Board games are great for spending time with friends and family, especially in large groups. Whether you’re looking for a game you can play every week or something to bring to your next get-together with friends, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of options for you. Today, we’ve gathered a list of ten of the best board games that support five players.
Below is a list of some of the best five-player board games I’ve played over the years. You’ll find a mix of family-friendly games that players of any age can enjoy and more complex strategy-based games that’ll have you thinking on your feet and planning several moves ahead. This list also includes larger board games and smaller card games you can carry on the go.
7 Wonders
- Price: $59.99
- Players: 3-7
Right away, we’re starting with one of my personal favorites, 7 Wonders. 7 Wonders is a strategy board game reminiscent of video games like Sid Meier’s Civilization and Age of Empires, with city-building and strategic elements at the forefront as you play. Each wonder you control has its own set of build requirements and bonuses. However, rather than directing armies or building cities on a standard play board, you’ll use cards to collect resources, create natural wonders, and amass an army to gain victory points.
Generally speaking, while you’ll primarily focus on building up your economy and obtaining enough resources to scale your civilization, you’ll also have to watch other players as they do the same, especially if you’re playing against people who enjoy a more aggressive approach to their games. You can also use the 7 Wonders Cities expansion to gain additional city options, card types, and a team version if you prefer cooperation over competition.
As a bonus, 7 Wonders is one of many games with Amazon Prime Day deals available, allowing you to save money if you’re interested in checking it out.
Small World
- Price: $59.99
- Players: 2-5
Small World is a fantasy strategy game that has you controlling powerful factions as they compete to take over, well, a small world. You and up to four other players have limited land to control, with each area playing into your race and power combination that changes each game. Your overall goal is to make as much money as possible using your race and power bonuses while keeping other players at bay as they try to take over the world.
Alternatively, you can try out Small World of Warcraft if you and your friends or family are WoW fans.
Much of Small World’s fun comes from the combination of races and powers you play with. In one game, you might start with sorcerers who are dragon masters, only to play another game where they can fly around the map themselves. Even after playing dozens of times, you’ll often encounter new combinations to try out, allowing you to develop new strategies and find some funny pairs.
Between Two Cities
- Price: $50.00
- Players: 3-7
Between Two Cities is the first partially cooperative game on this list. During the game, you and up to six other players will build two cities. However, the catch is that you aren’t building it alone; instead, you’ll cooperate with the players next to you to make each city, with the final winner being whoever makes the best one that scores the most points. As you draw tiles and build up your city, you’ll want to work with your two partners to give you the resources you need to grow while finding a balance between developing both cities without sacrificing one or the other.
A unique aspect of Between Two Cities is its cooperative yet competitive nature. This becomes especially apparent if you’re playing with five or more players, as you’ll compete with those you’re not working with to make the best city. There’s also the chance that the people on your left or right will make a better city with their second partners, reminding you that there’s some level of competition even amongst the teamwork.
Bohnanza
- Price: $19.99
- Players: 3-7
If you want an adorable and goofy game about growing beans, Bohnanza is the game for you. Throughout Bohnanza, you and the rest of the table will grow, harvest, and trade beans to make money. As you collect beans in the form of cards in your hand, you’ll plant them each turn, followed by drawing more and exchanging them with others at the table.
Admittedly, Bohnanza is a game I just picked up and played for the first time recently, and I had a blast the entire time. The art cracks me up, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it played with five people at the table. While it can be challenging to pick up for younger players at first, especially as you dive into money-making strategies, it’s certainly a game you can learn quickly, especially after you spend some time getting to know each bean.
Here to Slay
- Price: $19.99
- Players: 2-6
Another card and dice-rolling game for this list is Here to Slay, a role-playing card game where you build a party of heroic adventurers and battle powerful enemies. During your playthrough, you’ll collect various hero, magic, and item cards that’ll aid you in your journey to defeat the game’s strongest enemies and utilize modifier and challenge cards to interrupt the other players at the table as they do the same. The game offers multiple win conditions, giving you several routes to success, depending on your playstyle.
