Not all board games need to be competitive. There are a lot of games out there that require teamwork and jolly cooperation to complete a shared objective. Working together with your friends to solve puzzles and win fights is always rewarding and provides a great time.
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Spirit Island
Spirit Islandis a cooperative board game that gets recommended by a fan should you even dare think of playing something cooperative. It’s popular for a reason, however, asSpirit Islandgrants its players godhood and many powers with which to destroy the invaders destroying the island.
To winSpirit Island, players must work together with their chosen spirits to defeat all of the invaders that are spreading across the board. To make your job easier, you must cause terror and fear by using your mighty power to lay waste to settlements and cities. The more scared the invaders are, the less of them there are to destroy.
Each spirit is utterly unique and fun to play with, and with huge decks, each game will never play the same. It is very complex, and there are a lot of difficult decisions to be made, but it makes for a rich puzzle that is satisfying to solve.
Pandemic
Pandemicis outrageously popular, and the franchise has inflated and branched off to create many expansions, spin-offs, andPandemic-like games. If you are unaware of thePandemicgames, however, then starting with the original is the best place to start.
Players will be working together to fight off different illnesses that are taking the world by storm. It’s very easy to losePandemicshould you ignore something for a second longer than you knew you should have, and it’s pretty difficult to win.
By moving around the globe and removing delightful plague cubes from the board, cleaning up the world is incredibly satisfying. The toothy nature of the game, however, will have you and your friends biting your nails as you desperately try to stay one step ahead of the pandemic.
Alien Fate of the Nostromo
Alien: Fate of the Nostromois a cooperative game that I found much more fun than I thought I would. Players become crew members of the Nostromo and must work together to navigate the ship and complete missions to survive.
Each game will have players achieving a certain number of objectives, which vary from placing a crafted item into a room to gathering all crew members into one spot. As you all scurry to accomplish these tasks, the Alien prowls the ship. Everyone shares a morale meter, and should that drop too low, everyone loses.
Figuring out the best routes to take to avoid the Alien and complete your objectives in as little time as possible is difficult yet rewarding, and the dreaded final mission will make or break the crew. If you want some extra challenge, you can also throw in the android Ash that’s honestly more of a hindrance than the damn xenomorph.
Bloodborne: The Board Game
Bloodborne The Board Gameshould not be discounted merely because it’s an adaptation of a video game. Not only does this board game perfectly adapt the feel of the original, but it makes for a great game for those who don’t know of the franchise.
InBloodborne The Board Game, players will be working together through four stories, each with three chapters, their own enemies, bosses, and unique tasks. As everyone carefully walks the battered streets of Yharnam, you’ll encounter horrors beyond your imagination and freaky plots to match.
The figures here areawesomeand elevate the already tense, tight, and toothy action of the combat system. Every fight is an important one; for one, death can be a huge setback. Unlike other board games, you don’t lose at the death of a member, allowing players to come back until they win or until the timer runs out. And each chapter will cut it much closer than you’re comfortable with.
Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lionis technically an expansion toGloomhaven, but it can be played and enjoyed by itself for it provides everything you need. Geniusly, instead of constructing the boards to play on them, the scenario book already has the boards illustrated on its pages for playing.
The combat system ofGloomhavenis unforgiving and brutal, which is great for masochists and a delightful agony for everyone else. You and your friends will be working together with different characters to achieve the scenario goal of each mission. The enemies you face, however, won’t make this easy.
A taste of the ultimate RPG that isGloomhaven,Jaws of the Lionis a great place to start and it provides for an excellent time that has an excellent narrative and story. Oh, I forgot to mention that the communication between you and your party is extremely limited, making combat encounters just more tense and infuriating. I love it, and I hate it.
Eldritch Horror
Eldritch Horrortransforms its players into detectives who are trying to seal the portals across the world that are set to invite a titular Eldritch beast into the world. You will choose which Lovecraftian beast you want to fight against, and then you’re able to get to work.
There is so much randomness at play inEldritch Horrorthat keeps everyone on their toes constantly as you travel the world to fight ghouls and other dastardly creatures to solve the mysteries to keep your Eldritch being at bay. Although the systems are simple enough, each game can takehours, especially with a higher player count.
If you want an incredibly dramatic and thematic game of solving mysteries and fighting monsters to defeat an otherworldly invasion, thenEldritch Horroris for you. With different beasts to win against, there is a lot of replayability and awful fun to be had.
Dark Souls: The Board Game
Although version 2 ofDark Souls The Board Gameleaves a lot to be desired from the production angle of things, the game itself isamazing. The three core sets are all incredible, although my personal favorite is thePainted World of Ariamis.
In trueDark Soulsnature, you and your friends will be trying to navigate the treacherous paths full of awful and dangerous creatures. The closer you get to the bosses of your scenario, the more dangerous these creatures will become. With different win conditions for each encounter, and with some spanning over more than one tile, you and your friends will be pushed to your limits.
As long as you’re prepared to die, you and your friends will do just fine inDark Souls: The Board Game. But always be prepared for nasty surprises, and plan accordingly. Your bonfire will only sputter you back to life so many times. Make each run count.
The Crew
The Crewis the most notorious trick-taking card game out there, and for good reason. Alongside being a solid trick-taking card game,The Crewcomes with a great campaign that introduces tense modifiers and objectives that’ll have you and your friends squirming.
For a simple premise,The Crewprovides a lot of content for a dedicated group to play with. To take things up a notch, each player can only communicate through tokens, resulting in lots of groaning and wide eyes. As each game can be played pretty quickly, this game becomes a great candidate for any place or time.
With a long campaign book, you and your friends can get invested in the varying tactics and trials ofThe Crewas you try to dominate the trick-taking system to win.
Rush M.D.
Rush M.Dis the ultimate dexterity game of madness and chaos as you and your friends try to frantically work together to complete a series of minigames concurrently to save patients and keep stocks of needed supplies up.
There are many scenarios inRush M.D., each introducing more madness into the fray. This game is extremely creative with the minigames it gets its players to do. Each patient needs a certain amount of supplies (be it pills, syringes, or organs) in order to heal up, but getting hold of each of those goods and even administering them require their own set of challenges.
With everyone trying to perform tasks as quickly as possible, the table erupts with chaos and laughter as time is constantly against you all. Clever use of sand timers to limit and perform actions encourages multitasking to no end. It’s difficult to convey the multitude of complexity and madnessRush M.D.causes without seeing it in action.
Aeon’s End
Aeon’s Endis a cooperative card game where you and your friends work together to take down a foul creature of your choice. The most notable feature ofAeon’s Endis the interesting deck-building element, as cards do not get reshuffled when you expend your hand. This allows players to string together powerful combos and negates RNG from your attack strategies.
Aeon’s Endplays best with two players, as three and four players can get wonky or drag out, respectively. Delicately forming your hand and your actions to take down your colossal enemy is a satisfying problem that you may all work together to chain combos and become greater than the sum of your parts.
The auxiliary systems and the operations of each Nemesis are rather unique, and you and your friends will have a great time triumphing over each of the enemies you’re able to pit yourselves against.
With all of these fantastic cooperative board games to choose from, gather your friends and decide on the next one to play.
