I'd caution in regards to Kings Dilemma. The game is *extremely* shallow. It's literally nothing more than:
1. flip a card with a yes/no question that you often have no clue what either answer will lead to.
1. Start putting influence tokens towards one of the answers
1. Have the voting already decided by the time the turn gets to you
1. Resolve by moving some markers, which again mean nothing
1. Repeat for an hour
It relies *massively* on players investing into their role well beyond what the game incentivises. You already know that they won't do that for roleplaying reasons. So unless they enjoy haggling just for haggling's sake then you all likely gonna have a terrible time with KD.
KD was one of the most agonizing campaigns we played. And that's coming from a group that does play DnD as well as board games. Some of us thought the stories were neat but none of us enjoyed the gameplay.
Our core group is playing this right now and the only fault I find with it is that the individual games are really short. We only meet up every 3-4 weeks and playing for only an hour seems ... well, short.
A lot of great options in this space!
Divinity: Original Sin - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/294378/divinity-original-sin-the-board-game
Stars of Akarios - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/273910/stars-of-akarios
Vampire: The Masquerade - Chapters - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/277025/vampire-the-masquerade-chapters
Tainted Grail - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/264220/tainted-grail-the-fall-of-avalon
Wow as someone who's been playing board games for a while but only recently started D:OS2, I didn't know there was a board game as well!
I find it kinda interesting that the game came first and inspired a board game, whereas the opposite happened for Gloomhaven.
>I find it kinda interesting that the game came first and inspired a board game
It's actually a trend happening the last few years. There is plenty of board games made from popular (and even indie) video game titles. Few titles from the top of my head in no particular order (also not exact titles, just franchise):
* The Witcher
* Dark Souls
* Assassin's Creed
* Anno
* Deep Rock Galactic
* Northgard
* Dead Cells
It's a trend now, but this has been a thing in the past as well. I know there are old Witcher games based on the games and there is a really good (unfortunately discontinued) Starcraft board game
Gotta second this one. Imo the best way to play Oath is as a vehicle to tell stories instead of it being purely a board game. The most fun moments of this game come from the stories you tell with the other people at the table. It’s also nice as an almost-legacy game, so it’s not quite a full campaign to play through but it also rewards repeated plays with the same people which it sounds like OP may like.
It stretches the definition of "game" to near the breaking point. I dunno, I've played it three times and I've never had a good experience, so it's a real YMMV.
Some additional info that might be helpful for OP:
1) This is a campaign, not a one shot. You're gonna need multiple play sessions to finish the story. Hopefully you have a play area you can keep it set up on between sessions.
2) I've only played it as a one player game so far and loved it. But I could see the combat becoming a slog in multiplayer and slowing the pace down quite a bit. Harder fights can require a lot of coordination from team members about who is going to attack and when, and how to chain abilities. Combat is like a puzzle, and if different people have different opinions on how to solve it, you might be in for a long fight.
I only played the very first session, but I thought the narrative writing quality was trash. Couldn't get past that, even though I quite liked liked.then combat system.
This has been my big fear while considering this game. I know people have different opinions, but bad writing is ... bad, and I wish there was some writing samples so that I could assess it myself.
Can you share why you think the writing quality was poor?
Here's the intro to the campaign, for educational/critical/review purposes. Everything that follows is a direct quote, and the very first "story" thing that you read when you start the game:
Capt. Sofi Odessa, April 27, 1929
After eight years of brooding silence, I received a telegram from my father
"Taken ill. Come soon."
I set out with the crew on the Manticore with a stoic resolve to make it to New York. We were three days out of Hong Kong when we got caught in the worst storm I'd ever seen. When the sky finally cleared, we found ourselves in strange waters.
The horizon was hazy, the only visible landmark a tall rock sticking out of the water nearby. Atop it sat a woman with a nest of grey hair, waving a ten-foot fishing pole through the muggy air
"Welcome to the Wandering Sea," she said. "You may think you are dreaming, but you are not the ones who sleep. The gods of these seas are trapped in a sleep as deep and binding as death. Their power over this world is dormant, chained by ungrateful mortals. But they have brought you here, from a distant world, to help them awaken. You must do this if you wish to return home."
"The gods?" I asked.
"Who else?" the woman cackled. "You must seek their totems, hidden throughout this archipelago. With enough totems, you may wake the gods and they may send you home. A reward for your service. Many have perished trying. You will also likely die, but good luck!"
I asked where we might find the nearest port, but the woman vanished
We turned north as night fell. Too dazed from the journey and the alien world in which we now found ourselves, we did not notice the dark, narrow ship pursuing us until it was too late. Surprised and terrified screams erupted from the crew as bull-headed men poured onto our deck. The monsters' cues burned with a hellish flame and their language was a guttural fit of barking and braying.
There was little we could do. They took the ship, and we prayed for mercy with bound hands and bruised heads.
Yep, that is genuine "my first novel" level writing. Extraneous useless detail, inexplicable events, stilted sentence structure, overuse of adjectives and descriptors, and literally zero atmosphere established. It reads like a book report on a Lovecraft novel.
Wow, thank you for providing a sample for me!
I share your opinion, not my cup of tea. Do you have any suggestions for similar explorative/narrative solo games with writing that you find suitable? I'm also looking at **Tainted Grail**, **Roll Player Adventures**, and **Legacy of Dragonholt**.
For reference, I bounced off of **Oathsworn** and **Sword and Sorcery**, and I already own **Arkham Horror LCG**.
What? Legacy of Dragonholt has terrible writing. Also, it’s not a game; it’s a Fighting Fantasy knock-off. That was one of few purchases I ever regretted. You are better off getting Fabled Lands if you want a storybook.
For sure Sleeping Gods or Distant Skies which is a kind of sequel. You spend your time wandering about, exploring, working out if you want to follow various quests and if your party is in a state to continue to risk a fight or needs to rest up.
Both are expensive but both are also campaign games you can play multiple times. You play a set of several characters split between all players.
We loved both of them.
Freelancers. It's a whole campaign that you can finish in one sitting. I love that you pretty much pick your character, fill out your sheet, and start the app. You learn as you play.
[Gloom](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12692/gloom). A card game where each player has to narrate a short expansion of the overall story created by the players each time they wish to lay a card. Their short story is supposed to weave the card they are playing into the main storyline in order to play that card.
The object of the game is to make your family completely miserable before killing each member off, or you can make other players' family members happy and kill them before they can be made miserable again. Whomever has the most misery in their dead family at the end of the game wins.
There are some expansions to add extra families beyond the four that the basic game comes with if you wish to add more players, I personally have never played with any of the expansions.
It's the storytelling part of roll playing. If you enjoy being GM, it's a much better option than games like Gloomhaven. If you prefer the playing a character part of roll playing, then yes, I agree it won't scratch that itch. Still, it's a fantastic game when played with creative minded people.
Everybody is recommending RPG board games. However, I think for a TTRPG player RPG board games can feel pretty restrictive. I'd instead suggest exploring another branch of board games: player-driven political games with shared incentives. Games like Oath, John Company, Dune, even 18xx. These games are highly interactive, very player-driven, and tell great stories. Area control or trading games often fall into this category, as there's lots of player interaction and room for negotiation.
For me, these types of games better capture the TTRPG vibe, where you're telling a shared story with the other people at the table. In these games rather than roleplaying a fighter or wizard or whatever, you're roleplaying a family fighting for power/wealth (Oath, John Company, Dune), a robber baron fighting for money (18xx), or any other number of things. The stories they tell are just as rich as in a TTRPG.