Here to Slay is a particularly interesting choice for anyone who enjoys traditional RPG games, minus the board traversal. If you want a quick and easy-to-understand game you can carry around in a bag or your pockets, this one and its expansions are great options to check out.
Ticket to Ride
- Price: $54.99
- Players: 2-5
Ticket to Ride is a strategic board game focused on traveling around the world and building train railways. Throughout the game, you and up to four other players will collect colored train cars, which you’ll use to build railway routes between cities on your board. Your ultimate goal is to collect the most points by completing routes, building long railways, and finishing bonus objectives that vary depending on which version of Ticket to Ride you own.
While the base game features North America, you can also find expansions for other regions, such as Ticket to Ride: Europe, or even explore the world using boats in Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails. There are numerous options you can explore and plenty of opportunities for younger players to learn some geography.
King of Tokyo / King of Monster Island
- Price: $44.9 / $69.99
- Players: 2-6 / 2-5
King of Tokyo is a competitive two-to-five-player game where you play as a monster, take over the city of Tokyo, and fight to be the last person standing. As you circle the table, you’ll roll between six to eight dice, determining exactly what you’ll do during your turn before buying cards to power up your monster. This game is all about strategically buying and sweeping cards that appear while balancing survivability and battling against everyone else.
Alternatively, if you prefer cooperative gameplay, King of Monster Island allows you and up to four other players to fight against monsters. You’ll also work together as a team to strategically defeat enemies and the main boss around the board while powering up your own monsters. This time, you don’t want to hinder the other players; your goal is to stay alive as a team and defeat the boss.
Outside of this, gameplay for King of Monster Island is very similar to King of Tokyo, making both great options for competitive and cooperative gameplay, depending on your and your friends or family’s preferences. As someone who’s played both, I like both equally, albeit having slightly more familiarity with King of Tokyo.
Sushi Go! / Sushi Go Party!
- Price: $11.99 / $28.43
- Players: 2-5 / 2-8
Another adorable and quick-to-understand game on this list is Sushi Go!, a card-passing game that has you collecting a bunch of sushi to gain points. You begin the game by arranging a deck of starter cards before passing them around, placing one on the table, and passing your hand around until everyone runs out. Every card has point bonuses, which you’ll use to gain as many points as possible.
If this sounds like a quick and easy explanation, that’s because it is. Sushi Go is a relatively simple yet enjoyable game. I play it at least two to three times a month, and I still enjoy it as much as the first time.
Alternatively, if you anticipate you’ll have more than give players joining you or want access to more card deck options, Sushi Go Party! is another option for you. It plays the exact same as the original Sushi Go but features more cards to support up to eight players.
Mysterium
- Price: $54.99
- Players: 2-7
If you’re looking for another cooperative game, Mysterium is another great option to consider. Mysterium is a cooperative ‘whodunit’ game where you and the rest of the table will work alongside a mysterious, silent ghost to discover the culprit behind a murder case. As the ghost gives you clues in the form of dream-like illustration cards, it’s up to you and your fellow detectives to determine the answer based on these cards.
The catch? The silent ghost is one of the players at the table who, throughout the game, won’t verbally communicate at all. Instead, they choose the hint cards you receive, with you and the rest of your group unraveling the secret of the game’s murder case. This is another one I’ve revisited numerous times, and I always enjoy seeing how my interpretations of cards differ from those I play with.
Heat: Pedal to the Metal
- Price: $74.99
- Players: 1-6
Last but certainly not least is Heat: Pedal to the Medal, one of my favorite board games that I regularly play at least a few times a month. Heat is a racing board that has you and up to five other players at the table driving around one of four race tracks. As you travel around the race track, you’ll carefully determine how fast you want to go without overheating your engine and spinning out.
Heat also comes with two advanced editions to try out, adding car modifications and a championship system for changing road conditions and weather to become more familiar with the game. Whether you’re looking for a complex racing game full of fine-detail customization or a simplistic form for all ages, Heat is a fantastic option that I wholeheartedly recommend, especially if you want something you can play occasionally.
Published: Jul 16, 2024 10:22 am