The Best Campaign Board Games [IGN]

Sometimes, you want to just escape from reality and lose yourself in a new, fantastical world. And sometimes, you want to do so for hours on end. When you want to set up a long-term board game night or ongoing campaign with a group of likeminded and passionate board gamers, we’ve got you covered with our list of some of the best legacy board games around. Some of these games are also light on difficulty, creating a low barrier to entry for newer players.

TL;DR Campaign Board Games

• Betrayal Legacy
• Frosthaven / Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
• Star Wars: Imperial Assault
• Roll Player Adventures
• One Deck Dungeon
• Mortum: Medieval Detective

Betrayal Legacy

Taking place over the span of multiple decades, Betrayal Legacy is a 13-episode campaign set within the same creepy mansion. In it, each player assumes the role of a generational family member exploring the house and enduring the Haunt, where one player may or may not betray the rest of the group. Players have a lot of creative license here, because as you play through the campaign, you’re crafting the story by the actions and choices you make – some of which are permanent and will affect the game next time you play, incentivizing multiple playthroughs.

Frosthaven / Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

The original Gloomhaven may be out of print, but its stand-alone sequel Frosthaven is in stock and ready for adventure. This is a fantasy-themed cooperative game where players take on the roles of adventurers and skirmish their way through various tactical combat scenarios. Consisting of tons of these scenarios, Frosthaven is a long-term campaign best enjoyed if you’re sticking with the same group throughout. Setting up and learning the game takes a while, but it’s worth it for dedicated gamers, and it’s great for repeat playthroughs. For a more less daunting and more streamlined take on the same game world, be sure to check out the more Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion as well. Your gaming group can even use the same characters in both games.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

Thrust yourself into the Galactic Civil War, where you can play as either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire. Choose between two game modes: campaign and skirmish. In campaign mode, you fight against the Empire in a series of continuous scenarios and experience the detailed narrative taking place after the destruction of the Death Star. The gameplay consists of tactical combat where players will utilize over 250 playable cards to outfit their heroes, modify weapons, and develop your character’s skills.

Roll Player Adventures

Roll Player Adventures is a tightly-designed choose your own adventure-style fantasy cooperative roleplaying game. Not exceptionally challenging, Roll Player Adventures is a good pick for entry-level campaigners with hundreds of different cards, tokens, and dice to help supplement your session. You can also create your own character or import a preexisting one. Gameplay is done through dice manipulation with your fast-growing deck of cards, essentially modifying rolls to complete combat encounters or other challenges.

One Deck Dungeon

What do you get when you mix Roguelike video game mechanics with a quick and easy fantasy card game? You get something like One Deck Dungeon. With the game’s Campaign Mode, players can take control of one of five heroes and choose from four difficulty levels to adventure through the dungeon, defeating bosses and learning talents while filling out their character’s campaign sheets. Like other legacy-type games, talents earned will be carried over into future playthroughs, incentivizing you to play on higher difficulties and experience more of what the campaign has to offer!

Mortum: Medieval Detective

More narrative-focused and mechanics-lite, Mortum: Medieval Detective is a cooperative game of mystery and deduction. Consisting of three decks that make up just as many scenarios, the goal of the game is to work your way through the story and solve the surrounding mysteries through classic detective work and keeping track of time via the game pieces. Settle in, as one scenario takes upwards of two hours, and each story leads into the next, creating a fully immersive campaign.

Looking for board games on a budget? Check out our list of the best cheap board games. If you’re more in the mood for something spooky, check out our picks for the best horror board games. And if you don’t have a whole lot of spare time, take a glance at our favorite quick-playing board games.