Section · 6 guides
Adults and groups
Strategy, party, cooperative and two-player games for adults, with player counts and play times from the publishers.
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Match the game to the evening. For a dinner with friends who like to think, start with our best board games for adults, which splits picks into strategy, party and co-op. For someone who already owns Catan, the strategy board games guide maps a next step from each gateway game, including Wingspan and its dragon cousin Wyrmspan.
For a crowd, party games for groups compares word, drawing and team games by how many people each handles. When nobody wants a winner and a loser, cooperative board games explains how co-op games push back and which to give. And for a couple, two-player board games covers games built for exactly two.
Party games for a crowd
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- 01
Board games that play well alone, from Wingspan and Wyrmspan's Automa decks to Cascadia, Dorfromantik and Terraforming Mars, with play times and ages.
- 02
Board games for adults sorted by the kind of game night: strategy for thinkers, party games for groups and co-op games for teams, with award notes.
- 03
Two-player board games to give a partner or a friend, matched to the occasion: 7 Wonders Duel, Patchwork, Jaipur, Lost Cities, Star Realms and Onitama.
- 04
What a cooperative board game is, how the game itself becomes the opponent, and six co-op picks from The Mind to Pandemic, with players, ages and play time.
- 05
Party games for groups of 4 to 12, sorted by player count and type: Codenames, Just One, Decrypto, Telestrations, Wavelength and Dixit.
- 06
The next strategy board game after Catan, Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne: step-up picks matched to the game they love, plus every Kennerspiel winner.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best board game for a big adult group?
A word or guessing game. Codenames, the 2016 Spiel des Jahres winner, plays with 4 to 8 people in about 15 minutes, according to Czech Games Edition.
What is a good game for adults who want more strategy?
Look at Kennerspiel des Jahres winners, the jury's award for people who have been playing for a while. Wingspan won it in 2019; Stonemaier lists 1 to 5 players and 40 to 70 minutes.
Sources
- CodenamesCzech Games Edition
- Codenames (Spiel des Jahres 2016)Spiel des Jahres e.V.
- WingspanStonemaier Games
- Wingspan (Kennerspiel des Jahres 2019)Spiel des Jahres e.V.
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