Playing RPG board games with your friends is a unique experience that can hardly be understood by those who have never had it. Stories involving adventures between friends have attracted millions of people to movies and books since forever, so imagine, instead of watching and reading these adventures, going through them with your friends? That's the great thing about tabletop or board RPGs.
However, entering this world is not easy, there are thousands of system options available and this can end up making it difficult to choose the ideal RPG. While reading our list, try to keep in mind the theme you want for your campaign; zombie apocalypse? Fantasy world with magic? Or maybe you're looking for an adventure in a technological future. We'll now list the 5 best RPG board games with different themes so you can have hours of fun with your friends.
Dungeons and Dragons
If you're a fan of board games, you've heard of Dungeons and Dragons, the most famous tabletop RPG of all time. Created in 1974 in the United States, the system is based on a fantasy world with magic, different races of characters and monsters.
Not only is it the most popular, it is also the first of the RPG board games, introducing many of the main features seen in the games to follow, including the Game Master, the person who acts as the game's narrator and judge. If you're looking for a "classic" adventure full of monsters and magic, D&D may be the ideal choice for you.
Call of Cthulhu
Based on the short story of the same name by British writer H.P Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu is a good choice for fans of detective stories with plenty of terror and mystery. Lovecraft believed that the strongest emotion in human beings was fear, and that the worst of these was fear of the unknown; this game, like his short stories, focuses on activating this emotion in its players.
Of the RPG board games on this list, this is probably the one set in a world closest to our own, but darker and with powerful ancient monsters. The original game covers three different time periods: the 1890s, the 1920s and the present day. In it you play ordinary people who, due to some atypical event, are thrown into a mysterious and hidden world.
Alien RPG
Are you a fan of the Alien movie franchise? Then your search for the best RPG board games is over. Alien RPG is similar to Call of Cthulhu in its horror aspect, however, it takes place in the distant future and in space. As in the main films in the franchise, your greatest enemies are the Xenomorphs, an alien race considered to be biologically "perfect" and who eliminate everything in their path.
In addition to the Xenomorphs, you and your friends will have to face the challenges of space travel, conflicts with androids and disagreements within the team. Even if you don't know the universe of the Alien films, this game is a good choice if you want to break away from the sameness of classic RPGs like D&D.
Shadowrun
If you're looking for a system that mixes Dungeons and Dragons features with futuristic technologies, Shadowrun is the RPG for you. In this universe, corporate espionage, cyberspace operations and even fights against dragons are trivial occurrences that definitely set Shadowrun apart from other RPG board games.
It takes place between the 2050s and 2085, depending on the version. In this world, the end of the Mesoamerican calendar has brought to reality beings that were once mythological, such as dragons, orcs, elves, dwarves and trolls. In addition, magic also became part of reality, which brought about a change in the world's power structures.
The One Ring
The last game on our list is set in the Lord of the Rings universe and is extremely faithful to the world created by Tolkien. In it, you embark on adventures in Middle-earth with your companions who can be humans, dwarves, hobbits and elves. The RPG features characters from the original stories such as Bilbo, GandalfSauron, etc.
Unlike other RPGs, the game has two "phases": the adventure phase and the society phase. The adventure phase is exactly what it sounds like: you go on adventures with your group in combat and exploration. The society phase, however, is less obvious: it functions as a post-adventure moment where you, with the help of the Game Master, decide what your character will do with the experience points and "free time" after your journey.
So, did you like our list of the best RPG board games? Which do you think is the best? Let us know in the comments! Want to know more about games? Take a look at our article on 5 strongest Street Fighter characters. Now, if you want to know more about tabletop RPGs, click on the video below.
