10 Best Video Games For Board Game Fanatics

Long before the age of video games, any kind of game-based enjoyment that didn’t involve a ball or a stick typically took place on the kitchen table. Board games have been around for thousands of years, with the oldest board game in human history believed to have been invented in the age of ancient Mesopotamia.

While video games have supplanted board games for at-home entertainment to a certain extent, the two paradigms have actually managed to do a decent job of coexisting. Many games are partially inspired by the rules and limitations of board games, while some games are digital board games in themselves.

If you or someone you know generally prefers board games to video games, it may be a little difficult to bridge the gap, but these games might just do it.

The only rule here is that the game has to be board-game-like or be a wholly unique board game in itself. No video game versions of existing board games like Monopoly or Uno.

10. 100% Orange Juice!

A Dice And Card-Based RPG

Plenty of modern board games have opted for more elaborate, hybrid approaches to their materials and rulesets. Some board games are entire RPGs in themselves, utilizing both dice and collectible cards. If you like that kind of game, you’ll enjoy the flavor of 100% Orange Juice.

This game may look simple and cutesy on the surface, but don’t be fooled: it’s a cutthroat battle for supremacy. Every player chooses a character with their own unique board abilities, and you can also customize a deck of cards to mess with the board and other players.

As a gamer, my objective in this game is to gather stars and reach the checkpoints swiftly, but I might encounter random skirmishes involving dice along the way. Even if I’m leading by a significant margin, a single unlucky roll could set me back, causing me to lose a chunk of my stars while my opponents pull ahead.

9. Pummel Party

Like Mario Party But Meaner

When you think of video game board games, one of the first that comes to mind is probably Mario Party, that classic destroyer of friendships. Consider this, though: if you want to play a friendship-ruining board game, why not dispense with any pretense of whimsy and get mean about it?

Pummel Party is Mario Party with the training wheels off, a game where screwing each other over isn’t just encouraged, it’s borderline required. Chuck a beehive at a player’s feet, conjure a wrecking ball out of nowhere, or just blast them in the face with a shotgun; you have to manage health in addition to money and valuables, so be ready to get vicious when necessary.

Between turns, players also engage in traditional mini-games for cash, which is where skill matters a little more than blind chance (but not too much more, of course).

8. Dorfromantik

Build The World A Tile At A Time

One fun thing you can do on a kitchen table is put a jigsaw puzzle together. It’s a simple yet productive activity that keeps you engaged. What if, however, your jigsaw puzzle had a little society growing out of it?

Dorfromantik is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle, if a jigsaw puzzle were procedurally generated and covered with little trees and people. Using a stack of randomly-generated tiles, you’ll gradually piece together biomes and villages to create a piecemeal world of your own.

It’s a very slow-going game by design; much like a jigsaw puzzle, you’re not trying to beat anyone, except perhaps yourself at your previous high scores. It’s just a relaxing experience, something to keep that brain ticking while you enjoy the gradually expanding and evolving landscape of tiles.

7. Wargroove

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Fun fact: the original Risk board game was first developed and sold all the way back in 1957. It goes without saying that games with a world conquest theme have always been popular. If you want to take on the world the strategic way, try Wargroove.

Wargroove is a send-up to the Advance Wars games, trading out that series’ modern military theming with a fantasy sword and sorcery setting. With the unique abilities of your Commander avatar, you’ll lead an army in strategic turn-based combat to forge friendships and conquer enemy nations the world over.

As you liberate lands and break down enemy strongholds, you’ll gain access to newer and stronger units with their own movement and combat styles. Just think of how many pieces there’d be in the box if it was a real board game.

6. Hand Of Fate

Like Playing With A Passive-Aggressive DM

As a gamer, I’ve encountered my fair share of slightly malicious Dungeon Masters (DMs) in tabletop roleplaying games. They seem friendly enough at first, but they always find ways to ambush you when you least expect it, making the game a lot tougher than it needs to be. You know the type I’m talking about!

