What Next: Cooperative Adventure Board Game | Which Path Will You Pick?

Product Information

However, our testing sessions aren't just about determining whether something is enjoyable or not. We focus on component quality, art, and value for money too. In addition, how does it compare to what came before? Will it draw you into the story it's telling (if there is one), or does it provide a twist on established conventions? These are all elements we consider when testing products. After all, it has to be special if it wants a chance of getting onto a list of the best board games.

You don't like pressure: Tensions run high in Pandemic (you are saving the world, after all), so anyone that doesn't like pressure in games won't enjoy this one. It's a gripping but intense experience. How it works: As the name would suggest, Villainous revolves around classic baddies getting their way - Jafar wants to control Genie, Prince John is trying to amass a fortune, and so on. Think of it like a 'what if' scenario, where the antagonists finally get their way. You can even paint the miniatures in the game to give your set a unique look and feel. At its core, the game is all about gaining points for victories, losing warriors in glorious battles and completing quests – it’s all good, clean, violent fun. Blood Rage, as you’d probably guess from the title, is all about conflict between the rival players, and it’s immensely entertaining leading your clan to honour and acclaim in the name of Odin. Indeed it’s clearly written as such, with all three adventures adopting a tone of wry comedy, full of silly ideas and showpiece moments. But there’s plenty to enjoy for all ages, from nods to popular franchises to the occasional hidden gag for adults. It’s hard to imagine anyone feeling self-conscious reading out the text since everyone is in on the joke.

The challenge comes from some clever optical illusions. Icons are jumbled up, resized and just generally hard to identify at speed on the circular cards – so you can spend ages staring at them thinking there’s no match to be seen. Then you spot it with a whoop of joy and scrabble to claim the point before anyone else. You want something easy: Want to avoid raising your blood pressure? It's probably better to stay away from this one - part of the fun in Pandemic is that it forces you to strategize on the fly as you work to manage a constantly-evolving situation. How it works: Much like the Redwall novels, each player commands a tribe of anthropomorphic creatures that must fight to control the forest's clearings (in practical terms, that means collecting 30 'Victory Points'). The base game gives you control of four factions: the 'Marquise de Cat' that must cement their rule by putting down rebellion, feudal birds who operate via espionage, an insurgency of 'peasant' animals (mice and hedgehogs) called the Woodland Alliance, and an adventuring racoon who sneaks around the board. Each one has its own unique playstyle, and although that's a lot to take in, it encourages you to think creatively and dream up wild strategies.

Sure, its theme hits closer to home nowadays. But there's something cathartic about giving a pandemic the boot… even if it's only in this tabletop world of tokens and cards. Gameplay: All those special powers make the game delightfully unpredictable. Seeing as 51 alien species are included in the base set, there's almost always something new to see, learn, or overcome. You never get a chance to rest on your laurels as a result, and different matchups require different strategies. Simply put, it's energizing. What you need to know: The odds are against you from the start in Pandemic, but that's the beauty of it. This co-op epic is never less than thrilling, and it doesn't feel hopeless either. Despite being tasked with curing a clutch of super-diseases, good communication (not to mention the ability to think on your feet) will see you through. Want satisfying cooperative board games for your collection? This should be at the top of the pile. This leaves you with a difficult choice: research a cure by collecting cards (at which point the game stops placing infections for that particular disease), or remove infections at a local level so you can keep things under control.

The verdict: Single-player board games

Not that this is only for kids, of course. It'll be a hit with all ages, and is a great warm-up game before moving on to something with more depth. Monopoly isn't far behind, though. Over the course of its lifetime (some 80-odd years), it's managed to sell well over 200 million copies. That's impressive by any standard.

What you need to know: Ever wonder how long you'd last in a horror movie? Betrayal at House on the Hill lets you find out. Setting players loose in a haunted mansion that's quite literally out to get them, it's drenched with tension. It's also unpredictable enough that you're never sure what's going to happen next. Sure, not all of the scenarios are created equal. But if you're hunting down something more mature in terms of both narrative and gameplay, this is one of the top board games for adults. You want a game for very young kids: Most will be able to get a grip on Sushi Go without much fuss, but younger children may struggle to think ahead enough. It relies on a basic understanding of math as well, so keep that in mind before buying for very small members of the family.In much the same way, another title that's turning heads is Apiary. Because this is a game from the publisher of Wingspan about space bees, that's probably not surprising. This is followed by Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, an adaptation of the classic team game where your actions have consequences that carry over from session to session. Actually, those 'legacy' mechanics seem to be a common feature for many of the top board games according to users; fantasy dungeon-crawler Gloomhaven comes in third, for example, and that one sees you working your way through an ever-evolving story. How it works: Casting you as one of two traders in the eponymous city of Jaipur, your challenge is to earn an invite to the maharaja's court by being the best businessperson in all the land. How you do that is up to you though, and there's plenty of room to experiment. Gameplay: Pandemic's balance of risk and reward keeps it at the top spot as one of the best board games overall. Is it better to keep disease levels down so that they don't spread from city to city in the short term, or should you play the long game and go all-in on developing cures? There's no right answer.

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ What you need to know: If you have a soft spot for fantasy and love nothing more than poring over ye-olde maps while dreaming of adventure, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion should be on your radar. This dungeon-crawling epic taps into all that with branching storylines more commonly seen in the best tabletop RPGs, and it makes skilful use of 'Legacy' mechanics where the consequences of your actions carry across from one session to the next. The only thing you do know is that one of the game's scenarios will eventually begin, dictated by the rooms and items you've drawn. This mission turns your allies - or the mansion itself - against you. Seeing as both sides are given secret objectives to follow, the result is an anxious yet exhilarating race against time.

There's a catch, of course, which is that many dice faces are blank and you can re-roll these… at the risk of losing the lot. If you ever come up with all blank faces from a roll, your turn is over. If not, you get to spend your faces and, once you've started adding new dice to your pool, many of them come with special abilities that you can look to combine to give yourself the biggest boost. Basically? Anything you see here is the result of multiple playtests with a variety of players, not to mention extensive hands-on time with the product in general. If we haven't played it half to death and don't still love it, it's not getting in.