The 10 best heavy board games

Spirit Island is a complex co-op game where you embody a nature spirit, unleashing elemental powers to drive colonizers off your island alongside the native islanders. Perfect for experienced gamers who love deep strategy, asymmetric player powers, and a thematic fight against colonialism.

In the far corners of the world, magic still thrums through the land, sky, and sea — and the spirits of nature are awake. When European colonizers arrive to claim these shores, the island itself fights back, and you are one of its elemental spirits, each with unique powers and a distinct playstyle. This is a deep, thematic co-operative game where you and your fellow spirits must defend your home and the native islanders from the relentless Invaders.

Command the Empire or Rebel Alliance in a sprawling game of galactic war, bluff, and hidden bases—perfect for Star Wars fans who love asymmetric strategy and epic, cinematic board game showdowns.

Star Wars: Rebellion drops you into the heart of the Galactic Civil War, where two to four players take control of either the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance. This isn’t a fair fight—and that’s the point. Each side has completely different win conditions, forcing you to adapt your entire play style from the start.

In the 2400s, you and your rivals compete to transform Mars into a habitable planet, balancing corporate greed with terraforming progress. Perfect for strategy lovers who enjoy deep card play and engine-building.

It's the 2400s, and humanity has set its sights on turning the Red Planet green. Giant corporations, backed by the World Government on Earth, are racing to raise Mars's temperature, oxygen levels, and ocean coverage until the planet is truly habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play as one of those corporations, working together with rivals to terraform the planet — but secretly competing for Victory Points (VPs) earned not just from terraforming, but from building infrastructure across the solar system…

One player leads the Free Peoples, the other commands Sauron's Shadow Armies in an epic struggle for Middle-earth. Perfect for Tolkien fans and strategy gamers who love asymmetric, high-stakes conflict with a hidden quest for the Ring.

In War of the Ring: Second Edition, one player takes command of the Free Peoples, while the other controls the Shadow Armies of Sauron. The Free Peoples nations start reluctant to fight, so they must be provoked by Sauron's attacks or persuaded by Gandalf and other Companions before they join the war in earnest — this is tracked on the Political Track, showing each nation's readiness for battle.

Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition is an epic 6-8 hour game of galactic conquest for 3-6 players who love deep strategy, negotiation, and asymmetric factions. Perfect for dedicated board gamers ready to claim the throne of Mecatol Rex through military might, political scheming, and trade.

Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition drops you into a sprawling galaxy where three to six players each command one of seventeen wildly different factions — from the wormhole-hopping Ghosts of Creuss to the trade-obsessed Emirates of Hacan. Every game begins with you and your rivals building the galaxy itself, strategically placing 51 galaxy tiles featuring lush planets, supernovas, asteroid fields, and gravity rifts around the central capital of Mecatol Rex.

Dune: Imperium blends deck-building with worker placement for a tense, strategic fight for control of Arrakis. Perfect for fans of the Dune universe who love deep, competitive gameplay.

In Dune: Imperium, you lead one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, combining classic worker placement with deck-building to create a game of hidden information and shifting strategy. Each round, you draw a hand of cards and take turns placing your Agents on the board by playing a card—your deck literally determines where you can go and what you can do.

Balance military might and political intrigue while deploying spies, signing contracts, or riding sandworms in this standalone deck-building and worker-placement game for fans of Dune and strategic board games.

In Dune: Imperium – Uprising, you must continue to balance military might with political intrigue, wielding new tools in pursuit of victory. Deploy spies to shore up your plans, secure vital contracts to expand your resources, or learn the ways of the Fremen and ride mighty sandworms into battle.

Gloomhaven is a tactical, co-operative dungeon-crawler for players who love deep strategy, evolving stories, and permanent consequences—perfect for groups ready to commit to a sprawling campaign.

Welcome to Gloomhaven, a world of shifting motives and dark ruins where you and your friends become wandering adventurers, each with unique skills and personal reasons for braving this treacherous corner of the map. This isn’t just a one-off game—it’s a persistent, ever-changing campaign ideally played over many sessions, where every decision shapes the story like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.

Design a futuristic zoo and outsmart rivals with strategic card management in Ark Nova — where conservation, science, and creativity collide for 2-5 players.

In Ark Nova, you’re not just building a zoo — you’re engineering a global conservation empire. Use action cards to grow your domain, with each card’s power shifting based on the slot you play it in. The Cards action pulls fresh animals, sponsors, and projects into your collection; Build crafts enclosures and attractions; Animals populates your park; Association deploys workers for specialized tasks; and Sponsors boosts funding or influence.

Brass: Birmingham is a sequel to Martin Wallace's classic economic strategy game, where players build industrial empires in 19th-century Birmingham by mastering canals, railways, and market timing. Perfect for fans of deep, evolving strategy and industrial-era competition.

Brass: Birmingham thrusts you into the heart of Birmingham’s Industrial Revolution, where you’ll race to build a thriving empire of canals, railroads, and industries. The game unfolds in two distinct eras: the canal era (1770–1830) and the rail era (1830–1870), each demanding new strategies as the city evolves. Victory Points (VPs) come from developed industries, efficient transportation networks, and smart market timing—score the most across both eras to claim victory.