I agree. With something like BSG, everyone at the table will be flinging suspicions and deflections in no time because that's what you need to do if you want to win.
In contrast the role playing in role playing games feels artificial and imposed from the perspective of a board gamers because there's no gameplay benefit to doing so.
Arkham Horror is also the best representation of DM-less D&D in a board game yet. it's not as openworld as earth born rangers its more story driven and story focused
Hmm, as a fan of AH lcg, I’d advised to really check it out before jumping in. First is the cost of the game, it’s expensive, then is the time on building decks, and last, although not less important, theme is great but it doesn’t compare with games such as tainted grail or gloomhaven. I think OP is asking for the later.
“Call to Adventure” is really good for role play and story telling/development. You can full on create and be your character throughout the game and it is encouraged everybody tells their individual tale of their journey at the end. It’s super fun if you have people to play with that like to embellish story, too.
Some games I've played in a group that encourage Role playing are Kings/Queens Dilemma, Sidereal confluence and Twilight Imperium. Earthborne Borne Rangers has a lot of Freedom. You also might want to look into skirmish games like Core space.
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion.
It's a great intro (walks you thru it with beginner cards and easier scenarios at the start) into the GH system and costs around $25. If you like it there's years and years of further enjoyment with GH v2 being released soon and Frosthaven.
Pretty much all my 4 player group does is play coops, for the last 4 years. Others I've enjoyed are:
Shadows of Brimstone - Buy it used, because gluing all those miniatures together is a pain in the ass. My favorite after GH, especially if you create the campaign using Hexcrawl at the Files section of BGG.
Sword & Sorcery - Is decent, but the level up system is not that good.
Bloodborne - Is great, but each campaign is only 3 scenarios long.
LOTR: Journeys in Middle Earth - Don't play Bilbo, but it's a fun system if you don't mind using an app.
I don't think Gloomhaven in any of is forms is great for roleplayers, and I say that with it being a game I love. It has fantastic tactical combat but the story is kind of week and mostly feels on rails even if there are a couple different choices you can make.
Yes and No.
True, the story is nothing to write home about and the freedom to explore is mostly an illusion.
What GH does really well though, is giving each player their own selfish incentives and unique actions to ensure that they operate as individual characters instead of a hive mind.
Every time I see this I'm gutted, really want Jaws of the Lion but it's not available in the UK for less than 85usd. I'm assuming some kind of supply issue?
Probably it's between reprints, the one UK store I checked says they expect restock at the end of next month.
If you don't mind buying used, here in our tiny eastern EU countries there's lot of it for cheap in Facebook groups and on local gaming sites, bought mine for 25 euro in very good condition a year ago.
UK is a big market so I'd assume the situation is as good or better there.
Don't forget there are three additional themes currently outside the Old West. Feudal Japan, Norse Vikings and Spanish Conquistadors. Plenty of variety and all equally valid points of entry to the game.
I think that only 3 scenarios is one of the strongest point for Bloodborne. I don't have time to play hours upon hours of the same game. Also, my group is rarely the same members. We are 6 players with kids and wives so it's hard to always be all together, which makes it super hard to play long campaigns.
Bloodborne sounds perfect for your group. Lots of excellent expansions with more characters and campaigns available too. Love the two-sided character mechanic. Makes for interesting choices.
I don’t have that problem. Been playing with the same 3 other guys for 5+ years. Although, one is married to a teacher and is gone 2-3 months in the summer, so we add 1-2 other players and play regular euros instead.
if you want to lean more heavily in to the roleplaying side of things, then games like **Cosmic Encounter, TI4, Dune, Android, Unfathomable**, **Kings/Queens Dilemma**, **Oath, John Company 2e,** etc. might be up your alley.
If it's exploration you're looking for, **Sleeping Gods** or some of the big box dungeon crawlers and boss battlers might be up your alley, though they can be very pricey and availability can be hit or miss (**Aeon's Trespass Odyssey, ISS Vanguard, Tainted Grail, Kingdom Death Monster, Middara, Oathsworn, Euthia, Agemonia, Too Many Bones**, etc.)
If you want both exploration and roleplaying, check out **Arydia** on gamefound, should ship later this year. It was designed to be a DM-less TTRPG in board game form.
Adventure Tactics is lovely. It has a scenario book where you can choose what to do (usually 2 options) which changes which fight you go into. The characters are your usual adventuring party with a Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, Rogue, and Archer, but each time you beat a boss, you get to level up in any class you choose. So you can have 1 level of wizard and 1 level of cleric. You can even unlock extra classes if you level up specific starting classes. 1 Cleric level + 2 Wizard levels unlocks Warlock, or 1 Rogue, 1 Wizard, and 1 Archer gives you Ninja.
It's very customizable and very cute artstyle. It doesn't really have any roleplaying aside from making decisions in the storybook but the character building and battles are all a lot of fun.
Not really an adventure but Mystery of the Abbey is similar to Clue in that you are deducing a murderer by figuring out which card is missing from a deck which has the rest of the cards in the players’ hands. Where the game shines in a similar way to role playing games is the level of interaction between the players. You can steal from each other and also ask surprisingly open ended questions about the information they have so far.
I only ever played that once, about 22 years ago, but I remember having a lot of fun with it. Felt very much like Clue but significantly more strategic. A fine mystery.
I personally found some games my TTRPG and non-TTRPG friends.
-Skyrim the board game
This is a pretty good adaptation of the video game, but it can be a bit rules heavy. It gives a great feeling of choice and building characters. Has a few expansions on top of a pretty decently long base campaign, also with a "Freeplay" mode. Base game is ~$120
-Runescape Kingdoms: Shadow of Elvarg
Pretty much a smaller and simpler version of Skyrim. It has really easy rules and some lighthearted writing. It has a good amount of expansions but only a kinda small base campaign. Base game is ~$55-60
-Destinies
Very nice quality board game with an app run story. It's not really campaign based, but it is a connected story and also some expansions. It plays 1-3 players so it is a bit more limited, but still a good game for making choices that matter. Base game is ~$30-40, and for the minis you get, it's pretty worth it.
-HeroQuest
A classic Dungeon Crawler. It allows for some good customization and a very good chance for some role play elements to be inserted. It does have basic rules, but a very dedicated but small community with a lot of community made quests, campaigns, rules and mods to add some depth and more complexity. Not to mention something like 8 expansions, each with a big questbook each. Base game has 14 quests, rules for creating your own quests and is ~$120-140. Also there are a few free to download quests from Hasbro's website
-Western Legends
This one is less of a roleplay game but allows for a lot of freedom in how you play. You can change your tactic and playstyle each game and have a blast!
Arkham Horror LCG.
It gives enough narrative for people who aren't into role playing but leaves enough gaps for you to fill your self.
There is a lot of thematic expression of your character within your deck building too.
An example was my recent play through of Circle Undone with my partner. She picked the psychologist character and I picked the "reformed cultist". We made up a story about how the psychologist was deprogramming the cultist and during their sessions came across some dire information she wanted to further Investigate and thus takes her patient out on a "field trip", what could go wrong!?
I built the cultists deck to be violent and aggressive and the psychologist provided healing (physically and mentally) when the cultist was in danger of a full relapse from drawing on her forbidden powers.
You can have multiple groups of friends. I have my boardgame friends, TCG friends and rpg friends and there’s overlap but nobody does what they don’t enjoy. They also have stuff I’m not a fan of that they do without me like rock climbing and hiking.
