The Most Playable Print and Play Board Games

If you’re looking for some budget-friendly ways to explore exciting board games that tend to cost a bit more than your average card game, you can jump into the world of printable board games. Yes, many legit, high-quality board games with impressive art can be printed on your computer at home and played out for real with friends and family for free. Additionally, there are downloadable files available for print-and-play games, making it easy to access various game components. So, if fancy playing pieces and high-quality printing aren’t your top priority, you can print and play these games any time for just the cost of paper and some meeples.

What are Print and Play Board Games?

Print and Play (PnP) board games are a fantastic way to dive into the world of tabletop gaming without the hefty price tag. These games are designed to be printed and assembled at home, often created by independent game designers who make them available for free or at a minimal cost. Whether you’re into simple card games or complex board games with intricate components, there’s a PnP game out there for you. This approach allows gamers to explore new games and mechanics without breaking the bank, offering a fun and creative way to enjoy board games. All you need is a printer, some paper, and a bit of time to cut and assemble the components, and you’re ready to play.

Benefits of Playing Print and Play Games

Playing Print and Play games comes with a host of benefits that make them an attractive option for gamers. Firstly, they are often free or very low-cost, making them an affordable way to try out new games without a significant financial investment. This is perfect for those who love to explore new games regularly. Secondly, PnP games provide a unique opportunity to discover new game designers and innovative mechanics, potentially leading you to your next favorite game. Additionally, the process of printing and assembling the game components can be a fun and creative activity in itself, adding an extra layer of enjoyment to the gaming experience. Finally, PnP games are easy to share with friends and family, making them a great way to introduce new games to your gaming group and enjoy some quality time together.

Essential Equipment and Resources

To get started with Print and Play games, you’ll need a few essential pieces of equipment and resources. First and foremost, a printer is necessary to print out the game components. You’ll also need scissors or a craft knife to cut out the various pieces, and glue or other adhesives to assemble them if required. A flat surface, such as a table or countertop, is essential for both assembling and playing the game. Some PnP games might require additional specialized components like playing cards or dice, which can either be purchased separately or printed at home if you have the resources. With these basic tools, you’ll be well-equipped to dive into the world of Print and Play games and enjoy countless hours of fun.

The Nine Best Print and Play Board Games

Merchant of Venus

Age: 12+ (Community 10+) Players: 1-6 Time: 180 minutes

Explore the intriguing world of space traders in Merchant of Venus, in which players become traders and travel the galaxies. The game takes players through an interconnected system on a fixed map, giving them the opportunity to purchase equipment, deliver goods, and construct new infrastructures. Ultimately, whichever player earns the most cash by the end, wins the game.

Merchant of Venus uses a roll-and-move mechanism with ship engine upgrades that let players adapt, move more quickly (skip spaces) and gain the advantage. As players reach spaceports and cities on the map, they can sell, trade, or buy commodities, and advance their wealth. Different species with which to trade are dispersed randomly throughout the map – differently each game – and players only know who they’re dealing with when they uncover them through explorations. Each species has different layouts where they live, which impacts the game by forcing new routes. Players score different prices, depending on who they’re dealing with, as well, as each alien race values different commodities more or less than another. Throughout the game, players may upgrade their ships, build new factories, or replace ships with newer models.

You can play the game solo or as interplayer combat. Before each game begins, though, the target wealth is predetermined to equate fair play for the win.

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

Age: 12+ (Community 10+) Players: 1 Time: 10-15 minutes

A quick, fun game for kids 10 and up is the 20-scenario solo roll and write Bargain Basement Bathysphere. Okay, the name’s a little odd, but hear us out. You’re playing as the new owner of the leakiest bathysphere near Beachside Bay – and you’ve got a yen for adventure into the depths of the ocean. You don’t have to let that leakiness stop you from exploring – instead, let it amplify your adventure! The campaign-style game uses legacy elements, growing more complex as you wend your way through the maps. Just keep playing and playing until you have to “surface” for air – often a race against the clock to complete the game in just 10 to 15 minutes.

Airborne in My Pocket

Age: 10+ (Community 12+) Players: 1-2 Time: 15 minutes

Travel back in time to World War II and Operation Neptune, when thousands of Allied troops parachuted into enemy territory to prepare for the battle of Normandy. Here, players of this printable board game Airborne in My Pocket find themselves, amid German anti-aircraft fire and treacherous drop zones. This print & play game offers a free gaming experience that is both accessible and exciting, similar to the Nazi/zombie-themed Space Hulk.

You alone can save the other Allied troops as you’ve found yourself at a hidden bunker with two 24.0 cm guns aimed at your fellow troopers. And as you play, you must discover how you can stop them from killing your Allied fellows.

The game originated as a variant of Zombie in My Pocket and became a new game in its own right. Character cards, item tiles, event cards, scenario cards, and inside and outside tiles help to shape the game for players to enjoy unique, powerful mechanics to live out the adventure. Play the basic game or dive deeper with scenarios and campaigns – playing as American, Canadian, French, British, or even German soldiers.

Coin Age

Age: 8+ Players: 2 Time: 15 minutes

Grab a handful of pocket change and print out one card for the micro, two-player printable game of Coin Age. You’ll use just one card-sized map and some coins to battle for power and outmaneuver your opponent to take over the world. For a more durable setup, consider creating custom game boards using dense card materials like Grayboard or repurposing thicker cardboard from cereal boxes or delivery boxes.

Coin Age uses a unique “coin slap” mechanism to give players their available actions. One each player’s turn, they can take one of their types of coins, shake them up, and slap them on the table, and, then, based on the number of coins that match sides up, players put coins on the map, move previously placed coins, or remove them altogether. Coins wind up stacked on the opponent’s coins if their size or rank is smaller – and that’s where the strategy comes in! Quarters are worth more victory points, but they’re also the highest-ranking coins so wind up stacked on pretty often. So, choose your placements well or your large coins will take your points down.

