Buckle in for a lotta rules, complicated movements, and loads of intriguing experiences as you dive into this list of the most playable, complicated, and popular board games on the market. And, if you’re anything like us at the Board Game Collective, you’re going to love every second of playing these complicated board games that require more than a few minutes to play.
Defining Complexity in Board Games
Complexity in board games is a multifaceted concept that can be defined in various ways. At its core, complexity refers to the level of intricacy and depth in a game’s mechanics, rules, and gameplay. Understanding what makes a game complex can help players choose the right game for their group and ensure a satisfying game night experience.
What Makes a Game Complex?
Several elements can contribute to a game’s complexity, including:
Depth of Gameplay: A game with a high level of depth offers players a rich and immersive experience, with multiple layers of strategy and decision-making. This can include complex rules, intricate mechanics, and a high level of replayability. Games like Mage Knight and On Mars are perfect examples, offering a myriad of strategic choices and paths to victory.
Replay Value: A game with high replay value offers players a unique experience each time they play, with multiple paths to victory and a high level of variability. This can include elements such as randomization, modular boards, and multiple playable characters. For instance, Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate introduces new spirits and scenarios, ensuring no two games are the same.
Number of Rules: A game with a large number of rules can be overwhelming for new players but can also provide a rich and complex experience for experienced players. Magic Realm is known for its extensive rulebook, which adds to its depth and complexity.
Length of Gameplay: A game with a long playtime can be complex due to the need to manage resources, plan ahead, and adapt to changing circumstances. Games like 1817 can take several hours to complete, requiring sustained strategic thinking and planning.
Number of Player Interactions: A game with a high level of player interaction can be complex due to the need to negotiate, trade, and cooperate with other players. Feudum involves intricate interactions between players as they vie for control of fiefdoms and resources.
Level of Player Choice: A game with a high level of player choice can be complex due to the need to make difficult decisions and weigh competing priorities. In Pax Renaissance, players must decide which historical figures and events to support, influencing the course of the game.
By understanding these elements, players can better appreciate the complexity of their favorite board games and choose new games that match their interests and skill levels.
Depth of Gameplay
Replay Value
Benefits of Playing Complex Board Games
Playing complex board games can have a number of benefits, making them a worthwhile addition to any game night. These games not only provide entertainment but also offer opportunities for personal growth and development.
Improving Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
Complex board games require players to think critically and solve intricate problems. This can help to improve cognitive skills such as analysis, evaluation, and decision-making. By playing complex games, players can develop their ability to think strategically, anticipate consequences, and adapt to changing circumstances.
In addition to improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills, complex board games can also provide a number of other benefits, including:
Enhanced Strategic Thinking: Complex games require players to think strategically, planning ahead and making decisions that will have long-term consequences. Games like Arkwright and Weather Machine challenge players to develop and execute detailed strategies.
Improved Communication Skills: Many complex games require players to communicate and negotiate with each other, helping to improve communication skills and build relationships. Trench Club and Feudum involve significant player interaction and negotiation.
Increased Creativity: Complex games often require players to think creatively, finding new solutions to complex problems and adapting to changing circumstances. Magic Realm and Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate encourage players to explore creative strategies and solutions.
Better Time Management: Complex games often require players to manage their time effectively, prioritizing tasks and making decisions quickly. Games like 1817 and On Mars demand careful time management and resource allocation.
Overall, playing complex board games can be a fun and rewarding experience that offers a number of benefits for players. By challenging ourselves with complex games, we can improve our critical thinking and problem-solving skills, enhance our strategic thinking, and build our communication and creativity skills. So, gather your friends, pick a game from our list, and enjoy the many benefits of diving into the world of complex board games.
The Ten Best Most Complex Board Games
Mage Knight
Age: 14+ Players: 1-4 Time: 60-240 minutes
If you’ve ever wanted to be a knight of the Realm, then Mage Knight could be the complicated board game you’ve been waiting for. The game accommodates one to four players, putting each player in control of one of four Mage Knights who explore and conquer in their corner of the universe under the Atlantean Empire. Players aim to build their armies, fill their decks with spells and mighty actions, search dungeons and caves, and ultimately conquer cities created by a once-great faction.
