Strategy Board Games
Strategy board games are fun for the whole family
What are strategy board games?
Strategy board games are games that take a whole lot more than just blind luck to win. They require critical or creative thinking, strategic planning and decision making, and situational awareness for players to succeed and win. Some strategic games do involve elements of luck, such as the rolling of dice, but planning and decision making remain key aspects of gameplay.
Some strategy games, like Escape from the Hidden Castle, combine elements of both strategy and luck, while others, like Chess, are more heavily strategic. There are even strategy games that make cooperation a central theme of play, encouraging players to work together towards a common goal. Examples of such games include Pandemic and Train Heist. Alternatively, head-to-head classics like Checkers and Battleship pit one player against another in pure strategic bliss.
Types of strategic board games
Strategy games come in a variety of different types, with some being light on strategy, some being part strategy and park luck (games with dice), and some being full-on strategy. They also feature a variety of different themes and concepts, and can either be quick and to the point or long and drawn out, with some lasting for days or even months.
Some strategy games are two-player only games, like Chess and Battleship, while others allow for several people to participate, such as Monopoly and Risk. Jenga, alternatively, has no dice to roll, but there’s still an element of luck involved (in not accidentally knocking over the blocks) as well as strategic planning (deciding which block to remove) to win. In cooperative strategy games, players work together to achieve a specific goal or goals. For instance, in Train Heist players must work together as cowboys to prevent a crooked Sheriff from staging a train robbery.
How do I play a strategy board game?
Determining what approach to take in a strategic board game depends on the specific game you’re playing as well as the rules of the game and the circumstances you are dealt. For instance, some games assign various conditions to different players that will affect each individual player’s strategy. Other games are far more straightforward and require less planning ahead before the game begins. In other words, they are more reactive, forcing you to continually rethink your strategy as you move through the game. One thing is for sure, strategic games require you to put your thinking cap on and be prepared to make all sorts of interesting and challenging decisions on the fly, which is a big part of what makes them so much fun.