The thought of accounting for three players when trying to play a board game can be a strange one. Typically, board games are made to host two or four players, with seemingly no games caring about those with only two other friends. Let’s go over the best board games to help get your small gaming circle playing something.
Dune: Imperium
Dune: Imperium is a deck-builder and worker placement game set in the harsh dunes of Dune. As you spend your cards to get your workers to do stuff, you’ll be occupying spaces that prevent any other players from doing what you just did.
There are many auxiliary systems that add extra actions and flavor to Dune: Imperium. With three players, the time between your turns is mentally manageable, and the board won’t get clustered as quickly. But it’ll remain a complex game that you still have to manage and plan ahead for.
Many others have stated how Dune: Imperium is fantastic with three players, so this is considered the ideal way to play the game.
Root
I’ve sung Root‘s praises before, but if you’re looking for an asymmetrical and endlessly interesting board game that perfectly suits three players, then Root is the game you’re looking for.
With a range of different factions in the expansions, you and two other players can engage in delicately balanced warfare. Each faction complements the other, with the starkly different engines and economies at play keeping you thoroughly invested in your friends’ turns as well as your own.
The Marauder’s Expansion is exceptional for three-player games if you want to take things up a notch.
The Crew
The Crew is a trick-taking card game, and I generally find such games to play perfectly with three players. With The Crew being one of the best trick-taking card games out there, it makes for an easy pick for this list.
Card games are typically tighter and more interesting with three players, as your turn is close enough to be constantly involved. The speed and tactics of The Crew complement three players because of this, and you’ll end up playing more games than you bargained for.
Three-player games of The Crew can get tense and vicious, which makes it all the better.
The King Is Dead
The King Is Dead is a unique board control game where all players don’t represent factions, but instead are dealing with and collecting followers of the existing factions on the board.
It’s simple yet deeply strategic. In the turmoil of the king dying, the fiefs of the British Isles are either falling in line with one faction or falling into turmoil. Whether a faction controls Britain or whether the French invade, a player has the chance to win by how they assembled their court during the game.
A delicate and deeply strategic game, The King Is Dead plays perfectly with three players. With an odd number of players, no even teams can be established as the fate of Britain gets vied over.
Inis
Inis is a luxurious experience with a dash of conquest. There are three different ways to win, too, meaning you and your two friends will have a delicate and unique game every single time.
With three players, Inis becomes an exceptional balancing act as you all are almost friends all of the time. Every game will feel like an adventure, and an odd number of players allows for a cycle of passiveness and aggression that keeps teams from permanently forming and players from getting permanently teamed-up on.
Inis is just a fantastic game, but three-player games really bring out the beauty that’s tucked into every asset.
A Feast For Odin
For a mellower yet competitive game, I can’t recommend A Feast for Odin enough for three players. My two siblings and I have played numerous games, and it provides the perfect mix of stepping on each others’ toes without making the game too clunky.
A worker-placement and stuff-gatherer-simulator, you and your friends will be striving to get as much stuff as possible. With you all sharing the same action board, however, your plan of action will have to accommodate and change on the fly as actions you want to take get locked up by other players.
With only three players, this obstruction is manageable and remains fun, allowing for a continual and breezy game where players don’t get completely obstructed.
Gloomhaven
Gloomhaven is a monumental game that’s essentially an entire D&D campaign wrapped up in a unique, toothy, and difficult combat system. You and your friends will form a party that uses semi-open communication to take on dungeons and complete missions.
From my extensive Gloomhaven experience, I say that three players are the best number of players to have. It allows the game to not be so bloated and allows for dynamic games, as two-player games can get a little formulaic and more predictable, with four-player games being a little too much.
There is so much going on for Gloomhaven that I couldn’t possibly talk about it in any more depth here. You’ll just have to see for yourself when uncovering the many literal secrets in this colossal box.
Viticulture
Viticulture is a worker placement and management game of making wine. Players will win by earning the most points, and the game is played in year-long seasons.
Three players is fantastic for Viticulture as the worker placement becomes a little uglier without getting in the way too much. For most actions, only two slots will be available for all three of you, and the second action slot is more rewarding.
What becomes a game of chicken, as players are fighting to go second without coming third on the worker placements, Viticulture is a much more involved and strategic worker placement game that will make you really think numerous turns ahead.
The Quest for El Dorado
The Quest for El Dorado is a card-builder and race game that provides a fantastic match for three players.
In The Quest for El Dorado, players will be using their hands to move along the terrain to get to the end first. To improve their cards and their hands, however, players will need to stop or detour, exchanging a current move for the benefit of their future moves. As your tokens can get stuck behind each other, a three-player game allows for some obstructions whilst not grinding the game to a complete halt for too long.
The Quest for El Dorado is already a fantastic game that is a great recommendation for any count, but I’ve found three players to be the sweet spot.
Food Chain Magnate
Food Chain Magnate is an incredibly simple yet complex game of supply, demand, and delivery, where every player is in a constant rush and bid to make their employee structure as best as they can whilst out-promoting and out-performing their rivals.
With a three-player game, Food Chain Magnate remains wonderfully “wobbly” as there is a lot to account for, yet not too much to overwhelm you. Being able to just keep an eye on what your opponents are doing whilst keeping fully focused on what you’re doing allows this to make for an excellent three-player game.
For just enough chaos, Food Chain Magnate is a prime game to play.
With this list of fantastic board games for three players, you won’t have to worry about accommodation for a while.
Published: Aug 10, 2024 10:45 am