Emily Parker

Economic board games are the closest thing tabletop gaming has to a sandbox for capitalism. Instead of attacking monsters or exploring dungeons, you’re building gem empires, buying railroads, shipping coffee, or trying to corner the tulip market in 1637 Amsterdam. After our team played through 12 of the most talked-about economic board games on Amazon, … Read more

If you have ever leaned across a hex map and muttered “that region is mine now,” you already understand the pull of the best area control board games. I have spent the last several years dragging these boxes off shelves at conventions, local game stores, and friends’ living rooms, and I can tell you the … Read more

Finding the best board games under 50 dollars used to mean settling for thin components and shallow gameplay. After spending the last three months rotating 12 different titles through our weekly game nights, I can confidently say the sub-$50 tier has never been stronger. We played everything from family classics to award-winning strategy games, and … Read more

I’ll never forget the first time I cracked open Terraforming Mars: Prelude. We were 90 minutes into a base game that had started to feel predictable, and suddenly the entire opening phase transformed. Corporations were sprinting toward terraforming milestones instead of grinding for credits. That single expansion taught me something I’ve spent years testing since: … Read more

Looking for the best miniature board games that actually fit on your shelf, in your carry-on, or on a crowded kitchen table? I have spent the last six months collecting, painting, and playing everything from pocket-sized travel sets to full miniatures wargames, and I want to save you the trial and error. The phrase “miniature … Read more

Board games with miniatures turn a quiet night at the table into a tabletop scene you actually want to show off. I have spent the last year pulling boxes off shelves, painting minis at my kitchen table, and arguing about which game has the best production values. Some nights I run a campaign of HeroQuest … Read more

Finding the best card games for adults can transform an ordinary evening into something memorable. Our team spent weeks testing over 20 modern card games across multiple game nights, tracking everything from ease of learning to long-term replay value. We played with groups ranging from intimate 2-player sessions to rowdy 8-player parties, noting which games … Read more

Card games pulled my family off screens and onto the couch, and they can do the same for yours. Over the past three months, our team tested 30+ card games with families across 12 households spanning kids ages 5 to grandparents in their 70s. We tracked which games got pulled back out the next night, … Read more

I still remember the sound of dice clattering across a Monopoly board at my grandmother’s kitchen table. Forty years later, that same board is in my closet, waiting for the next family gathering. Classic board games like these earn their place on the shelf not because of clever marketing, but because they keep delivering the … Read more

Anyone who has tried to play a full-sized board game in a moving car knows the pain. Pieces slide, dice roll under seats, and the board ends up in someone’s lap by mile three. After two cross-country drives with my family last summer, I learned that the best board games for road trips are not … Read more