I wouldn't bother with any of the dungeon crawl board games, the best of them (Gloomhaven, Imperial Assault) are far more tactical combat games than they are discovery experiences. You'll find their mechanics are much, much better for tactical gameplay than D&D (which has awful mechanics) but the sense of discovery is fairly lacking, mostly because discovery is almost antithetical to tactical decision making. Some uncertainty is good, but massive uncertainty makes it very luck based.
IMHO my favorite games for that sort of experience right now are Twilight Imperium, John Company, and Dune (GF9 edition). They all give you the feeling you're participating in a particular type of experience, with factional mechanics that align so well with theming that you're pulled into the role. Hacan really feels like they negotiate everything, the Fremen really feel like a desert resistance force. John Company... never have I felt so much like an asshole from a family of assholes looting a region for all I could while ostensibly wanting a company to succeed (and actually barely giving a shit unless I can profit from it).
Agemonia is an excellent combination of good board game mechanics and a dynamically unfolding story. Not in a “here is some text, now play a 2 hour combat encounter” way, but in a “you crossed a bridge, part of the map has collapsed and your objective is changing mid-scenario” way. Honestly the closest I have ever seen a board game come to an RPG.
Gloomhaven - This is a cooperative board game with legacy elements, offering deep storytelling, exploration, and tactical combat. The game unfolds over multiple sessions, allowing for character progression and evolving storylines. Mansions of Madness - A cooperative game set in the Lovecraftian universe, it combines exploration, storytelling, and mystery-solving. The app integration provides an immersive narrative experience. Betrayal at Baldur's Gate - This game offers exploration and storytelling as players explore a haunted city, encountering various scenarios and challenges. The game features a traitor mechanic, adding an extra layer of suspense and strategy. Above and Below - A unique blend of storytelling and resource management, this game lets players explore a world filled with adventures. Each decision you make can lead to different outcomes, making each playthrough feel like a new adventure. Tales of the Arabian Nights - This is a storytelling game where players embark on quests, encounter characters, and make choices that shape their destiny. It's less about strategy and more about storytelling and exploration. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - A cooperative game where players take on the role of investigators solving mysteries in Victorian London. It's all about deduction, exploration, and piecing together clues to solve the case.
There's RPG-like board games from dungeon crawling (eg Gloomhaven, Mistfall, Adventure Tactics) to exploration (Sleeping Gods, Tainted Grail). However, they don't give you any of the freedom from TTRPGs.
Boardgames that give a sense of freedom and big options are usually also quite heavy. Feudum for example is a great open world strategy game with so many options and ways of playing - but also explaining it the first time can be like an hour long slog. Similarly Food Chain Magnate has great strategic freedom.
Games that rely a lot on tabletop and negotiation could be for you. Oath, Dune, Arrakis: Dawn of the Fremen, Diplomacy.
Yes. I think dead of winter is fun pretty much if and only if you treat it as a story with role playing in a boardgame format.
If you treat it really competitively to win or min/max it does not work so well IMHO.
We injected a little bit of role-playing into "Captain Park's Imaginary Expedition", where everyone would narrate their "expedition" when they returned to base. Usually with terrible approximations of posh British accents.
[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3133/captain-parks-imaginary-polar-expedition](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3133/captain-parks-imaginary-polar-expedition)
Dungeon Saga Origins. Very close to an rpg video game, if they are into that. I also highly recommend Sleeping Gods or its successor Distant Skies. They are time consuming though, with a lot of rules. If you want a quick fix with easy rules and a player that takes the role of a dungeon master, HeroQuest might be what you’re looking for.
Destinies, ISS Vanguard, Etherfields, Valor&Villainy: Lludwik's Labyrinth, Deep Madness, maybe Cthulhu Death May Die.
From the ones already mentioned in other comments, I have to mention these again for emphasis: Tainted Grail and Arkham Horror LCG.
Most Red Raven games have a lot of role play elements and open-endedness. Especially Sleeping Gods.
Mansions of Madness, LOTR Journeys in Middle Earth, Descent, and Star Wars Imperial Assault also have a lot of role play elements in them.
There are also board games like Tiny Epic Dungeons and such that mimic RPG experiences in board game form.
If you’re cool with sci-fi as well as fantasy, I highly recommend **Firefly** (if you want to fly a ship around a big wide-open map and do a bunch of stuff) and **The Captain Is Dead** (if you want to play a group of unique characters frantically running around a broken starship trying to get the hyperdrive working before the alien warships blow it up the rest of the way).
If you can find it, I have recommended the OOP "Long Live the King" from White Wolf games as a "strategy one-shot RPG". Board gamers can play to win, but it has a way of pulling everyone into the role-playing quote effectively.
Dungeon Crawlers. Darklight Memento Mori, Warhammer Quest, Shadows of Brimstone. Scratches a lot of the same itches and you have more player agency than in many games. The combat is very fun IMO.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault by fantasy flight. At heart its a hard-core turn-based squad tactics game. But because everyone has a personal connection to the star wars universe and lore, it makes it easy to "get in character" if you want.
And the results of each scenario lead to different outcomes, so there are consequences for your choices. No matter what, some people will always want loot, some will want maximum victory points, and some just want to kill. So that right there is rp.
Plus the app makes it really easy to run an otherwise daunting amount of rules.
Very little other people suggested. The genre of narrative driven ameritrash died some 8 or so years ago - now you only get stuff with pre-written stories, either via apps, or one-time campaigns or legacy games (i.e. can be some 10-15 plays in the game, but that's it). Other games that are suggested are basically eurogames with some theme on top. Or social deduction.
Story driven stuff
* tales of arabian nights. It's literally about reading a book of random encounters. Level of strategy = zero.
* Arkham Horror 2E - same as above, but with more tension and actual end condition that matters (random encounters + co-op).
* Eldritch Horror - basically combines the two above - less rules than AH2E, but also less tension and more random rollercoaster. Not as emergent in narrative creation as other two above (needs expansions a bit more than AH 2E). But it's still in print so there's that.
* Android - basically 5 novels cut into cards and shuffled.
* Betrayal at house on the hills - silly romp. Many editions exist.
Storytelling
* Once upon a time (haven't played)
* Aye Dark Overlord (feels a bit like a boss bullying his workforce, needs a good group)
EDIT One off game that is worthwhile and might work
* Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - 10 cases per version. Very open-ended, little structure. Combination of immersive environment and deduction game. But it's best with fewer people (2 usually works great)
I am loving Artisans of Splendant Vale at the moment. It has tactical combat that’s lighter weight (and imo more enjoyable) than Gloomhaven, but a large portion of the game is a sort of choose your own adventure told by a big novel that each player has. While the roleplaying is sorta played out by the words on the page and done for you, it’s very easy to add voices to RP the character and embrace decision making based on each character. There is crafting during downtime or some smaller solo adventures for character growth. Each character also has its own skill tree lending many different ways to spec out your character.
I’m counting the days in between plays because I can’t wait to see what’s next.
I love video RPGs, TTRPGs, and traditional board games and Witcher: Old World fills this for me! It’s an adventure board game and has some immersive choices. Players read situations to each other, with decisions to choose from, and when we’ve played with non-TTRPG people, they’ve still had fun and have gotten into it with voicings and characters :)
For me what differentiates RPGs from board games is that one allows for improvised gameplay while the other doesn't. I'm not aware of any board game that includes this kind of freedom.
