The gateway game that started it all—build settlements, trade sheep, and race your friends to 10 points in a game that’s easy to teach and still full of drama. It may not be the newest thing on the shelf, but there’s a reason it’s been sparking game night laughter and friendly rivalries for over 25 years. Make sure to play the Cities and Knights expansion.

Simple to learn and endlessly replayable, this tile-laying game is a staple for casual and family game nights. The digital version of Carcassonne is a great way to play on your phone.

One of the easiest and most satisfying ways to introduce someone to modern board gaming — simple, pretty, and addictive. The app version of Ticket to Ride is a fun, travel-friendly way to play without the board or setup.

A beautifully illustrated engine-builder where you create a dragon sanctuary, offering deeper strategy and variety than Wingspan for players who enjoy a meatier game.

A famously tough co-op where monks defend a haunted village from an endless wave of ghosts—and most games end in a wild, glorious defeat. It’s a serious challenge (expect to lose a bunch before that epic first win), but it’s incredibly rewarding. Hard to find these days, but Last Bastion brings the same intense fun with a fantasy twist, streamlined rules, and more characters to try.

A tense and cinematic sci-fi horror game of survival and betrayal where trust is fragile, danger is constant, and every decision matters — best with a full group and plenty of time.

A strategic classic that still holds up — if you're into planning, efficiency, and economic play, this one delivers.

A great cooperative tower defense game that’s still going strong — check out the Deluxe Edition for upgraded components and expansions.

Azul is a beautiful tile game that is very easy to learn. Each player builds their own tapestry, earning points based on patterns made in their tapestry, drafting and placing combinations of tiles to earn points.

Dominion is the original classic deck-building game. Players use money cards from their hand to purchase more cards from a shared marketplace. You can buy victory point cards, but these also dilute your buying power. Buy or upgrade your money and treasure cards. Buy action cards with a huge variety of game-modifying powers. Each game is different, based on the cards you choose for the marketplace.

7 Wonders is a classic card-drafting game that works great for 3-7 players. Great for players who don't want to wait too long for their next turn because players draft a card and play it simultaneously. Many different ways of earning points.

Pandemic is a classic co-op game where each player is given a character with a unique ability. Players must work together to research a cure for each disease before outbreaks spread out of control. Quite difficult at first, but you can adjust difficulty until you get familiar with the strategies. The Legacy versions of the game are awesome if you like the co-op style of play.

Splendor is very easy to learn and liked by almost every type of player. There is something fun about collecting the gem chips. It has a very easy engine-building machanic where you buy gem cards to help you buy more gem cards. Gems, gems, gems.

Codenames is a great party game that works well for 4+ players. Two teams, each when one clue giver and the rest as guessers, work to identify their team's set of tiles before the other team.