12 Best Board Games On Steam

Want to jump into one of those big, complex board games but want to drop a few hundred dollars or spend hours learning the rules? There are plenty of digital tabletop games ready and waiting to be picked up on Steam. We've culled out the low-quality ones to find the 12 best Steam board games available right now.

Besides saving your table space (and your wallet), most of these digital recreations let you play with friends online so you don't need to rely on everyone showing up for a Friday night game session.

For this list, we're leaving out the strategy games that take heavy influence from tabletop offerings but aren't actually digital conversions of real board games.Check out our companion list of those awesome titles that board game fans will love over here.

Gloomhaven

Developer: Flaming Fowl Studios
Price: $24.99
Buy it here

For fans of dungeon-delving, Gloomhaven has everything you could want as a board game — except the often prohibitive $140 to $200 price tag.

One of Gloomhaven's biggest draws on Steam is that you get to play the full game at a fraction of the actual board game cost, and it won't take up your entire table to play.

There are plenty of tactics to utilize in this squad-based dark fantasy tabletop game, and there is infinite opportunity to destroy enemy creatures and upgrade your characters.

Gloomhaven on Steam is still in Early Access, however, and is currently missing a number of key features like multiplayer co-op. There will be big changes coming to the game ahead of its full launch, including campaign and additional tweaks.

For more, check out our Early Access impressions of Gloomhaven. 

Scythe

Developer: The Knights of Unity
Price: $19.99
Buy it here

You've probably seen those killer pics that put giant, smoke-belching robots in places and times they have no business existing. Scythe takes that idea and builds a whole board game around it set in 1920s Europe.

Your goal in Scythe is to take the role of a faction — from frozen Nordics to machine gun-wielding Soviets — and conquer the world in a 4X format. Adding a wrinkle to things, each faction has a secret objective in each playthrough, keeping things fresh. 

Oh, and did I mention there are enough mechs here to make any Mechwarrior or Battletech fan gush with oil. 

Zombicide

Developer: Berserk Games
Price: $9.99 (DLC for Tabletop Simulator)
Buy it here

This Kickstarter-backed zombie board game took the world by storm a few years back. In November, it raised $3 million to fund a brand new second edition.

If you like zombie games but don't have the patience to set up a physical board, then the digital Zombicide needs to be on your shortlist.

One thing to remember about this version of the game, though, is that it isn't actually a one-to-one adaptation of the board game. Instead, this is a DLC pack for Tabletop Simulator.

It takes a little getting used to, but you can play full games of Zombicide with all of the original cards and minis in an online session with a friend. You can also flip the table in a fit of rage and screw up all the cards if you want, but that's up to you.

Mysterium: A Psychic Clue Game

Developer: Asmodee Digital
Price: $6.99
Buy it here

"Clue" in the title is most definitely not an accident, because Mysterium is essentially a continuation of Clue's classic gameplay — but in a more exciting setting. 

Aided by a ghost, your group of psychic friends will need to deduce the identity of a murderer and find out where a death happened and by what means.

When you want something fairly easy to pick up but don't care for zombies or dungeon-delving fantasy epics, Mysterium is the one to pick. 

Faeria

Developer: Abrakam SA
Price: $24.99
Buy it here

I'm going to bend the rules just slightly here. Faeria is more collectible card game than board game, but it ventures just far enough into board game territory to fit.

Faeria is interesting because while the base mechanics are very much in the vein of Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, it has a "living" board that players control.

To reach the enemy player and get in a few swings with your creatures, you must first build a board to them. Such a design brings all sorts of fun complications to the standard CCG mechanics. Give it a whirl if you want to try something new with a heavy card game emphasis.

Pandemic

Developer: Asmodee Digital
Price: $9.99
Buy it here

I'll be honest: I haven't been as enamored with the original Pandemic board game as the rest of the gaming universe. Clearly, though, I'm in the minority because everyone seems to fall over this title from Z-Man Games.

Pandemic is a game about saving the world from, well, a pandemic. Pandemic is complex, difficult to master, and easy to lose, which makes it perfect for a certain subset of masochistic players.

It's worth noting, though, that the digital version of Pandemic is very much a single-player experience.

Twilight Struggle

Developer: Playdek, Inc
Price: $9.99
Buy it here

When it comes to historic board games in the digital realm, Twilight Struggle is in the genre's upper echelon. This tabletop experience puts you in the role of either the U.S. or the USSR, and your goal is to change history during the cold war.

It's strategic and fun without being overly complicated and has a good deal of replay value. Best of all? The UI isn't a giant mess like a lot of board game adaptations. Whereas many struggle to stay faithful to the original while switching to a keyboard and mouse setup, Twilight Struggle stays the course. 

Love Letter

Developer: Nomad Games
Price: $6.99
Buy it here

One of the very best things about Love Letter is its concept — you need to get a love letter to the princess, but everyone in the castle is standing in your way, including the princess herself.

Guards might stop you, handmaidens might refuse to deliver your declaration of love, or you might accidentally tick off the Princess and really screw yourself out of a win.

While there is a decent amount of strategy and bluffing involved, Love Letter is extremely easy to pick up and learn, and mostly appropriate for all ages.

While Love Letter is unquestionably better when played face to face with people you know, it's still a fun (and quick) time on PC via Steam.

Tales From Candlekeep: Tomb Of Annihilation

Developer: BKOM Studios
Price: $15.99
Buy it here

There are times when you don't necessarily want to jump into some 100-hour RPG like Kingmaker or Baldur's Gate 2. You'd rather just play some random dungeon adventure.

That's where the various D&D board games come in, with tile-based procedural gameplay that offers a quick way to jump into a random quest without much fuss.

It's fast, fluid, and filled to the brim with treasure to loot, especially when picking one of four classic Forgotten Realms hero types.

Lords Of Waterdeep

Developer: Playdek, Inc
Price: $14.99
Buy it here

Although it's also a D&D game, Lords Of Waterdeep is completely different from Tomb Of Annihilation — or any of the other D&D board games, like Wrath of Ashardalon or Castle Ravenloft.

Rather than plundering a dungeon or fighting off orc hordes in Lords of Waterdeep, you'll spread your influence across the city by constructing buildings, engaging in intrigue, and completing a variety of quests.

No considering it's quite a bit cheaper than the original physical version, the Steam edition of Lords of Waterdeep plays faster than the board game as well. You can play for three or four hours while referencing various rules.

Ticket To Ride

Developer: Days of Wonder
Price: $9.99
Buy it here

The wide range of topics available in hardcore board games is honestly pretty impressive. We've gone from world-destroying disease outbreaks to fairy battles and delivering love letters. Now we're going to... ride a train?

Yeah, it's more fun than it sounds.

In Ticket to Ride, you must build up your railways and link cities before your opponent does. If you dig games like Settlers of Catan, you'll love Ticket To Ride. There's a ton of DLC available for the digital edition as well, so you won't run out of content anytime soon.

Small World 2

Developer: Days of Wonder
Price: $9.99
Buy it here

The world is too small for the both of us, so it's time to go to war and see which fantasy species comes out victorious! From merchant humans to alchemist rat-men, Small World 2 has a ton of combos to play with as you quest to conquer the overly small world.

Small World 2 is a lot faster to play than many other fantasy board games, and with randomized faction abilities tweaking the rules, there's lots of reason to jump back into another quick game.

That's it for our look at the 12 best board games currently available on Steam. Of course, there are plenty other PC board games out there, as our list only scratched the surface with the best overall picks.

Are you planning on picking up any of our Steam board game recommendations, and do you have a favorite board game that didn't make the list? Let us know in the comments below!