The Best Board Games for Board Game Lovers (and People Who Love D&D)
Finding the perfect gift for a serious board gamer can feel a little intimidating—especially if their shelves are already lined with expansions, Kickstarter exclusives, and the kind of rulebooks that double as free weights. But don’t worry. Whether your giftee loves immersive storytelling, crunchy strategy, spooky mysteries, or cozy vibes, there’s a game on this list that will genuinely surprise and delight them.
We’ve rounded up some of the most beloved, high-replay board games that tabletop fans (including D&D players!) can’t get enough of. From legacy campaigns to clever party games to art-house puzzlers, these picks are thoughtful, exciting, and guaranteed to get your favorite gamer’s table buzzing.
23 Best Board Games for Serious Gamers
These titles are perfect gifts for the serious gamer in your life: story-rich campaign worlds, crunchy strategy games, atmospheric mysteries, and beautifully crafted boxes they’ll be excited to unwrap. Whether your recipient loves D&D-style adventures or cozy engine-builders, you’ll find something here that feels thoughtful, impressive, and genuinely fun to give.
Jump to the Board Game Vibe Matrix →
1. Alice Is Missing
A silent, real-time roleplaying game told entirely through text messages. Players uncover clues, follow leads, and piece together what happened to a missing teenager in a tightly paced 90-minute story.
Why it’s great: The game builds tension through real-time communication and reveals, creating a cinematic, emotional experience.
Best for: Story-first players, fans of mystery campaigns, and groups who want a one-shot with big feelings.
2. Wingspan
A beautifully produced engine-building game where you attract birds to your wildlife preserve by chaining abilities and managing habitats. The mechanics are smooth, intuitive, and deeply rewarding as your engine grows.
Why it’s great: It’s calming, tactile, beautifully illustrated, and surprisingly strategic.
Best for: Cozy gamers, nature lovers, and players who prefer chill-but-smart gameplay.
Bonus candle pairing → Potion of Flight
Let airy notes of craneflower and green tea elevate the chill vibes of this cozy deckbuilder.
3. Saboteur
A quick card-based bluffing game where players dig tunnels toward hidden treasure—unless secret saboteurs are working against the group. Easy to learn and fast to play, it has all the fun of a social deduction game without the complexity.
Why it’s great: Easy to teach, endlessly replayable, and filled with hilarious accusations.
Best for: Party groups, social-deduction fans, and anyone who loves a little light-hearted betrayal.
4. Terraforming Mars
A rich, sprawling engine-builder where players act as competing corporations working to make Mars habitable. Hundreds of unique cards, multiple strategies, and long-term planning make every playthrough feel epic.
Why it’s great: Tons of engine-building, meaningful choices, and satisfying long-term planning.
Best for: Euro-game lovers, crunchy strategists, and players who love big sci-fi themes.
Bonus candle pairing → Hithmari High Desert
Simulate the deserts of Mars with the pleasant aroma of sagebrush, red clay, and cactus.
5. Scythe
A visually stunning strategy game set in an alternate 1920s Europe where factions build economies, move mechs, and control territory. It blends Euro-style resource management with light conflict and asymmetrical powers.Why it’s great: Gorgeous art, near-endless replayability, and tightly balanced gameplay.
Best for: Competitive players, lore enjoyers, and people who want strategy without constant combat.
6. Gloomhaven / Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
A campaign-driven dungeon crawler where players use card-based actions to explore ruins, fight monsters, and shape an evolving world. Jaws of the Lion condenses the core experience into a smoother, more accessible format.
Why it’s great: Deep mechanics, tons of scenarios, and a rich sense of adventure. Jaws of the Lion is a lighter entry point.
Best for: D&D groups who want crunchy combat, long campaigns, or GM-less dungeon crawling.
Bonus candle pairing → Adventurer's Emporium
Notes of polished leather, clove, amber make this the ultimate candle for board game sessions.
7. Spirit Island
A deeply strategic cooperative game where players become elemental spirits defending their island from invading colonizers. Each spirit has wildly different powers, making synergy and planning crucial.
Why it’s great: Unique powers, intense combo potential, and a high skill ceiling that rewards cooperation.
Best for: Strategy-minded groups, puzzle solvers, and players who love asymmetry.
