A handful of players is the perfect sweet spot. If you are looking for the best 4 player board games you are in luck, because that player count has some of the best options out there. There are so many different genres out there, it is hard to rank a definitive list, but we did our best. The best 4 player board games are those that is take advantage of that amount for cooperative games or for everyone being a specific pillar of a bigger machine. We took many different things into account to create this guide. This is our list of the 20 best 4 player board games.
See Also:
20 BEST 1 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 2 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 3 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 5 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 6 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 7 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 8 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
20 BEST 9 PLAYER BOARD GAMES
#20 | Age of Steam
Age of Steam relives the era when pioneering U.S. railroads built the tracks that transformed America’s economy. The cut-throat action is centered on the industrial powerhouses of the growing nation. This is an economic game with auctions and bidding and so much. Age of Steam is a great title on the list of the best 4 player board games.
FOR MORE: Buy Age of Steam on Amazon
#19 | Champions of Midgard
Champions of Midgard is a classic worker placement game that is about epic Viking conquests. You run a barbarian horde in a small finishing village and you need to build up ships, resources and men to defeat very larger monsters. You have to make hard decisions about gaining resources or attacking with your limited workers. The balance makes for an easy choice for the list of the best 4 player board games.
FOR MORE: Champions of Midgard Page | How To Play Champions of Midgard | Champions of Midgard Review | Games Like Champions of Midgard | Buy Champions of Midgard on Amazon
#18 | Azul
Azul is an abstract strategy game that is about designing the inside of a religious structure for the king using Portuguese tiles. You need to draft tiles amongst other players and fill up rows in order to create clusters that are going to get you big points. This best 4 player board games list entry won the coveted Spiel des Jahres.
FOR MORE: Azul Page | How To Play Azul | Azul Review | Games Like Azul | Buy Azul on Amazon
#17 | Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Flash Point is a unique game, it is a cooperative race against the clock from the perspective of a firefighter. Everyone on your team has a role and you all need to work together to move around a house and put out bursts of fire faster than they pop up. This specifically makes the list of the best 4 player board games because of the dynamic team nature of the game.
FOR MORE: Flash Point Fire Rescue Page | Games Like Flash Point Fire Rescue | Buy Flash Point Fire Rescue on Amazon
#16 | Goa
Goa, a strategy game of auctions and resource management, is set at the start of the 16th century: beautiful beaches, a mild climate, and one of the most important trading centers in the world. Competing companies deal in spices, send ships and colonists into the world, and invest money. A great mix of economic and renaissance.
FOR MORE: Buy Goa on Amazon
#15 | Cartographers
Whoever thought to combine roll-n-write games and map-making was a genius. This unique great 4 player board game is relatively new, a little bit quirky and a lot of fun. You are drawing maps for the queen and you need to layout the right clusters of improvements without running into any trouble.
FOR MORE: Cartographers Page | How To Play Cartographers | Games Like Cartographers | Buy Cartographers on Amazon
#14 | Stone Age
This title on the list of the best 4 players board games is ranked number 1 in terms of the best gateway games. That means people use this game to get people pumped about the hobby and that speaks volumes. This is a worker placement and civilization-building game set in the stone age. Collect wood, break stone, wash gold from the river, trade freely, expand your village and more.
FOR MORE: Stone Age Page | Games Like Stone Age | Buy Stone Age on Amazon
#13 | Fort
Fort makes the list of the best 4 player board games because it is a well oiled deck building and hand management machine, but mainly because of the amount there is to do on other players turns. There are many sides to many different situations and you have a lot of freedom and a lot you can do even though the game is very breezy and streamlined. You are a kid and your job is get your crew together and build the best Fort. A little bit of engine building and some bold moves will hopefully get you to the highest victory point total and a victory.
FOR MORE: Fort Page | How To Play Fort | Fort Review | Games Like Fort | Buy Fort on Amazon
#12 | Mice and Mystics
Mice and Mystics is a great fantasy dungeon crawler board game that is a fantastic choice for 4 players because of the great co-op gameplay. This game has a unique take where you are shrunk down so you are seeing a typical world from a brand new angle. Things that were never difficult before now are.
