How to choose a board game

Base game, expansion, or something else

Read whether you are buying the box that starts the game. An expansion, a promo pack, or a puzzle with a similar photo is not that box. A lower price on the expansion is not a sale on the base game. If the title says ages and a player count, you are closer to a real comparison.

Card games, dexterity games, and a traditional board can share a category because a shop used one heading. Decide which you wanted. A jigsaw is not a strategy game. The piece count of a puzzle is the product. The player count of a board game is the product.

Who you are playing with

Player count and a rough playing time change whether a box will be used. Feeds often omit both. The shop page is the reliable place. A game for exactly two is a poor gift for a family of five, even when the artwork is charming. Age on the box is a minimum for parts and reading, not our verdict.

Language matters. A game that is language-independent still needs you to confirm that, because many titles are not. An edition in another language can be cheaper and still be the wrong box for your table. We do not play the games or time the rounds.

Components and price

Miniatures, a playmat, and cardboard standees change the price and the shelf space. A ‘core set’ and a ‘deluxe’ with plastic are different products. Match the edition name. A reprinted edition with different art can also be a different offer.

A simple family card game, a mid-weight boxed game, and a dearer campaign or miniature game are different budgets. Compare inside one of those, not across them. One shop listing a single copy is one offer. Postage on a heavy box of miniatures can erase a small saving.

Mistakes, storage, and the list

Do not buy an expansion first. Do not ignore the language. Do not assume a photo of painted miniatures is what an unpainted core set contains. Do not trust a was-price that claims the box was many times today’s figure.

Store boxes flat if the lid is full of loose cards. That is ordinary storage, not a review. From our catalogue, open board games. Toys and games is wider and will mix in other toys. Stay on board games if that is the brief. Visit retailer opens the shop.

How we choose products

FindAProduct lists board games that shops send through affiliate feeds and that still look in stock: a readable name, a price, and a photo when the merchant included one. We do not buy the products, wear them, or run them. We do not invent a winner.

Visit retailer is an affiliate link. The shop or the network may pay a commission if you buy. That payment is not added to the price, and it is not how we order the shops. If the live list is thin, this guide still explains the decision and the category page says what the feed currently has.

Teaching, storage, and the table you have

A game that takes an hour to teach will not be played on a weeknight if nobody wants that job. Playing time on the box is a designer’s figure under friendly conditions. It is still more useful than no figure. We do not time your group. We only suggest you read the printed time before you buy a campaign that needs a spare room.

Box size is a real constraint. A lid full of miniatures does not fit every shelf. If you live in a small flat, a card game and a two-kilo box are different pieces of furniture. The feed may not give millimetres. The shop page might, in the specification table.

Sleeves, promos, and second printings

Card sleeves are a separate purchase. A ‘includes promo cards’ line changes the edition. A second printing that fixes a rule is still the same game for most people, but a collector may care. If you are not a collector, match the base name and ignore a small art change. If you are, match the printing on the shop page.

Missing components are a fault the shop should fix. House rules you dislike are not. Read enough of the shop’s description to see whether you are buying a party game or a heavy economic game. The artwork will not tell you. The player count and the time will.

On the board game page

Sort the board game list by looking at titles, not by assuming the first rows are the most suitable. Puzzle rows and party games will sit beside a long strategy game. Leave what you did not come for. When you open a product, look for a second shop before you treat the price as researched.

Visit retailer lands on the shop that filed the row. Check the language and the edition there. If the page is a marketplace seller with no returns path you understand, walk away. A board game is a bad parcel to fight over. The affiliate link does not change the price. It only tells the network that the click came from here.

A last pass before you pay

Decide base game versus expansion, and a language you can teach from, before you sort by price. Expansions look cheap because they are not the game. A foreign edition can be cheaper and still unusable at your table. One shop on the product page is one copy. A heavy box makes postage part of the comparison, and only the shop can price that.

Read player count on the shop page when our title omitted it. We do not play the session or promise your group will like it. Missing pieces are a fault. A theme you bounce off is not. The affiliate link does not pick a winner and does not change the till price. If the seller’s returns path is unclear, choose another row.

If you are buying a gift, the age on the box and a short description of how the turn works are more useful than the artwork. You will not get that turn description from us, because we do not play the copy. You might get it from the shop’s description. Read a few lines. A party game and a four-hour campaign should not be in the same mental basket just because both say board game. Storage in a small home is part of the choice. A box you cannot shelve will not be played.

Questions shoppers ask