Cassandra NervaGrowing up, I remember spending most of my weekends back in primary school playing easy board games. Before I knew it, hours had gone by. I was having so much fun guessing who the murderer was, which weapon was used, and where the murder happened (remember Cluedo?). And of course, there’s the ever-famous board game, Monopoly. It notoriously and very easily goes on for hours with no winner in sight.
Image credit: Games for Change
Fast forward to 2021, and the number of easy board games on the market has certainly multiplied. Whether you’re a wordsmith, enjoy fooling your friends in a game, or simply want to enjoy an activity with your friends, here are 10 easy board games to add to your collection!
Also read: 5 Fun Online Games To Play With Friends While Social Distancing
Easy board games that give you a laugh
1. Monikers
Looking for a game that will leave you quite physically exhausted but full of laughter? Monikers is the perfect easy board game for you! A mix of Taboo and Charades, give clues to your team in order for them to guess what you’re trying to explain.
What makes Monikers stand out from the classics, however, is that each level gets harder, making it more challenging for others to guess what you’re trying to do! In a group of at least two, start out with explaining the item as descriptively as you want, then move on to using only one word to describe the item. Finally, the last round is non-verbal; it’s time for Charades! It’s truly a game that will test your creativity, but will leave you nothing short of entertained.
2. Rhino Hero
A mix between Jenga and Uno, your aim in Rhino Hero is to be the player that finishes building their tower first. In a group of two to five people, use the roof cards in your hand by stacking them on top of each other, making sure the tower doesn’t topple while you do so!
Look out for special symbols on your cards that change the course of the game. For example, you might lose a turn, have to draw a card before you can stack your roof cards, or the direction of gameplay changes. Hopefully you won’t be the player who has the most cards left at the end!
Easy board games that require intuition
3. Codenames
A game of association and intuition, Codenames is a deceptive board game that’s perfect to test if you and your teammate are able to think along the same lines!
Play in a group of at least four and form two teams among yourselves: One team will be red, and the other, blue. One person from each team gives the clues, while their teammate guesses which word(s) the clue is trying to hint at. If you get the word(s) correct, your teammate who gave you the clue places either a red or blue tile on the word. This depends on which colour your team is from.
However, be careful not to accidentally guess your opponent’s word, as that gives them a point! Also, there are “assassin words”: Incorrectly guessing these word(s) will cause your team to lose the game immediately.
Fun fact: There’s a version called Codenames: Duet. Instead of competing against each other, you’re now working together as a team to find all of the hidden words/secret agents. Thus, Codenames: Duet is the perfect alternative if you’re playing in a team of two!
4. The Mind
Image credit: Across the Board Official Website
One of my favourites, The Mind is one of the easiest board games to understand but is quite difficult to master. Played in a group of at least two, The Mind is based purely on telekinetic skills (or whatever equivalent form that we normal humans have). The one and only rule: No talking allowed.
The deck contains cards numbered 1–100. Each player gets a certain number of cards based on the level of the game (the higher the level, the more cards each player is dealt). Working together, the aim of this game is to stack the cards in the middle of the table in ascending order; obviously, the catch is that no one knows what cards are in their teammates’ hand. Thus, based purely on non-verbal cues, you have to work with your group to dump your cards without getting the order messed up. If you do, you lose a life!
5. Coup
Image credit: Billtacular
One that you might already be familiar with, Coup is an easy board game that tests your ability to get away with a bluff if you choose to fake your identity. Each character, like the Captain, Assassin, Duke, and more, possesses their own powers/abilities. Played by as few as two players or up to six, take a chance at faking your identity by bluffing that you’re entitled to kill a character for instance, or to pick up bonus coins.
What makes this game fun is that anyone can call out a player if they think they’re bluffing. If your spidey senses are right and they turn out to be bluffing, they lose a life. However, if they were telling the truth, you lose a life. It’s time to challenge your intuitive skills with this dystopian-themed game!
Easy board games that require strategy
6. Bananagrams
Think Scrabble, but instead of playing it communally, you’re building the grid yourself. As few as two players are needed to see who can finish building their crossword puzzle first. It’s a race of fastest fingers (and mind/brainpower) first!
Shout banana-related commands like “split”, “peel”, and — you guessed it — “banana” to determine the course of the game. This game is certain to test your ability to form words as fast as possible and rearrange them as necessary. It’s truly a game that can go by very quickly if you’ve got a couple of wordsmiths in your group!
7. L.L.A.M.A
Image credit: Across the Board Official Website
This rainbow-coloured theme with quirky llamas is an easy board game that’s sure to tickle your funny bone! With a deck of llama cards (represents the number seven or zero) and cards numbered one to six, two to six players compete as they can only play the same number as the top card of the discard pile or one number higher.
After each round, it’s time for everyone to collect tokens based on the cards in your hand. White and black tokens represent either a number card or llama card, and are worth one or 10 points respectively. The aim is to get as few points as possible, and to rid the deck in your hand as quickly as possible!
8. Bohnanza
Bohnanza is an easy board game where two to seven players compete as farmers to collect as many coins as possible! You do this by selling the beans, or cards, that you manage to collect. The catch, however, is that you are not allowed to rearrange the order of the cards that you’re dealt with — you can only play the cards in one order. Then, decide whether you want to build your bean deck, or trade bean varieties with each other. It becomes fun when you have two teammates wanting to buy your bean cards by offering you the best possible trade-off!
From stinky beans to green beans, Bohnanza is certainly a fun game that’ll easily pass the time.
Easy board games that have special themes
9. Colt Express
Image credit: yoppy
Picture this: You’re a character on a western-themed carriage train travelling through the desert. It’s your task to be the last remaining passenger on the train by killing off everyone else. In a group of two to six, everyone decides on three moves to make before the start of every round. (Your character either turns around, goes up or down the carriage, or shoots!) When it’s your turn, execute your three moves and move the pieces of the other characters accordingly. Fingers crossed that your character piece is the last man (or woman) standing!
10. Dominion
Image credit: wgunther
In Dominion, two to six players are monarchs competing to build the most valuable kingdom. This is represented by your personal deck of cards. You win by gaining the most victory points, which are earned from special victory cards such as estates, duchies, and provinces.
All players start at the lowest level: with estate cards and copper coins. These can be used to buy action cards (which allow you to attack other players, draw more cards, etc), victory cards, or more money (silver, gold). Once you get the hang of the rules of the game, it’s all about strategy in this easy board game; it’s now time to build your kingdom!
Also read: 8 Online Games Every ’90s Kid Used to Play That You Can Still Download Today
Regardless of what types of games you enjoy, these 10 easy-to-understand board games will certainly give you and your teammates a whale of a good time! We definitely wouldn’t be surprised if hours go by as you get lost in the world of these games.
Featured image credit: cottonbro | Pexels
