Looking to stock up your board game cabinet? Now is a great time to do so, because Amazon has a huge board game sale going on right now during its October Prime Day sale, but you better hurry because you only have a few hours before the sale expires. We’ve highlighted a few of the very best deals and added more at the bottom. Some of these board games are Prime Day favorites (we seem them year after year), but quite a few are very rarely discounted at all.
Splendor for $19.97
Economic engine games, where you build an increasingly powerful economy to buy stuff to build it even more, are a popular gaming sub-genre. They don’t come much simpler than this gem about… gem dealing. On your turn you take tokens to pay for gems, and each gem gives you a permanent boost to your token bank. It’s a race to engineer the most efficient economy and grab the best gems. The trouble is, everyone wants the best gems too. So every turn you pump your engine, you risk losing prime resources to other players. Throw in a variety of finicky patrons to please for bonus points and you’ve got an engine that generates as much tension as it does tactics.
Ticket to Ride for $28.42
All aboard! Ticket to Ride isn’t just about trains, but about building the best routes. The longer the route, the more points you earn. It’s a simple game to play, a bit like Rummy. You’re collecting cards of different colors and spending them to place trains on routes that match those colors. Don’t let the tranquil description fool you: your opponents will be cutting you off every chance they get. It’s tough competition to become master the world’s railways. It’s also a ton of fun.
Pandemic for $20.49
Pandemic is an outstanding 2-4 player cooperative board that has you trying to stem a virulent pandemic before it destroys you. It’s an older game (released in 2008) with plenty of spinoffs since then, but Pandemic is still considered by many to be a must-own part of your board game collection.
Azul for $19.19
Now sold out
Azul is an unusual board game in that it doesn’t involve war or intrigue or anything high-stakes like that. Instead, players in Azul compete to design the most beautiful tiled mosaics they can. You and your opponents claim tiles from a central market and place them on your board. Play wisely, and you’ll hamper your opponent while creating intricate patterns for extra points yourself.