11 Underrated Board Games for Every Taste

For those who are already bored with “Mafia”, “Dixit” and “Carcassonne”, these are great games that you are unlikely to have heard of.

Board game stores usually offer the most popular positions – “Activity”, “Imaginarium”, “Carcassonne”, “Jackal”, “Mafia”, “Arkham Horror” and other hits. They are also included in a variety of ratings. In their shadow are lost no less worthy and interesting board games, which simply did not manage to become as popular.

After talking to publishers, I collected a list of underrated board games in different genres and for different companies. Most of them you may have never even heard of. But every game on this list is worthy of attention.

Something

• Age: 13+.
• Number of players: 4–12.
• Duration of the game: 15-60 minutes.

Players who adore “Mafia” are aware of the drawback of this tabletop. To conduct an exciting game with a wide range of characters, you need at least 7 players. “Something” will allow you to play “guess who your enemy is” even for four.

In this game, you are a search and rescue group that was sent to a mysterious island to find out what happened to the missing archaeologists there. Already at the start, all the players understand that Something has moved into one of them. It remains only to find out in whom. And kill the enemy before he infects everyone.

The task of the one who got the Map of Something at the beginning of the game is to infect the others. He will be hindered in every possible way: to declare a quarantine, to lock the doors. But on the other hand, each infected person will take his side and help in the fight against the remaining people. If everyone is infected, Something wins. If it was possible to identify the enemy and kill him, the survivors win.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who want to play an unusual analogue of “Mafia” in a small company.
• Those who often have guests who adore board games. Even 12 people can play “Something” – a great option for meeting close friends, and for a party.
• Fans of tabletops, whose goal is to calculate the enemy among other players.

Alchemist of Glastonbury

• Age: 6+.
• Number of players: 2–4.
• Duration of the game: 20-60 minutes.

If you start looking for a family board game for memory and attentiveness, you will most likely be offered “Memo”. Or, much less likely, Chick-Chirik. But there are other exciting games that will suit you, and “The Alchemist of Glastonbury” is among them.

In this game you have to collect the same ingredients or even cook potions – depends on the selected level of difficulty. The subtlety is that in “Glastonbury” alchemists immediately throw all the ingredients into a cauldron with a gurgling brew – and it is already impossible to consider what is floating there without a spell. You will not only carefully select the ingredients, but also memorize each of them, otherwise you will not be able to defeat your rivals.

The Alchemist of Glastonbury has many other pluses besides interesting mechanics. This tabletop can be played together, and the games do not become less exciting, which can not be said about every game. Here you need to think, plan a few moves ahead and take into account the actions of other players – ideal for those who love strategies. Beautiful art adds to the atmosphere of the game. Finally, many players are attracted to the very essence – collecting ingredients.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Parents who help their children develop strategic thinking and memory. “The Alchemist of Glastonbury” is played with pleasure even by preschoolers!
• Those who love games for memory and attentiveness. Especially for advanced players, there is a complicated version of the rules.
• Fans of tabletops in which there is no sharp rivalry and conflicts between players.
• Those who prefer to hone their skills rather than rely on dice rolls. Chance plays a role here, but not as important as in many other games.

Keskife

• Age: 8+.
• Number of players: 4–8.
• Duration of the game: 30 minutes.

Speaking of tabletops for noisy parties, they usually recall “Activity”, “500 Evil Cards”, “Equivocs” and similar games. And few people know about “Keskifa”, although the fun in this game is no less.

Even a beginner will understand the rules in a couple of minutes. All players receive cards. Most have the same task: for example, to portray Michael Jackson, dance a waltz, measure furniture or speak in a fictional language. But someone will be unlucky, and he will pull out a card on which is written a little offensive “You are a monkey.” And the whole round (an average of 40 seconds) such a player has to monkey – repeat after others, not understanding what exactly they are doing. When the general madness ends, players vote, trying to guess who was the monkey in this round. So, if you want to win, pretend to be more skillful!

Who will be suitable for the game

• Fans of noisy parties.
• Those who love to fool around and don’t hesitate to look stupid.
• Those who want to develop artistic skills.
• Parents who organize parties with the participation of children. There’s no vulgar humor or complicated words in Keskif, so it’s great for elementary school students and teenagers.

