Board games have been around for a long time, probably as far as 3500 BC. With the emergence of smartphones, board games are now available as app versions as well. In an age where mobile gaming outshines others, the best board game apps find a special place on your Android devices. After all, our childhoods were all about board games.
The best mobile board games come in different genres, such as action, adventure, strategy, card games, puzzles, and so on. If you are ready to forget the physical game for some time, these mobile games can be great replacements to the original games. Whether you prefer online multiplayer or solo play, playing on the app can be fun. And for those who want to get an overall gaming experience, try the best offline Android games.
Play These Best Board Game Apps On Your Smartphones Right Now
When it comes to great games today, users have a plethora of options to choose from. But then, what makes board games so popular? The old-school charm and warmth still lingers in them. Be it physical board games or the best board game apps; it is all the same. So, without any delay, let us delve into the best mobile board game apps.
1. 7 Wonders
Some of the best board game apps require a lot of strategic planning, just like 7 Wonders. It is a card game where you can play with any player from across the globe. Revolving around developing civilization, you must plan a great deal about commercial, military, scientific, and more.
If you need practice to develop your skills, you can play offline with the computer. Once you are ready to face the world, start placing your cards backed by tactics to bring prosperity to your place. 7 Wonders is a fast-paced game where all the players can play simultaneously before waiting for others.
Download 7 Wonders for Android / iOS
2. Through the Ages
Once again a card game, Through the Ages, puts the players in charge of a tribe they must develop. Not just basic occupations, but you must work hard to actualize better governments and technology to help people thrive. Hundreds of cards at your disposal ensure all the support you need.
You can play Through the Ages with the computer or friends from around the world. You can use the funny tutorial to learn the rules of the game. You will find single-player and multiplayer challenges to test your skills. And choose between the rules of the original board game or the digital version of the game.
Download Through the Ages for Android / iOS
3. Agricola
Agricola All Creatures Big & Small is one of the best board game apps for Android and iOS. It is based on a board game of the same name, featuring farming and livestock breeding. When you begin the game, you only have some fields and a hut. With such humble beginnings, you will use the available workers and grow.
While in the gameplay, you can breed different livestock and compete with your neighbors to have the best farm in town. You can choose to play with AI or play with friends. There is a worldwide leaderboard that will constantly motivate you to do your best. Agricola is a simple game that is easy to play.
Download Agricola for Android / iOS
4. Race for the Galaxy
Whether you play Race for the Galaxy with AI or with other players, you will not miss out on the fun the game offers. Your duty as a player is to settle planets or lead technological advancements. You can also think of it as a phase-choosing game, where players must choose a phase from seven phases and execute them in order.
The multiplayer version of Race for the Galaxy can have two to four players competing to advance. The basis of the game is your card-playing strategy. While progressing in the game, look for other players who might develop strategies to beat you.
Download Race for the Galaxy for Android / iOS
5. Raiders of the North Sea
Raiders of the North Sea is one of the best board game apps where you go raiding, raiding, and again raiding. If you are familiar with the board game of the same name, you will have a good time trying its digital counterpart. You can plunder your way and accumulate fame and gold like never before.
As part of your gameplay, you must assemble a crew and outfit a longboat to raid different settlements. You may impress the Chieftain to move forward in the game. Remember to resort to the best worker placement strategy and survive legendary battles to be the unbeatable winner.
Download Raiders of the North Sea for Android / iOS
6. Evolution
Evolution is a game of survival for iOS and Android, where you need to evolve to survive in the continuously changing ecosystem. Players must adapt to the changing conditions so that their species can survive and be a match to their opponents. Your goal is to become the most successful species.
Whether you evolve a long neck to face the drying watering hole or get a hard shell to fight a carnivore, your survival strategy must be top-notch. Luckily, you can access the interactive tutorial that will guide you in your journey through the game.
Download Evolution for Android / iOS
7. Lanterns: The Harvest Festival
The award-winning board game Lanterns can now be played on your smartphone easily. It is one of the best board game apps for quick relaxation. The game is set in imperial China and requires the players to place tiles in the best arrangement. The app now has an add-on, Lanterns: The Emperor’s Gifts, with no additional price.
