1 week Ago By Charlie Hall
The holiday season is a great time to share your love of board games with friends and family. You’ll be sitting around the house, naturally, and in need of something to do with relatives that you haven’t seen in ages. If you’re looking for a new game to enjoy this winter, Amazon is already rolling out plenty of early Black Friday deals on board games, making this the best time of the year to splurge.
This year’s early discounts come from all across the industry, with everything from hardcore strategy titles like Escape the Dark Sector to joyous little roll-and-writes like Welcome To...
. But the biggest surprise by far are all the high-end crowdfunded games that have made their way to the discount aisles. We’ll kick things off with some of the real standouts, then move into the modern classics, and finish out with the best of the rest.
Polygon’s early Black Friday picks The best crowdfunded board game deals The best modern classic board game deals The best two-player board game deals The best party game deals The best strategy board game deals The best crowdfunded board game deals Marvel United: X-Men Players: 1-5, ages 14+ Playtime: 40 min. Marvel United: X-Men , with its delightful chibi-style miniatures, lets players build a team of mutant heroes or take control of a supervillain to try to thwart the heroes’ plans. The Fox Experiment Players: 1-4, ages 14+ Playtime: 60 min.
Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave’s latest effort is a fascinating exploration of a legendary — and controversial — experiment. Funded by the Soviet Union in 1958, it involved scientists using selective breeding in the hopes of transforming a wild species into a domesticated partner. Hargrave’s design focuses purely on breeding the friendliest foxes.
Nemesis Lockdown Players: 1-5, 12+ Playtime: 90-180 min. Nemesis Lockdown , the best-selling sequel to Nemesis , takes inspiration from the Alien franchise. The survival horror board game tasks players with private objectives, which may include betraying other players at the table.
Its solid mechanics and gorgeous miniatures have helped it to earn a solid reputation among fans of hobby board games. Borderlands: Mister Torgue’s Arena of Badassery Players: 1-4, ages 13+ Playtime: 60 min. Best known for the Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone miniatures skirmish game, Monster Fight Club also made this miniatures-packed title.
The board game takes its inspiration from the video game, including the “loot and shoot” mechanics in the form of randomized dice rolls. Exploding Kittens blew up on Kickstarter thanks to The Oatmeal ’s art, and you can grab the original version of the game for just $12.99 (was $20).
Clash of the Sinister Six — the standalone expansion of Marvel Zombies: A Zombicide Game that features Mysterio, Green Goblin, and Venom — is $44.99 (was $60). Similarly, Marvel Zombies: A Zombicide Game - Guardians of the Galaxy adds your favorite pangalactic superfamily to the party for $34.
99 (was $50). Awaken Realm’s Nemesis , inspired by the Alien franchise, is an excellent purchase for the movie fan in your life. It’s down to just $99.
99 (was $149.99). The best modern classic board game deals TIME Stories Players: 2-4, aged 12+ Playtime: 90 min.
Here’s a well-regarded storytelling mystery game with multiple time-hopping narratives. In the fiction of TIME Stories, “TIME” is an acronym for Tachyon Insertion in Major Events. For the layman, that means time travel.
Players take on the role of novice Temporal Agents and, suffice it to say, there’s plenty of work to go around. Azul Players: 2-4, aged 8+ Playtime: 30-45 min. This lovely tile-laying game is enchanting, easy to pick up, and a great game to keep around for chill game nights.
Specific tile patterns and complete sets earn you points, but wasting tiles can set you back. Once all the tiles are gone, the player with the most points wins. Mysterium Players: 2-7, aged 10+ Playtime: 42 min.
One player takes on the role of a ghost, while the other players take on the tole of mediums trying to communicate during a seance in this cooperative paranormal board game. It’s a mystery, too — the ghost was a murder victim who must reveal the circumstances of their death using only a series of cryptic vision cards to convey the situation. Mansions of Madness Players: 1-5 players, ages 14+ Playtime: 120-180 min.
