The Best Fall Board Games

Whether you’re indulging in a good cuppa pumpkin spice, raking the leaves, or planning your autumn harvest, fall board games with a nature theme are a great way to really get in the mood for the season. They explore harvest time, seasonal themes like falling leaves and squirrels storing acorns for winter, and add that certain extra cozy vibe as the season sets in. And in this list of the best fall board games, you’ll find practically every indulgence of the season at your fingertips, even a tea dragon party. So, wrap up snugly in a soft sweater, grab a mug of something sweet and warm, and fall in!

Introduction to Fall Season Gaming

As the leaves change colors and the air grows crisp, the fall season is the perfect time to cozy up with friends and family and enjoy some exciting board games. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or just looking for a fun way to spend time with loved ones, there’s a wide range of fall-themed board games that are sure to delight. From cooperative games that encourage teamwork and strategy to themed games that celebrate the beauty of nature, there’s something for everyone in the world of fall season gaming. Imagine gathering around a table, wrapped in a warm blanket, sipping on a hot beverage, and diving into a game that captures the essence of autumn. The vibrant colors, the strategic gameplay, and the sense of camaraderie make fall board games a must-have for the season.

Best Fall Board Games to Play This Season

Cooperative Games

Cooperative games are a fantastic way to enjoy the fall season with friends and family. These games encourage teamwork and strategy, as players work together to achieve a common goal. The sense of unity and collaboration makes these games perfect for cozy autumn evenings. Here are some popular cooperative games for fall:

• First Orchard: Designed for young kids, this game has players working together to pick fruit from trees before the raven reaches the orchard. It’s a delightful way to introduce children to the joys of cooperative play.

• Forest Friends HABA First Game: Another great choice for young kids, this game involves helping forest animals collect and store food for the winter. The charming artwork and simple mechanics make it a hit with the little ones.

• Creature Comforts: In this game, players take on the roles of forest creatures preparing for winter. They collect resources, craft comfort items, and make their dens cozy. It’s a heartwarming game that perfectly captures the spirit of the fall season.

Themed Games

Themed games are a wonderful way to celebrate the fall season and get into the holiday spirit. These games often feature charming artwork and simple mechanics, making them accessible to players of all ages. Here are some popular themed games for fall:

• Pumpkin Patch: Bad Seeds: This whimsical game has players planting, growing, and harvesting pumpkins while sabotaging their opponents’ crops. The playful theme and engaging gameplay make it a great choice for autumn.

• Autumn Tales: A cooperative game that encourages creativity and collaboration, players create a beautiful tapestry of tales inspired by the season. It’s a perfect game for those who love storytelling and the magic of fall.

• Harvest Dice: A quick and clever dice-drafting game where players compete to create the most bountiful vegetable gardens. The simple mechanics and charming artwork make it a delightful addition to any fall game night.

Mystery and Family-Friendly Games

Mystery and family-friendly games are perfect for a fun and cozy game night with friends and family. These games often feature simple mechanics and charming artwork, making them accessible to players of all ages. Here are some popular mystery and family-friendly games for fall:

• 5 Minute Mystery: This cooperative game has players working together to solve a mystery, finding the culprit among a line of suspects. The fast-paced gameplay and engaging storyline make it a hit for all ages.

• The Key Series: A logic/mystery series for kids, where players solve puzzles and mysteries to progress through the game. It’s a great way to challenge young minds while having fun.

• Scare It!: In this light-hearted and spooky game, players take on the role of mischievous ghosts haunting a house, trying to scare away unsuspecting visitors. The playful theme and simple mechanics make it a perfect choice for a family game night during the fall season.

By incorporating these types of games into your fall board game collection, you can ensure a variety of engaging and enjoyable experiences for everyone. Whether you prefer working together to achieve a common goal, immersing yourself in a themed adventure, or solving mysteries with family and friends, there’s a fall board game out there for you.

Autumn

Age: 8+ Players: 1-3 Time: 10-20 minutes

Coming to players from the 4 Seasons Saga, Autumn is the perfect fall board game for easing into the cooler months, highlighting the dynamic gameplay through the four seasons. The game is technically a miniature card game, using just 18 cards for play. Everyone takes turns playing one card on other cards previously played to the table. Each card offers four groups of leaves and players must use their card to cover one or two groups of cards on the table. This connects the cards into groups of connected leaves.

