and resources using Max represented by some impressive Miniatures in fact the game features a huge amount of pieces cards boards and any number of other goodies that make it one of the most extraordinary games to come out of a successful Kickstarter campaign number eight code names the Espionage themed party game hits two teams against each other in an attempt to correctly guess a number of code words using Clues from their respective spymasters red and blue teams will alternate guessing words but a wrong guess can spell disaster so their spymaster puts a blue agent card over it and they can keep going guessing the opponent's card gives the other team a point and worse still guessing the Assassin card means an immediate loss this makes communication between teammates absolutely key as those on the same page can rack up huge success while those not in sync can quickly fall behind hope is not lost For Those Behind however as there isn't a limit to guesses but the more you guess the more you risk making the game a clever Balancing Act [Applause] number seven welcome to from French publisher blue cocker welcome to is a roll and write game that swaps out the rolling for card flipping each player receives their own sheet and play happens simultaneously each turn you'll be flipping these decks of cards and every player will be scribbling down one of these numbers during each turn three number cards are paired with three plan cards that possess unique abilities these abilities give players a number of different options to accrue points the more pulls you have the more points you dig out of the ground players must also be careful to lead themselves options for any number that may come up later in the game or they could rapidly lose points of course no game is truly great without a great premise and aesthetic while machikoro perfectly captured the feel of constructing a Japanese City Welcome 2 is an Ode to 50s Americana architecture if you like your puzzles profound but also just really a attractive and want to stare at a suburb that evolves in complexity number six betrayal at house on the hill what was hidden inside that skeleton a blood dagger in a much different take on Cooperative gameplay betrayal has players making their way through a classic haunted house let's go upstairs go for it all right one two three drawing inspiration from horror icons like Vincent Price HP Lovecraft and many many others the game features dozens of frightening haunts you're gonna open this door here why don't you go ahead open it cool it's the charred room and there's another Omen this means that almost every playthrough is a new experience there's also one final twist to the scary experience the existence of a traitor one of the players chosen at random will often betray the group how long did he is going to be the trader I'm calling it since the true culprit remains a mystery knowing who to trust can be nearly impossible with a new scenario and horror plot with each new game betrayal is one of the most replayable experiences on our list number five pandemic while its title may hit a little close to home these days it's impossible to deny the impact this Cooperative game has had take one of the stations and then place it on the board in Atlanta which is the home to the Center for Disease Control and prevention instead of competing against one another each player takes on a specific role to help stem the tide of four diseases it's only by working together that you can prevent an outbreak in this way each game of pandemic will start with a different variety of diseases that need treatment on the board a legacy version of the game allows players to enjoy a much longer experience that's played over many sessions events will provide you with useful effects and do not use up any of your actions when played and then after they're used you'll place them into the discard pile this update helped popularize the Legacy format multiple seasons of pandemic Legacy have been released and have had no small role in Legacy style games meteoric rise in popularity number four terraforming Mars when it comes to highly complex board games balancing an abundance of roles and options with exciting gameplay is easier said than done but terraforming Mars manages to expertly walk that line unlike a number of complicated games from the past that received a reputation for being tedious terraforming Mars holds players attention from the start and never lets up while players are all working together to make Mars a livable planet they remain pitted against each other by seeing who can make the biggest impact and make a huge profit the game ends once the Martian landscape has been significantly altered increasing the oceans raising the temperature and putting enough oxygen in the atmosphere to make the planet livable number three Lords of waterdeep fans of Dungeons and Dragons will be familiar with the city of waterdeep for those unfamiliar it's a sprawling beautiful and dangerous city where Many Adventures have begun repel sea Rays yep and sea rays are attacking the ship of the harbor this is not good but I'm going to drive them back with my Warfare adventurers typically take on quests given to them by the shadowy figures that control the city known as the Lords of waterdeep there is a crime wave in Water Deep guys and I am going to have to take two thieves put them in my Tavern but rather than being a character setting off on a campaign this game has players taking control of the titular Lords and sending off adventurers to do their bidding well I wasn't going to talk about this but my main thing oh it's the best Quest ever was to domesticate owl Bears while the game is certain to be rewarding for d d fans no knowledge of the RPG game is needed to enjoy this strategy game filled with Intrigue I good job though declare you the Lord of waterdeep number two wingspan serving as the most recent addition to our list wingspan is a perfect representation of modern board games there are four actions in wingspan playbirds get food lay eggs and draw bird cards it's not overly complex or too simple wingspan strikes a perfect balance which makes it great both for experienced board game players and those new to the table take one of your action cubes okay and you're gonna place it above where the bird goes utilizing card Drafting and dice rolling the game sees players trying to score points in a wide variety of ways more birds on a row means more powerful effects and more Brown abilities activate keep playing until four rounds are over this allows for all kinds of strategies wingspan also just happens to be one of the best looking games out there it features impressive artwork A Unique aesthetic and even scientifically accurate facts for the dozens of birds featured in the game if you're playing a multiplayer game you'll see a lot to see all the different pieces of the game happen just as it walks people through their first four turns before we continue be sure to subscribe to our Channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one ticket to ride learning the rules of this railroad themed game is incredibly easy but mastering the strategy is anything but the route that I got in the beginning was Portland and Nashville which is east west and Winnipeg to Houston while points can be gained by traveling between any two adjacent cities players need to complete route tickets to earn enough points to claim victory I choo choo choose to go from Winnipeg to Helena all right so that is uh seven points over the course of the game players can take on more route tickets to earn more points but that strategy comes with a risk any routes not completed count against the player's overall score the person with the longest route gets 10 bonus points I have played so many games where that is the deciding factor in who wins the game and as the board fills up Roots become increasingly difficult to complete although the game has spawned countless imitators and a slew of spin-offs the original has unquestionably earned its spot at the top my experience from start to finish cards I don't think I can do that maybe I can do that trains trains trains trains trains trains not noticing that Colin has a million train did you enjoy this video check out these other clips from WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 144,579

Keywords: best board games, best board games 2000s, best board games 2010s, best board games of the century, best board games of the decade, best boardgames, best modern board games, board game of the year, board games, board games for adults, boardgames, card games, games, list, lords of waterdeep, mojo, pandemic, strategy board games, tabletop, tabletop games, ticket to ride, top 10, watch mojo, watchmojo, watchmojo game, wingspan

Id: ssLHe5Xped0

Length: 18min 24sec (1104 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 04 2023