Happy Holidays! Another year is coming to a close and that means that you may be looking for ideas on what to get your board game enthusiast friend for Christmas! We have put together a list of 8 really cool ideas that you can get at varying price points and game styles. This list is not in any particular order as well. They are all fantastic! Hopefully this list will help you find just the right game to get for your gamer. So let’s not waste any more time and hop on in.

Terraforming Mars

Starting off the list is the very popular Terraforming Mars board game. The game is for 1 to 5 players and was released in 2016 by FryxGames. The premise of this game is to collect resources and income while playing cards that increase income and resources that lead to terraforming the planet or building up your corporation. The game will end when three terraforming conditions are met such as raising the oxygen level of Mars, raising the temperature and 9 ocean tiles get placed.

If your gamer likes games of moderate difficulty to learn, or empire building games, this one will fit in nicely. Priced pretty competitively, this game is still supported with expansions being created for it. Currently there are 5 expansions the most recent of which is called Turmoil.

Arkham Horror Third Edition

Arkham Horror is one of those board games that are for the more hard core board gamer type out there. This game is produced by Fantasy Flight Games so you can be assured that the quality of the pieces in this game are top notch. If your gamer is looking for a game thick with theme then look no further. Play as investigators in the town of Arkham. Solve mysteries as one of 12 investigator types. Each game feels unique and different when playing with friends. You play across 4 different scenarios.

I cannot state enough as an avid board gamer myself how much I enjoyed this game with my friends. This game can handle 1-6 players and takes 2-3 hours but our games would get closer to 4 hours. The art is fantastic the game play fits so well into the theme of lovecraft like monsters and mysteries.

Priced toward the higher side of the the list here you get a lot of stuff and these games are always great to pull out for a game night as they can be fit into 1 session. The game also has plenty of expansions if your gamer wants to branch out at a later date!

Risk

Our gaming group has been obsessed with Risk lately. I would say that there is a good chance that most people have played Risk as it’s been around for decades. Originally released way back in 1957 the game has stood the test of time and is a popular game that tends to come out for us around the holiday season. The games tend to go pretty long, Usually for us around 6 to 7 hours. It’s meant to be played with 2-6 players.

This is a wargame that is all about strategy and conquering the world with your armies. The rules once the game has started are very basic and easy for anyone to follow.

One thing that is also really fun about Risk is that it has has endless amounts of themed versions with different world maps that are themed from anything like the world of Game of Thrones to Halo. If your gamer likes games like this, it’s a safe bet that anyone can sit down and enjoy.

Settlers of Catan

What holiday list would be complete without Settlers of Catan? What can I say, it’s a gateway game that anyone can get introduced to and enjoy.

For those unfamiliar with Settlers of Catan, the game is a strategy game where players collect resources and use them to build roads settlements and cities. Doing this will eventually get you to victory points and the first player to 10 victory points wins the game. This game is pretty fast paced and goes for 1 to 2 hours depending on the amount of players and the length of turns your players tend to take.

Like many of the games on this list, this game also has expansions as well so if your board game enthusiast is into this game they can go out and get even more of it!

Coup

Coup is a fast paced fun game about lying to get yourself further along in the game and eventually be the last one standing. Coup is another one of those games that comes out several times a year. It’s not hard to learn and you get a cheat card to look at what cards beat what.

Each player gets two cards to start the game. At the end of the day it’s like a rock paper scissors with the different character types that beat each other. The cool thing is that you are able to lie about what you have to get yourself more tokens. Once you have 7 tokens you can Coup another player where they have to get rid of 1 of their cards.

If you have a board gamer that likes the more simple yet fun party games this one is a fantastic pick. Once again like most everything on this list there is an expansion that will expand the maximum player size for a game from 2-6 players up to 10 players and introduces new cards and effects along with another play mechanic.

Still this game is good enough on it’s own and an perfect pick for a very modest price. Your gamer will get countless hours out of this game and will probably be a party hit for years to come.

Dominion

Dominion is a deck building game that any board gamer will really love. Especially because of the simplicity of this game. There is so much rich strategy that just lies under the surface that leads to countless games.

Meant for 2-4 players this game takes around 30 minutes to play and I would say that is a pretty accurate number. The rules are simple, you build up cards with the end goal of purchasing properties. The player with the most property points at the end of the game wins. Along the way you can buy cards that help you get more cash, or prevent others from getting cash by attacking them.

The magic of this game comes with the way you build your deck as some cards will be less useful later on in the game, but you may be stuck with them since they are already in your deck and you can only draw so many cards at a time.

If your gamer likes moderately challenging board games or builder games in general, then this is a perfect game to pick up for them this holiday season. Like most things on this list there are large amounts of expansions as well so if they are into the game there is plenty more things to get to add onto this game!

Exploding Kittens Party Pack

Exploding Kittens, what can I say! This game is fast paced fun time that can be played with a large group or a smaller group of players. It’s a fantastic party game and the party pack is a fun game that takes one a couple minutes to understand how to play. I have played this game for years now and it’s still just as fun with those big groups. This party pack specifically can handle up to 10 players.

The goal of the game is to be the last person standing by not drawing an Exploding Kitten from a deck. You have a hand of cards that you are able to play on your turn or on other players turn to help prevent you from drawing an exploding kitten or taking other players defuse cards.

There are several expansions to this game one of which is a not safe for work version so be sure that you get the right version for whoever you plan on getting this for!!

Personally this game comes out at least a few times a year when we have friends over even after years of play. These can easily be picked up at Target near the Cards Against Humanity or using our Amazon affiliate link here!

Talisman

Anyone that follows this site regularly knew that this list was not going to get away from me without including Talisman on it. Especially since the game has recently entered a reprint. Now is the perfect time to pick up Talisman for your board game friend if they love a simple yet deep game of character building quest game that feels like Monopoly met Dungeons & Dragons.

At the role of the die players play as wizards, warriors thieves and ogres with the end game goal to be the first player to the center of the board or the crown of command. Along the way players will encounter random events and monsters at the draw of the deck. Leveling up their character and collecting items all in effort to get to the center faster.

Games are for 1-6 players and can take several hours. Most games that I play utilize some of the many expansions so they can go all day. Like Risk or Monopoly lengths of time. But we always love every minute of it.

This game also has a very large amount of expansions. Some of them may not be available yet come holiday time, but the base game will be enough for years to come alone. So if your gamer likes a tolkien like adventure but on a board. This is a perfect game to pick up that only has a moderate learning curve.

Hopefully you found this list of games helpful! I couldn’t resist to include my absolute favorite game myself and it was hard trying to pick a good mix of games that cover a wide variety of board game players. But I hope that everyone has a great holiday season! Be sure to check out all our other board game articles and reviews! Travel safe!