Doctor Who: Solitaire Story Game

Age: 11+ (Community 10+) Players: 1 Time: 45 minutes

Science-fantasy fans will love the printable board game of the Doctor Who: Solitaire Story Game, based in the world of the TARDIS and Gallifrey. The game is available as a free print-and-play download – a paragraph-booklet adventure game for one. It’s one of the few games when the player becomes a Time Lord – the Time Lord, the Doctor.

To play, you’ll use four booklets: the Rules, the Adventures, the Enemies, and the TARDIS Manual. Toss in two six-sided dice, and you’re ready to play. Choose to play as one of the already-known Doctors (with Doctors through 12 available), as one of the later Doctors since the game’s inception, or create your own incarnation of the Time Lord.

When assembling your print-and-play game, consider using thicker boxes like cereal or delivery boxes for durability. Once you’ve selected your Gallifreyan character of choice, you’ll embark on a storytelling adventure found in a variety of events and scenarios. First, you’ll land at some unknown location – where the TARDIS knows you’re needed – and then you’ll play out a series of turns in which you choose actions, encounter enemies, and gather knowledge. Defeat enemies to garner victory points and find the way to your next adventure.

Glory to Rome

Age: 12+ Players: 2-5 Time: 60 minutes

Print out the black box edition of Glory to Rome for an excellent 2- to 5-player game for players 12 years old and up. Most games take about 60 minutes to play.

As you join the world of Ancient Rome, you’ll find yourself steeped in the intrigue of Nero’s era, with backstabbing, collusions, and Empire galore.

Glory to Rome uses cards to build cities and manage resources, with a unique game mechanism: Every card can act as a client, a building, a valuable resource, or a raw material. This forces players to make challenging decisions and keeps the game interesting. Much of the game also winds up being played from the discard pile, giving players a bit of control over what cards become available to other players.

During turns, one active player triggers a form of card-driven role selection, while the other players opt to follow by discarding a matching card or by opting to ‘rebel’ and draw more cards instead.

The game winds up being a highly interactive, engaging play full of unique strategies in building structures and storing resources, with end-of-game bonuses coming into the player-controlled outcomes in the form of storing diverse assortments of goods.

Nemesis

Age: 12+ (Community 14+) Players: 1-5 Time: 90-180 minutes

For those who love sci-fi horror games, you’ve found your printable board game in Nemesis. The survival horror game offers semi-cooperative play for one to five players over roughly one and a half to three hours.

The premise is this: A soldier, terrified by his world, shoots blindly down a corridor, trying to stop a violent alien attack. A scientist seeks to resolve the conflicts in his makeshift lab – and the traitor has stolen the last escape pod leaving soldiers, scientists, and others behind. Players take on the role of those left behind, trying to survive the alien advance. Any sound you make triggers the aliens’ awareness – and anything you do teaches them how to find your weakness.

Also Read: Best Horror Board Games: Our Top 9 Picks

It is your mission to escape – and to do so, you must help the other players as well, or you could all wind up dead. You each control one of the crew members, each of which has their unique set of skills, personal deck of cards, and individual equipment to start. To win, you must complete one of the two objectives dealt to your hand at the beginning of the game – and then you must return to Earth in one piece. Along the way, you’ll fight aliens, mechanical errors and obstacles, hidden agendas of others seeking only their own safety, and sheer bad luck. Can you survive?

Under Falling Skies

Age: 8+ (Community 10+) Players: 1 Time: 20-40 minutes

Using a unique dice placement mechanism, Under Falling Skies has become one of the most favored printable board games of recent years. The game sets you in the world of space exploration and aliens with a hostile mothership approaching Earth. Humanity must seek shelter beneath the ground and hide away from the terror and destruction raining down. You, the player, must act as the head of one of the bases and develop weapons to destroy these heinous creatures bent on annihilating humanity…

Under Falling Skies plays out in rounds during which you, the solo player, must place your dice around the various rooms of your underground base. When you make your moves, all the enemy ships align in a corresponding column. Your placements are critical, with higher numbers providing better room effects but faster enemy movements. Only one die may reside in each column, as well, so every move you make must be strategic to avoid restricting yourself too much. Tension rises as the mothership gets closer and closer throughout the ten to fifteen minutes of play. Will you be able to create the weapon in time, or will your movements doom all of humanity?

Oh My Lair!

Age: 10+ Players: 1 Time: 15 minutes

To print and play Oh My Lair!, all you need is 1 sheet of A4 paper and 5 to 6 six-sided dice. The printable board game is designed for one player, and lasts about 15 minutes, and anyone 10 and up can successfully enjoy playing it.

In Oh My Lair!, a solo player is the dungeon lord who learns that a hero wants to end their life. The annual event has happened before and you survived – but will you this time? You must prepare! You have control over your minion and may conquer a region, summon creatures, collect resources, and defeat heroes who want your head. During each round of play, you have four phases to do your best. In the first phase, “upkeep,” your minions return to you. In the second phase, “order,” you must control your minions and either collect resources or conquer a region. In the third phase, or “buy,” you may buy monsters with your resources and protect yourself against the enemy. Finally, in the fourth phase, “hero,” you must escape to your lair and defeat your enemy with your strategically placed monsters. If you defeat him, you win! If not, well, your lair becomes your grave.

Conclusion

There you have it – nine of the best printable board games around. Each uses unique game mechanics and designs to keep the games interesting and moving along. Play times range anywhere from 10 minutes to a few hours, too, so you’ve got plenty to keep you busy on a family game night that’s super budget-friendly. And for most of them, you only need a few dice, some paper, and ink to print with, and that’s about it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Print and Play Board Games