Best Board Games for Longevity (2024)

Gloomhaven is probably an RPG-type game, a dungeon crawler where you roll some dice, move your people on a map, and then roll some more dice to attack the enemies. However, everything you do is actually dictated by your hand of cards.

The game has a steep learning curve and can be overwhelming due to its complexity and the number of components.

I think the setting here is a fully realized, bustling city with various activities happening, and the theme is unique. It's not the usual fantasy trope.

Some players may find the production quality lacking compared to other high-end games, due to issues like poorly aligned punch boards and unpainted miniatures.

Each session can be saved and resumed, allowing for flexible playtime management.

Individual sessions can be lengthy, often lasting 60 to 90 minutes or more, which may not suit all players.

The game is highly engaging with its tactical combat and character development, providing a rewarding experience as players progress.

The complexity and administrative tasks involved can detract from the fun for some players, especially for those who prefer less intricate games.

The learning curve is pretty intense, so if you are not accustomed to playing strategy, world-building, and engine-building games, there's going to be a learning curve.

The game provides a rewarding challenge, as players must learn to optimize their actions and adapt to different faction and player mat combinations.

The artwork and design are stunning, featuring intricate details in both the board and the pieces.

The theme of an alternate 1920s Europe featuring mechs is unique and well-integrated into the gameplay.

The game offers a grand-scale experience in a relatively short amount of time, with most games lasting around 115 minutes.

The setup time can be lengthy, taking about 45 minutes.

Scythe is highly enjoyable for those who appreciate strategic planning and engine-building.

The lack of direct conflict might not appeal to players who are looking for a more combative experience.

Betrayal is a bit more complicated than your average gateway game, but it's well worth learning.

The game has 50 haunt scenarios, and each tells a different story with different victory conditions.

Some of the rules are still really unclear, and truth be told, if you have a game with all these different permutations, cards, and tiles trying to come together in a cohesive manner, it's going to be very difficult to eliminate all of the ambiguity.

I love it because it's like you and your friends are suddenly plunged into a Scooby-Doo episode or one of those 50s B movies.

The Third Edition looks bright and vivid, especially with the 45 tiles appearing more refreshed than before and featuring so much color.

The component quality is definitely a step down from the previous version. The toes in this edition are a little bit thinner, and the artwork isn't as nice.

It's great with three to six players; the more, the merrier, and it'll take about an hour to play.

Player elimination is still a massive problem in this game. You would think that after, I don't know, was it six different editions, they would have fixed this. However, a lot of the haunts mean that if you die, that's it; you are done.

A simple and effective role-playing game is guaranteed to make it an evening to remember.

The haunts can sometimes be free-for-alls; they can have hidden traitors, or they can even be cooperative missions.

This is one of those games that can be taught in less than five minutes.

I believe this game is just about perfectly complex for the audience.

It's easy to teach, and new gamers can really get into it and have a good time.

The art was the first thing that drew me to this game.

The art of this game is a major attraction, and its table presence is simply lovely.

The artwork is really beautiful, and the tokens, along with the colorfulness of the terrain, are engaging.

You can play it pretty quickly if you want to.

This game can take a little longer, especially if you're teaching new players.

A four-player count is doable, but it's a bit slow.

The game is fun throughout, with a sense of escalation and progression.

There's low interaction in this game, which might be a problem if you don't enjoy that.

The game has charm in spades and is a lovely, absolutely wonderful experience.

Wingspan is a competitive, light strategy game in which each player starts with a hand of birds.

It's more tactical than strategic, as you don't enter a game knowing what you're going to do for the entire duration.

The artwork and production values bring this theme into the game, which is fantastic.

The cards are of really good quality, the dice are of good quality, and the eggs are neat.

The game is not long; it says 40 to 70 minutes. An hour seems very reasonable for this game.

It accommodates up to five players. Five is okay, but I think it works really well with two, three, or four.

The game looks fantastic; it's fun to manipulate and place the eggs.

It feels like your decisions matter, and that is very, very important to me.

Root is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, designed by Cole Worley and put out by Leader Games.

Root offers different factions that have unique ways of playing, distinct constraints, and various abilities.

The complexity of the cats makes them the easiest ones to play, considering their card wealth, aggressiveness, and crafting ability.