Muse

• Age: 10+.
• Number of players: 2–12.
• Duration of the game: 30 minutes.

If you adore “Imaginarium”, “Dixit” and other board games that awaken imagination, “Muse” you will surely like it. This is also an association game, and it contains strange and mysterious, sometimes completely crazy pictures. For example, a bandaged giant egg in a hospital bed, which is given a ketchup transfusion, or the sea whipping into the room from a picture.

However, this is where the similarities with Dixit and Imaginarium end and the differences begin. Firstly, “Muse” is primarily a team table, although if you want, you can play it together or three. The goal is not only to help allies get victory points, but also to complicate the game to opponents as much as possible. Secondly, “Muse” has an unusual gameplay. Let’s break it down in detail.

Each round goes like this: one team (at least 2 people) takes 6 cards of masterpieces with illustrations and 2 cards of inspiration – they say how to make an association. From this set, the team selects one map of masterpieces and inspiration and gives them to the opponent (a member of the second team).

The task of this player is to tell his team what is depicted in the drawing, in the way described on the inspiration map. Then all 6 cards with illustrations are shuffled and laid out on the table, and the team whose participant gave a hint tries to guess which card he pointed to. Guess what, they take the card for themselves. They didn’t guess – the second team would take it. The difficulty is that the player who makes the association does not know what is depicted on the other 5 cards. And so, for example, he makes it clear that there is an animal on the right card. And then it turns out that the animals are depicted on 4 cards out of 6 – and how to guess here?

The special charm of “Muse” lies in the cards of inspiration, because they make the imagination work to the fullest. There are 32 of them, and each puts the players in a narrow framework: you have to call a non-fictional holiday, show a motionless figure with your hands or make faces. Imagine: you need to tell your team what is depicted on the third card (the one where the robot and the kitten are), using a melody. Simply? Unlikely.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who love games on association. Thanks to the inspiration cards, each new game is not like the previous one – which means that it will always be interesting to play.
• Team players. “Muse” is a good option for a party where not everyone knows each other well. Several parties, and even shy people will find it easier to communicate with others.
• Anyone who wants to develop unconventional thinking. If there is not enough creativity and space for imagination in your life, the Muse will help to correct this.
• Beginners in the world of tabletops. The rules are simple, the gameplay is too – you can easily figure out what to do, even if “Muse” becomes your first board game.

Yes, The Dark Lord!

• Age: 12+.
• Number of players: 4–9.
• Duration of the game: 30 minutes.

“Yes, The Dark Lord” is one of those rare tabletops in which you need to play a role. At the same time, it is much lighter than Arkham Horror, Descent and other atmospheric board games.

Here you have to play the role of Rigor Mortis, the dark lord, or his faithful servant. The task of the servants is to explain to the master why they failed the next task of kidnapping a princess, searching for an artifact or destroying a village. Hint cards will tell hapless henchmen what to talk about, and action cards will help shift the blame to another servant or intervene in his story.

The rules here are dictated by the overlord. For a stupid joke, irreverent treatment, inconsistencies in history and other blunders, he can cast a sizzling look at the servant. Three such looks – and the servant will be found guilty of the failure of the task, unless he can beg for mercy. Ideal for the company of players who know how and love to weave tall tales!

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who love to invent and tell funny stories.
• Players who like to get used to the roles.
• Those looking for a great new entertainment for the company.

Gobbit

• Age: 6+.
• Number of players: 2–8.
• Duration of the game: 30 minutes.

Those who are looking for interesting board games to react with are usually offered “Dobble” or “Wild Jungle”. But the excellent game “Gobbit” from the French publishing house OldChap Editions in Russia is not yet so known. However, it is no worse than the table toppings listed above, and in some ways even surpasses them.

The game involves cobras, chameleons, flies and gorillas. In the standard version of the rules, the food chain looks like this: cobras eat chameleons (but only their own color), they, in turn, swallow flies, and a gorilla can slap everyone at all. Each player takes turns opening the top card from his stack and, if he sees that he can hunt for the opponent’s card, hits it with his hand. But for the “victim” all is not lost: if you notice the predator in time and quickly cover your cards with your palm, the hunt will fail.

