Tabletop 101

10 Great Alternatives to Popular Board Games

by Serban, Quartermaster @ The Guild Hall

January 7, 2020

Let’s face it, although we might not want to say it; we’ve all got a little bit of hipster blood in us. There was something we looked at, at some point in life and said “it’s too mainstream” (usually it was right after we bought a double mocha-frappucino or some other artisanal drink). The point is, our hipsterdom isn’t always a bad thing. There are times when popularity does not equal quality, but rather ease of entry even for people outside the circle. Nowhere is that more true then when it comes to board games. In the world of cardboard and meeples, there are plenty of hipsterish alternatives to popular games. So here they are: 10 great alternatives to popular board games.

Jenga – Tokyo Highway

Jenga. The one game you can play without even knowing the rules. No, seriously, you see a tower of wooden pieces, it is instinctual to just remove a piece, even a 3-year-old could do it. The problem arises when said 3-year-old gets hammered by a tower of hard wooden planks. Now, this doesn’t make Jenga bad. It is a simple and perfectly respectable game. Tokyo Highway, on the other hand, is the surgeon’s Jenga. It is a dexterity game about incredible finesse, in which you struggle to ever-so-slowly build up a highway with the smallest possible cars. If you like the dexterity element of Jenga and want to improve your handiness as much as possible, Tokyo Highway is the way to go.

Activity – Concept

Dixit – Muse

Cluedo – Chronicles of Crime

Chess – Onitama

Onitama

Uno – Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens

Alias – Just One

Catan – Mare Nostrum

Monopoly – Ticket to Ride

Carcassonne – Tang Garden

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