It’s award season here at Twinfinite! Let’s look back at the best tabletop board games to play in 2017. Voted on by our editors, these games stood out as prime examples of the most enjoyable board games. Let’s start with our top runner-ups, and finally, of course, our overall winner!
Second Runner-Up: Captain Sonar
Best Tabletop Board Game to Play in 2017
Captain Sonar is the kind of unique board game that comes around every once in awhile. The kind that makes you want to bring together all your friends to show them just how great tabletop gaming can be past the usual Monopoly. It might seem really complicated and convoluted, and it kind of is, but it’s something that anyone that picks up the game will enjoy.
The only major downside is that – to enjoy the game to its fullest – you need eight people. Four on each team, with each person taking up a specific role. You can play it with fewer people, but this definitely isn’t a single-player experience, that’s for sure. It’s best with the calamity of shouting over your friends to make sure your ship survives and destroys the enemy. That’s right, it’s a new age Battleships. I invite anyone looking for a clever twist (or anyone that has a sizable group of friends or family to play with) to get this game. The only reason this isn’t higher, in fact, is because of how dependent it is on other players.
First Runner-Up: Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Best Tabletop Board Game to Play in 2017
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is Arkham Horror, but without all the boring stuff. It’s a much faster game, which automatically means it will be more accessible to a larger crowd. More people willing to play means more fun for you. Even so, though, the game can be played alone, too. You’ll be able to play through a campaign (and buy more that are readily available, once you’re done with the first one) as you follow your character’s adventure in an RPG-like manner. You’ll make decisions that will affect your character through the entirety of the time you play them. It’s full of ghouls and baddies that will keep your suspense meter high, too.
Really, the entire experience was so cool, you’re going to instantly want to buy the next campaign to continue the story, once you’re done with the base game. The only downside to Arkham Horror: The Card Game is that if you want to play with more than two people, you need to buy the base game twice. Pretty lame for a game that constantly advertises itself as 1-4 players. Nonetheless, though, the experience is worth it, and you might find a way to “hack” the game to only play with one box and three other friends.
Winner: Dropmix
Best Tabletop Board Game to Play in 2017
Dropmix is the most unique and creative tabletop board game of the bunch here. It’s actually hard to explain it without sounding like a crazy person and not doing the game justice. You have to download the Dropmix app on your phone or tablet, first. Then, you place it in the funky board’s slot to hold it. The board and the app will sync through Bluetooth, and once you do, the magic starts.
The game comes with cards that have magical chips within them that, once placed on the board, will play that part of the song. It can be the drums to Ginuwine’s Pony, for example. Or the lyrics to Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe. Or any part of MGMT’s Kids. There are three game modes to choose from, and each one will have you trying to accomplish different things with your deck of cards. They’re all a ton of fun, too. It’s a card game, but with music, essentially. The pretty lights and pumpin’ hip music will make any friend of yours – not just fans of tabletop gaming – absolutely love this game. It’s the perfect party game and you can even play it alone if you wanted to. It’s hard not to give high praise to such a stellar board game attempt from Harmonix that really breaks the mold.
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