In this game, you need not only a lightning-fast reaction, but also attentiveness. Attack a creature of the wrong color – and the whole stack of cards you play will go to the center of the table. However, it can be won back. If there are flies of three different colors on the table at the same time, you need to slap your palm on the central stack of cards and shout the word “gobbit” to pick up the trophy.

Reminiscent of other games to reaction, right? But “Gobbit” has interesting features:

• You can use both hands. Usually, in reaction games, only the left or right is allowed to be used – but not here. And if you pull out a gorilla, you can attack with two hands at the same time. This allows you to slap the cards of two opponents at once!
• There are times when an open card makes the player a victim and a predator at the same time. Then you do not have to choose – you need to play with two hands at once in order to both attack and defend.
• For advanced players, there are several complicated versions of the rules, in which the food chain changes at random, and flies begin to explode.
• Different levels of difficulty, allowing you to adapt the game to almost any age.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who love games of reaction and mindfulness.
• Parents who want to develop these qualities in their children. “Gobbit” is so simple that even preschoolers can play it on a par with adults.
• Gamblers who prefer noisy and cheerful tabletops.

Suburbia

• Age: 8+.
• Number of players: 1–4.
• Duration of the batch: 1-1.5 hours.

There are not so many good urban tabletops. And those in which you really have to build a city, in general, a few. There’s, of course, Carcassonne Fortress, where you add tiles to the overall map, and Machi Koro, where you have to buy buildings – but that’s a bit not what’s expected from a thoughtful city-building game.

Usually there is not enough opportunity to think over the infrastructure and properly plan the development, the influence of buildings on each other, the change in the course of the game as the city grows, the number of residents increases and the formation of reputation. Suburbia has all these elements.

At the beginning of the game, each player receives a tablet – the base for the future town. You will buy buildings and “attach” them, forming the infrastructure. The influence of buildings on each other is logical and understandable: for example, it is better to build a restaurant where people live, but a noisy municipal airport is away from this place. All available buildings can be bought on the real estate market. This market is available to all players, which means that someone else can buy the building you need. Prioritization and correct risk assessment are indispensable!

The bigger the city, the harder it is to manage. And you will also feel this for yourself: as the population grows, the level of complexity and the cost of maintaining the city increases, so if you bet on the fastest possible growth, you risk bankruptcy and loss of reputation. To prevent this from happening, you will have to think through the actions a few moves ahead and soberly assess your strength.

Another argument in favor of “Suburbia”: this game occupies the 96th place in the world ranking BoardGameGeek. And this is the most authoritative and demanding community of board game lovers on the planet.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Fans of city-building board games.
• Those who appreciate high replayability.
• Those who have already played simple board games and want to try something more complicated.

Abbey

• Age: 10+.
• Number of players: 2–4.
• Duration of the game: 30 minutes.

“Abbey” is in the top 50 family games according to BoardGameGeek – and this is already a sign of quality and an occasion to take a closer look at the game. In addition, advanced players will appreciate the unusual mechanic, in which the need to choose only one resource from all possible in each round is combined with a gambling auction.

In this game you have to become the abbot of a medieval monastery. Your goal will be to collect valuable manuscripts and volumes: they can be accepted as a gift, bought and reproduced, hiring copyists. At the same time, it is necessary to think over each step in detail: the accumulated gold can depreciate, the discarded volumes can be the rarest, and the collected volumes can be overvalued. And you can also incur the wrath of the bishop. Just keep that in mind.

You can appreciate the charm of the “Abbey” only during the party. Therefore, if you decide to play this tabletop, do not study the rules over and over again – it is better to just read them and play once or twice.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who want to try a board game a little more complicated than elementary path games, but not too sophisticated.
• Tabletop fans who appreciate the unusual mechanics and “fine tuning” that affect the course of the game.
• Those who prefer strategy games.

In a certain kingdom

• Age: 8+.
• Number of players: 2–6.
• Duration of the game: 20-40 minutes.