An accompanying app will help guide you through Arkham’s cursed mansions in this co-op board game with a Lovecraftian horror bent. With four campaigns to choose from, players can find the exact level of difficulty for any occasion. 7 Wonders , among the most influential board games of the last 15 years, is $38.
10 (was $59.99). Camel Up , a wacky racing game now in its second edition, is $31.
99 (was $39.99). Catan , the late Klaus Teuber ’s game of viking colonization , is down to $43.
97 (was $59.99). Century Big Box , which includes three games by Emerson Matsuuchi, is $54.
99 (was $79.99). Jamaica , the classic pirate-themed board game, is $29.
99 (was $44.99). Splendor , the award-winning game about gem collecting in the Renaissance, is $21.
98 (was $39.99) Pandemic , one of the best entry points to the modern board gaming hobby, is just $35.99 (was $39.
99) Memoir ’44 , an easy to play WWII game with lots of expansions, is $48.49 (was $64.99).
The Prophecy of Kings expansion for Twilight Imperium , the original 4x board game for modern audiences, is down to $64.99 (was $109.99).
The best two-player board game deals 7 Wonders Duel Players: 2, aged 10+ Playtime: 30 min. 7 Wonders Duel is a two-player variant of the classic board game 7 Wonders . Players acquire cards in the interest of advancing either military or scientific developments, with the goal of either reaching their opponent’s capital through military might, or becoming a culturally dominant force through scientific discoveries.
Exploding Kittens Players: 2-5, aged 7+ Playtime: 15 min. The absurdist comedy card game for people into cats and explosions now comes in collectible metal tin that’s great for travel. Think of this as a kitten-powered version of Russian Roulette; players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten card and takes themselves out.
Additional mechanics involve taking peeks at the next cards in the deck or forcing your opponents to draw cards. Splendor Duel Players: 2, aged 10+ Playtime: 30 min. The two-player version of the gem-collecting hit, in which players take on the role of jewelers designing adornments for royalty.
The mechanics of the game revolve around competing to accrue the highest-quality gems. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - A Pandemic System Board Game Players: 1-5 Playtime: 45-60 min. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - A Pandemic System Board Game works well with just two players, since all you have to do is double up on your heroes .
Although it’s inspired by the original Pandemic , things work a little differently in Wrath of the Lich King . Epidemics spawn bigger, more powerful undead monsters called Abominations. The game is also absolutely dripping with fan service, so if you’re a huge fan of WoW, then it absolutely makes sense to pick it up.
A Little Wordy , which plays a bit like Scrabble but in reverse, is $9.99 (was $12.30).
The Mind , a raucous guessing game that’s a riot as a two-player duel, is $8.49 (was $14.95).
Patchwork Halloween Edition is a spooky variation on the classic quilting strategy game, is $20.99 (was $29.99).
Tacocat Spelled Backwards , an explicitly two-player game all about palindromes, is $8.08 (was $14.99).
The best party game deals Cash N’ Guns Players: 4-8, aged 10+ Playtime: 30 min. Cash ’N Guns is a game where you adjudicate a messy bank heist using foam guns and movie tropes. Players take the roles of a band of gangsters who can’t agree on how to split the proceeds.
The goal is to end with more money than any of your cohorts, while also still being alive. Welcome To..
. Players: 1-100, aged 10+ Playtime: 25 min. Welcome To.
.. is a joyful roll-and-write game that can occupy a whole house full of wannabe homebuilders.
Set in an idyllic 1950s neighborhood, game play is simultaneous and communal, allowing everyone to participate in improving the town. Just One Players: 3-7, aged 8+ Playtime: 20-60 min. Just One is a family-friendly word guessing game.
It’s a cooperative party game in which players provide one-word clues to guess one word, with duplicate clues being discarded. Bridgerton: A Love Letter Card Game takes the classic pocket-sized hidden role game and gives it a fun Netflix twist for $9.99 (was $14.
