Boardgame recommendations for boring rainy days
by Andrew Bowman
We are now into the rainy spring season, a time where you are stuck inside, sometimes with nothing to do. One activity people often jump to is pulling out a board game for a few hours of fun, but some people are not fans of these games. This is probably because they haven’t been playing the right games and have only tried tiring and boring games like Monopoly, Risk, or Life. Even those who have taken the next step to games like Catan or Ticket to Ride have only scratched the surface of what board gaming has to offer. So let me give you a shortlist of recommendations to start you on your board gaming adventure.
I am recommending these games on a variety of criteria, in an attempt to recommend games with a diverse variety of difficulty and length, and also games for a variety of player counts. These are the four metrics I will consider when selecting which games to include in this list. The first three I made sure I had a range of options and I also enjoy all of the games I recommend below.
Game Length
Game Difficulty
Play Size
Personal preference
Price
7 Wonders (2010) - Designed by Antonie Bauza
Elements-
Medium length
From 3 to 7 players (with 2 player variant & 8 players with expansion)
Very strategic
Easy to learn and hard to master
$45 and about $25 for each expansion
7 Wonders is a French card drafting and tableau-building game. For those not familiar with board game lingo, a drafting game is one in which players take turns choosing cards. In this case, you have a hand of seven cards and the main play of the game is choosing a card to build and then passing your hand to the player on your left or right depending on the round. Once you choose a card, you add it to your Wonder board, which is one of the ancient wonders of the world. Through these cards, you develop your society with blue cards which represent great art constructions like a statue or palace, green cards, which represent scientific achievements, and many more. With such a simple formula, 7 Wonders manages to be consistently engaging because every new decision is as difficult as the last. The fact that the game usually takes less than 1 hour if everybody knows what they are doing is just icing on the cake.
7 Wonders is probably my most played game ever, firstly because it is extremely replayable, as every game is completely different from the last, and secondly because of all of the expansions you are able to get for the game. The expansion Leaders add ancient historical leaders that you can enlist to run your society and the expansion Cities adds black cards which are purchased with coins rather than resources. One thing I love about the expansions is how they allow you to modulate the game. You can strip back to the original game for a quick and light game or throw in Leaders, Cities, Armada, and additional wonders to have the strategic depth rival even the densest Euro games.
7 Wonders is a must-own for anyone wanting to get into board gaming, and also a great game for playing with your family instead of suffering through a game of Monopoly again.
Patchwork (2014)- Designed by Uwe Rosenberg
Elements-
Short game
2 player only
Strategic
Very easy to learn
$30
Patchwork is a very unique game from the master of Euro games Uwe Rosenberg. But unlike a typical Euro game, Patchwork is small and concise, with only a few rules rather than the 40-page manuals of other Rosenberg games. In the game, players select patches from a huge ring of different-sized pieces and purchase them with buttons. Each piece costs a certain amount of buttons and time. When you spend time, you move ahead on the time track, and whoever is lower on the track takes turns until they aren’t lower than the other player. It is a deceptively intelligent game as the first time I played I thought I was doing great until the game ended and both my opponent and I ended with negative points. This is a game you can play with anyone, from an eight-year-old to your grandparents and it never feels unbalanced. Of all the two-player games I’ve played, this one is definitely the kindest, rather than the aggressive one-upping of a typical 1v1 game. This game is fun even when you are losing. I would recommend this game to anyone who needs a game that only requires one other person to play and isn’t looking for an intense competition but just an enjoyable time.
Scythe (2016)- Designed by Jamie Stegmaier
Elements-
Medium to long game
1-5 players (7 players with expansion)
Very strategic
Difficult to learn
$70
Scythe is American board game designer Jamie Stegmaier’s masterpiece. This is probably my second most played game after Seven Wonders as I played it weekly for more than a year and with that said, I still don’t think I’m that good at Scythe. In the game, you play as one of five factions, though you can get up to four more through various expansions. Your faction will then be matched with one of five boards (seven with expansions). There is also the main game board covered with beautifully illustrated hexes that denote the different resources that can be produced in that space. You will compete against the other factions to place stars, which are gotten by completing certain actions enough times on your game board. There are also opportunities to explore the map with your character, workers, and mechs or even fight the other factions. Once all the players are familiar with the rules, which can take some time, Scythe becomes a surprisingly quick game, clocking consistently under two hours. If you are looking to take the next step in your board game adventure and are willing to put in the time and effort to learn the game that Scythe is an incredibly rewarding investment, it also has expansions and even a legacy and solo version to keep things interesting.
Those are my few recommendations for this rainy season. Hopefully, you were able to find a game that piqued your interest. Board games can be great fun--you just have to find the right game and the right people. So next time someone pulls out Monopoly, maybe suggest one of these instead.