Easy board games

1. 

   Kingdomino

   👥 2–4 · best 2–4 · ⏱ 15–25 min · 1.2/5 weight · ★ 7.2 BGG

   Kingdomino is a tile-laying game in which players take the role of monarchs expanding their kingdoms by claiming and arranging lands. Over the course of the game, players build a compact kingdom from forests, lakes, wheat fields, grasslands, swamps, and mines, carefully connecting matching terrain types while planning for valuable crown symbols that increase the prestige of their territories. Each round, players place the domino they selected on the previous turn, following placement rules that require at least one matching terrain connection (or connection to the starting castle tile).

2. 

   Ticket to Ride

   👥 2–5 · best 4 · ⏱ 30–60 min · 1.8/5 weight · ★ 7.3 BGG

   With elegantly simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route. "The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket – each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get additional Destination Tickets," says Ticket to Ride author, Alan R.

3. 

   Pandemic

   👥 2–4 · best 4 · ⏱ 45 min · 2.4/5 weight · ★ 7.4 BGG

   In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand. The game board depicts several major population centers on Earth. On each turn, a player can use up to four actions to travel between cities, treat infected populaces, discover a cure, or build a research station. A deck of cards provides the players with these abilities, but sprinkled throughout this deck are Epidemic!

4. 

   Carcassonne

   👥 2–5 · best 2–3 · ⏱ 30–45 min · 1.9/5 weight · ★ 7.3 BGG

   Carcassonne is a tile placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of southern French landscape represented on it. The tile might feature a city, a road, a cloister, grassland or some combination thereof, and it must be placed adjacent to tiles that have already been played, in such a way that cities are connected to cities, roads to roads, et cetera. Having placed a tile, the player can then decide to place one of their meeples in one of the areas on it: in the city as a knight, on the road as a robber, in the cloister as a monk, or in the field as a farmer.

5. 

   Dominion

   👥 2–4 · best 3 · ⏱ 30 min · 2.3/5 weight · ★ 7.5 BGG

   "You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea.

6. 

   Takenoko

   👥 2–4 · best 3 · ⏱ 45 min · 2.0/5 weight · ★ 7.1 BGG

   A long time ago at the Japanese Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor offered a giant panda bear as a symbol of peace to the Japanese Emperor. Since then, the Japanese Emperor has entrusted his court members (the players) with the difficult task of caring for the animal by tending to his bamboo garden. In Takenoko, the players will cultivate land plots, irrigate them, and grow one of the three species of bamboo (Green, Yellow, and Pink) with the help of the Imperial gardener to maintain this bamboo garden.

7. 

   Camel Up

   👥 2–8 · best 4–5 · ⏱ 20–30 min · 1.5/5 weight · ★ 6.9 BGG

   In Camel Up, up to eight players bet on five racing camels, trying to suss out which will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. The earlier you place your bet, the more you can win — should you guess correctly, of course. Camels don't run neatly, however, sometimes landing on top of another one and being carried toward the finish line. Who's going to run when?

8. 

   Sushi Go!

   👥 2–5 · best 4 · ⏱ 15 min · 1.2/5 weight · ★ 6.9 BGG

   In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you! Sushi Go!

9. 

   7 Wonders

   👥 2–7 · best 4–5 · ⏱ 30 min · 2.3/5 weight · ★ 7.5 BGG

   You are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World. Gather resources, develop commercial routes, and affirm your military supremacy. Build your city and erect an architectural wonder which will transcend future times. 7 Wonders lasts three ages. In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player. Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways.

10. 

    Istanbul

    👥 2–5 · best 4 · ⏱ 40–60 min · 2.6/5 weight · ★ 7.4 BGG

    There's hustle and bustle at Istanbul's grand bazaar as merchants and their assistants rush through the narrow alleys in their attempt to be more successful than their competitors. Everything must be well organized: wheelbarrows must be filled with goods at the warehouses, then swiftly transported by the assistants to various destinations. Your goal? Be the first merchant to collect a certain number of rubies. In Istanbul, you lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action.

11. 

    Codenames

    👥 2–8 · best 6–8 · ⏱ 15 min · 1.3/5 weight · ★ 7.4 BGG

    Two rival spymasters know the secret identities of 25 agents. Their teammates know the agents only by their codenames — single-word labels like "disease", "Germany", and "carrot". Yes, carrot. It's a legitimate codename. Each spymaster wants their team to identify their agents first...without uncovering the assassin by mistake. In Codenames, two teams compete to see who can make contact with all of their agents first. Lay out 25 cards, each bearing a single word. The spymasters look at a card showing the identity of each card, then take turns clueing their teammates.

12. 

    Sushi Go Party!

    👥 2–8 · best 4–5 · ⏱ 20 min · 1.3/5 weight · ★ 7.2 BGG

    Sushi Go Party! expands Sushi Go! with a party platter of mega maki, super sashimi, and endless edamame. You still earn points by picking winning sushi combos, but now you can customize each game by choosing à la carte from a menu of more than twenty delectable dishes. What's more, up to eight players can join in on the sushi-feast. Let the good times roll! —description from the publisher

13. 

    Ticket to Ride: Europe

    👥 2–5 · best 4 · ⏱ 30–60 min · 1.9/5 weight · ★ 7.4 BGG

    Ticket to Ride: Europe takes you on a new train adventure across Europe. From Edinburgh to Constantinople and from Lisbon to Moscow, you'll visit great cities of turn-of-the-century Europe. Like the original Ticket to Ride, the game remains elegantly simple, can be learned in 5 minutes, and appeals to both families and experienced gamers. Ticket to Ride: Europe is a complete, new game and does not require the original version. More than just a new map, Ticket to Ride: Europe features brand new gameplay elements.

14. 