“In a Certain Kingdom” is a wonderful family tabletop that adults and children can play on an equal footing. However, sometimes it is even easier for children, because the goal of the game is to come up with a beautiful, fascinating fairy tale. Who will become her hero and where the action will take place depends on the cards in the hands of the narrators. Also, the cards will tell you which items should appear in the fairy tale and what events should happen.

Playing this tabletop, you will certainly hone your talent as a storyteller. After all, for inconsistencies in the plot, a drawn out and uninteresting narrative, absurdity and long silence you will be punished – the move will have to be completed and passed on to another player. Listeners should also be attentive, because at any time there may be an opportunity to intercept the thread of history and become a narrator yourself.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Those who are looking for a tabletop to play with children.
• Players who prefer entertainment without conflicts and fierce rivalries.
• Dreamers and anyone who wants to develop imagination.
• Those who need a tabletop to play on a trip. It won’t take up much space!

Istanbul

• Age: 10+.
• Number of players: 2–5.
• Duration of the game: 40-60 minutes.

“Istanbul” is about the ability to think strategically and plan your actions a few steps ahead. For beginners in the world of table games, this option is unlikely to work, but experienced players who are looking for something new and interesting will appreciate it.

In this game you will become a merchant, at the disposal of which 4 assistants, relatives and a cart. You can trade, including on the black market, send relatives of other merchants to prison for a fee, receive rubies in the sultan’s palace or in the shop of a gem dealer, and also contact the master to increase the capacity of the cart. The goal of the game is to be the first to collect 5 rubies (or 6 if you play together). And believe me, this is not an easy task.

Who will be suitable for the game

• Fans of strategic tabletops.
• Fans of thoughtful games with long games.
• Those who highly value replayability. In “Istanbul” there are different options for laying out gaming tablets with locations – in fact, these are several levels of complexity. Just go from one to the other, and the game will not bore you for a very long time.

Dominion

• Age: 8+.
• Number of players: 2–4.
• Duration of the party: from 30 minutes.

In Germany, The Dominion was voted the best game of 2009. In Russia, this tabletop is not yet very popular, and many players simply do not know. It’s time to fix it.

One of the features of the Dominion is the in-game construction of the deck. That is, here you assemble a deck not before the start of the game, as, for example, in “Wars of the Magicians”, but right during the game.

At the beginning of the game, players agree on which set of kingdom cards they will use. There are several ready-made sets, and each has 10 types of cards – for example, a workshop, a mine, a village, a library, a throne room and others. Moreover, you can form a kingdom deck of any cards yourself, and this will add even more variety. Cards of the kingdom are laid out on the table – during the game, players will be able to buy them for copper, silver and gold. Also on the table are placed maps of estates, provinces and duchies – they will help determine the winner in the final scoring.

Each map of the kingdom has its advantages, which can be used when drawing from the hand. For example, the forge allows you to get 3 cards, the workshop – to get a card worth no more than 4 coins, and the logger – to make an additional purchase. In addition, there are attack cards that serve to attack other players, and militias to defend themselves.

At the start, each player receives 7 copper cards (they will come in handy if you want to buy something) and 3 manor cards, shuffles them, puts the shirt up and collects 5 cards. For coppers in your turn you can buy one card of the kingdom or estate – the main thing is that there is enough money. If there is not enough money, the treasury can be replenished by taking another copper card, and for free. You can also play one card with your hand to get a bonus or attack your rivals. At the end of the turn, all cards from the hand, including purchased ones, go into a personal reset. After that, the player again gets 5 cards from his deck, and the turn goes to the next participant of the game.

At the moment when the player can no longer get 5 cards, he shuffles all the cards from his reset and thus forms a new deck. With each next round, the deck will be gradually replenished with purchased cards. But at the final count, its size will not play a role – only the maps of the estates that the player managed to buy go into account.

If the gameplay seemed difficult to you – believe me, after 1-2 games you will change your mind!

Who will be suitable for the game

• Anyone who appreciates replayability. Here she is on top.
• Fans of unusual game mechanics.
• Fans of strategic tabletops.
• Experienced players who prefer thoughtful games to “motor”.