8. Root
An asymmetric strategy game where woodland factions—from militaristic cats to rebellious woodland creatures—battle to control a forest. Every faction plays like its own mini-game, creating dynamic and political gameplay.
Why it’s great: Every faction plays completely differently, making the game strategic, political, and wonderfully chaotic.
Best for: Competitive gamers, fans of intrigue, and people who loved the factions in Waterdeep or Redwall-style vibes.
Bonus candle pairing → Miss Penelope's Apple Tarts & Cream
The mouthwatering scent of baked apples, thick pastry, and light cream is perfect for playing Root, though it might make you a little hungry!
9. Betrayal at House on the Hill
A pulpy horror exploration game where players uncover rooms, encounter spooky events, and eventually trigger a twist that sends one player into full villain mode. With dozens of possible “haunts,” no two games feel the same.
Why it’s great: Over 50 possible “haunts,” tons of dramatic reveals, and big roleplaying energy.
Best for: Campy horror lovers, chaotic-good gamers, and anyone who loves narrative twists.
10. Everdell
A whimsical worker-placement and tableau-building game set in a charming woodland village. Players collect resources, build structures, and gather critters to create the most efficient and adorable city.
Why it’s great: Accessible to beginners but deep enough for pros, with satisfying engine-building.
Best for: Cozy fantasy lovers, fans of art-forward games, and groups wanting something approachable.
Bonus candle pairing → A Walk in the Woods
The pine and sandalwood notes in this candle help evoke the charming forests over Everdell.
11. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
A story-driven, deck-building campaign set in the Lovecraftian mythos. Each scenario presents branching narratives, tense skill tests, and customizable investigator decks.
Why it’s great: Branching storylines, customizable decks, and rich atmosphere.
Best for: Mystery lovers, roleplayers, and fans of rich storytelling.
12. Nemesis
A semi-cooperative sci-fi survival game where players wake up on a spaceship filled with hostile alien creatures. You’ll navigate malfunctioning systems, hidden objectives, and growing paranoia as the threat level rises.
Why it’s great: Paranoia, tension, cinematic moments, and the constant threat of betrayal.
Best for: Groups who love dramatic chaos, survival horror vibes, and clutch decision-making.
13. The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
A cooperative trick-taking game where players must complete increasingly challenging missions by playing cards in just the right order. Communication is limited, forcing the group to read each other’s intentions.
Why it’s great: Simple rules but deeply addictive teamwork-driven gameplay.
Best for: Groups who like quick games, card gamers, and friend groups with strong synergy.
Bonus candle pairing → Brinewater Tides
This light yet complex candle carries notes of kelp, ozone, salt water, and cedarwood.
14. Codenames
A word-association party game where teammates give one-word clues to help their group guess secret agents on a grid. It’s quick, clever, and endlessly replayable with any group size.
Why it’s great: Great for any group size, easy to teach, and endlessly replayable.
Best for: Party gamers, families, warm-up sessions before D&D.
Bonus candle pairing → Den of Thieves
Did someone say secret agents? This candle is perfect for Codenames, with notes of smoke, red wine, and aged leather.
15. Azul
A tile-drafting game inspired by Portuguese ceramic art where players collect colorful tiles and arrange them into patterns. It’s a perfect blend of strategy, aesthetics, and satisfying puzzle mechanics.
Why it’s great: Medium-weight strategy with incredibly tactile components.
Best for: Strategy fans, casual players, and people who like elegant simplicity.
16. Frosthaven
A massive follow-up to Gloomhaven with new characters, scenarios, crafting systems, and a winter-torn world to rebuild. It offers hundreds of hours of tactical gameplay without needing a GM.
Why it’s great: Huge campaign, refined mechanics, and an entire world to explore.
Best for: Long-term groups, tactical combat fans, and players who want a whole wintery saga.
Bonus candle pairing → Mountaintop
Feel the frosty vibes of winter with candle notes of frosted spruce, copal resin, and coal.
17. Dead of Winter
A semi-cooperative survival game set in a frozen, zombie-ridden world where players must work together while hiding personal objectives. Every choice carries emotional and strategic weight.
Why it’s great: Tense decision-making, narrative crossroads cards, and paranoia.