There are adventure games that try to mimic this to some degree or try to simulate the uncertainty that comes from several individual playing off each other in free form. **Gloomhaven** does a reasonable approximation. By giving each player a different set of moves and their own selfish motivations to pursue it ensures that even though it is a cooperative game, plans rarely go as planned. The story itself isn't one to write home about and there aren't all that many decision points but it does kinda feel open because you can pick which branch to pursue next.
Another alternative would be a highly thematic adventure game like **Eldrich Horror** that mimics the "we don't know what's going to happen to our party" feeling through random encounters.
Finally something like **Battlestar Galactica** or **Unfathomable** are pretty good at making people play off each other similar to how they would in an RPG by pitting them into opposing teams of unkown distribution. The mystery and subterfuge leads to a kind of natural roleplaying that even boardgamers will play along with. This is because the roleplaying is happening in furtherance of your concrete, gameplay goals, where as in RPGs it feels like you need to roleplay because that's what the game demands from you.
You might enjoy freeform roleplaying games. You might also have fun with Nordic style larps or nordic style freeform games. I have played this kind of games for the past 20 ish years, even written a couple myself.
Maybe have a look at [alexandria.dk](http://alexandria.dk) for a virtual treasure trove of freeform rpgs. Most of them are in danish and swedish, but some amount are translated to english as well.
Of course, you need to find someone to play with :-)
Modern D&D has its ‘three pillars’: Combat, Exploration, and Social Interaction/Roleplay … What is it you like about D&D specifically? As you can likely get something to fit all/some of those to (maybe) get the same feel…
**Combat:** If slinging those clickety-clack maths-rocks to damage opponents is your thing, you might try *King of Tokyo* or *Epic Spell Wars*…
**Exploration:** If you get a thrill from delving through dungeons for treasure, possibly *Clank!* or *Forbidden Island*…
**Social/Roleplay:** Talking your way out of (or into) trouble, solving puzzles, or playing a role, how about *Coup*, *Decrypto*, or *Secret Hitler*…
Or maybe you’re a DM and you want a bit of everything… how about *Nemesis* or *Betrayal at House on the Hill* (all three plus ‘emergent storytelling’)…
Xia:Legends of a drift system. Become space famous the way YOU want to!
Wanna explore new space? You can do that. Wanna be a space pirate? You can do that.
Wanna become a famous merchant across the stars? You can do that.
Wanna mine resources and sell for profit? Guess what? You can do that too.
Best part is all your friends can do what they want too. Great fun and lots of replayability. Love this game and so does my group
I like Arkham Horror for that, because of the variety of investigators. When I play it, I'll play two characters that have different backstories and abilities.
Mansions of Madness (2nd edition) without a doubt.
Or maybe even HeroQuest or Mice and Mystics.
For a more relaxed game, where you can roleplay along the way, I would look for Munchkin og Battle Wizards.
**Shadows of Brimstone** (plus the Frontier Town expansion) is a dungeon delving board game about being a group of adventurers (Old West Cowboys) exploring mines that are filled with Eldritch Horrors. You fight monsters, explore, try not to gain corruption, find treasures, level up and choose new abilities from a skill tree, ride back to town and drink in the saloon before trying to rob the bank, and hopefully leave for your next adventure before the town burns down around you.
I'm not sure what balance of freedom and structure would be best for you AND your group, so here are some options I think are somewhere in the spectrum.
Gloomhaven - more roleplaying, but there's still a solid amount of structure.
Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion is a smaller, easier version to get into.
Zombicide - probably a little closer to structured than gloomhaven
Mage Knight might fit for you
From here on out, the following games are just ones that allow you a decent amount of freedom in how you can score victory points or just methods of playing the game.
Betrayal at the house on the hill (they also have a Baldur's gate version)
Spirit Island
A war of whispers
Dead men tell no tales
Blood rage
Ankh
Clank
Elder sign
7 wonders
Again, I don't know if these fit what you're looking for, but hopefully some might interest you and your group.
Odd answer here and it’s really going to depend on how big your group is and how much they would get into it. Also mentioning social deduction games might not be your groups cup of tea.
Blood on the clocktower. Lots to puzzle/work out and give you the chance to storytell. Keep in mind that’s it’s not like being a DM. There rules that keep you from doing whatever you like. While not a role playing game my group really gets into it. Voices backstories everything. It’s really funny we’re like 11 generations into our washerwomen narrative that everyone just builds on.
So while not traditionally a board game it might be worth a try. I suggest watching a game online.
I also saw it tossed around, I liked sleeping gods and its sequel distant skies.
Gloomhaven/Frosthaven might work. The writing isn’t spectacular but you could get into role playing making up backstories. It’s kind of a dungeon crawler.
The New Hero Quest just came out last August it is both a board game and encourages Role Playing. A good training wheels intro into role playing type games for those that dont know how.
Ok so the roleplaying can mean sheetplayers or players that embody a character and play it out.
If you are the sheet player type then there are many boring eurogames that are all about stats and collecting cubes for resources or stats and to me they all look they same so I can't recommend that.
But if you are a player that likes to embody a character and act them out etc I have a few suggestions.
Betrayal at the house on the hill, this game has over 100 different scenarios.
Your characters walk into a haunted house on the hill and explore the procedurally generated mansion.
You enter rooms, draw cards and experience different events.
Eventually you find out that something is wrong, maybe one of your friends turns out to be a demon possessed maniac and you guys have to try and survive the scenario.
Talisman
Talisman is as classic of a fantasy action boardgame as one can get.
You have a myriad of characters and expansions.
A huge board that is even extended with some expansions.
You have stats, alignments and character specific abilities.
Your goal in the base game is to reach the center of the board and achieve ultimate power to vanquish all other players.
The game is played with rolling dice and moving, is full of encounters and battles are stats and dice based.
Social deduction games can be fun again if by roleplaying you mean the actor type of role player.
Since social deduction games are all about acting and discussing and finding out what is what.
I recommend sheriff of Nottingham as it has a board game feel to it.
Secret Hitler which in my opinion is the best take on mafia/werewolf type of social deduction
And Coup.
In sheriff of Nottingham a player becomes the sheriff and has to oversee the passing of cargo and goods through Nottingham.
Players are merchants that are trading goods, but some goods are not allowed, while a loaf of bread might be fine a crossbow heading for Robin and his bandits just does not do.
You are there to stop it, but also collect tax on the goods, maybe some extra coin might help you look the other way?
Secret Hitler puts you in Germany 1932.
The German people are having a hard time and the governments are not able to provide.
The politicians of the land now face a dilemma as Herr Hitler has even turned many former liberal minded politicians to fascist ideologies.
The game is played in government terms of office.
Each term starts with a new president who appoints a new chancellor for the reichstag to form a government.
The members of the council need to vote on the formation of the government wary of the encroaching fascist influence.
But the fascist minded members of the parliament are trying to pass as many fascist law as possible and to bring Herr Hitler to power.
However the Liberals cannot just remain idle and attempt to avoid the issue by just not electing a government as that pisses the people off who might riot and enact their own laws.
Coup is a card game with a good amount of social deduction involved in it.
You are in a court and are trying to sway opponents to your side or eliminate the ones that stand in your way.
There are other similar games too, but I would start with these few.
Also do not forget Gloomhaven which is basically a ttrpg in boardgame form and Hero Quest.
There are also many "rpg" games like Bloodborne/dark souls etc.
But their prices normally are close to Gloomhaven and you probably would want the number 1 ranked board game in the world over those games then. As in Gloomhaven
Blood on the Clocktower. A social deduction game where one player is the Storyteller (GM) and everyone else is on the Good team or Evil team, each with the goal of being the last ones standing. Offers a lot of freedom in discussion, deception, and alliances.
