I’m going with one of my favorite genres of games, and I think it’s a genre of game that a lot of people can get into pretty easily. The idea of playing a massive adventure is fun and different from your normal one off board game. But those games can be a bit trickier to figure out what you want to get. A lot of the games cost a fair amount, so let’s talk about some different games that give you a sense of adventure, so cheaper and some more expensive. What are some good adventure board games?

Gloomhaven

No shock I’m adding this one to the list. I love Gloomhaven. On my 2019 and 2020 Top 100 Games (of All Time) it was #1 both times. And the 2021 list is on-going. But this is a great big box game that is probably intimidating. In it you take different heroes or mercenaries and go off on missions, fighting monsters and unfolding story as you go. The game is spendy, but it’s worth it for what you get in the box.

You could also jump in first with Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lions. This game can be found for a whole lot cheaper and it brings you into the game nicely. It teaches you the game over a few scenarios, and while your characters won’t retire, you still get to level up and have the Gloomhaven experience, just in a much smaller and cheaper package.

Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness is one of two Arkham related games on the list from Fantasy Flight Games. This is the bigger one of the two. This is an app assisted game where you are investigating a mystery. In the introductory scenario you are trying to find out what is happening at a Mansion, where the owner has gone, and then how to stop the ritual that has been started.

The app works nicely because you can play a scenario a few times without it being identical. The story might unfold the same way as before, but the rooms will have moved around. And the app makes the game work really well. Plus this game is scenario based not campaign based. That means that you can play a single scenario and call it good and then pick up months later without missing any story.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

The second of the two Arkham and Lovecraftian games from Fantasy Flight Games, Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a great little experience much like Mansions of Madness. You are exploring Arkham or Dunwich or Carcosaa, where ever it might be, trying to stop rituals. The game, however, doesn’t have an app and is just cards.

What is so amazing about this game is that you explore just using cards. And the game is different as you go through linked scenarios. At the start you might be trying to find a way out of your house and fight a ghoul. The next scenario you are hunting down cultists. The game just has a lot of fun to it and feels so unique with just using cards.

Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

This one is a completely different theme, but it’s an adventure in it’s own right as it’s a great deduction game. In the base game you are solving linked cases that tell and unfold a story of a murder from long ago. This is done with the use of a computer with a database you can look things up in, as well as cards that unfold the story.

I call this a procedural cop show, but it’s fun. You are the cops, or the investigators. If someone you know really loves stuff like NCIS and CSI, this game might be a great one to play with them. It’s five scenarios long and 3 hours per scenario. So you can get a lot out of the game and it’s one of the most immersive games in terms of theme that I’ve ever played.

Aeon’s End Legacy

Finally we have a Legacy game on the list. A legacy game means that there are components that you destroy or permanently alter. Gloomhaven has a little bit of that, but Aeon’s End Legacy has a whole lot more. This is going to be a good game for someone who wants to build out their own character. While others on the list do that to some extent, Gloomhaven mainly, this one really gives you big choices on what you do.

This game also teaches you how to play Aeon’s End. Much like Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion brings you up to speed for Gloomhaven, Aeon’s End Legacy will teach you how to play Aeon’s End in all it’s forms. And th ere is a lot more content. But in the game you work together, build your characters, and fight off monsters coming through breaches. The story is lighter on this one but it’s still a lot of fun.

I have a lot more of these games on my shelf. I won’t recommend Deep Madness as it’s hard to find, and if you can it won’t be cheap. But Nemesis will give you a sense of adventure as well as Roll Player Adventures that just came out and Reich Busters thought both might be harder to find again. There are a lot of these big box games that tell you story, but I hope I gave you a good variety to checkout and for a number of different budgets. Do you have a favorite adventure game?

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