Hand of Fate empowers you to triumph over a subtly challenging Game Master by demonstrating resilience and perseverance. It achieves this by merging fast-paced action gameplay with intricate board and card mechanics. As you navigate your token across various cards drawn at random, you encounter quests and happenings that help shape your adventure.

In your journey through the Dealer’s realm, fresh cards with influencing traits emerge and get integrated into the activity phases. With a system based on counters, you’ll find it feasible to fend off whatever challenges come your way if you possess the right blend of skill and timing.

5. Inscryption

Like Playing With A Fully-Aggressive DM

As a gamer, if Hand of Fate feels like I’m playing a tabletop game against a DM with a hidden grudge, Inscryption is like I’m squaring off against a DM who openly despises me!

Inscryption is a deceptively robust roguelike with a set of simple rules that can be easily manipulated with careful additions and upgrades to your deck. The path you choose could end up spelling the difference between a supercharged competitive deck and a gruesome death at the hands of your scraggly host.

However, Inscryption is also a puzzle-solving mystery, as you’ll occasionally need to stand up from the table and search your surroundings to uncover vital clues and helpful items. Your host has no hangups about hiding things from you, kind of like playing chess with someone who eats your pieces while you’re not looking.

4. Dokapon! Sword Of Fury

Money Makes It Go ‘Round

If you think that an engaging board game must include an element of unpredictability where players might get surprisingly angry and potentially upset, then you’d likely find the Dokapon series appealing.

Dokapon! Sword of Fury is a remaster of the third game in the series, originally released for the PlayStation. Whether you play the solo story mode or online with friends, the goal of the game is the same: beat up monsters, pillage dungeons, and brazenly burglarize both friends and foes to amass the fattest stacks in the land.

In addition to its Dragon Quest-like fantasy stylings, Dokapon is full of ridiculous events like a sudden appearance from a contract sniper assassin or a visit from the president of pudding. You can also harass other players in bizarre ways, like stealing their name and replacing it with utter nonsense.

3. Into The Breach

Board-Based Mecha Warfare

Not all board games are competitive; some have players working together to defeat a game master-controlled foe. While Into the Breach is a single-player game, it has a similar vibe to these kinds of cooperative board game experiences.

Into the Breach’s campaign places you in the role of a mech pilot on randomly generated turn-based boards to defeat the monstrous Vek. Every board has its own objectives, from defeating a certain number of enemy units to protecting friendly installations like shelters and generators.

In addition to your objectives, you also need to be conscious of the state of the battlefield. Different terrain tiles will affect your movement and combat efficacy, and defense goals will require you to stand your ground with no hope of retreat or backup.

2. Civilization VI

All The World’s A Game

If you enjoy base-building and cultivation games like Catan, perhaps you’d be interested in broadening your scope to a global stage. Who cares about a single farming village when you can be in charge of an entire country?

In Civilization VI, you assume the role of one of history’s prominent figures as they raise their respective country up from a hole in the ground to a shining metropolis.

There’s no single path toward victory against your opponents; you can become a military superpower with unstoppable weapons, unlock the deepest secrets of science to achieve technological superiority, or just make friends with everyone.

It’s not just about building up your own territory and resources; diplomacy is one of the game’s most vital elements. You can’t unilaterally steamroll the world, you need to make deals and compromises with the other global powers, at least until you’re strong enough that you can steamroll them.

1. Tabletop Simulator

All Of The Board Games, All Of Them

If none of these board game-like video games tickle your fancy, it’s entirely possible that the board game of your dreams simply doesn’t exist yet. If you’d rather take the board game horse by the reins, you can do it in Tabletop Simulator.

Tabletop Simulator is an exhaustive resource kit of just about anything you could ever need to build your own virtual board game from scratch. You can make your own rules and select your own pieces, boards, and tiles. You can even deviate from traditional board games to create physics puzzles or miniature race car tracks.

Don’t feel like doing the work yourself? The game has a thriving Steam Workshop where you can download and try modules from millions of other players. You can even play simulated versions of just about any real life board game you can think of, sans copyrighted imagery.

2025-03-16 03:14