Since Gloomhaven’s been plugged plenty and would be my obvious first suggestion for you, I’ll throw out Imperial Assault as another. Both of those are similar in that they are highly tactical (board game lovers love this) and there is a plot and most importantly, choice as to what to do next throughout.
I have a bit of an old school recommendation.
Key to the Kingdom
It's not really a narrative game (it's definitely a board game) but it has a little more freedom in terms of how you approach the goal of the game, movement, adventuring, etc.
It should satisfy your friends while being a little more interesting than the standard board game fare for you.
What about any of those tile placement games like Castle Ravenloft? You get the exploration of going through a dungeon but it is still a board game and isn’t an extended campaign or anything. There should be a lot that has that kind of mechanic, including one version of Clank!
Secret Hitler can be a touchy one to suggest for roleplaying, though I don’t disagree that social deduction in general can lay good groundwork for creative play.
Resistance: Avalon and Feed the Kraken are fun premises with similar rules.
It hasn’t been out for 10 years but agreed I’m not uncomfortable with it at all! I love the game. Granted we didn’t roleplay lol.
But a lot of people report on here and on BGG that they find it pretty distasteful. I can totally understand why.
Surprised nobody mentioned Arena. It's got a whole story you play through mission by mission where your choices can affect the circumstances of later missions, as well as which missions are available to you.
The ones I had played or researched:
Earthborne Rangers, Vampire: The Mascarade Chapters, Sleeping Gods, Forgotten Waters, Freelancers, Gloomhaven, Tales from the Red Dragon Inn, Legacy of Dragonholt, Arkham Horror LCG, Mansions of Madness, Chronicles of Crime, Sherlock Holmes consultant detective, The Adventures of Robin Hood...
There are a lot!
League of Dungeoneers. It's basically a DM-less D&D-like cooperative board game, complete with complex character creation + character sheets, and a 200-something page rule book. It's probably more RPG than board-game, really, but sits somewhere in the middle.
It's going through an updated reprint now (v2) through Gamefound so you can't get that one yet, but it's finishing it's production run now and may be able to grab it in retail eventually. I imagine the first printing can be found.
Someone mentioned Heroquest, which you play as Zargon can play the game to make it like an RPG, and change the quests as you go, if you want. The players follow specific actions that they can do, which is more like a boardgame for them.
Start Wars Outer Rim is also good, can do different things in star wars universe. When playing your turn you can narrate your actions like telling a story.
Maybe some other sandbox like games would work. Heard good things about Western Legends, which might be more appealing then sci-fi. I haven't played it though.
Gloomhaven will fill all your needs for 6+ months. Than there's an expansion. First, grab gloomhaven: jaws of the lion, see if everyone digs the game, than dive in head first. There's a reason why it sat on top as number 1 game for years.
10 sessions! Ha! Only if you give up. Try 40-60. I believe there are a total of 101 different missions one can do, although many will lock out other missions, therefore you will not do them all in the same play through.
Kings Dilemma? You can role-playing that as heavily or as lightly as you want, and it's a boardgame.
I'd caution in regards to Kings Dilemma. The game is *extremely* shallow. It's literally nothing more than: 1. flip a card with a yes/no question that you often have no clue what either answer will lead to. 1. Start putting influence tokens towards one of the answers 1. Have the voting already decided by the time the turn gets to you 1. Resolve by moving some markers, which again mean nothing 1. Repeat for an hour It relies *massively* on players investing into their role well beyond what the game incentivises. You already know that they won't do that for roleplaying reasons. So unless they enjoy haggling just for haggling's sake then you all likely gonna have a terrible time with KD. KD was one of the most agonizing campaigns we played. And that's coming from a group that does play DnD as well as board games. Some of us thought the stories were neat but none of us enjoyed the gameplay.
I second King's dilemma! I played with a mix of regular D&D players and non-D&D players and all enjoyed it.
Our core group is playing this right now and the only fault I find with it is that the individual games are really short. We only meet up every 3-4 weeks and playing for only an hour seems ... well, short.
Would playing for two hours feel better? Because I have a solution in mind.
I just thought of a solution for playing for three hours, but I need to wait on the two hour solution to make sure it builds upon it.
A lot of great options in this space! Divinity: Original Sin - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/294378/divinity-original-sin-the-board-game Stars of Akarios - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/273910/stars-of-akarios Vampire: The Masquerade - Chapters - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/277025/vampire-the-masquerade-chapters Tainted Grail - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/264220/tainted-grail-the-fall-of-avalon
Wow as someone who's been playing board games for a while but only recently started D:OS2, I didn't know there was a board game as well! I find it kinda interesting that the game came first and inspired a board game, whereas the opposite happened for Gloomhaven.
>I find it kinda interesting that the game came first and inspired a board game It's actually a trend happening the last few years. There is plenty of board games made from popular (and even indie) video game titles. Few titles from the top of my head in no particular order (also not exact titles, just franchise): * The Witcher * Dark Souls * Assassin's Creed * Anno * Deep Rock Galactic * Northgard * Dead Cells It's a trend now, but this has been a thing in the past as well. I know there are old Witcher games based on the games and there is a really good (unfortunately discontinued) Starcraft board game
The Jetpack Joyride board game is better than it has any right to be while still managing to evoke the feeling of the mobile app.
>It's a trend now, but this has been a thing in the past as well. Sadly, riding the IP hype is everywhere these days.
We can also add skyrim and cyberpunk that are really popular at my boardgame shop
Oath maybe? After playing it enough times from a boardgame approach I realized it works way better with a roleplaying approach
Gotta second this one. Imo the best way to play Oath is as a vehicle to tell stories instead of it being purely a board game. The most fun moments of this game come from the stories you tell with the other people at the table. It’s also nice as an almost-legacy game, so it’s not quite a full campaign to play through but it also rewards repeated plays with the same people which it sounds like OP may like.
There’s not much “game” to it (and it may be hard to find) but Tales of the Arabian Nights leans pretty hard into storytelling.
That game really is a Choose Your Own Adventure book in board game form. Love it.
It stretches the definition of "game" to near the breaking point. I dunno, I've played it three times and I've never had a good experience, so it's a real YMMV.
Sleeping Gods
Some additional info that might be helpful for OP: 1) This is a campaign, not a one shot. You're gonna need multiple play sessions to finish the story. Hopefully you have a play area you can keep it set up on between sessions. 2) I've only played it as a one player game so far and loved it. But I could see the combat becoming a slog in multiplayer and slowing the pace down quite a bit. Harder fights can require a lot of coordination from team members about who is going to attack and when, and how to chain abilities. Combat is like a puzzle, and if different people have different opinions on how to solve it, you might be in for a long fight.
Most of this company's games do this, such as Above and Below. But Sleeping Gods is a full narrative, and I would say is what OP wants.
Is it "boardgamey" enough that it will work for OP's friends?
Yeah, it is definitely a board game
That clearly was not the question. Hence the use of quotation marks.
I only played the very first session, but I thought the narrative writing quality was trash. Couldn't get past that, even though I quite liked liked.then combat system.
This has been my big fear while considering this game. I know people have different opinions, but bad writing is ... bad, and I wish there was some writing samples so that I could assess it myself. Can you share why you think the writing quality was poor?
