Best board games in 2024

The mobile market has done wonders for established board games, emulating their solid gameplay loops and lovable brands on the latest Android gaming phones with ease. The Play Store provides fertile ground for board game apps to thrive, with intuitive design choices and unique ideas, not to mention more reasonable price tags. The Play Store has mobile counterparts for tons of established board games that rival the best games on Android, in addition to some awesome original tabletop titles. AP loves to roll the dice, so we’ve compiled this roundup of the best board game apps to help you pick the best ones. Dive into these thrilling tests of strategy!

What is an Android board game app?

Android board game apps simulate the conventions of traditional tabletop gaming experiences, either by adapting an existing board game to the mobile platform or by inventing a new one. These games can imitate the rules and win conditions of their real-life counterparts but may also contain some additional caveats to consider while playing. Board game apps have superior advantages over traditional tabletop gaming, with better portability and access to online play, making them ideal for parties and get-togethers.

1 Ticket to ride

Rule the rails with an iron fist

Adapted from the board game of the same name, Ticket to Ride is a turn-based strategy game themed around claiming train routes. Players must claim the most routes on the map to win. Given gameplay revolves around studying a map, Ticket to Ride plays great on the best Android tablets’ wider screens. The game supports solo play, local multiplayer, and competitive online play across several DLC maps that offer unique mechanics. So if you’re looking for an engaging experience where every game is different, Ticket to Ride stacks up to the physical edition.

2 Catan Classic

Relive the classic and expand your territory

Catan Classic plays exactly like the famous strategy game, now adapted for the mobile platform. Players must gather resources, trade with other players, and develop settlements on a hexagonal map. Each settlement you create earns a victory point, and the first to ten wins. The opportunistic (and, let’s face it, cut-throat) quality of the original is not lost here, forcing players to weigh charity against prosperity. Catan Classic plays smoothly, making excellent use of its touch interface in recreating this famous board game.

3 Galaxy Trucker

Cobble together a ship and take on the universe

Remember FTL? Galaxy Trucker feels similar. Players must build space-worthy vessels and engage in various situations on their journey through the stars. Gather cards to cobble a ship together and roll the dice to see what events you encounter. At the end of the game, the player with the most cash wins. There is a risk and reward element governing your profit margin, with an element of random chance too. The digital adaptation makes allowances for the platform, where the card seizing round’s turn-based options compensate for latency. Galaxy Trucker’s translation is seamless, offering players a tense, contemplative experience with a glib sense of humor that you can’t help but smile at.

4 Antihero

Expect the unexpected

Antihero encourages you to be ruthless in pursuit of area control. Taking charge of a Victorian thief guild, you must steal, extort, and murder your way to economic success, buying up as much property as possible. You’ll upgrade characters as well as property, with unique designs and functions for both. The other player’s movements are obscured, adding to the conspiratorial theme. The aesthetic is impressive, the avatars are cool, and the gameplay encourages sneakiness and creativity. Plus, Antihero is an absolute steal at $4.99.

5 Monopoly

A board game that never gets old

Likely you already know Monopoly, the board game that pits players against each other in a battle of hyper-capitalism. MONOPOLY – Classic Board Game brings back everything you remember from the original table-top version; players move around the board collecting cash, buying up property, and working to bankrupt competing players. The leap to the Play Store has brought plenty of brilliant quality-of-life features. Multiple rule options accommodate newcomers, and online features enable play with friends or randoms; while still housing local multiplayer. MONOPOLY – Classic Board Game is easily on par with the original, with added options and convenience. What’s not to like?

6 Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics

Take charge of your own territory

Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics focuses on territory acquisition, revolving around placing down tiles that make up a city. The gameplay follows the principles of Dominos, requiring the player to match tiles of the same type together in order to progress, creating structures that yield money. The game ends when no more tiles can be placed, and then the player with the most cash wins. The digital adaptation comes with additional features such as online play and unique, downloadable maps.

Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics challenges your spatial awareness without feeling punished, with additional features such as online play and unique, downloadable maps. Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics is fully recommended.

7 Raiders of the North Sea

Play it smart and defend your village

A theatrical mobile game with a great art style, Raiders of the North Sea puts you in charge of a prospering Viking settlement. Goods can be created in your village via wise investments or can be stolen from settlements across the sea. When your turn ends, your opponent undergoes the same process with their village. Settlements are shown on the map with what they provide, and the size of what you can raid increases with upgrades. You have the option of facing an AI or another player online to test your skills in two different ways. Raiders of the North Sea is a complex game but very engaging.

8 Wingspan: The Board Game

Kick back with this relaxing avian experience

Wingspan: The Board Game is a multiplayer card strategy game themed around bird care, with five players pitted against each other to amass the finest feathery collective. Players compete to build the best avian preserves by managing resources and breeding superior birds. Your dealt cards provide birds with various stats and parameters dictating their usefulness, from habitat and food costs to the price of using them. Wingspan: The Board Game is great for lovers of strategy and resource management as well as birds; a perfect relaxing casual game to play with friends.

9 Lanterns: The Harvest Festival

A beautiful color-matching game

A beautiful color-matching game centered around Chinese floating lights, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival tasks players with forming patterns on a lake, earning points in the process. Certain patterns yield more points than others, incentivizing players to think carefully about their placements. You get access to both competitive online multiplayer and offline single-player against the CPU, with additional challenges to complete once you get the hang of things. Play smart and earn the most honor to win! Lanterns: The Harvest Festival is a very calming experience with its cool night ambiance and colorful lights, and I would recommend it to fans of Android’s more popular match-3 apps who fancy something a bit more chilled out.

10 Tokaido

Race through stylized beauty

Tokaido is a Japanese tabletop game built around four characters that offer unique skills and talents, all focused on a journey down the road. You have the option to play online or against an AI as you travel past multiple locations that offer useful and relaxing facilities. Players must acquire money in their travels and exchange it for food, souvenirs, or victory points. Possessing the most food, souvenirs, hot spring visits, or encounters at the end of the game will grant three extra victory points; the player with the most is the winner. Tokaido is rich with likable attributes found in the best cozy games on Android, like soft and relaxing visual and sound design.

Jump on board with these awesome digital board games

Tabletop gaming will always hold sway in the physical world, but board game apps achieve things that retail board games simply cannot. Their charm, lower prices, and ease of use, combined with the superior portability of your new Android tablet, make board game apps a clear winner for titles like MONOPOLY and Catan Classic. So fire up your favorite Android gaming phone and check out one of these board game apps; be sure to play your hand well.