“Uh, actually I have to go,” you say when that ONE friend says he wants to play Monopoly. When your six-year-old cousin asks to play Sorry,  you silently groan in anticipation of that long, terrible, chance-based game.

Let’s face it. Most people don’t really like to play board games. But is that because board games are boring? Or is it because people are closed off from a whole world of wonderful board games?

I’ll give you a hint. It’s the second one.

Here’s a fancy list of actually FUN board games!

Settler’s of Catan

Settler’s of Catan is a great game focusing on gathering and spending resources. It is one of the more well-known good board games. Settler’s of Catan has a good mix of luck and strategy, using dice and probability to allocate the resources needed to become the Lord of Catan!

Kingdom Builder

Kingdom Builder may look similar to Settler’s of Catan, but the strategy is a lot simpler and it is much more relaxed and simpler. The game changes every game, with eight total boards to be arranged in squares and each game having a different objectives, the game never becomes boring. Another appeal of this game is that it is hard to tell who is going to win until you’re done, making for the game to become competitive the whole way through!

Diplomacy

AKA the longest board game you will ever play. The ultimate game of strategy, the only luck comes in the decision of which country you will play. Set in pre-WWI Europe, in the end, you will either be eliminated, conquer Europe, or end in a draw. When preparing for a game of Diplomacy, Google recommends you set aside 7-10 hours for play face-to-face. Of the seven players, it is more than likely that only three will survive until the end of this game, so you should probably break out another game for when the players get eliminated.