10 Board Games Under $25 You’ve Probably Never Played

by Unknown on November 13, 2019 in TECH

The Flash Point game on a board game table with green felt. — Josh Hendrickson

Board games are a fantastic way to spend an evening with family and friends. Modern games can be expensive, though. That’s why we’ve rounded up some you’ve probably never heard of—and they’re all $25 or less.

How to Choose the Right Board Game

When it comes to board games, most people immediately think of things like Scrabble, Monopoly, or Clue. The titles we chose are a bit more recent and advanced. Modern board games include features you don’t ordinarily find in the classics, such as more intricate storylines, unique components (like meeples instead of pawns), and building the board as you play.

Board games vary when it comes to rules, style of play, and difficulty. Here are a few things to look into before you purchase a game:

Style of play: Board games generally come in one of three flavors: competitive, cooperative, or semi-cooperative. Competitive means everyone is for themselves, and the game ends with one winner. In a cooperative game, everyone is on the same team and playing against the board game (spoiler alert: the board game usually wins). Semi-cooperative means for most of the game, everyone works together, but someone can emerge as the overall winner title.
Number of players: You want to make sure the board game accommodates the right number of people. If you typically only play with your spouse or friend, check out some two-player options. If you have a regular board-game night with a group of friends, you’ll want to check out games that can handle four or more players.
Learning curve: The nice thing about Scrabble is pretty much everyone knows how to play. With modern board games, the rules might be very different, and you might have to read the instructions. It’s easiest to learn the game if someone present has played it before and can guide you.
Length of play: Most board games inform you on the box or instructions about how long it takes to play an average game. Some, you can play in half an hour or less, while others can take hours, and that time only increases the more players there are. Make sure you choose a game that fits the timeframe you normally have available.

Family-Friendly Board Games

When it’s family game night, it’s helpful to have a few options that even your younger children can play. We’ve picked some options that are generally easy enough for everyone to keep up, without being a bore (at least for the first play or two).

Telestrations

Telestrations is an artistic spin on the telephone game. Everyone opens a drawing board, and, based on a die roll, you look at a word and have to draw it. You pass it to the next person, and she writes what she thinks you drew. The next person then has to draw whatever she wrote.

This goes on for several rounds, and, somehow, a squirrel will become a motorcycle (yes, that’s a real example). But unlike the telephone game, you can see where the changes occurred, which is the fun of the game. The biggest laughs will come when you see that Grandma thought your drawing of a building was a calculator.

Telestrations is short, sweet, and will give you belly laughs.

Telestrations