The definitive ranked list of the best video game board games. These are games that have been inspired by a video game or genre. Videos can gotten deep and can span consoles, PC/Mac and mobile and they all vary dramatically. Some franchises have been so popular that they have inspired pieces of entertainment outside of their digital arena. That is the case with these titles. These are our top 10 best video game board games.
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#10 | Bloodborne: The Card Game
Bloodborne: The Card Game makes the list of the best video game board games because it is a great title that keeps in the spirit of taking on nightmarish fiends and collecting the most blood echoes. This is a very fun game about risk management with a bit of group think, inventory management/upgrades, and tactical play.
You start with a hand of basic weapons, which you get to upgrade to improve your fighting combos and capabilities. Each turn, one monster chosen at random attacks players, who fight back as a team, with everyone playing a card from their hand simultaneously to attempt to kill the monster. You can fight monsters for as long as you want to collect blood but if you die you lose it all. For 3 – 5 players, games run 30 – 45 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy Bloodborne: The Card Game on Amazon
#09 | Fallout
Fallout makes the list of the best video game board games because it is a fantastic hand management and action point dice rolling campaign game that stays true to the video game franchise. Find allies, skills, and equipment as you chuck dice through the apocalypse in a topnotch tabletop experience.
Each scenario is inspired by a familiar story from the franchise. Survivors begin the game on the edge of an unexplored landscape. With just one objective to guide them from the very beginning, each player must explore the hidden map, fight ferocious enemies, and build the skills of their survivor as they attempt to complete challenging quests and balance feuding factions within the game. For 1 – 4 players, games last 2 – 3 hours.
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#08 | Plague Inc.
Plague Inc. makes the list of the best video game board games because it gives you an opportunity to run a strategic game of infection, evolution and extinction that may run better than the digital app it is based on. There are a few major shifts between the original video game but it stays true to the idea spreading or being defeated.
Each player is a deadly disease and they must battle against each other to spread their plagues, develop new symptoms and ultimately wipe out humanity. Starting with Patient Zero, you spread your infection across the world by placing tokens in cities – earning DNA points and preventing other players from becoming dominant. Eventually, as countries become fully infected – you try to kill them using the Death Dice. For 1 – 4 players, games run about 1 hour.
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#07 | Cloudspire
Cloudspire makes the list of the best video game board games because it is the top title based on the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game system. You need to use towers, minions, and heroes to help your faction claim an island in the sky.
Solo and Cooperative play are driven by a scenario book that chronicles the story of the game from the perspective of each individual faction. Players control one of four unique factions in a battle to destroy and steal source energy from their opponents. Send and defend against armies and minions, build towers to protect your base, and explore with your heroes in search of resources and powerful Relics to turn the tide of battle. For 1 – 4 players, games run 90 – 180 minutes.
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#06 | DOOM: The Board Game
Doom makes the list of the best video game board games because it is a great strategy title of tactical combat that well represents the video game franchise of the same name. Featuring two distinct player roles, the game brings the epic battle between elite marines and Hell’s most threatening monsters to the tabletop.
The game immerses players in a fierce battle between legions of demons and a cooperative team of up to four marines. The game guides players through two cohesive operations, during which the marines strive to achieve objectives like restoring power to the United Aerospace Corporation’s facilities or manning expeditions right down into the pits of Hell. Play is driven by deck building and dice rolling. For 2 – 5 players, games run 2 – 3 hours.
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#05 | Gears of War: The Board Game
Gears of War makes the list of the best video game board games because it does a great job of putting you at the center of being a COG soldier, fighting the Locust against all odds in a final desperate stand. This is a heavy campaign driven game that gets as deep as the video game franchise.
You must fulfill one of seven randomly constructed missions and support your fellow COGs as your team engages an unflinching enemy in furious, white-knuckle firefights! Only through teamwork and communication will you gain a tactical advantage, completing your mission and striking a blow for humanity. You’ll need every soldier you can get if you hope to send the Locust horde back to their holes. For 1 – 4 players, games run 1 – 3 hours.
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#04 | StarCraft: The Board Game
StarCraft makes the list of the best video game board games because the original is one of the greatest strategy anythings of all time and the fact that this tabletop experience was able to capture so much of that is huge. This area control game will have you placing secret orders to outmaneuver your opponents and gain control of key locations.
You battle for galactic domination on a dynamic board of interconnected planets. Setup is part of the game with every player getting two planets to place, and placing their starting base on one of them. Planets are connected to form the connections needed for movement. Each player controls a faction within the three races that has a variable power and victory condition. You gather resources and build structures to defend your area and gain some new. For 2 – 6 players, games run 3 – 4 hours.
FOR MORE: Buy StarCraft: The Board Game on Amazon
#03 | XCOM: The Board Game
XCOM makes the list of the best video game board games because it recreates the great real-time action of developing your new tech and taking it into the field to defend the world from invading aliens that the video game provides. You are humanity’s last hope and you can really feel it here.
Where the world’s militaries have failed to stand against the alien invaders, you must succeed. To do so, you must make strategic use of the resources available to you. You must launch Interceptors to shoot down alien UFOs, assign soldiers to key missions, research alien technology, and use that technology to defend your base — all while trying to keep the world from collapsing just long enough that you can coordinate one final mission to repel the invaders for good. For 1 – 4 players, games run 1 – 2 hours.
FOR MORE: XCOM: The Board Game Page | Games Like XCOM: The Board Game | Buy XCOM: The Board Game on Amazon
#02 | Civilization: The Board Game
Civilization makes the list of the best video game board games because the title was able to capture the real-time civlization building of the decades old computer game franchise. So many games have big competition but no one holds a candle to what Civilization does. The fact that they were able to covert to a very fitting and fun tabletop experiece really shows thay they have an absolute winner here.
As leaders of competing nations, players must expand their domains, gain new technologies, and build wonders to rise above all others and shape the world to their own vision. By balancing their nation’s pursuits, leaders can build a new society greater than any that has come before and guarantee that their people will not only survive, but thrive. For 2 – 4 players, games run 2 – 4 hours each.
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#01 | This War of Mine: The Board Game
This War is Mine takes the top spot on the list of the best video game board games because not only does it do its digital counterpart justice, it is a very fantastic board game that could stand alone all by itself. Civilians trapped in a war-torn city must make difficult decisions to survive. It lends itself so well to this format and deserves high accolades.
You are civilians pinned in a war-torn city. During day time you will take shelter in a ruined tenement house and choose actions like removing rubble, searching, build tools and supplies, cultivate vegetable gardens, fix facilities, and reinforce your security. When night comes you must defend and take out any bandits and raiders that come through. Your goal is to survive. For 1 – 6 players, games run 45 – 120 minutes.