Players must arrange floating lanterns on a lake. Finishing sets of lanterns earn Honor. You aim to get the maximum number of Honors to be the winner. The incredible AI, stunning visuals, and meditative music take the game a level higher. Play it as a competition or for relaxation, and you will enjoy it.
Download Lanterns: The Harvest Festival for Android / iOS
8. Patchwork The game
Patchwork presents the players with several fabric pieces of different colors, sizes, and buttons. The fullest quilt you can make with the pieces will help you climb the ladder of success. So, aim at patching up the quilt and collecting more buttons to win.
While you are stitching, keep track of the time and money spent on the patchwork. Plan your stitches in a way to make the whole affair cost-effective. Patchwork is an adaptation of the board game with the same name. If you have never tried quilting, this is your chance to get creative with fabrics.
Download Patchwork The game for Android / iOS
9. Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars is one of the best board game apps that let you have the power to head a corporation that terraforms Mars to make it habitable. You must manage the available resources wisely to initiate constructions, build oceans and forests, and of course, cities.
Plan carefully as to how to place your cards and get victory points. You can lead many ambitious projects on the planet and transform its destiny. But have an eye out for rival corporations that will do anything to stop you from advancing. So, the game is about progress as well as defense.
Download Terraforming Mars for Android / iOS
10. Catan Classic
Catan is a very popular tabletop game that asks for the players’ best strategy to win. It is a multiplayer game with a maximum of four players. But you can also play with AI if you prefer. So, the aim is to acquire the longest roads, the highest number of settlements, and the largest army.
While in the gameplay, you can trade with other players and move forward. The in-app purchases offer the Catan expansions ‘Seafarers’ and ‘Cities and Knights’. Another attraction of the game is that you can choose from many computer opponents having varying individualities.
Download Catan Classic for Android / iOS
11. Tokaido
Ancient Japan is where you will be if you play on one of the best board game apps, Tokaido. You are trekking along the East Sea road and enjoying everything on your way to Edo. You can try the local delicacies, collect souvenirs, visit temples, and do much more as a way to get away from your daily routine.
As you walk in peace, you will meet several other travelers. Remember to showcase better strategies than your opponents to win the game. To make your journey fruitful, gather as many hidden treasures as possible. The 3D graphics are an added advantage when you choose the game.
Download Tokaido for Android / iOS
12. Wingspan
Play Wingspan with up to five players and know the joy of attracting the best birds. You can be a bird watcher, researcher, or anyone interested in birds, and you can add birds to your network of wildlife preserves. The birds you select extend a chain of combinations in one of your habitats.
Wingspan is a strategy game where you can take your time to get birds that add value to your preserves. The game includes around 170 birds, each with their special characteristics. You will earn points for bonus cards, birds, and end-of-round goals. So, play the game for a relaxing experience with the calming sound of birds.
Download Wingspan for Android / iOS
13. Star Realms
Star Realms can be one of the best board game apps for deckbuilding game lovers. It is also a space combat game that has only grown in popularity since its launch. You can play with other players in multiplayer mode or play against AI. Access the tutorial that teaches the do’s and don’ts of the game, and you are good to go.
Star Realms features six mission campaign modes. The players start with the same set of cards and go ahead with building their space arsenal. You must definitely try online play to get into the global ranking. With stunning visuals, the game promises a great ambiance and gameplay.
Download Star Realms for Android / iOS
14. Mysterium
Mysterium presents a ghost and a team of psychics, and the players can choose to be either. The game is set in the 1920s. The ghost guides the psychics to find a murderer, plus the murder location and the weapon used to perform the murder. The game progresses only with visual clues.
The game has amazing graphics, with two expansions added to the digital version. You can play with up to seven players or play with AI. If you are a ghost, you will give clues to the psychics, and if you are a psychic yourself, you must try to understand the visual clues and proceed in the game.
