17 Board Games Every Adult Needs In Their Life

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1. Forbidden Island

Amazon

Promising review: "If you like cooperative games, this is excellent to have. As the island starts to collapse in a heap toward the end of the game, the tension levels rise and people are on the edge of their seats! The game always ends with voices rising in pitch and tension as cards get turned over." - Ade the DBA

Players: 2 to 4

Price: £16.94 or $10.89

2. We Didn't Playtest This at All

Amazon

Promising review: "This is the dumbest game ever invented. We played it over Christmas for about 17 hours and just simply could not make any sense of it. A banana? You have to have a BANANA? Seriously, when my son the college graduate played the 'You Lose' card and lost, we had to look at the rest of the text on the card which stated 'No, really, you lose.' I lost two games by pointing. Have you ever TRIED to not point? We only stopped playing when we started falling over from fatigue. This game is addicting, stupid, humiliating in the oddest ways and guaranteed to make you question your political views. I have to go, we are going to start playing again." - Jeff B. Erwin

Players: 2 to 15

Price: £14.99 or $12.30

3. Settlers of Catan

Amazon

Promising review: "It's kind of a cross between Risk and Monopoly. But easy to play once you get the basics. Don't try this unless you plan on getting addicted. Your life will forever be altered. You'll find yourself begging strangers to come over to play." - Amazon customer

Players: 3 to 4

Price: £33.71 or $49.00

4. Mysterium

Amazon

Promising review: "One player assumes the role as the ghost and the others as psychics, drawn to the castle to help solve a haunting. The ghost helps the psychics by giving them visions, via picture cards that relate to the aspect of the case they are trying to solve. The psychics must find the past killer, the location and the murder weapon." - @TheRustyMeeple

Players: 2 to 7

Price: £34.97 or $39.99

5. Coup

Amazon

Promising review: "The game lasts 5 to 10 minutes. Players are dealt 2 cards and each card gives you a special ability within the game. The goal is to assassinate and force your opponents to turn over both of their cards. It's hard to find a bluffing game that works with less than 5 people like this does." - Saintly

Players: 2 to 6

Price: £11.51 or $8.59

6. Imhotep: Builder of Egypt

Amazon

Promising review: "You load your building blocks onto boats, then dock them by various projects. You can add your blocks, sail to an advantageous project, or dock your opponents blocks to their disadvantage. Might be my favourite board game. Never the same, lots of strategy." - Amazon
customer

Players: 2 to 4

Price: £31.96 or $26.98

7. Mascarade

Amazon

Promising review: "Mascarade is a game that successfully presents memory, uncertainty, guessing, bluffing, and outright (semi-educated) luck as toys to be shared with your friends. Mascarade is a great investment if you like dynamism, are into bluffing, and find humour in being confused and confusing others." - Daniel Clifford

Players: 2 to 13

Price: £16.99 or $17.47

8. Photosynthesis

Amazon

Promising review: "The best part of the game is deciding where to plant your trees to gather sun from the six spots around the board. You’ll want to look for straight paths to the sun, avoiding your neighbour’s trees that will block your sunlight. Ultimately, you are thinking about the next six spots the sun will be – that can take a lot to think about, making this game better for older kids and adults. The best moves are when you can block your opponent from getting sun, or block them from a key spot in the forest, while also greatly benefiting yourself." - B. Kulczycki

Players: 2 to 4

Price: £37.99 or $31.14

9. Exploding Kittens

Amazon

Promising review: "Players draw cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten causing them to explode, die, and leave the game – unless they can defuse the Kitten with laser pointers, belly rubs, and catnip sandwiches. It's quite easy to catch on and can bring out the most vicious behaviour among competitors." - Draz

Players: 2 to 5

Price: £19.99 or $19.99

10. Mafia the Party Game

Amazon

Promising review: "There are two teams – the Civillians win if they eliminate all the Mafia players and the Mafia wins if they equal or outnumber the Civillians. This game is so much fun for a large group! Something a little different than your usual game." - Amazon

Players: 8 to 38

Price: £10.99 or $11.99

11. Splendor

Amazon

Promising review: "Basically it's a card drafting game where you trade chips for cards. The cards then allow you to acquire higher value cards and gain victory points. Acquire enough of the right cards and you get a visit from a Patron, earning you even more victory points. First person to 15 points, wins. The mechanics are very simple, but there's no shortage of strategy here." - Paul Overton

Number of players: 2 to 4

Price: £21.76 or $31.95

12. Codenames

Amazon

Promising review: "The game is so simple in concept that it is easy to adapt to people of all sorts. There really is a lot of skill in coming up with clues that not only match what you see, but match what you think your partner(s) will see. Just a great, great game." - Stephen M. Vakil

Players: 2 to 8+

Price: £14.97 or $14.88

13. 7 Wonders Duel

Amazon

Promising review: "Duel benefits greatly from the two-player only design. It plays relatively quickly but packs a lot of interesting decisions without being too brain-burning. After ten plays, you start to appreciate even more the tightness of design. The interplay between the Military/Science/Victory Point strategies keeps you on your toes and ensures that you can't just fall into the same game plan every time." - Greg

Players: 2

Price: £19.00 or $23.00

14. 5 Second Rule

Amazon

Promising review: "Pick a card. Read the seemingly easy topic. Name three things that fit the topic. Can you do it under the pressure of a five second countdown? This game was a hit around the office, at home, and at our date night game night. It's hilarious to watch people try to think of correct responses in five seconds." - Shea

Players: 3 or more

Price: £12.40 or $13.99

15. Potion Explosion

Amazon

Promising review: "You create explosions by causing same coloured marbles to collide. The marbles are then used to finish potions, with a variety of affects and scores. Skill points are awarded by completion of different challenges. The person with the highest score wins. The game artwork is adorable, and well done." - impossiblegirl

Players: 2 to 4

Price: £36.87 or $29.74

16. Carcassonne

Amazon

Promising review: "For all the medieval trappings it is ultimately a real estate game. Each player places tiles with some combination of three features (road, city, abbey) and places “meeples” to control features. That’s it, tiles and meeples. The replayability of this game will be high." - H. P.

Players: 2 to 5

Price: £25.99 or $27.99

17. Labyrinth

Amazon

Promising review: "Insert tiles to move walls and open passages of he Labyrinth, moving forward through the maze while blocking your opponents. To win, you need to find all the treasures shown in your cards and go back to the start point. Labyrinth is that kind of game where the concept, the gameplay and the artwork come together to provide a masterpiece of entertainment." - Ryott

Players: 2 to 4

Price: £10.99 or $19.99