By price
Board Games $25 to $50
The sweet spot - substantial games at reasonable prices.
Light
Patchwork
Two-player tetris-quilt. Tense, quick, looks great on a coffee table.
Light
Sky Team
Two-player cooperative airplane-landing dice game. Tense, beautiful, 20 minutes.
light
MicroMacro: Crime City
Solve intricate mysteries by examining a giant city map full of clues.
Medium
7 Wonders Duel
The two-player version that's actually better than the original. Tense, every choice matters.
Light
Splendor
Gem-trading engine builder. Plays in 30 minutes, scales clean from 2 to 4.
Light
Dixit
Surreal-art storytelling game. Cross-generational. Hits in mixed groups.
Light
Camel Up
Bet on racing camels. Riotous, light, plays loud. The party-night pick.
Light
Horrified: Universal Monsters
Cooperative monster-hunting. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy. Plays family-friendly.
medium
Carcassonne
Tile-placement game where you build a medieval landscape to score points.
medium
Cryptid
Deductively search for the mysterious creature with your unique clues.
light
Gingerbread House
Build gingerbread houses and attract fairy tale characters to score.
Light
Azul
Pattern-laying tile game. Looks beautiful on the table. Teaches in five minutes.
Medium
Calico
Quilt-pattern puzzle. Solo plays beautifully. Adorable, harder than it looks.
Light
Wavelength
Team-based concept-guessing. Lights up mixed-age tables. Endlessly replayable.
medium
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
Strategically build and develop Mars faster than your opponents.
light
Cóatl
Assemble vibrant snake-like creatures to fulfill prophecies and score points.
Medium
Pandemic
Cooperative classic. Save the world together. The game that converts non-gamers.
medium
Azul: Summer Pavilion
Draft tiles to create beautiful patterns and score points strategically.
medium
Res Arcana
Compete as mages harnessing ancient artifacts and summoning creatures.
Light
Ticket to Ride
Train routes across America. Five minutes to learn, plays for years.
Heavy
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
The best campaign-game starter. Self-contained Gloomhaven with built-in tutorial.
Medium
The Quacks of Quedlinburg
Push-your-luck bag-builder. Tense, joyful, scales clean to four.
medium
The Castles of Burgundy
Acquire and manage estates in Medieval France to accumulate wealth.
medium
Paleo
Work in teams to survive and thrive in a prehistoric world.