The Best Board Games to Buy as Holiday Gifts in 2020
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It’s that time of year again, and with all that has been happening this year, there was still not a shortage of fantastic games out there to pick up over the course of 2020. Today we aim to help you find the perfect games and accessories to get your board game nerd for the Holidays that they will absolutely love! As the list goes on, we will get into more hardcore gaming territory.
Splendor
Splendor is an easy game that anyone can play that has the joys of gathering gems in the form of chips.
The goal of the game is to work your way up to buying more and more gems that allow players to buy even more gems, and developments until the players are able to be visited by nobles at the end of the game.
The best way to describe this game is like a deck building card game where the gems are the money to buy new abilities that further advance a players ability to buy more cards for their deck.
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
If you are looking for a game that can be played at any age, and does not take a substantial amount of time to play Splendor is a great game idea to get this holiday season.
The game is two to 4 players and comes with high quality poker chips with the pictures of gems on them like Rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
If you want to to pick this game up for yourself you can use our amazon affiliate link here:
Medium
We love medium, this game is a good stocking stuffer and is pretty easy to learn. Much more of a party game, this game has players at the table take turns working with the player to their left to play one of the six cards from their hand.
These cards that are played have single words on them an when one player plays one the partnered player plays their own card. The goal is for the two players to come up with the word that acts as a medium of the two word cards played.
A medium is a word that connects two words.
A successful call of the same word by both players gives them points. A failure however requires the players to now find a medium of the two words that they just said to each other.
If the players don’t match after 3 attempts the turn is over and the play moves onto the next player.
The game ends with when all of the crystal balls have been drawn and the player with the most points on both their sides added together wins the game.
The simplicity and ability to use this at parties makes this game a great get for board game enthusiasts casual players alike. This game is so new and refreshing and an amazing pickup that anyone can enjoy.
Catan
If you or your gamer in your life are still getting into board games, Catan is always a solid entry. It’s simplicity and overall theme is solid.
Players act as settles in the land of Catan and go about building towns, roads, and even cities in strategic areas of the board to maximize their resources.
The game has some skill to it, but is heavy handed with luck as well. Understanding the correct place to place settlements to maximize resources is what makes this game tick.
Any gamer that has the base game would love some of the expansions that this game has to offer or even the player expansion pack that makes for a good stocking stuffer.
The player expansion packs are used to add 2 more players to the game making it more of a party sized game. Be warned though that any additional expansions also requires an expansion pack to play them.
Catan is one of those simple games that even people that do not know much at all about board games love to play. Setting up a board, and trying to get things like the longest road, or build the most cities is just a really easy and quick to learn game that is suitable for all ages.
Dominion
What can I say, for any board game enthusiast or even newly introduced gamers to the board game world, Dominion is perfect. This game is great to pull out at parties with some friends that want to play a game that does not take very long to set up and does not take very long to play.
This is a deck building game where the cards that you purchase further along the ability to gain victory points while preventing the other players from doing the same.
If you want to learn how to play this game, we provide a guide on How to Play Dominion here!
The base game itself is enough to give gamers many sessions of replayability with no problem, but if your gamer in your life already has this game, maybe look into some of the expansions for it. You can check out a ranking of all the expansions for the game here.
This game is an easy choice and relatively affordable for the amount of games you can get out of just the base game without the game growing stale. I highly recommend Dominion as a gift for this holiday season!
Pandemic Legacy Season 0
Pandemic is a fantastic game series. It might not be the best year for a game with a name like this one, but this game is still a blast to play.
Pandemic Legacy season zero takes players back in time to the 60’s
Players will play as characters in this world that they are able to customize to their liking.
Keep in mind this is a story driven Eurogame that is also a legacy game meaning that there are many secrets that get unboxed and discovered while playing the game for the first time.
If you are a fan of finding new games that are unique and surprise everyone, Pandemic Legacy is for you. If you are a big fan of Pandemic, this game is definitely for you.
You can pick this game up on Amazon by using our Affiliate link here.
Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars makes the list again. This game is still such a great time and really feels rewarding when playing it.
The game is designed for 1-5 players and takes around 2 hours to complete if everyone is on the same page with the rules that the game has.
Players are part of corporations that are working to make the planet turn green. The game ends when 3 conditions are met with oceans, temperature and oxygen are met.
The player with the most victory points wins the game.
This game is relatively complex and that is why we are placing it further down on the list for the more hardcore board gamers out there.
If you have a board gamer in your life that loves building up their own corporations and meeting goals, this game is a perfect scifi pickup for the holiday season!
Dune Imperium
With the upcoming release of Dune from Warner Brothers, the Dune Imperium is a snapshot of what we can expect for this soon to be very trendy series. Dune Imperium takes on the theme and art style that will match the new movie.
Not to mention that this game has a lot of cool mechanics and features that really make it feel like you are fighting for control of the spice.
This game is a perfect combination of deck building, worker placement and battles. This game is so well done that I can argue that it beats out the original Dune board game that is currently being printed by GaleForce 9
I highly recommend this game for the Holiday season for any hardcore board gamer in your life and be pretty confident that they do not yet have this game on their shelves.
Gloomhaven or (Jaws of the Lion)
Gloomhaven is amazing, this massive box game that is becoming harder and harder to come by is a legacy game that is meant to be played as an RPG with a group of friends with sessions and encounters that are unique and fun. This box offers the constant unwrapping of new things the further in the game you go.
The characters in this game are rich with theme and lore. the combat in this game is new and refreshing. This game has constantly been towards the top of board game charts for years now and for good reason.
If you are looking for a big gift for your hardcore board gamer in your life, this is it.
The game also has a standalone expansion that is much easier to come by right now and at a better price called Jaws of the Lion. This game adds onto Gloomhaven or can be played separately. So if you are not ready to take the full plunge into the Gloomhaven box, this standalone expansion might just be the best bet!
BONUS: D&D adventure or Pathfinder Adventure
If the table top RPG gamers out there, I could not leave this off the list. Getting any adventure book for your Dungeons and Dragons of Pathfinder gamer is always a fantastic idea. Just find out which of the two versions they play before going out and buying one though.
With Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition specifically, the books offer much more than simply adventures these days. Some of them are entire new worlds as well.
Want some recommendations on what books to get? Here or some options that offer both campaigns as well as cool world building.
And that’s it. Another year comes to a close. Hopefully this list has helped you.
To end, thank you to everyone that has supported this site by following our articles, subscribing to our newsletter, following our social media. It has truly been incredible this year to see where everything has gone and to really share those board gaming experiences with everyone. Happy Holidays!