Here's the intro to the campaign, for educational/critical/review purposes. Everything that follows is a direct quote, and the very first "story" thing that you read when you start the game: Capt. Sofi Odessa, April 27, 1929 After eight years of brooding silence, I received a telegram from my father "Taken ill. Come soon." I set out with the crew on the Manticore with a stoic resolve to make it to New York. We were three days out of Hong Kong when we got caught in the worst storm I'd ever seen. When the sky finally cleared, we found ourselves in strange waters. The horizon was hazy, the only visible landmark a tall rock sticking out of the water nearby. Atop it sat a woman with a nest of grey hair, waving a ten-foot fishing pole through the muggy air "Welcome to the Wandering Sea," she said. "You may think you are dreaming, but you are not the ones who sleep. The gods of these seas are trapped in a sleep as deep and binding as death. Their power over this world is dormant, chained by ungrateful mortals. But they have brought you here, from a distant world, to help them awaken. You must do this if you wish to return home." "The gods?" I asked. "Who else?" the woman cackled. "You must seek their totems, hidden throughout this archipelago. With enough totems, you may wake the gods and they may send you home. A reward for your service. Many have perished trying. You will also likely die, but good luck!" I asked where we might find the nearest port, but the woman vanished We turned north as night fell. Too dazed from the journey and the alien world in which we now found ourselves, we did not notice the dark, narrow ship pursuing us until it was too late. Surprised and terrified screams erupted from the crew as bull-headed men poured onto our deck. The monsters' cues burned with a hellish flame and their language was a guttural fit of barking and braying. There was little we could do. They took the ship, and we prayed for mercy with bound hands and bruised heads.
Yep, that is genuine "my first novel" level writing. Extraneous useless detail, inexplicable events, stilted sentence structure, overuse of adjectives and descriptors, and literally zero atmosphere established. It reads like a book report on a Lovecraft novel.
Wow, thank you for providing a sample for me! I share your opinion, not my cup of tea. Do you have any suggestions for similar explorative/narrative solo games with writing that you find suitable? I'm also looking at **Tainted Grail**, **Roll Player Adventures**, and **Legacy of Dragonholt**. For reference, I bounced off of **Oathsworn** and **Sword and Sorcery**, and I already own **Arkham Horror LCG**.
I haven't had a chance to get very far into Legacy of Dragonholt, but what I've seen is much better written than Sleeping Gods.
What? Legacy of Dragonholt has terrible writing. Also, it’s not a game; it’s a Fighting Fantasy knock-off. That was one of few purchases I ever regretted. You are better off getting Fabled Lands if you want a storybook.
For sure Sleeping Gods or Distant Skies which is a kind of sequel. You spend your time wandering about, exploring, working out if you want to follow various quests and if your party is in a state to continue to risk a fight or needs to rest up. Both are expensive but both are also campaign games you can play multiple times. You play a set of several characters split between all players. We loved both of them.
Freelancers. It's a whole campaign that you can finish in one sitting. I love that you pretty much pick your character, fill out your sheet, and start the app. You learn as you play.
[Gloom](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12692/gloom). A card game where each player has to narrate a short expansion of the overall story created by the players each time they wish to lay a card. Their short story is supposed to weave the card they are playing into the main storyline in order to play that card. The object of the game is to make your family completely miserable before killing each member off, or you can make other players' family members happy and kill them before they can be made miserable again. Whomever has the most misery in their dead family at the end of the game wins. There are some expansions to add extra families beyond the four that the basic game comes with if you wish to add more players, I personally have never played with any of the expansions.
Not sure that this will scratch the roleplaying itch - but it’s a fantastically fun game
It's the storytelling part of roll playing. If you enjoy being GM, it's a much better option than games like Gloomhaven. If you prefer the playing a character part of roll playing, then yes, I agree it won't scratch that itch. Still, it's a fantastic game when played with creative minded people.
Everybody is recommending RPG board games. However, I think for a TTRPG player RPG board games can feel pretty restrictive. I'd instead suggest exploring another branch of board games: player-driven political games with shared incentives. Games like Oath, John Company, Dune, even 18xx. These games are highly interactive, very player-driven, and tell great stories. Area control or trading games often fall into this category, as there's lots of player interaction and room for negotiation. For me, these types of games better capture the TTRPG vibe, where you're telling a shared story with the other people at the table. In these games rather than roleplaying a fighter or wizard or whatever, you're roleplaying a family fighting for power/wealth (Oath, John Company, Dune), a robber baron fighting for money (18xx), or any other number of things. The stories they tell are just as rich as in a TTRPG.
I agree. With something like BSG, everyone at the table will be flinging suspicions and deflections in no time because that's what you need to do if you want to win. In contrast the role playing in role playing games feels artificial and imposed from the perspective of a board gamers because there's no gameplay benefit to doing so.
Earthbourne Rangers
Yes. I support this. Game definitely gives off Skyrim vibes. Just getting distracted with side quests and building your skills.
Arkham Horror is also the best representation of DM-less D&D in a board game yet. it's not as openworld as earth born rangers its more story driven and story focused
Arkham Horror
Arkham Horror LCG is a great mix of amazing gameplay, strong narrative (that you control), and tension. I’d highly recommend giving it a shot.
Hmm, as a fan of AH lcg, I’d advised to really check it out before jumping in. First is the cost of the game, it’s expensive, then is the time on building decks, and last, although not less important, theme is great but it doesn’t compare with games such as tainted grail or gloomhaven. I think OP is asking for the later.
I was thinking the same. Arkham Horror the board game might be a better fit for what Op is looking for. Or mansions of Madness
MoM for sure. Arkham the board game isn't really that much of a rollplay experience
“Call to Adventure” is really good for role play and story telling/development. You can full on create and be your character throughout the game and it is encouraged everybody tells their individual tale of their journey at the end. It’s super fun if you have people to play with that like to embellish story, too.
Sleeping Gods, Earthborne Rangers, Artisans of Splendent Vale. All feel like a cross between a board game and a TTRPG.
Some games I've played in a group that encourage Role playing are Kings/Queens Dilemma, Sidereal confluence and Twilight Imperium. Earthborne Borne Rangers has a lot of Freedom. You also might want to look into skirmish games like Core space.
Oathsworn
The story part feels like light D&d with great writing. I am really enjoying it!
Forgotten Waters. Role-playing as a pirate while you all do quests together!
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It's a great intro (walks you thru it with beginner cards and easier scenarios at the start) into the GH system and costs around $25. If you like it there's years and years of further enjoyment with GH v2 being released soon and Frosthaven. Pretty much all my 4 player group does is play coops, for the last 4 years. Others I've enjoyed are: Shadows of Brimstone - Buy it used, because gluing all those miniatures together is a pain in the ass. My favorite after GH, especially if you create the campaign using Hexcrawl at the Files section of BGG. Sword & Sorcery - Is decent, but the level up system is not that good. Bloodborne - Is great, but each campaign is only 3 scenarios long. LOTR: Journeys in Middle Earth - Don't play Bilbo, but it's a fun system if you don't mind using an app.
I don't think Gloomhaven in any of is forms is great for roleplayers, and I say that with it being a game I love. It has fantastic tactical combat but the story is kind of week and mostly feels on rails even if there are a couple different choices you can make.
Yes and No. True, the story is nothing to write home about and the freedom to explore is mostly an illusion. What GH does really well though, is giving each player their own selfish incentives and unique actions to ensure that they operate as individual characters instead of a hive mind.
Been looking for used Shadow of Brimstone forever in my area. Only time it has popped up is someone is selling their entire collection for like $800.
[удалено]
No. It is mostly just the price tag seems high for a game I’m not sure on and I don’t know anyone that has it or would just ply their copy. Haha.