The game combines elements of TTRPGs, deck-building, and good old-fashioned board games to create a unique tapestry of gameplay mechanics, scenarios, and replayability. Play solo, in cooperative group scenarios, or dive into competitive scenarios to battle against opponents to discover who can win the kingdom. As a strategy game, Mage Knight offers deep strategic elements and high replayability, appealing to both casual and serious gamers.
On Mars
Age: 14+ Players: 1-4 Time: 90-150 minutes
Settlers arrived on Mars in 2037, sent by the Department of Operations and Mars Exploration (D.O.M.E.) set up by the United Nations. Now, decades later, settlers have established a Mars Base Camp, exploration companies, and much more to create a self-sustaining colony. And your job in the complicated board game of On Mars is to act as chief astronaut for a private enterprise, pioneering the development of one of the most advanced colonies on the planet. You must support the mission of D.O.M.E. and your private company.
On Mars plays out over several rounds, each consisting of two phases: colonization and shuttle. The Colonization phase asks players to play in turns, taking actions based on their placement within the game. If you’re in orbit, you can work on blueprints, develop or buy new tech, or take supplies. If you’re on the planet’s surface, you can use bots to construct buildings, upgrade them using blueprints, welcome new ships, explore the planet, or take on scientists and new contracts. During the Shuttle phases, players travel between colonies and the Space Station in orbit around the planet.
Players must try to complete missions, with a total of three completed missions required to complete the game. To win, players must help in the development of the colony On Mars, as well as gain additional opportunity points. This strategic game requires careful decision-making and planning, and whoever earns the most points wins the game.
Pax Renaissance
Age: 12+ (Community 14+) Players: 2-4 Time: 60-120 minutes
It’s the Renaissance era, and that means the world is changing – shifting direction to become something exciting and new as developments in technology, the arts, and globalization rise. In Pax Renaissance, each player takes on the role of a banker, determining who they will fund and sponsor to help develop this advancing world. You may finance kings and republics, join secret cabals, unleash inquisitions, or sponsor discoveries. Or you may decide that you think the world is good enough as it is and fuel the imperialistic views of dark feudalism and all that entails.
During the game of Pax Renaissance, each player has two actions each turn. You may acquire cards in the market, sell them, or play them. And you can choose to stimulate the economy by funding fairs, voyages, discoveries, and other exciting choices. In this world, your map is Europe, from Portugal to Crimea, where new routes may be discovered and completely change the face of wealth and the empire. But which victory will you support? Any of the four outcomes could change the planet: enlightened art and science, religious totalitarianism, imperialism, or globalized trade. And, as the bankers, you decide. The appeal and replayability of such games lie in exploring various strategies once players understand the rules.
Feudum
Age: 12+ (Community 14+) Players: 2-5 Time: 80-180 minutes
Set in the world of medieval fiefdom, Feudum offers players a unique, colorful take on resource and hand management in the form of a super fun, complicated board game. To play, you’ll engage with any number of strategies as you aim to optimize four actions each turn and garner as many victory points as possible over five eras.
In Feudum, each of the two to five players controls several characters who roam the countryside, living their lives as tax collectors, farmers, and soldiers. Players must pit these characters against one another to acquire the coveted feudums (or fiefdoms) and increase memberships while successfully paying military service and taxes without going broke. Farmers must keep farming, merchants must supply goods to the alchemists, knights must fight… and on it goes with all your people, each doing their duties to keep the Feudum going and growing so you can ultimately take the victory. Beware, though – sea serpents, addictions, and many other things may derail your play! Choose your actions wisely, avoid starving, and see who comes out on top among the guilds, whether playing solo or divided into two teams.
