One of my favorite mechanisms in board games is deck building. I think the reason I like them is because they are very versatile. And so as I make this list of deck building games to checkout, I want to be intentional about offering up a lot of different options. Because some of them are big experiences, and others are much smaller. So let’s explore deck building games that you might want to ask for or gift.

And for other ideas check out the previous lists.

Two Player Games
Campaign Games
Solo Games
Party Games
Welcoming Games
Medium Weight Games
Thematic Games

Deck Building Games

Mistborn

Mistborn is the newest one on the list. And in fact, I played it solo the week of Thanksgiving. But this is a good new deck building game with a theme that I think a lot of people will enjoy. Brandon Sanderon’s series Mistborn is popular and this game does a good job of bringing in elements of that.

You get to play as a Mistborn and either battle other Mistborn and try and advance objectives to either win by completing those objectives or knocking the other Mistborn out of the game. Or you can play cooperatively against the Lord Ruler of the Final Empire. And you need to take him out, either as a group or in solo play, before he can squash the rebellion and take you out.

The standard mechanisms of get funds and spend those to get new cards in the same. But it does a few things differently. Firstly, you have a level up track and at the start of each turn you level up. So you ramp in power as you go. You also can’t just attack one person, no ganging up, and I like that as when you get close tot he end of the game it means everyone is low on health. Plus you burn metals, thematically, in the game, which works really well as well.

Hero Realms

Let’s now go to the smallest deck building game on the list, Hero Realms. This one is a two player head to head battling game. Though you also can face off against some solo options as well. This is another good game of building up your attack but also wanting to build up your resources so you can get stronger attacks. It’s a question as to when you flip from getting resources to getting attacking cards.

The ramp in this game is fast as well. By that I mean you start the game doing small amounts of damage to your opponent. But just a few turns in you’ll be able to swing for a lot of damage. That’s nice about the game because you are able to play a few times in a sitting instead of it being the game that takes all evening. And it’s small enough, just with the core box, that you can easily travel with it.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

We go from a small game to a very large game. Lost Ruins of Arnak is a deck building game but also so much more. In Lost Ruins of Arnak you are exploring, well, ruins. And you want to be the one with the most fame at the end of it. You do that by collecting resources, buying cards – the deck building part – and researching the ruins.

The game offers so much more, like I said. There is the worker placement element of the game. And there is the research track that you are spending resources you have gathered. But the main driving engine behind the whole thing is the deck building. Because as you buy cards they don’t go to the discard pile, they go to the bottom of your deck, and it’s a smaller deck, so you cycle through it fast.

Plus, there are two ways that you add in cards. Some being that you buy with gold. These are supplies that are shipped over to you for your expedition. So they go to the bottom of the deck. But there are artifacts that you find as well. You get to use the artifact immediately when you purchase it, but it’s at the cost of explore tokens versus gold, and explore tokens are used more often than gold is in the game. It’s a clever system and thematic as to how quickly found versus shipped items get to your hand.

Aeon’s End

Now for a cooperative game in this category we have Aeon’s End. A game of fighting against big monsters and hoping that you can outlast them or take them down before they take out the town of Gravehold.

This game has a ton of expansions and core boxes, and you will do find picking any core box. I like Aeon’s End Legacy, as well, as a way to jump in. In fact, I played through a full campaign of that on stream on Malts and Meeples if you want to check it out.

But this is a game that offers a ton of variety. While the cards in the market are fixed for a single game, you can change it up every game. Plus each Mage, the character you control and play as, has a special card and special abilities. And then each Nemesis you face off against, the big bad guy, is going to be unique as well. Some you can’t beat with damage, so you need to play it smart and outlast the smaller minions and attacks they throw out. Some are more straight forward and you’ll be attacking them a lot. They do a great job in being creative with the game.

If pure fantasy isn’t your style for this. There is also a newer, and slightly different version you can checkout called Astro Knights with more of a sci-fi and anime feeling theme.

Ascension

Finally, I think you need to put one of two games on a deck building list. I put the one that I like better, Ascension, as compared to Dominion. For me, Ascension’s theme and mechanisms for deck building are just a little bit better.

But it’s very much a straight forward deck building game, at least as you start. You certainly are able to buy expansions and change it up. But you buy cards that give you points and then either attack or purchase power. And your next turn with your next hand, you again buy cards, or you attack the enemies on the board gaining points for them.

One element I really enjoy is how everything kind of works together with synergies. Each faction in the game synergize a lot and you can lean into card draw or attacks if you want. You decide. And there are constructs as well, another element that I like. These are cards that just don’t get played, but they stay in play. Certain things will mess that up, but I love building up the combos and powers of those constructs as well, which can be game breaking if you aren’t careful and let someone get them all.

Final Thoughts

I want to add more games to the list. There are a lot of great deck building games out there. And I know people who their favorite game is Dominion. So while it isn’t on my list, or a deck building game that I love, it’s one that yes, you should checkout if you haven’t already. And I love how deck building can do so many things as well. Is there one of these games that you’d like to get? Or one that you’d think about giving to someone?

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