To play, everyone takes turns placing cards on the table, connecting leaves by colors, like leaves covering the ground in autumn. And though the game sounds a bit simple, it offers some creative strategy opportunities, as players must intentionally place their leaves – after all, there are only 18 in play. Ultimately, whoever connects the most leaves into the largest groups wins the game. The game may be played by one, two, or three players.

Creature Comforts

Age: 8+ (Community 10+) Players: 1-5 Time: 45 minutes

The delightful game of Creature Comforts leads players through a year of play in-game, looking toward autumn when the leaves fall from the trees and the woodland critters need their stockpile set for the winter. In-game, you’ll spend spring, summer, and autumn preparing for the cold winter ahead, as if you’re the creatures seeking some comfort and care through the long winter months.

Players spend the seasons leading into winter gathering various resources. As players gather resources, they can also attract wildlife to their dens, enhancing the cozy and vibrant atmosphere of the game. Then in each round of play, players send out in-game family members to different locations to gather supplies. Any characters who fall short of their goals garner knowledge to help with future endeavors. Ultimately, whichever family (i.e. player) creates the most comfortable den for the winter wins the game.

Dwar7s Fall

Age: 12+ Players: 2-4 Time: 45 minutes

As the frigid winter approaches in Dwar7s Fall, every player must prepare their dwarf characters for the cold. That means it’s time to collect gems, stock up on food, slay monsters, and build castles. Dragons are sleeping right now, so it’s your best time to prepare – and you must prepare wisely – and spend those gems carefully!

The game promotes multiple pathways for the win, built on your strategies as you play. Take turns to perform your chosen actions, with 3 actions per turn, including placing a realm tile, moving one dwarf by one tile, or placing a dwarf on a tile. Every tile that you play requires certain prerequisites of how many dwarves a player needs to perform the given action. To take the actions, you must have the correct number of dwarves placed on the tile. (For example, mining emeralds might require 3 dwarves in play.) When the task of a given tile is completed, dwarves return to the player’s pool for future actions.

Once a player has completed three goals – some are open and some are secret – the endgame starts. Any player who has not yet played that round must take their last turn, and then the game ends. All points are tallied and whoever has the most points wins the game.

Indian Summer

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 1-4 Time: 15-60 minutes

After summer wanes and fall approaches, a brief interlude of higher heat often hits the world before the cold sets in – this time is known as Indian Summer. And in the game of the same name, New England sets into motion its final blooming, its final vivid colors, creating a vibrant rainbow from green to yellow, orange, and red. Players will walk through the woods and enjoy the final throes of the season before fall fully sets in in the Uwe Rosenberg puzzle game Indian Summer. Players will feel as if they are walking through the scenic trails of national parks, enjoying the beauty and tranquility of these natural environments. The game is geared more towards experienced players, rather than newbies to the board game world, but it’s a fun, enjoyable time for anyone with the patience to learn the rules and become familiar with the game mechanics. Puzzle tiles with holes drive the gameplay, with individual forest boards for each player, and each person gathering treasures to expand their gameplay options and gain an edge over the competition. Ultimately, whichever player first covers their forest floor board with leaves wins the game.

Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game

Age: 10+ Players: 2-4 Time: 30-60 minutes

A standalone game in The Tea Dragon Society Card Games series, Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game is the perfect choice for fall board games. The beautifully illustrated game encourages players to develop bonds between their Tea Dragons and selves, progressing through the seasons and ultimately delighting in the autumn harvest period together. Every player has their own deck of cards which represents their Tea Dragon. Taking turns, players choose whether to draw a card, buy a card, score points, improve their deck, or trigger effects that strengthen the player’s position within the game. Ultimately, whoever scores the most points wins.

Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game is based on the Oni Press Graphic novel by Katie O’Neill and is suitable for two to four players, aged 10 and older, for games that last between 30 and 60 minutes.

Command of Nature

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 2-4 Time: 30-60 minutes

In Command of Nature, players take on the roles of powerful Sages who must summon warriors from 4 factions: Leaf, Droplet, Twig, and Pebble. These warriors improve your fighting prowess and help lead you to victory. Throughout the game, these recruits help you level up and gain exciting abilities and powers to protect your Sage and defeat the foe, and, ultimately, earn the title of Master of the Elements. The game fits the fall board game vibe via the natural elements that are so obviously vivid in autumn. Folks say Command of Nature helps them get in the mood for fall, too, with its unique artwork and seasonal vibes.