Arkwright
Age: 12+ (Community 14+) Players: 2-4 Time: 120-240 minutes
It’s the Industrial Revolution in England, and four factories are in the works. Your job in Arkwright is to develop the most valuable block of shares among these factories and become the most successful inventor and innovator of the era. That means you’ve got to recruit factory workers and ultimately replace them with machines that can do the work faster and more efficiently as time progresses…
Demand is automatically created in Arkwright as workers start at their duties – and this means you’ve got to increase your share value, buy shares, and work your way to success before your opposing players make it to the machinist world first. You could hire more workers and pay wages of 2-5, or develop machines quickly at a cost but earn more when your expenses drop to 1 for those machines to run.
During the rounds of the game, players price their goods, sell them, improve factories or hire more workers, or offer sales promotions on higher quality products. This is done through action tokens that players can use to build up and advance their factories, hire workers, or improve the overall quality of the products they sell. During turns, players place tokens on free spaces in line with the administration board, pay the according costs, buy machines, hire workers, or take other similar actions. New tokens add value to these actions each round, meaning output is greater, quality is greater, and the value of your shares rises.
Numerous other rules and actions follow – too many to include in a quick overview – but you should get the idea of this complicated board game. Players recommend starting with a 120-minute scenario of the game, known as “Spinning Jenny” to get the feel, then incorporate more strategy and time in the “Waterframe” scenario for that long-form, complicated play you’re really looking for. As more games are released, the increasing variety and complexity in the tabletop gaming hobby make discovering such intricate experiences even more rewarding.
Magic Realm
Age: 12+ (Community 14+) Players: 1-16 Time: 60-240 minutes
Dive into the complex world of Magic Realm, a medieval fantasy world meant to recapture the suspense of traditional fantasy literature from classic authors like Tolkien and Lewis. In fact, the game provides a complete fantasy universe to explore through maps, hidden locations, and complex game rules and mechanics.
Magic Realm includes a wide range of playing pieces – far more than you’d probably ever use in a single playthrough – a map with hidden treasure troves, hiking trails, secret caves, trade routes, and more. Actions themselves include everything from hiding, searching, healing from (or dying from!) wounds, battles, fatigue, trade, hiking, rest, exploring the world with Indigenous dwellers of the lands, and fighting monsters. Each playthrough is an unpredictable adventure in the fantasy world as players take on the role of any of the sixteen characters. Players control the journey of the characters, making choices and tempting fate, all while exploring and seeking treasure and completing a personal mission. Unlike most board games, Magic Realm stands out due to its complexity, and whoever completes their complex mission first wins the game.
Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate Strategy Game
Age: 14+ (Community 12+) Players: 1-6 Time: 90-180 minutes
An expansion for the original game, Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate adds complex changes to the game with eight new Spirits, twenty new aspects, thirty-four new powers, and two new scenarios to expand replayability and shift the mood.
Spirits have existed on the island for as long as history can remember, but these new Spirits are powerful forces of nature that haven’t been seen in epochs of time. Now, as the world changes, they arise as Nature Incarnate to fend off destruction, greed, and the colonizers themselves, bent on destroying their world. The Spirits – growth, river, fire, others – must stop the destruction of their island by defeating those who don’t value nature…
Players take on the roles of different Spirits warding off invading colonizers of the island. On every turn, players use combinations of power cards that match a given spirit’s elemental connections to fend off the humans, gain energy, and determine whether or not to grow. Ultimately, victory is a cooperative goal, earned by the Spirits warding off the invaders and taking back their island for good. This highlights the growing popularity and variety of tabletop games, which cater to both casual and serious gamers.
Weather Machine Game’s Mechanics
Age: 14+ Players: 2-4 Time: 60-150 minutes
In Weather Machine, players take on the roles of scientists on Professor Lativ’s team, tampering with the local weather to try and help the world. That means you’re trying to create rainfall for crops, maintain clear skies and steady wind for ecological energy sources, and help sports teams with comfortable temperatures on competition days. But, of course, any time you mess with nature, Mother Nature complains. The troubling side effects seem to solidly play out the theoretical butterfly effect – and that means you’ve got a big problem to solve…
The gameplay takes place over several rounds in four locations. Players place a single pawn in any of these locations and work to upgrade the player via the Supply area, constructing bots, or increasing the supply capacity. Players may also visit the government area to support research projects with bots and provide subsidy tiles that offer one-time bonuses. Lativ’s lab is another option – and here chemical resources trigger changes, while the R&D area provides the most challenging actions to score Climate points (victory points) and build prototypes. The rules get rather complex, so you may want to try a trial run with the crowd before delving into the depths. All said, though, the unique, complicated board game offers a lot of intriguing actions and fun outcomes for those who enjoy a good old mad scientist for their boss. The game is designed for up to five players, offering flexibility in group size and an optimal experience for various social settings.
