Summary
I’ve played a lot of casual and non-casual board games over the years. Depending on the group you’re playing with, it can be a lot easier if you can play a game that’s easy to teach people, rather than something excessively complicated. However, there are some games out there that are easy to learn at first, but can become incredibly hard to master.
That’s why we’ve created this list. If you’re looking for the easiest games to learn, but hardest to master, we’ve got you covered. These games offer interesting mechanics that only get deeper as you play, and prove to be a challenge for all skill levels.
2-5
Time To Play
30-60 mins
Carcassonne is an excellent tile-placing game in which you shape the landscape of medieval France. Tiles can include things like cities, resources, roads, and much more. The rules of this game are relatively straightforward in the way you can place or use tiles, but there’s a lot of in-depth strategy that can come into play the more you engage with the game’s systems.
One of the most important things to master is Meeple placement in this game. As the game goes on, you’ll also have to choose between playing your own game or sabotaging others, meaning the more you understand the game’s robust systems, the more effective you’ll be in the long run.
2-7
45-60 mins
Seven Wonders is one of my favorite board games of all time. In this game, you’ll take on the role of one of seven great cities from history. Now, some may say this game is more complex to learn, but if you’re familiar with victory-point-based games, you’ll be able to pick it up relatively quickly. Thoughmore casual playersmay struggle.
However, I’ve found that the strategy of this game really opens up once you understand the basic rules. There are hidden synergies everywhere, depending on what types of resources you’re pursuing and what kinds of victories you want to achieve. Do you want to play more militaristic, or more culturally? A lot is going on in Seven Wonders.
1-5
Wingpsan is a beautifully designed game in which players create aviaries of unique birds. The turn of play in this game is pretty simple. Everyone takes one of four different actions, slowly but surely building out a unique aviary of their very own.
However, the strategy of this game can become extremely in-depth. Wingspan, to me, is like chess. The greater your ability to think ahead, the more successful you will become. If you can select birds to add to your flock based on moves you want to make three to four turns from now, you’ll find yourself wracking up points faster than a hummingbird can flap its wings, which, to be clear, is very fast.
2-8
30-45 mins
Unstable Unicorns is a card game in which players will collect various types of unicorns to flesh out their deck. There are dozens of unicorns to collect in this game, each with its own unique abilities that you’re able to use to express your skill.
Again, this is a card game in which the turn of play is pretty easy to grasp, but victory means understanding how every unicorn works, and what you need to do to get the cards you need. Plus, there’s a pretty heavy element of enemy sabotage going on in this game, which is always great for strategy-focused players.
2-4
Azul is a tile-placement gamein which players take on the roles of Portuguese tilers who are ordered by their king to retile the royal palace in the style of the Alhambra palace in Southern Spain. This game’s scoring system is a little hard to grasp at first, but in terms of playing, the game involves simply collecting tiles and adding them to rows one at a time, making it easy to pick up.
However, the key element of Azul is knowing how to think ahead and keeping an eye on other players’ boards. You may think you have a claim to a certain group of tiles, but another player might have a chance to grab them before you do, forcing you to alter your strategy. Think ahead, and watch what your competitors are doing in order to succeed in this game.
20-40 mins
In Splendor, players act as Renaissance merchants who must deal in gems to be successful. For the type of game it is, it’s relatively fast-paced, and once again, the turn of play is mostly just about drawing and playing cards, or collecting different gems.
However, because the game is a race to reach 15 prestige points, the more you understand the game, the faster you’re able to achieve this goal. Plus, you can ‘reserve’ cards, preventing your opponents from getting them, meaning once again, there’s a big element of sabotage going on, which can be employed by expert playersbetter than casuals.
2
Various
While this game can be played in larger teams, really, Memoir ‘44 is a two-person game in which players recreate historic battles from World War II. In this game, you’ll set up a real-life battle scenario, taking turns advancing troops or defending strongholds. Anyone who’s ever played Risk or Stratego will have a basic understanding of how this game works.
However, this game has tons of modification cards that you’re able to use to employ complex strategies. The only downside with this game for hardcore strategists is that there’s a pretty heavy luck element going on in terms of dice rolls. Your strategy can be perfect, but sometimes the dice just aren’t rolling in your favor.
1-4
Cascadia is a tile-laying game that’s all about building out wildlife habitats in the Pacific Northwest. In the game, players take turns creating a specific biome and then populating it with wildlife.
What’s most interesting about this game is the way that the goals change and stay the same simultaneously. Similar to some of the bonus goals in a game like Wingspan, in Cascadia, there are scoring cards for each type of wildlife that can change how your strategy works. The more you play this game, the more you’ll understand how each scoring card works and be able to tailor your strategy accordingly.
