Board Game Night Starter Guide: How to Pick Your First Game

Walk into the board games aisle anywhere and you'll see the same problem: hundreds of boxes, no idea where to start. Some are $20 party games you can teach in two minutes. Others are $300 miniatures-and-campaign epics that take a full evening just to set up. They're all technically "board games," but they have almost nothing else in common.

This guide is here to cut through that. We'll break the hobby down into the categories that actually matter when you're choosing a game — not by theme or publisher, but by who you're playing with and how much time you've got. Every example below is something we stock and can show you in person at our Fairfield store, so if a description catches your eye, you can come hold the box, read the back, and ask us questions before you commit.

Start With the Question: Who's Actually Playing?

The single biggest mistake new board gamers make is buying a game for the hobby they wish they had, instead of the group they actually have. A dense 4-hour strategy game is a fantastic purchase — if you've got three friends who'll commit to a Saturday afternoon for it. If you're really after something for Thursday night with whoever happens to be around, it'll sit on the shelf.

So instead of "best board games," think in terms of these four buckets.

1. Party & Family Games (Quick to Learn, Built for Chaos)

These are the games you can teach in under five minutes, that work with a mixed group of ages and experience levels, and that create noise. They're built for laughing more than winning.

Our current favourite in this category is Kollide — a head-to-head magnet-placement game where the tension comes from watching your opponent's magnet creep closer to yours. It's $29, plays in minutes, and works from age 8 right up to adults after a few drinks. We've written a full breakdown of how it plays in our dedicated Kollide guide.

Sitting alongside it is the genre's most famous name: Jenga Classic. There's a reason it's survived decades of trendier competitors — the format (pull a block, don't be the one who topples the tower) needs zero explanation and scales from two players to a full table.

2. Cooperative Games (Everyone Wins or Everyone Loses Together)

If your group gets competitive in a way that isn't fun, cooperative games solve that instantly — the table plays against the game itself, not against each other. These have exploded in popularity because they turn game night into a shared problem to solve rather than a fight to win.

For families with younger players, MicroMacro Kids: Crazy City Park is a detective-style search-and-solve game built specifically for that audience — everyone scans the same illustrated map together, hunting for clues as a team.

For adult and mixed groups wanting something with more narrative weight, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship uses the Pandemic System (the same core mechanism that made Pandemic a household name) to send 1–5 players across Middle-earth trying to hold back a mounting threat together.

3. Two-Player Games (Built for a Duo, Not Compromised for One)

A lot of games technically "support 2 players" but were clearly designed for four or more, and it shows — the experience feels thin. Two-player-first games are a different category entirely: every mechanic is tuned for exactly two people going head-to-head.

Everdell Duo is the standout example on our shelves — a standalone version of the beloved Everdell engine-building game, redesigned from the ground up so two players get the full depth of the original without a redundant third seat.

4. Strategy & Thematic Games (The Deep End)

This is where the hobby gets serious — bigger boxes, longer playtimes, and rules that reward repeated plays. If your group has already worked through the games above and wants more, this is the natural next step.

Innovation (4th Edition) is a tight, clever civilization-building card game for 2–5 players that plays in under an hour but has the strategic depth of something twice the length. On the heavier, more thematic end, 6: Siege brings tense, asymmetrical tactical combat to the table, while Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game pairs gothic horror atmosphere with a full cooperative RPG campaign and highly detailed miniatures.

Why Buy From a Local Store Instead of Online?

Board games are one of the few hobby categories where seeing the box in person genuinely changes the decision. Component quality, box size, card thickness, insert quality — none of that comes through in a product photo, and it's exactly what separates a game that gets played every week from one that gets returned.

That's the advantage of shopping with us at 30 Ware St, Fairfield. Come in, we'll pull games off the shelf, open the box if you want a look inside, and talk through what actually suits your group — no algorithm, just a conversation with someone who plays these games too. Check our events page for upcoming in-store game nights, where you can try games with other locals before deciding to buy.

Browse the Full Range

Ready to look deeper? Our full board game collection is organised into the categories covered above:

• Solo Games — for when it's just you and the table
• Cooperative Games — everyone versus the game
• 2+ Player Games — the broadest, most flexible category
• Puzzles — no rules, no rush
• Pre-Loved Boardgames — great value entry points

And if you're still not sure where to start, drop into the store or reach out — helping people find the right first game is genuinely one of our favourite parts of the job.