The Best Board Games For 2020
id="article-body" class="row" section="article-body"> Board games have undergone somewhat of a creative renaissance over the past few years, and while some people might be inclined to blow the dust off a classic game like checkers, chess, Monopoly or Clue, tabletop gaming has come a long way since the last century. The best board games now involve intricate complex strategy, problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination. Others leave room for additional card expansion packs opening up new variations of rules and play styles.
But the best board games aren't just children's board games and fun for kids; they also present an exciting challenge for serious gamers. The themes are, not surprisingly, often focused on Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy, zombie attacks, sci-fi battles and Lovecraftian supernatural high jinks. Some popular board games, such as the more recent Lord of the Rings: apk download Journeys in Middle-Earth, combine map tiles, miniature figures and XAPK a highly polished tablet app that handles some of the card and combat management for you. Read more: Best tech toys for Mobile Games apps kids in 2020 So here are some of the best board games for 2020, any one of which can turn game night into an epic adventure with real competition to win.
Feel ambitious and want to make your own extra accessories, game pieces or card holders with a 3D printer? We've got that covered, too. Got your own suggestions? Let me know your board game picks in the comments or on Twitter. Zombicide: Invader CMON The latest version of this zombie-filled game series takes the action of a far-off mining colony, where zombie-like aliens team up with big boss monsters straight out of Doom. One to six players fight back, usually by using their problem-solving skills to collect some McGuffins and make for the exit as swarms of xenos flood the map.
This party game is great fun that's easy to pick up and learn. $76 at Amazon Hellboy: The Board Game Dan Ackerman/CNET The cult classic comic gets a great game packed with comic-style art, great miniatures and lots of storytelling. The more-expensive collector's edition ups the number of minis past 100, and includes a great idea I'd love to see more often: a random mission generator for endless mix-and-match scenarios. $88 at Walmart Minecraft: Builders and Biomes Ravensburger There have been a handful of Minecraft card and board games before, but this new one -- revealed at Minecon 2019 -- feels like the most ambitious yet.
You actually mine for resources with tiny wooden blocks, and combine building with fighting mobs. $40 at Amazon Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth Fantasy Flight Games It's time to get the fellowship back together. This is a great game for joining up with four other players (or just as a solo player) to go tromping across Middle-Earth by moving cool-looking sculpted miniatures around map tiles.
There's a free, but mandatory, app available on iOS, Android and via Steam, which tells you how to lay out the map tiles and which monsters to fight. It also provides for a certain amount of randomization. It also provides for a certain amount of randomization to challenge even the most thought-through strategies and skills. Built from the ground up as an app-based board game, it makes it easy to get set up and XAPK learn the ropes. $90 at Amazon Mansions of Madness Dan Ackerman/CNET Another giant-box game.
This is one of my favorites because it includes tons of floor tiles you can use to create a haunted mansion, plus dozens of plastic miniatures for investigators and monsters. The vibe is definitely classic Lovecraft, and this board game actually requires you to use its companion app, which creates the layout, spawns monsters and even adds sound effects. $79 at Walmart Horrified Dan Ackerman This Universal Monsters-inspired game is a fun mix of nostalgia and modern tabletop games, pitting players against all the classic Universal movie monsters of the 1940s and game review '50s, from the Wolf Man to Dracula.
Just don't accidentally call Frankenstein's Monster "Frankenstein," or I'll subtweet you. $40 at Amazon Star Wars: Imperial Assault Dan Ackerman/CNET The best Star Wars game I've played in years isn't a video game -- it's this fun and challenging tabletop strategy game, where rebel heroes fight through various skirmishes with Imperial forces.