FOR MORE: Games Like Mice and Mystics | Buy Mice and Mystics on Amazon
#11 | Zombicide
Zombicide is a collaborative game in which you take on the role of a survivor – each with unique abilities – and harness both your skills and the power of teamwork against the hordes of unthinking undead! Zombies are predictable, stupid but deadly, controlled by simple rules and a deck of cards. You can play this with 1 – 6 but 4 players is a nice sweet spot.
FOR MORE: Games Like Zombicide | Buy Zombicide on Amazon
#10 | Orléans
During the medieval goings-on around Orléans, you must assemble a following of farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. to gain supremacy through trade, construction and science in medieval France. This is a worker placement game that is about mastering the economic growth of a thriving developing city.
FOR MORE: Games Like Orléans | Buy Orléans on Amazon
#09 | Terra Mystica
Terra Mystica is a full information game without any luck that rewards strategic planning. This game is a legend and has done much for non-violent area control. Taking over land drives resource production instead of domination lust. Build a network and use resources coming in wisely. Build up your skills as you go to come out on top.
FOR MORE: Terra Mystica Page | Games Like Terra Mystica | Buy Terra Mystica on Amazon
#08 | Ticket To Ride
Ticket to Ride is a simple yet deep strategy game. Players sit in front of a real-life map broken up into hundreds of train route segments. Players get secret routes and they need to collect colored train cards to build routes from point A to point B. Get points from completing them and also creating the biggest and best paths.
FOR MORE: Ticket To Ride Page | How To Play Ticket To Ride | Ticket To Ride Review | Games Like Ticket To Ride | Buy Ticket To Ride on Amazon
#07 | Wingspan
If you thought a game about running a bird sanctuary would not be fun, you would be dead wrong. This is the medium engine builder you have been waiting for your whole life. You have limited actions to grow and raise your birds but they have big and far-reaching consequences. Start with little and grow into a fleet that includes some of the 100s of beautiful unique birds.
FOR MORE: Wingspan Page | How To Play Wingspan | Wingspan Review | Games Like Wingspan | Buy Wingspan on Amazon
#06 | Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
Surviving the zombie apocalypse could be difficult so it is great that you need to work together in a group in this great best 4 player board games title to get the job done. You are only kind-of working with everyone because though you need to defeat the zombies together, you have a secret goal you are working and there can be only one winner.
FOR MORE: Dead of Winter Page | Games Like Dead of Winter | Buy Dead of Winter on Amazon
#05 | Scythe
Scythe doesn’t just make the list of the best 4 player board games, it makes the list of the best games ever. It is certainly complicated but if you can get into it, the effort is worth it. It is kind of like Risk except you are on the ground and you oversee each and every attack. Your unit has unique personalities and you need to build and economy that can take care of them. Oh and you also have giant Mech robots.
FOR MORE: Scythe Page | Games Like Scythe | Buy Scythe on Amazon
#04 | It’s A Wonderful World
When thinking best 4 player board games just think It’s a Wonderful World. you are an expanding Empire and must choose your path to your future. You must develop faster and better than your competitors. You’ll carefully plan your expansion to develop your production power and rule over this new world. A great drafting and engine building game.
FOR MORE: Games Like It’s A Wonderful World | Buy It’s A Wonderful World on Amazon
#03 | Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars is one of the greatest games ever made and a top-notch heavy engine builder. You are a corporation and working with others to make Mars inhabitable but you are trying to make the most money and get the best rating doing it. This game can get too long with 5 but 4 players are great.
FOR MORE: Terraforming Mars Page | How To Play Terraforming Mars | Terraforming Mars Review | Games Like Terraforming Mars | Buy Terraforming Mars on Amazon
#02 | Root
Root is all about taking on one of the four character races and doing what you need to do to win the forest. It is a great game but it makes the list of the best 4 player board games because it is most enjoyable when all races are in the mix trying to do what they do. For example, Cats play a game of engine building and logistics while attempting to police the vast wilderness and the Vagabond plays all sides of the conflict for their own gain.
FOR MORE: Root Page | Games Like Root | Buy Root on Amazon
#01 | Brass: Birmingham
There are no deeper and more satisfying economic games than the critically acclaimed Brass series. This gem tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870. You must develop, build, and establish your industries and network, in an effort to exploit low or high market demands. An easy choice for the top spot on the list of the best 4 player board games.
