Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

board game ideas for adults

41 replies

millypeggyandpandora · 04/11/2022 09:42

Has anybody bought any new board games this year? I bought my 24 year old daughter "Pandemic" last year, which she loved. Anything similiar?


MNHQ Update
This thread is a little old now, but if you've landed here while searching for board game recommendations, our guide to the best board games has been recently updated. With a wide range of options to suit all ages, all games come tried, tested and recommended by Mumsnet users. We hope it's helpful! Flowers

OP posts:
Fivemoreminutes1 · 04/11/2022 10:02

Carcassonne
Risk
Catan
Scotland Yard

BelfastSmile · 04/11/2022 10:05

Ticket to Ride
Wingspan
There are some Pandemic variations and expansions

Or vouchers for a board game café so she can try out some new ones?

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 04/11/2022 10:09

Flashpoint is quite a bit like pandemic in the sense it is cooperative

WeepingSomnambulist · 04/11/2022 10:09

If she liked the cooperative style of play in Pandemic then I absolutely recommend Robinson Crusoe
I collect board games; have more than 100 in my "permanent" collection and trade lots of others, just adding the ones we enjoy most to our keeper collection.
Robinson Crusoe is one of the best. It is great fun but it is also really challenging, you're working as a team but there are so many ways to go. It's never the same twice. Really is a great game.

BIWI · 04/11/2022 10:10

Chameleon
Scrawl

millypeggyandpandora · 04/11/2022 10:21

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will research them all. The voucher for a board game cafe is a great idea, she lives in Shepherd Bush, so there might be some around there.

OP posts:
IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls · 04/11/2022 21:52

.

moonlight1705 · 04/11/2022 21:58

Castles of Burgundy
Lost Cities

Barleysugar86 · 04/11/2022 22:03

Takenoko - beautiful game - you build a garden whilst the panda tries to eat your bamboo

Azul- simple but again very beautiful tile game

7 wonders- this is a sort of early settlers game with cards but very well thought out and put together

Indigo - again very visually pretty, you have to place pieces to build tracks to get the gems back to the edge and score points. Games are maybe ten minutes a time so a quick one but addictive

Mysterium - choosing cards to try to convey an image from a 'ghost'. surprisingly fun.

Bells3032 · 04/11/2022 22:12

If she loves pandemic then reccomend looking at horrified or the captain is dead.

We also enjoy rivals for catan which is a two player.

But vest of all Pandemic legacy season 1 which starts off as the same game but it follows a storyline with changing rules and board and lots of suprise boxes etc as it goes along. Its a limited number of games (12-24 depending on how well you do in it) and its expensive but it's the best board game experience we've ever had. There's also season 2 which is no where near as good and later season 0 which is nearly as good but season 1 is deff the best.

PrunellaMcTat · 04/11/2022 22:17

Oh I love board games.

Azul - absolutely beautiful. Simple math strategy game. Good for 2, 3 or 4 players. Finished in under an hour.

Blokus - Again, a simple math game. Quite quick. Must have 4 players. Takes seconds to learn but every game is different.

Wingspan - Such a beautiful game. Quite complicated. Takes one full game to really get the hang of it. All about birds and trying to breed the best scoring birds according to different criteria in each round.

Iknownothing · 04/11/2022 22:25

Oh great thread - would people recommend pandemic? We love ticket to ride and catan

BelfastSmile · 04/11/2022 22:40

Iknownothing · 04/11/2022 22:25

Oh great thread - would people recommend pandemic? We love ticket to ride and catan

We love Pandemic! It's reasonably complex, so if you're looking for a nice chilled gaming session then it mightn't be the right choice, but if you want something you have to think about, it's good!

BelfastSmile · 04/11/2022 22:42

Bells3032 · 04/11/2022 22:12

If she loves pandemic then reccomend looking at horrified or the captain is dead.

We also enjoy rivals for catan which is a two player.

But vest of all Pandemic legacy season 1 which starts off as the same game but it follows a storyline with changing rules and board and lots of suprise boxes etc as it goes along. Its a limited number of games (12-24 depending on how well you do in it) and its expensive but it's the best board game experience we've ever had. There's also season 2 which is no where near as good and later season 0 which is nearly as good but season 1 is deff the best.

With Pandemic Legacy, can you keep replaying it over and over? Is it like you start at level 1 and then it changes and changes up to level 10, and after that you can only play level 10 again? Or can you go back to level 1? Or is it over once you make it through all the "levels"?

modgepodge · 04/11/2022 22:44

If she likes Harry Potter, hogwarts battle is a great cooperative game. My husband bought it for me 2 years ago, and I got an expansion pack last year and will be asking for another this year!

SantaScribe · 04/11/2022 22:44

"Blokus - Again, a simple math game. Quite quick. Must have 4 players."

We play the 2 player all the time.

Bells3032 · 04/11/2022 22:48

No you can't. It's a 12 month campaign. If you win the month then you go straight to the next month. If you lose you can replay the month but win or lose the second month you move onto the next one. So it you win every game its 12 games and it you lose every game its 24 max. You can't use it again once its played through.

There are a few games you can use the legacy system (ie a storyline and changing rules and board and suprise boxes) that you can continue to use afterwards including my city and I think machi koro which are both very enjoyable.

APurpleSquirrel · 04/11/2022 22:52

Recently played & enjoyed:
Vitaculture
Irish Gauge
Everdell

Also really like Munchkin, Dixit, Throw Throw Burrito; Disney Colour Brain; Betrayal at the House on the Hill.

Squeezedsquash · 04/11/2022 22:53

Another vote for Azul and it’s hexagonal spin off.

i like Kingdomino for a quick simple play.

Bells3032 · 04/11/2022 22:53

Oh and forbidden desert and forbidden Island are also great

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 04/11/2022 22:58

Ticket to ride, splendour

catwithflowers · 05/11/2022 07:51

Splendour is one of my favourites 😊. A bonus is you can also play it with only two players.

lugeforlife · 05/11/2022 08:19

Ahhh lots of our favourites here.

Ticket to ride - my absolute fave (never lost). We do love mysterium too and dixit. There is a lovely expansion pack for dixit as well

Munchkin is fun - my own mother totally buggers me up every time. I like 5 tribes but takes ages to set up. I was really pleasantly surprised by the Harry Potter game - expected it to be a bit shit and had to talk dh into it but it was great. We have Eldrich Horror but only played it once and got it wrong. Meant to be good if played properly.

Will need to look up a couple of these - we get a family game for Christmas so looking for ideas

millypeggyandpandora · 05/11/2022 09:42

Thanks everyone, for so many suggestions!
I looked at some boardgames cafes in London, but I couldn't see any which sold gift vouchers, but I might take her to "Draughts" in Hackney.
I am going for either the expansion game "Pandemic" as she and her boyfriend loved last year's or "Ticket to Ride" London version.
I also just bought her "Mastermind" which is a game I used to play when I was a kid, where you have to work out a code made from pegs. I loved that game!

OP posts:
PhotoDad · 05/11/2022 09:47

Sooooo many choices! My recommendations would depend on; how many people does she normally play games with? and how long does she like games to last?

Here's another vote for Pandemic Legacy Season 1, though. We played it as a family. Also recently finished Season 2.

As there are other boardgamers reading this thread: my family LOVED "The King's Dilemma." It's a legacy game played in fifteen or so 30-minute(ish) bursts, and it was the highlight of our Christmas holidays a couple of years back. Definitely rated PG though, and you need four or five players as it's based on voting and bribery etc.