The ideal party room has something for everyone. And while I’m very partial to table games, the kids and the ladies LOVE a good board game or card game. With so many great options to choose from, the best sources for ideas can come from your own children – especially if they are college students.
Here is a list of board games that are on my Top Ten list of favorite games played by college students, ranging from the trendiest, to the timeless classics, to the most unique.
- Catan. In this ultimate game of strategy, each player starts with control of a principality of Catan, consisting of two settlements with a road between them, and six regions near the settlements. All the regions are represented by cards, and players aim to expand their principalities by scoring victory points for certain features.
- Cards Against Humanity. This may very well be the MVP of party games because you can have more than ten players, and it has a fun social aspect that makes it easy for even the most awkward personalities to participate. Each round, one player asks a question from a black card, and the rest of the players answer with their funniest white card.
- Rummikub. This tile game is an “oldy” that is making a huge comeback, with tournaments taking place all over the world. It allows for as many as four players, and the goal is to get rid of all your tiles by forming sets and runs. It’s easy to learn and loads of fun.
- Scrabble. This game never goes out of style. Granted, you run the risk of being humiliated by intellectuals, but everyone has played scrabble at least once in their lives. And for this reason, there’s a fun social element to building words that often result in laughs. I still remember that one time playing in college when someone spelled “who” and another player responded by shouting “WOAAA?!” not recognizing the simplest of words! Did I mention this classic word game pairs well with adult beverages?
- 7 Wonders. This is an immersive civilization-building and strategy board game where 3-7 players can lead one of the seven greatest ancient cities on a journey of military, scientific, cultural and economic development. It’s an enjoyable game that crams a lot of excitement into 30-minute game times. 7 Wonders also offers different variations.
- Terraforming Mars. 1-5 players compete as corporations to transform Mars into a habitable planet, using extensive resources and innovative technologies. Players compete for milestones and awards by placing cities, green areas and other projects on the map. It’s a stimulating test of strategic thinking and negotiation skills as players work together to achieve common goals while competing for points.
- Wingspan. If 7 Wonders and Terraforming Mars are more your speed, then this is the game for you and your friends. Wingspan is a card-driven and competitive board game in which players act as bird lovers seeking to discover and woo the best birds to their wildlife preserve networks. Players can gain food tokens using custom dice in a bird feeder dice tower, lay miniature eggs in a variety of colors and draw from hundreds of unique bird cards and play them. The winner is the player with the most points after four rounds. The game has quite a following that includes a Wingspan Facebook group.
- Magic. The Gathering Arena. More commonly known as “MTG” or “MTG Arena,” Magic is arguably the most complex tabletop game in the world, as well as the world’s greatest trading game. Players use decks of cards that generate five colors of mana and play cards that consume mana to call for creatures, cast defensive and offensive spells, and activate effects or unique abilities. Also available in mobile, PC and Mac, MTG is a must for your party room if you have serious gamers in your network.
- Bang! Ideal for larger groups, Bang! is a “spaghetti-western” inspired card game that is considered the Rolls Royce of the social deduction genre of board games. It’s played by four to seven players (or three to eight if played in expansion sets). Each player receives a unique character card with special abilities and a number of bullets for life points while taking on one of four roles: sheriff, deputy, outlaw, renegade – each role with its own objectives. Bang! is played by drawing, playing and discarding cards. A typical game can range from 20-90 minutes and ends when the sheriff dies or the last renegade and/or outlaw dies. From there, a winner is determined based on the objectives achieved by specific players.
- Wavelength. Two teams compete to figure out clues to spots on a spectrum, and earn points based on how close they get to the spots. The first team to ten wins. You can score as many as four points on a single guess so coming from far behind to win is quite possible.
NOTE: This is my top ten list, and the games I chose are in no way ranked. But the goal when building your party room board and card game collection is to mix popular and childhood favorites with unique, innovative concepts that many in your group have never heard of or at least played before. And you want a diverse collection of games that allow from 2-4 or 5 players to larger groups. Finally, you will see that I did not include Chess or Backgammon, because these two games should be automatically included in any game collection.
Blog Provided by Don Browne - Wordsmith Extraordinaire - Game Room Enthusiast