    Dixit

    👥 3–6 · best 5–6 · ⏱ 30 min · 1.2/5 weight · ★ 7.1 BGG

    Each turn in Dixit, one player is the storyteller who chooses one of the six cards in their hand, then expresses an idea, with sounds or words, that is reflected on that card's image, and places the card face down on the playing surface. Each other player then selects the card that best matches that expression, and passes the selected card to the storyteller, face down. The storyteller shuffles all the cards together, then turns them over to reveal them. Each player other than the storyteller then secretly guesses which card belongs to the storyteller.

15. 

    Machi Koro

    👥 2–4 · best 4 · ⏱ 30 min · 1.5/5 weight · ★ 6.5 BGG

    Welcome to the city of Machi Koro. You've just been elected Mayor. Congrats! Unfortunately, the citizens have some pretty big demands: jobs, a theme park, a couple of cheese factories, and maybe even a radio tower. A tough proposition since the city currently consists of a wheat field, a bakery, and a single die. Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and steal from your neighbors' coffers.

16. 

    Coup

    👥 2–6 · best 5 · ⏱ 15 min · 1.4/5 weight · ★ 6.8 BGG

    You are head of a family in an Italian city-state, a city run by a weak and corrupt court. You need to manipulate, bluff and bribe your way to power. Your object is to destroy the influence of all the other families, forcing them into exile. Only one family will survive... In Coup, you want to be the last player with influence in the game, with influence being represented by face-down character cards in your playing area.

17. 

    Catan

    👥 3–4 · best 4 · ⏱ 60–120 min · 2.3/5 weight · ★ 6.9 BGG

    In CATAN (formerly The Settlers of Catan), players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities and roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine which resources the island produces. Players build structures by 'spending' resources (sheep, wheat, wood, brick and ore) which are represented by the relevant resource cards; each land type, with the exception of the unproductive desert, produces a specific resource: hills produce brick, forests produce wood, mountains produce ore, fields produce wheat, and pastures produce sheep.

18. 

    Magic Maze

    👥 1–8 · best 4 · ⏱ 15 min · 1.7/5 weight · ★ 6.8 BGG

    Description from the publisher: After being stripped of all their possessions, a mage, a warrior, an elf, and a dwarf are forced to go rob the local Magic Maze shopping mall for all the equipment necessary for their next adventure. They agree to map out the labyrinth in its entirety first, then find each individual’s favorite store, and then locate the exit. In order to evade the surveillance of the guards who eyed their arrival suspiciously, all four will pull off their heists simultaneously, then dash to the exit.

19. 

    Colt Express

    👥 2–6 · best 5–6 · ⏱ 40 min · 1.8/5 weight · ★ 7.0 BGG

    On the 11th of July, 1899 at 10 a.m., the Union Pacific Express has left Folsom, New Mexico, with 47 passengers on board. After a few minutes, gunfire and hurrying footsteps on the roof can be heard. Heavily armed bandits have come to rob honest citizens of their wallets and jewels. Will they succeed in stealing the suitcase holding the Nice Valley Coal Company's weekly pay, despite it having been placed under the supervision of Marshal Samuel Ford?

20. 

    Forest Shuffle

    👥 2–5 · best 2 · ⏱ 40–60 min · 2.2/5 weight · ★ 7.5 BGG

    In Forest Shuffle, players compete to gather the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thus creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna. To start, each player has six cards in hand, with cards depicting either a particular type of tree or two forest dwellers (animal, plant, mushroom, etc.), with these latter cards being divided in half, whether vertically or horizontally, with one dweller in each card half.

21. 

    MicroMacro: Crime City

    👥 1–4 · best 2 · ⏱ 15–45 min · 1.1/5 weight · ★ 7.2 BGG

    Crimes have taken place all over the city, and you want to figure out exactly what's happened, so you'll need to look closely at the giant city map (75 x 110 cm / 29.5 x 43 inches) to find all the hidden information and trace the trails of those who had it in for their foes. MicroMacro: Crime City includes 16 cases for you to solve. Each case includes a number of cards that ask you to find something on the map or uncover where someone has gone or otherwise reveal information relevant to a case.

22. 

    Parks

    👥 1–5 · best 3 · ⏱ 30–60 min · 2.1/5 weight · ★ 7.4 BGG

    PARKS is a celebration of the US National Parks featuring illustrious art from Fifty-Nine Parks. In PARKS, players will take on the role of two hikers as they trek through different trails across four seasons of the year. While on the trail, these hikers will take actions and collect memories of the places your hikers visit. These memories are represented by various resource tokens like mountains and forests. Collecting these memories in sets will allow players to trade them in to visit a National Park at the end of each hike.

23. 

    Ticket to Ride: New York

    👥 2–4 · best 3–4 · ⏱ 10–15 min · 1.3/5 weight · ★ 6.5 BGG

    Ticket to Ride: New York features the familiar gameplay from the Ticket to Ride game series — collect cards, claim routes, draw tickets — but on a scaled-down map of Manhattan that allows you to complete a game in no more than 15 minutes. Each player starts with a supply of 15 taxis, two transportation cards in hand, and one or two destination tickets that show locations in Manhattan (and Brooklyn).

24. 

    Jamaica

    👥 2–6 · best 5–6 · ⏱ 30–60 min · 1.7/5 weight · ★ 6.9 BGG

    After a long career in piracy, Captain Henry Morgan skillfully gets appointed to be Governor of Jamaica. He invites all of his former "colleagues" to join him in his retirement, to enjoy the fruits of their looting with impunity. Each year, in remembrance of the "good old days," Morgan organizes the Great Challenge, a race around the island, and at its end, the Captain with the most gold is declared Grand Winner. The game is played in rounds.

…and more in the deck