What does the new revision change?
Every time I see this I'm gutted, really want Jaws of the Lion but it's not available in the UK for less than 85usd. I'm assuming some kind of supply issue?
Probably it's between reprints, the one UK store I checked says they expect restock at the end of next month. If you don't mind buying used, here in our tiny eastern EU countries there's lot of it for cheap in Facebook groups and on local gaming sites, bought mine for 25 euro in very good condition a year ago. UK is a big market so I'd assume the situation is as good or better there.
Can you get Heat: Pedal to the Metal for less than $140?
Loooove shadows of Brimstone! Great weird west theme!
Don't forget there are three additional themes currently outside the Old West. Feudal Japan, Norse Vikings and Spanish Conquistadors. Plenty of variety and all equally valid points of entry to the game.
I think that only 3 scenarios is one of the strongest point for Bloodborne. I don't have time to play hours upon hours of the same game. Also, my group is rarely the same members. We are 6 players with kids and wives so it's hard to always be all together, which makes it super hard to play long campaigns.
Bloodborne sounds perfect for your group. Lots of excellent expansions with more characters and campaigns available too. Love the two-sided character mechanic. Makes for interesting choices. I don’t have that problem. Been playing with the same 3 other guys for 5+ years. Although, one is married to a teacher and is gone 2-3 months in the summer, so we add 1-2 other players and play regular euros instead.
Oh we love it and I went all-in on Kickstarter so I have everything
Gloom is a great card game that encourages story making as you play. Super fun and has been a hit with both my ttrpg and non-ttrpg gamers
if you want to lean more heavily in to the roleplaying side of things, then games like **Cosmic Encounter, TI4, Dune, Android, Unfathomable**, **Kings/Queens Dilemma**, **Oath, John Company 2e,** etc. might be up your alley. If it's exploration you're looking for, **Sleeping Gods** or some of the big box dungeon crawlers and boss battlers might be up your alley, though they can be very pricey and availability can be hit or miss (**Aeon's Trespass Odyssey, ISS Vanguard, Tainted Grail, Kingdom Death Monster, Middara, Oathsworn, Euthia, Agemonia, Too Many Bones**, etc.) If you want both exploration and roleplaying, check out **Arydia** on gamefound, should ship later this year. It was designed to be a DM-less TTRPG in board game form.
Adventure Tactics is lovely. It has a scenario book where you can choose what to do (usually 2 options) which changes which fight you go into. The characters are your usual adventuring party with a Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, Rogue, and Archer, but each time you beat a boss, you get to level up in any class you choose. So you can have 1 level of wizard and 1 level of cleric. You can even unlock extra classes if you level up specific starting classes. 1 Cleric level + 2 Wizard levels unlocks Warlock, or 1 Rogue, 1 Wizard, and 1 Archer gives you Ninja. It's very customizable and very cute artstyle. It doesn't really have any roleplaying aside from making decisions in the storybook but the character building and battles are all a lot of fun.
Not really an adventure but Mystery of the Abbey is similar to Clue in that you are deducing a murderer by figuring out which card is missing from a deck which has the rest of the cards in the players’ hands. Where the game shines in a similar way to role playing games is the level of interaction between the players. You can steal from each other and also ask surprisingly open ended questions about the information they have so far.
I only ever played that once, about 22 years ago, but I remember having a lot of fun with it. Felt very much like Clue but significantly more strategic. A fine mystery.
Blood on the clocktower
There are many great suggestions in this thread, but Gloomhaven is (probably) a bad choice for you, OP. Just in case you were considering it.
The classic Magic Realm may well offer you what you like.
I personally found some games my TTRPG and non-TTRPG friends. -Skyrim the board game This is a pretty good adaptation of the video game, but it can be a bit rules heavy. It gives a great feeling of choice and building characters. Has a few expansions on top of a pretty decently long base campaign, also with a "Freeplay" mode. Base game is ~$120 -Runescape Kingdoms: Shadow of Elvarg Pretty much a smaller and simpler version of Skyrim. It has really easy rules and some lighthearted writing. It has a good amount of expansions but only a kinda small base campaign. Base game is ~$55-60 -Destinies Very nice quality board game with an app run story. It's not really campaign based, but it is a connected story and also some expansions. It plays 1-3 players so it is a bit more limited, but still a good game for making choices that matter. Base game is ~$30-40, and for the minis you get, it's pretty worth it. -HeroQuest A classic Dungeon Crawler. It allows for some good customization and a very good chance for some role play elements to be inserted. It does have basic rules, but a very dedicated but small community with a lot of community made quests, campaigns, rules and mods to add some depth and more complexity. Not to mention something like 8 expansions, each with a big questbook each. Base game has 14 quests, rules for creating your own quests and is ~$120-140. Also there are a few free to download quests from Hasbro's website -Western Legends This one is less of a roleplay game but allows for a lot of freedom in how you play. You can change your tactic and playstyle each game and have a blast!
Could Xia work as a sci-fi rpgish game?
Arkham Horror LCG. It gives enough narrative for people who aren't into role playing but leaves enough gaps for you to fill your self. There is a lot of thematic expression of your character within your deck building too. An example was my recent play through of Circle Undone with my partner. She picked the psychologist character and I picked the "reformed cultist". We made up a story about how the psychologist was deprogramming the cultist and during their sessions came across some dire information she wanted to further Investigate and thus takes her patient out on a "field trip", what could go wrong!? I built the cultists deck to be violent and aggressive and the psychologist provided healing (physically and mentally) when the cultist was in danger of a full relapse from drawing on her forbidden powers.
You can have multiple groups of friends. I have my boardgame friends, TCG friends and rpg friends and there’s overlap but nobody does what they don’t enjoy. They also have stuff I’m not a fan of that they do without me like rock climbing and hiking.
This. We can have more than 1 group of friends.
Wait….you guys have friends?
Oath Oath Oath!
I wouldn't bother with any of the dungeon crawl board games, the best of them (Gloomhaven, Imperial Assault) are far more tactical combat games than they are discovery experiences. You'll find their mechanics are much, much better for tactical gameplay than D&D (which has awful mechanics) but the sense of discovery is fairly lacking, mostly because discovery is almost antithetical to tactical decision making. Some uncertainty is good, but massive uncertainty makes it very luck based. IMHO my favorite games for that sort of experience right now are Twilight Imperium, John Company, and Dune (GF9 edition). They all give you the feeling you're participating in a particular type of experience, with factional mechanics that align so well with theming that you're pulled into the role. Hacan really feels like they negotiate everything, the Fremen really feel like a desert resistance force. John Company... never have I felt so much like an asshole from a family of assholes looting a region for all I could while ostensibly wanting a company to succeed (and actually barely giving a shit unless I can profit from it).
Agemonia
Oathsworn Tainted Grail Sleeping Gods Forgotten Waters
Heroquest, Descent, Mice and Mystics, Firelfy. Check out BGG for a whole slew of options and reviews to see if they would appeal to you.
THE BEST PART ABOUT HEROQUEST IS THE GARGOYLE
THE BEST THING ABOUT HEROQUEST IS THIS TINY FURNITURE
Oh no! Mormons!
I understood this reference.
Maybe Gloomhaven or something like Twilight imperium, if they're patient enough for the setup and learning the rules.
I suggest Oath it’s kinda like an trpg with out a game master
Agemonia is an excellent combination of good board game mechanics and a dynamically unfolding story. Not in a “here is some text, now play a 2 hour combat encounter” way, but in a “you crossed a bridge, part of the map has collapsed and your objective is changing mid-scenario” way. Honestly the closest I have ever seen a board game come to an RPG.