Trench Club
Age: 14+ (Community 16+) Players: 1-4 Time: 120-240 minutes
One of the most exciting complicated board games set in World War I, Trench Club offers a variety of unique strategy actions that most other war games don’t. In it, players take on the roles of generals in battle. Each player must determine when and how to send their troops into battle, fight off enemy artillery attacks, and deploy tanks and infantry.
The complex battle system in Trench Club employs easy-to-learn rules using detailed miniatures and engages players with tactical setup, attack strength, troop armor, and damage and terrain aspects in combination to score victory points. You’ve got to carefully construct your unit layout and assemble your troops strategically to win the victory in each battle, and ultimately the game. Despite its strategic depth, Trench Club also functions as a party game, encouraging social interaction and engagement among players.
1817
Age: 16+ Players: 3-7 Time: 360-540 minutes
Become a railroad magnate in the complicated board game of 1817. The game engages with share trading and operations at its core, with players exploring their financial flair, the 1817 New York Stock Exchange, and all things wheeling and dealing. The sophisticated financial mechanics set the game apart from others in the 18xx game series, making it one of the most complex choices in the series.
Like other 18xx series games, 1817 uses tile laying, token purchasing, and train running, but it is won or lost on the basis of financial decisions made by players, rather than the luck of the draw or tile placement. You’ll delve into mergers, friendly takeovers, and conversions, plus short selling, interest rates driven by the market, corporate failures and liquidations, and hostile takeovers. Your aim: deal, trade, sell, and take over your way to the best railroad stock portfolio by the end of the game, making 1817 a great game with engaging gameplay and replayability.
Conclusion
Consider your group’s game style before you make any purchases. Each of these complicated board games will fulfill that need for deeper play, but the style, theme, or strategy methods may not hit home for everyone. Magic Realm is the best choice for world exploration play; Feudum and On Mars for world-building. Grab a copy of Mage Knight, Trench Club, or Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate for war-themed strategy, or Arkwright, 1817, Weather Machine to hit on the golden age of developing technology engagement.
Also Read: The Absolute Best Story Board Games Around
FAQ
1. What are some of the most complex board games mentioned in the article?
The article highlights several complex board games, including Mage Knight, On Mars, Pax Renaissance, Feudum, Arkwright, Magic Realm, Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate, Weather Machine, Trench Club, and 1817. Each of these games offers intricate gameplay mechanics and strategic depth.
2. How does the game Mage Knight combine different gameplay elements?
Mage Knight combines elements of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), deck-building, and traditional board games. Players explore, conquer territories, and build their armies while engaging in both cooperative and competitive scenarios.
3. What is the setting and objective of the game On Mars?
On Mars is set in a futuristic Mars colony where players act as chief astronauts for private enterprises. The objective is to develop an advanced colony by completing missions and gaining opportunity points, with the player earning the most points winning the game.
4. Can you describe the main gameplay mechanics of Weather Machine?
In Weather Machine, players are scientists on Professor Lativ’s team, manipulating the weather to tackle global challenges. The game involves multiple rounds across different locations, where players upgrade their capabilities, support research, and manage complex interactions to score Climate points and build prototypes.
5. What makes 1817 stand out in the 18xx game series?
1817 is distinguished by its sophisticated financial mechanics, focusing on share trading and operations. Unlike other 18xx games that rely on tile placement or luck, 1817 is driven by financial decisions, including mergers, takeovers, and stock trading, making it one of the most complex games in the series.