To play, each person chooses their Sage from one of the elemental factions and each Sage has its own strategic advantage over others. On turns, players receive 4 Action Points to spend however they choose. These include things like summoning Elementals, commanding Elementals in actions, drawing cards, taking a Faction Action, or repositioning Elementals in their formations. To use Faction Actions, players must defeat an Elemental from an opponent’s formation. This increases your level and unlocks up to 3 of these Faction Actions. In-game, you can also shop the market to gain more Elementals and Commands. Ultimately, the last Sage remaining after battles wins the game.

Harvest

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 1-4 Time: 30-60 minutes

What could be more appropriate for your fall board game collection than something called Harvest? Join in on the fun of the Commonwealth of Free Beasts in this delightful farm-themed game set during the season of Harvest.

Every player takes on the role of a farmer whose goal is developing a farmhouse, planting, growing, and harvesting crops, and reaping the benefits thereof. In each round of play, players draft sunrise cards that provide specific one-time incomes and decide the turn order for the round. Once turn order has been established, players take turns moving their wheelbarrows around the board, gathering resources to manage in their fields. Seeds are planted, land is cared for, and, eventually, crops are harvested. Crops are then turned in for money and points. To continue, players expand their land by clearing more, plowing more fields, and ultimately aiming to Harvest the most crops.

The game includes wooden wheelbarrows, gorgeous fall-themed designs, and colorful fruit tokens. Harvest is incredibly replayable offering a wide range of scenarios, including 18 solo options for a delightful fun-packed hour of fun each time.

Evenfall

Age: 14+ (Community 12+) Players: 1-4 Time: 60-120 minutes

Another great option for your fall board games collection is Evenfall, a fantasy-themed game set in an autumnal world. In the game, the Clans of Magic prepare for a new era, in which supernatural things awaken and reality begins to fall away. The World Tree opens its gate to the unknown and Witchers must be sent from your clan to discover and control the new Places of Power that open up.

The card-driven fall board game uses engine-building mechanics – some new, some familiar – and allows between 1 and 4 players to indulge in this adventure. You will manage resources, take actions in strategic order, play action synergies, and more, as you aim to garner the most victory points through three rounds of play. You may choose between the basic or advanced options for the game, each of which provides different powers and abilities for players and increases the ability to learn and grow as players. Whoever scores the most points wins the game.

Leaf

Age: 8+ (Community 6+) Players: 1-4 Time: 30-45 minutes

Embody the wind in the game of Leaf, the perfectly delightful fall board game using tile placement for strategy. In the game, players take on the “wind” as their agent, and guide the leaves along the forest floor, helping them connect with other leaves that have already fallen. The game of Leaf usually takes 30 to 45 minutes, works for players aged 6 and up (according to the gaming community), and works for solo play or up to 4 players.

Place tiles to create a thriving ecosystem and collect the most acorns possible by touching leaf tiles. Take extra actions to earn bonuses and create the stunning autumn world fanning out from the central leaf board. As you play, you’ll help squirrels and other woodland animals collect food like acorns and mushrooms. Use your strategy skills to select and place those tiles, use bonus actions, and collect animals and resources. The game uses wooden squirrel meeples to represent players as they climb trees and store away their acorns. In the end, whoever creates the most vibrant forest community wins the game.

Harvest Island

Age: 8+ (Community 10+) Players: 2-4 Time: 30-40 minutes

On a mysterious, unusual island known as Formosa, a beautiful landscape of mountains, plains, and hills of all sizes thrives under subtropical conditions at the northeastern and southeastern intersections of Asia. This is where Harvest Island takes place, drawing players into the feeling of autumnal winds and glorious nature. Here, the environment is particularly suited to growing a wide variety of fruit species and, as it happens, fruits grow brilliantly all year long, each in its own season. With proper care and cultivation, each farm thrives. And that’s where you, the player, come in. You must sow seeds in the right soil conditions, at the right season for the fruit, and maximize your harvest. Use your strategy and stamina to grow your fruit and manage your inventory properly for the ultimate Harvest Island experience.

Conclusion

Ready to enjoy the smell of falling leaves and that crisp wisp of something spicy in the air? Then grab your copies of these stunning fall board games for a delightful time. For fast-playing games, choose Autumn or Indian Summer. For medium playtimes (30 to 45 minutes), go for Creature Comforts, Dwar7s Fall, Leaf, or Harvest Island. For medium to longer playing times (1 hour or more), grab a copy of Evenfall, Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game, Command of Nature, or Harvest. Your seasonal joy will be fulfilled! Just don’t forget that cuppa pumpkin spice latte.

FAQ: Fall Board Games