Continue on for board games like Gizmos and are curious about what similar games to play next. The smartest minds of our generation are gathering together at the Great Science Fair. Everyone’s been working hard on their creations, but only one will be crowned champion. Gizmos is an engine builder about building engines. Using energy marbles, you purchase and construct new additions to your works that trigger chain reactions, letting you do even more on your turn. The biggest and best machine wins.
To determine this list we broke down Gizmos. There are a few different categories of engine builder, Gizmos falls into the “drafting” bucket. You have to build up and make strategic investments in what you are making that are going to yield you the best results. If you are looking for something similar, you have come to the right place. We took all this into consideration and came up with this list of the 5 board games like Gizmos.
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#05 | Potion Explosion
The list of games like Gizmos would not be complete without another game that uses marbles. That is not all, Potion Explosion is also provides a unique strategy game experience at about the same time and intensity level of Gizmos. The similarities end there, unfortunately.
Take an ingredient marble from the dispenser and watch the others fall. If marbles of the same color touch, they explode and you can take them, too! You use the marbles you collect to make magical potions. Kind of like how you are using the marbles in Gizmos. You need to measure your risk to reward and be cautious enough to survive but bold enough to win. For 2 – 4 players with games running about 30 – 45 minutes.
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#04 | Century Spice Road
You are going to see this phrase a lot in the list of games like Gizmos – engine builder with simple decision action options. Century Spice Road is one of those. In Century: Spice Road, you are a caravan leader who travels the icon silk road to deliver spices far and wide, earning you fame and glory.
You are limited to establishing a route, trading, fulfill a demand or rest, but as you can imagine, this has far-reaching effects across your overall spice network. This is all fueled through an ingenious card drafting system. There are no marbles, but you have a limited number of resource options like in Gizmos. Century Spice Road is for 2 – 5 players and will last about 30 – 45 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy Century Spice Road on Amazon
#03 | Wingspan
Wingspan tackles the task of being a fantastic game that is about birds, deep into birds. It is also, like Gizmos, a fantastic medium engine building board game. Also like Gizmos, it has those limited action options that are going to have a big effect.
In Wingspan, you run a bird sanctuary and you need to nourish and grow birds and bring in new ones all while keeping everything alive. The most impressive thing about this game is the 130+ unique bird cards that each have their own story and effect. Like Gizmos, much of this game is driven by card drafting (in this case bird cards). For 1 – 5 players, games will run about 40 – 70 minutes.
FOR MORE: How To Play Wingspan | Wingspan Review | Games Like Wingspan | Buy Wingspan on Amazon
#02 | Splendor
The simplest engine builder out in the world (and one of the best) is Splendor. It is very like Gizmos in that it is all about those limited choices each turn, drafting from the limited options available, to build up your empire. In Splendor, you are a gem trader during the renaissance era trying to acquire new things to build your empire.
Using only five types of gems, you have to grab from a limited amount of cards. These are going to get you bigger and better things. Your turn is either taking gems or spending them, very simple. If you love gizmos and want to kick it back in intensity one notch, but still be robust and satisfying, Splendor is the answer. For 2 – 4 players, games last about 20 minutes each.
FOR MORE: Splendor Page | How To Play Splendor | Splendor Review | Games Like Splendor | Buy Splendor on Amazon
#01 | Steampunk Rally
The top game on the list of games like Gizmos is another game that is literally an engine builder about building engines. Steampunk Rally is a strategy game against a steampunk world backdrop. Using a unique dice-placement mechanism, you take on the role of famous inventor (think Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie), constructing fantastical contraptions to help win a race through the Swiss alps.
Kicking off each round, you draft machine parts against other players to add to your inventions or hurt other players. You also have the option of discarding drafted cards for dice or cogs to power their invention, and weighing all that creates some electrifying simple yet robust board gaming. For 2 – 8 players, games last 45 – 60 minutes.