99). Infinity Gauntlet: A Love Letter Game is here to translate the hidden-role card game to Marvel fans. It’s just $9.
99 (was $16.99). The best strategy board game deals Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West Players: 2-5, aged 10+ Playtime: 20-90 min.
Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West is a high-concept legacy-style campaign game we think you’ll love. Instead of retelling American history, Legends of the West tosses it right out the window. In its place is a transcontinental mystery, with players expanding outward across a landscape that, by the end of 12 linked games, displays only a passing resemblance to our continent.
The results are surprising and really something special. Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game Players: 1-6, aged 14+ Playtime: 60 min. Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game adapts the horror classic by George Romero to the table.
Players take on the roles of the main characters from the movie, but unlike in the film, this time the survivors aren’t just going to hole up and hunker down in an isolated cabin — they’re going to fight back first against the encroaching undead. Arkham Horror The Card Game Revised Core Set Players: 1-4, aged 14+ Playtime: 45-180 min. A two-player take on a classic, Arkham Horror: The Card Game’s Lovecraftian themes are sure to delight any horror fan with cultists, ancient monsters, madness, and more.
Choose a character and work together to build decks to rival the forces plaguing the city of Arkham. The unpredictability of the encounter deck helps keep playthroughs fresh and outcomes uncertain. Bloodborne: The Card Game Players: 3-5 players, aged 14+ Playtime: 30-45 min.
Bloodborne is among the best Soulslike adaptations in the tabletop gaming world. Players compete with one another to slay the nightmareish monsters of Yharnam. Everyone starts off with basic weapons, just like in Bloodborne , working their way up and dealing with inventory management and tactical risk-taking maneuvers along the way.
Catan Junior , an extremely forgiving entree for younger players new to modern board games, is $25.49 (was $34.99).
Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger , which replicates the act of reading those beloved childhood novels, is just $14.49 (was $29.99).
Cthulhu: Death May Die , a cooperative horror mystery game from CMON with lots of minis, is $87.99 (was $109.99).
Elder Sign , a cooperative exploration of the Cthulhu mythos with lots of custom dice, is $29.99 (was $39.99).
Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala , from Bruno Cathalha, award-winning designer of the Kingdomino , is now $44.99 (was $62.39) Gizmos , which celebrates science fairs, is just $29.
99 (was $39.99). Kemet: Blood and Sand brings classic area control mechanics to the ancient Egyptian pantheon.
It’s down to $63.49 (was $89.99).
Marvel Crisis Protocol , filled with amazingly detailed Marvel miniatures, is $59.49 (was $99.95).
Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape is another miniatures-heavy game from CMON. It’s down to $79.99 (was $109.
99). Pandemic Legacy Season 2 , the follow-up to the groundbreaking Season 1 legacy-style campaign game, is $45.99 (was $79.
99). Plague Inc , which is literally the opposite of Pandemic with players trying to infect the world for fun and profit, is $32.99 (was $44.
99). Res Arcana , a game of elemental mage duels, is $28.49 (was $39.
99). Ticket to Ride Europe let’s you plan the next family vacation in style, now at just $35.07 (was $59.
99). Ticket to Ride: First Journey , another game that bridges the wide age gaps common among parties in the holiday season, is now $27.99(was $34.
99). Small World of Warcraft , a mix of Risk -style territory control and the beloved characters from Azeroth, is down to $34.99 (was $46.
90). The Wolves , a novel survival game, is $34.99 (was $49.
95). Looking for more? Check out all of Polygon’s favorite early Black Friday deals , including great discounts on Magic: The Gathering and more. And subscribe to our newsletter below to get great deals delivered to your inbox every week.
Shopkeeper Polygon’s handpicked deals on games, movies, books, and more. Black Friday Board Games Gaming Sales Guide Shopping Tabletop Games.
