Types of board games: which genres are there and what do they mean?

If you are new to the hobby, it can sometimes feel as though everyone speaks their own language. Someone calls something a gateway Euro, someone else asks if it is a deck-builder, and a third person warns that it suffers from analysis paralysis. Below, the main types of board games are lined up, in plain words, with a game for each genre that you will find on our shelves.

Two things first. No genre is better than another; these are descriptions, not ratings. And almost every game fits into several boxes at once, so see the examples as "this is where you see it clearly", not as "this is the only thing it is".

Is something listed here not currently available? Let us know and we will order it in for you. That way you know straight away when it has arrived.

Why these words are useful

Because they help you find what you are looking for faster. Once you know you like worker placement and not area control, you only need to look at a fraction of the boxes in a shop with five thousand of them.

And because they help set expectations. Bring a party game to a group that wants to think, and you are in for a tricky evening. The same goes the other way round.

Gateway Euro: the game almost everyone starts with

A gateway Euro (or gateway game) is a game you can explain in ten minutes, that lasts about an hour and in which nobody gets knocked out halfway. You build something up, collect points and at the end everyone counts up. Luck can play a part, but it does not decide the winner.

The word "Euro" refers to the German school of design that made this kind of game big. The opposite of the Euro is what people call Ameritrash: more theme, more dice, more direct attacks. Exactly where the line lies is something the hobby itself has never agreed on.

A good example: Cascadia, winner of the Spiel des Jahres in 2022. Want to start in this corner without spending much? Take a look at the cheap board games.

Tile-laying game: placing tiles

You get a tile or a piece, you put it down somewhere, and where you put it determines what it earns you. Often it needs few rules beyond that. That makes tile-laying games ideal for mixed tables: a child gets it straight away, while the adult next to them is thinking two moves ahead.

The tricky part is the space that runs out. Early in the game everything fits; halfway through you have to throw something away or squeeze it in somewhere it does not belong.

Patchwork shows this well: towards the end you are hunting for a gap in your quilt where that one odd patch will still fit.

Worker placement: your meeples have a job

You have a few meeples, and you take turns placing one on a space on the board. That space gives you something, and is then taken for the rest of the round. Whoever gets there first gets what they want; whoever waits too long has to come up with something else.

It is one of the few styles of play in which you are constantly watching your opponents without attacking them directly. You simply grab the very spot your neighbour was obviously eyeing.

Want to see how it works? Lords of Waterdeep from 2012 is the clearest introduction.

Deck-builder: you build your own deck of cards

Everyone starts with the same dull deck of cards. During the game you buy better ones, which go onto your discard pile, and as soon as your deck runs out you shuffle everything together. That way your deck slowly becomes stronger than the one you started with.

What makes a deck-builder addictive is that you can see your own progress. Around the third shuffle, that one expensive card you bought at the start finally turns up, and it actually works too.

In Dune: Imperium you feel this most strongly, because there your cards also determine where you send your agents on the board. Games in which cards play such a leading role are grouped together in our shop under board games with cards.

Engine-builder: everything you build makes the rest stronger

In an engine-builder you put things in place that strengthen each other. At first almost nothing happens: you play one card, and it does one thing. By the end, a single action sets off a chain reaction in which you get four things at once.

That is exactly the charm, and at the same time the risk. Keep building for too long and at the end you have a beautiful machine but too few turns left to use it.

A good example: Wingspan by Elizabeth Hargrave, winner of the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2019.

Cooperative game: together against the game

There is no winner at the table. You all beat the game together or lose together, and every round the game strikes back according to fixed rules.

One thing to watch out for, because it is a well-known problem: in a cooperative game the most experienced player often takes over the whole plan while the others just carry out orders. Agree that everyone decides their own turn, even if it is not the best move.

A good example: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship by Matt Leacock, built on the same system as his Pandemic. In our cooperative games category you will find more.

Party game: talking, guessing, laughing

A big group, a short explanation, few components and lots of shouting. A party game is not designed to be deep; it is designed so that eight people who half know each other can join in within two minutes.

The best ones have one rule that does all the work. In Codenames it is this: you may only give one word as a clue.

A good example: Codenames, winner of the Spiel des Jahres in 2016.

Trick-taking game: playing cards to win the trick

If you grew up playing Klaverjas or Hearts, you already know this: everyone plays a card and the highest one wins the trick. Modern trick-taking games add something on top, for example that you have to win exactly what your task card says.

The nice thing is that what you learned years ago is immediately useful. If you know your grandad's card games, you will feel at home here within one round.

A good example: De Crew: Missie Diepzee (published in English as The Crew: Mission Deep Sea), whose first instalment won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2020.

Area control: who is in charge here?

There is a map, there are spaces, and you all want the same ones. You score points for what you hold, so everything revolves around where you put your pieces and how long you can hang on.

This is the style of play in which you get in each other's way the most. Count on negotiations, deals being struck and those deals no longer holding two turns later.

A good example: Root by Cole Wehrle from 2018.

Dexterity game: using your hands instead of your head

Flicking, sliding, stacking, aiming. In a dexterity game your motor skills do the work rather than your planning, which is why an eight-year-old can simply beat an adult here.

They are short, they are loud and they work with any group. At birthday parties they almost always go down well.

Kluster is the handiest example: magnets, a piece of string, ten minutes.

Four more words you will come across

Analysis paralysis. A player has so many options that they can no longer make a choice, while the rest of the table sits waiting. Every group has one.

Point salad. A game with so many ways to score points that almost every action earns you something. One person finds that rich, another loses their way.

Expansion. A separate box with extra material for a game you already own. It cannot be played on its own.

Legacy. A game that changes permanently because of what you do: stickers on the board, cards you tear up, a booklet you write in. Afterwards, your box is different from anyone else's. Pandemic Legacy is the best-known example.

What next?

Once you know which genre appeals to you, choosing suddenly becomes a lot easier. Want to start with the games that work most often? Take a look at the top 10 board games. Looking for something short and light? You will find those among the fun board games.

Want to go a step heavier? Board games for adults is your next stop, followed by the top 10 for experts. Are children playing too? Then start with the children's board games. If it is a party game you are after, head to the corner with the funny board games. If it turns out to be mostly about cards, the card gamesare the place to be, and if you want a game with a board and cards together, that is the corner for board games with cards.

Once you know which genre you are looking for, there is one more pleasant way to browse: new arrivals shows what has just come in, and it often includes exactly the kind of game you have just got to know above.