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Building board games - Our best resource board game

Resource building board games are great genre for those board game players who enjoy delving into tangible strategy and immersive game play fun. They offer intriguing premises that will readily capture the interest of beginners, while offering plenty of opportunity for even more advanced players to enjoy thought-provoking challenges and track their progress through the game. Resource building board games are based around imaginative and adventurous themes that empower players to build cities, infrastructures, and even entire empires, and to learn how to strategically manage the resources within what they’ve built in ways that are inventive, efficient or profitable. Building board games are great gateway to the wonderful world of tabletop games, and remain some of the most popular games of all time for board game lovers, simply because they offer so many innovative gameplay options and creative choices, and so many great possibilities to explore within both realistic and wonderfully fantastical themes.

Build and Scheme Your Way to Success

A card-based building board game with wonderfully simple mechanics, Citadels remains an exceptionally popular game for novice board game players and experts alike because it encourages marvellously engaging competition and strategy, as well as a nice element of chance, that is sure to liven up the interaction in any board game night. Players take on the roles of power-hungry medieval-era citizens, with the aim of acquiring gold and building districts to construct the most impressive city. Each character possesses unique abilities that offer a special advantages in developing a city, or hindering the efforts of opponents. For example, the Thief can steal your rival’s gold, the Wizard can use magic to swap cards with another player, and the Assassin might choose to eliminate another player.

Each round, players are able choose their character role from the deck of shuffled character cards, the number available based on the number of players in the game. Each player chooses and passes the deck, until the last player chooses from the remaining two cards, and places the last one facedown on the table. This means the last player is the only one to know the identity of that card, and none of the players know for sure which character the others are playing - and this is where the intrigue begins! Players are also dealt a hand of building cards, in 5 different colours categories, with every building worth a value in gold. Every character has as associated number, and hands are played in numbered turn. Players will earn two (or more) gold pieces each turn, which can be used in building up their city by purchasing the variously valued buildings. Be careful of flaunting your successes, as your ambitious building practices might quickly make you a target of a rival’s underhanded attacks. The game is won after a round in which any player has completed 8 buildings, and bonus points are earned for having buildings in all 5 colours. Citadels involves a great mix of intriguing deduction and competitive scheming that will bring some excitement to any board game evening.

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Medieval World-Building with Carcassonne

Carcassonne is another classic building game that sees players competing for power as they expand the landscape of the French medieval countryside using tiles that depict cities, cloisters, roads, and fields. In this building game suited fro 2-5 players, players draw from a selection of facedown tile options and then place this tile to adjoining tiles in ways that allow the various features to connect like a puzzle, and the medieval landscape to expand. Key areas surround the walled cities, and as each new tile expands the board, players can also add figure pieces called meeples that represent characters like farmers, monks, knights, or robbers depending on what part of the landscape they happen to be placed. Completed features with meeples on them enable players to score points.

Carcassonne makes for engagingly fun and innovative strategising, with every turn offering you the choice between expanding your features and staking claim to areas, or in blocking your opponent’s progress via the placement of your tiles and meeples. Cities and roads can expand until they are finished. Cities are completed when the fortified wall them fully, with 2 points scored for every section of tile in the city. Roads are finished when they end at a city, cloister, or junction. The turns move quickly, which keeps gameplay exciting, while there is just the right mix of chance and strategy that you can never be sure who will ultimately score the most points to win the game.

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From Railway Empires to Civilisations

In the popular cross-country train game Ticket to Ride, players are invited to become a railway barons, by collecting matching train cards to build railway routes connecting iconic North American cities. Players accumulate points based on the length of their train routes, They can also receive a bonus for fulfilling their Destination Tickets, and additional points go to the player with the longest railway. While the rules are simple enough that beginners can easily learn, the competitive gameplay is engaging for players of all kinds. Ticket to Ride is a perfect gateway game to introduce new players to the excitement and strategic satisfaction of resource building board games. Suitable for 2 to 5 players, this simple yet wonderfully adventurous building game will appeal to players young and old, making it a great option for passing a rainy afternoon with family, or for your next game night gathering with friends.

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The immensely popular 7 Wonders is a a resource building board game that empowers you to build an entire civilisation. This award-winning tabletop game consists of three decks that represent commercial activity, ancient civilisation, and military conflict. Each player becomes the leader of one the 7 mighty cities of the Ancient World, a must gather resources, develop trade routes, and build up their military power to dominate their neighbouring civilisations. Cities must be built, featuring unique architectural wonders to last through the ages ages. Players work with an individual game board and rounds of cards to collect or pay out resources to develop their civilisation. Some cards take immediate effect, while others pay out later in bonuses and upgrades. Other cards offer military might, or simply victory points. Cards are played immediately upon being dealt, so you must keep an eye your neighbouring rivals to strategise based on the choices they make and anticipate how they will affect you. With loads of opportunity for creative thinking, variable strategies, and gameplay development, 7 Wonders is a beautifully immersive board game experience that will satisfy players with a wide range of interests and skill levels.

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