Best for: Fans of bleak story arcs, secret traitors, and moral dilemmas.
18. Cartographers
A flip-and-write map-making game where players sketch landscapes onto their kingdom map based on revealed cards. Seasonal scoring and invading monsters keep each session fresh.
Why it’s great: Relaxing, creative, and super portable.
Best for: Map lovers, fantasy world-builders, and people who doodle in the margins of their TTRPG sheets.
19. Legends of Andor
A cooperative fantasy campaign where players fight monsters, solve puzzles, and protect the kingdom from overwhelming threats. Scenarios feel like compact adventures with strategic depth.
Why it’s great: Accessible rules and a gentle difficulty ramp.
Best for: Mixed-experience groups, families, and fans of lighter fantasy.
Bonus candle pairing → Long Rest
Good vibes in a candle with notes of campfire and pine.
20. Mysterium
A cooperative deduction game where one silent player is a ghost sending surreal “vision” cards to help others solve a murder. The combination of dreamlike art and atmospheric storytelling makes it incredibly immersive.
Why it’s great: Atmospheric art and vibes for days.
Best for: Groups who love spooky mysteries, vibes-forward games, and dreamlike imagery.
21. Oath
A sweeping political strategy game where each session permanently affects the next, creating a long-running, evolving world. Players manipulate laws, favor, and factions in a shifting landscape of power.
Why it’s great: Emergent storytelling and a unique system that creates its own history.
Best for: Legacy-game enjoyers, high-strategy players, and groups who meet regularly.
22. Forgotten Waters
A narrative pirate adventure featuring voice acting, branching choices, and a humorous storybook format. Players sail together while pursuing personal goals and making chaos-filled decisions.
Why it’s great: Big personality, memorable characters, and an engaging companion app.
Best for: Roleplay-heavy groups, casual creatives, and anyone who wants a lighter story game.
23. Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated
A comedic legacy deck-builder where players delve into dungeons, steal loot, and upgrade their world between sessions. Over time, you’ll customize the map, story, and characters in permanently meaningful ways.
Why it’s great: Humor, exploration, loot, and campaign progression.
Best for: D&D fans who love deck-builders, chaos, and long-form storytelling.
Bonus candle pairing → Dungeon Depths
Prepare for dungeon crawls with the subtle notes of water, clay, and black powder in this candle.
Board Game Vibe Matrix
Need a little help deciding? Check out our board game vibe matrix to find the perfect game for your crew.
| Game | Strategy | Horror | Party | Cozy | Competitive | Long Form | Puzzle / Logic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice Is Missing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Wingspan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Saboteur | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Terraforming Mars | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Scythe | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Gloomhaven / Jaws of the Lion | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Spirit Island | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Root | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Betrayal at House on the Hill | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Everdell | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Arkham Horror: The Card Game | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Nemesis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| The Crew: Mission Deep Sea | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Codenames | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Azul | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Chronicles of Crime | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Frosthaven | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Dead of Winter | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Cartographers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Legends of Andor | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Mysterium | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Oath | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Forgotten Waters | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Before You Shop Online, Check Your Local Game Store
Before you click “add to cart,” take a moment to peek at your local game or hobby store. Independent game shops are the beating heart of the tabletop community—they host game nights, introduce people to new titles, and keep niche favorites alive long after big-box retailers move on. Many also carry hard-to-find expansions, special editions, and staff picks you won’t discover online.
Plus, buying local means you’re supporting small businesses (aka: the folks championing game culture in your own backyard). And if they don’t have a particular game in stock, most shops are happy to order it for you.
Check out events coming up at Cantrip Candles →
Secure the Perfect Gift for Board Game Lovers
There’s no shortage of board games out there, but choosing the right one can transform a casual gift into something unforgettable. Whether you’re shopping for a strategist, a storyteller, a cozy gamer, or someone who lives for chaotic table talk, the games on this list hit that sweet spot of replayability, depth, and pure fun.
And if you want to level up your gifting even further, pair their new favorite game with a scent that sets the tone for your next game night—mysterious mists, woodland groves, arcane libraries, and more. Because every great adventure deserves the perfect ambiance.
Explore Cantrip Candles’ full collection today and find a scent that matches their vibe.
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