Download Mysterium for Android / iOS
15. Pandemic
Pandemic is one of the best board game apps in the thriller genre. If you love nail-biting adventures with time-constrained challenges, this game will definitely leave you excited. Pandemic puts you in an apocalyptic situation where you have to find cures to four diseases in a specified time limit.
You act as a part of a team that aims to save the fate of humanity from being destroyed due to the spread of diseases. As a player, you get to perform four actions to perform on each turn. You can perform several actions such as fly to a city in need, remove disease cubes, trade cards, and much more.
Download Pandemic for Android
16. Ticket To Ride
Ticket To Ride is more like Mini Metro, the only difference being you have to build railway tracks instead of roads. You have the entire world open for building tracks and connecting cities internationally. Your aim is to build the biggest network of railway lines throughout the globe and block your opponents or take over their lines.
There’s a tutorial that will teach you how to play the game so that you don’t have any difficulty in understanding it. Ticket To Ride is one of the best digital games for people of all age groups. Make sure you build a vast network of railway lines if you want to win this game!
Download Ticket To Ride for Android / iOS
17. Galaxy Trucker
Galaxy Trucker is all about building space ships, avoiding meteors, and fighting off bad guys – all just to be the trucker with the maximum cosmic credits at hand. Galaxy Trucker is one of the best board game apps because it is family-friendly and suitable for people of all age groups. Players can play in solo or multiplayer mode. For building the ships, all you have to do is draw tiles. The game is fairly simple to understand and start playing.
Download Galaxy Trucker for Android / iOS
18. Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a tile-based strategy board game in which you have to build an empire by placing tiles in the correct manner. You can build cities, roads, and much more and place your followers, the meeples, in each territory. These meeples need to be placed in the right positions as they can win you points and stop opponents from winning the game.
There are six expansions in the game that make the game more exciting and enable users to enjoy it for a long period of time. It also offers solo and multiplayer modes and 4 AI behaviors which make the game harder to win. The latest enhancements include 3D landscape, improved AI and exclusive features.
Download Carcassonne for Android / iOS
19. Ludo King
Ludo King is one of the best board game apps to download if you wish to play the game online as well as offline. Ludo is a famous board game that needs no special introduction. One of the most played household games in the world, there are many game companies having their own Ludo game apps on the Play Store.
The players can play alone or choose multiplayer mode of play. There are a number of themes available for the background. You can make friends worldwide as well as challenge your Facebook friends for a game of Ludo.
Download Ludo for Android / iOS
20. Chess
Any list of the best board game apps will be incomplete without the game of chess. A classic old war strategy game is one of the most favorite past-times for people in their leisure time. When it comes to Chess, the rules are pretty simple, popular, and easy to understand.
One king, one queen, and four factions of horses, camels, elephants, brooks, and pawns is what you get at the start. The player who kills the opponent’s king ultimately wins the game. There are 12 difficulty levels from novice to expert and also a chess tutor to teach you the game. You also get to keep a record of your achievements and leaderboards.
Download Chess for Android
21. Cluedo
Cluedo is one of those unique digital board games that you will enjoy playing. It involves solving a murder mystery by answering questions like WHO, with WHAT weapon, and WHERE. You can avail the right to ask only one question at a time after playing the dice.
As the storyline goes, the Tudor Mansion experiences the murder of Dr. Black. Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, Reverend Green, Dr. Orchid, and Professor Plum make the list of suspects and your duty is to identify the murderer by asking the three aforementioned questions. The game uses an innovative logic-assisted virtual Clue Sheet so that you can cancel out the red herrings by taking appropriate notes.
Download Cluedo for Android / iOS
Final Thoughts
Board games are usually one of the favorite past-times for people. Apart from providing entertainment, the goals of the game also include improving various skills of players, such as cognitive thinking, decision-making, strategic thinking, and problem-solving.
You will find the best board game apps here that are digital versions of board games. The benefit is that you don’t need a game board to play these digital adaptations. You can choose your favorite games, whether classic board games like Chess or modern board games like 7 Wonders.
(Artice Updated on 25th July 2023)
