There are many board games with medieval dressing out there for you and your friends to enjoy. The following games not only immerse you in such a setting, but they’re fantastic games that are a joy to bring out and play every time.
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The Rise of Queensdale
The Rise of Queensdale is a medieval board game of land development and engine building. Each player will be trying to develop their plot of land the most, by using dice scores and actions that they can improve upon as the game progresses.
The artistry here is immersive enough for the medieval setting, with the portraits on the player boards allowing the players to project themselves into the setting. You’re not just moving board game pieces around, you’re actually developing your plot of land.
The Rise of Queensdale is a clever and complex game where you’ll be constantly thinking of how you can improve your system and your plot of land whilst the other players have their turns. It’s satisfying and has a gratifying upgrade system to make you really feel like you’re improving your odds and getting better.
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a classic game with ten expansions going for it. It may appear simple mechanically, but it’s a clever game where almost every decision is a torn one. You and your opponents will be placing tile after tile that maps out the lands of Carcassonne.
Each of you will be placing your wooden meeples across varying features in a bid to win big once it’s completed. With connecting features forcing meeples to compete with each other, and with opportunities arising with every turn, the gorgeously illustrated land of Carcassonne becomes a land of tense competition.
As each player builds upon Carcassonne, the medieval landscape will become a medieval landscape that is great to look at sprawled across your table. With the colorful meeples occupying different features, it’ll feel like a bustling land, not just a flat picture.
Kingdomino
Kingdomino is a clever game that combines the awful tension of bidding with the satisfying and equally frustrating nature of placing dominoes. Players will need to map out a vibrant land surrounding their castle, but tiles can only be placed as regular dominoes can.
With land types needing to touch at least one other land type, and with the borders of your land restricting you, where you can place your tiles becomes tricker as the game goes on. Even with meticulous planning, if you fail to get the domino piece you need, you can be left in a tight spot.
Kingdomino is simple, fun, and, easy, and turns your tabletop into a host for four unique and sprawling tiny castledoms.
A Feast For Odin
A game abundant with theme, A Feast For Odin is a marvel of a game that really makes you feel like you’re a hoarding viking. Essentially a “stuff simulator,” your goal is to fill your homestead (and any other structures or islands you gain) with items gained from performing various tasks.
Players will be vying for space on the action board, which is where you’ll spend your vikings to perform various actions, such as going to the market, hunting, forging, trading, exploring, farming, and much more. Not only does the game look fantastic, but with all the tactile actions of having to feed your vikings and flip over breeding livestock, you really do feel as though you’re in charge of your small tribe.
A Feast For Odin is rather complex, but it’s been a huge hit to whoever I bring it out to. For an indirectly competitive game about gathering as much stuff as possible, you’ll be in for a treat here.
The Quacks of Quedlinburg
The Quacks of Quedlinburg is an explosive game of risk and reward, with fantastically fancy and illustrated player boards to get you in the mood for some medieval alchemy.
You and your friends will be trying to concoct potions to gain points. To do this, you’ll be delving into your bag of ingredients and picking one out at random. Purchasing great ingredients at the market won’t guarantee that you’ll pull the right one out when you need it. I just hope you’re potion doesn’t explode…
For a raucous time that really makes you feel as though you’re a medieval alchemist just trying their best, The Quacks of Quedlinburg is matched by no other.
The Castles of Burgundy
Another land development game, The Castles of Burgundy is a very popular and beloved classic that’ll have players taking on the role of French princes who’ll do anything they can to make their lands prosper.
Using dice rolls to dictate your actions, you’ll have to pick a path to victory and adapt and improvise as the game progresses to achieve your goal. Your path may morph and change as the game progresses, but being versatile and strategic is key in The Castles of Burgundy.
As your plots develop, you’ll soon have the dice working for you. It’s an incredibly satisfying game that is so quintessentially “medieval.”
Inis
Inis is one of the best war games out there, let alone being one of the best medieval games going. Based on Celtic mythology, players will be playing as rival clans trying to be crowned king of the island.
In a procedurally generated board, players will set forth and explore, eventually linking up with each other. Unlike other war games, there are three ways to win here, making combat an option that’s always personal.
Inis is incredibly stylish and almost luxurious in its quality. You will feel like you’re setting out for your own clan and making important decisions as you come across events and other players. How will you become the king and outcompete the others?
The Resistance: Avalon
The Resistance: Avalon is a fantastical rendition of The Resistance, which pits players together in a secret role game of guile and secrets.
Players will be taking on different secret roles, and some of them will be evil. As players form groups and try to go on quests, the evil players will be trying to thwart their efforts and derail their quests. As every player tries to figure out who’s who, lies will be told and promises will be broken.
The Resistance: Avalon is an incredibly popular game that puts you into the shoes of adventurers in a medieval and fantastical land.
Risk Europe
Risk: Europe is simply the greatest Risk game I’ve ever played, and I’ve played a lot of Risk. A premium Risk experience, players will be vying for control over medieval Europe through harsh and engaging warfare.
Unlike other Risk titles, Risk: Europe employs four different units and a fully-fledged economy. Actions are played through cards and turns are inter-linked, meaning each round of this game is explosive and intriguing, and you’re never left not glued to the board,
For a medieval war game that makes you feel as though you’re raising and waging war with legions of loyal soldiers, Risk: Europe is one of the best.
The King’s Dilemma
This list has been full of great games that make you feel like you’re in the medieval setting they provide, but none does it better than the role-playing game The King’s Dilemma.
As it’s a role-playing game, players will be literally stepping into the shoes of important medieval figures as important decisions are made and voted on. Alliances and betrayals aren’t hard-baked into the game, meaning any back-stabbing is personal and any agreement is tenuous.
A diplomatic game with a long campaign that requires a dedicated group, The King’s Dilemma is really the only choice if you want to roleplay as a medieval noble and form your own path to victory for your house.
Now that you’ve got a great array of medieval board games to play, you can make your next game night fantastical.
Published: Sep 6, 2024 01:43 pm