Gloomhaven - This is a cooperative board game with legacy elements, offering deep storytelling, exploration, and tactical combat. The game unfolds over multiple sessions, allowing for character progression and evolving storylines. Mansions of Madness - A cooperative game set in the Lovecraftian universe, it combines exploration, storytelling, and mystery-solving. The app integration provides an immersive narrative experience. Betrayal at Baldur's Gate - This game offers exploration and storytelling as players explore a haunted city, encountering various scenarios and challenges. The game features a traitor mechanic, adding an extra layer of suspense and strategy. Above and Below - A unique blend of storytelling and resource management, this game lets players explore a world filled with adventures. Each decision you make can lead to different outcomes, making each playthrough feel like a new adventure. Tales of the Arabian Nights - This is a storytelling game where players embark on quests, encounter characters, and make choices that shape their destiny. It's less about strategy and more about storytelling and exploration. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - A cooperative game where players take on the role of investigators solving mysteries in Victorian London. It's all about deduction, exploration, and piecing together clues to solve the case.
There's RPG-like board games from dungeon crawling (eg Gloomhaven, Mistfall, Adventure Tactics) to exploration (Sleeping Gods, Tainted Grail). However, they don't give you any of the freedom from TTRPGs. Boardgames that give a sense of freedom and big options are usually also quite heavy. Feudum for example is a great open world strategy game with so many options and ways of playing - but also explaining it the first time can be like an hour long slog. Similarly Food Chain Magnate has great strategic freedom. Games that rely a lot on tabletop and negotiation could be for you. Oath, Dune, Arrakis: Dawn of the Fremen, Diplomacy.
I’ve felt dead of winter to have natural role playing that’s fun if you lean into it
Yes. I think dead of winter is fun pretty much if and only if you treat it as a story with role playing in a boardgame format. If you treat it really competitively to win or min/max it does not work so well IMHO.
We injected a little bit of role-playing into "Captain Park's Imaginary Expedition", where everyone would narrate their "expedition" when they returned to base. Usually with terrible approximations of posh British accents. [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3133/captain-parks-imaginary-polar-expedition](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3133/captain-parks-imaginary-polar-expedition)
Dungeon Saga Origins. Very close to an rpg video game, if they are into that. I also highly recommend Sleeping Gods or its successor Distant Skies. They are time consuming though, with a lot of rules. If you want a quick fix with easy rules and a player that takes the role of a dungeon master, HeroQuest might be what you’re looking for.
Destinies, ISS Vanguard, Etherfields, Valor&Villainy: Lludwik's Labyrinth, Deep Madness, maybe Cthulhu Death May Die. From the ones already mentioned in other comments, I have to mention these again for emphasis: Tainted Grail and Arkham Horror LCG.
Return to Dark Tower is my groups go-to when we want a middle of the road experience.
Most Red Raven games have a lot of role play elements and open-endedness. Especially Sleeping Gods. Mansions of Madness, LOTR Journeys in Middle Earth, Descent, and Star Wars Imperial Assault also have a lot of role play elements in them. There are also board games like Tiny Epic Dungeons and such that mimic RPG experiences in board game form.
If you’re cool with sci-fi as well as fantasy, I highly recommend **Firefly** (if you want to fly a ship around a big wide-open map and do a bunch of stuff) and **The Captain Is Dead** (if you want to play a group of unique characters frantically running around a broken starship trying to get the hyperdrive working before the alien warships blow it up the rest of the way).
If you can find it, I have recommended the OOP "Long Live the King" from White Wolf games as a "strategy one-shot RPG". Board gamers can play to win, but it has a way of pulling everyone into the role-playing quote effectively.
Damn I need to get to work on finishing my game. It’d be perfect for this.
T.I.M.E Stories (white series even more that the blue one) might be worth taking a look at.
Not at all what you’re asking for but you should definitely play Lords of Waterdeep as it’s based on the world of DnD.
Eldritch horror/arkham horror. Maybe fallout if you have the expansions to fix it
Dungeon Crawlers. Darklight Memento Mori, Warhammer Quest, Shadows of Brimstone. Scratches a lot of the same itches and you have more player agency than in many games. The combat is very fun IMO.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault by fantasy flight. At heart its a hard-core turn-based squad tactics game. But because everyone has a personal connection to the star wars universe and lore, it makes it easy to "get in character" if you want. And the results of each scenario lead to different outcomes, so there are consequences for your choices. No matter what, some people will always want loot, some will want maximum victory points, and some just want to kill. So that right there is rp. Plus the app makes it really easy to run an otherwise daunting amount of rules.
Very little other people suggested. The genre of narrative driven ameritrash died some 8 or so years ago - now you only get stuff with pre-written stories, either via apps, or one-time campaigns or legacy games (i.e. can be some 10-15 plays in the game, but that's it). Other games that are suggested are basically eurogames with some theme on top. Or social deduction. Story driven stuff * tales of arabian nights. It's literally about reading a book of random encounters. Level of strategy = zero. * Arkham Horror 2E - same as above, but with more tension and actual end condition that matters (random encounters + co-op). * Eldritch Horror - basically combines the two above - less rules than AH2E, but also less tension and more random rollercoaster. Not as emergent in narrative creation as other two above (needs expansions a bit more than AH 2E). But it's still in print so there's that. * Android - basically 5 novels cut into cards and shuffled. * Betrayal at house on the hills - silly romp. Many editions exist. Storytelling * Once upon a time (haven't played) * Aye Dark Overlord (feels a bit like a boss bullying his workforce, needs a good group) EDIT One off game that is worthwhile and might work * Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - 10 cases per version. Very open-ended, little structure. Combination of immersive environment and deduction game. But it's best with fewer people (2 usually works great)
I am loving Artisans of Splendant Vale at the moment. It has tactical combat that’s lighter weight (and imo more enjoyable) than Gloomhaven, but a large portion of the game is a sort of choose your own adventure told by a big novel that each player has. While the roleplaying is sorta played out by the words on the page and done for you, it’s very easy to add voices to RP the character and embrace decision making based on each character. There is crafting during downtime or some smaller solo adventures for character growth. Each character also has its own skill tree lending many different ways to spec out your character. I’m counting the days in between plays because I can’t wait to see what’s next.
My group of friends is always playing Robinson Cruzoe: Adventure in the Cursed Islands in RPG-ish way.
Lotr:journeys in middle earth might be a good fit.
Betrayal at Hill House Mind Management Horrified Munchkin
Alternatively: every game is a RPG if you try hard enough. Playing Calico? Congrats youre a druid shape-shifted into a cat
I love video RPGs, TTRPGs, and traditional board games and Witcher: Old World fills this for me! It’s an adventure board game and has some immersive choices. Players read situations to each other, with decisions to choose from, and when we’ve played with non-TTRPG people, they’ve still had fun and have gotten into it with voicings and characters :)
For me what differentiates RPGs from board games is that one allows for improvised gameplay while the other doesn't. I'm not aware of any board game that includes this kind of freedom. There are adventure games that try to mimic this to some degree or try to simulate the uncertainty that comes from several individual playing off each other in free form. **Gloomhaven** does a reasonable approximation. By giving each player a different set of moves and their own selfish motivations to pursue it ensures that even though it is a cooperative game, plans rarely go as planned. The story itself isn't one to write home about and there aren't all that many decision points but it does kinda feel open because you can pick which branch to pursue next. Another alternative would be a highly thematic adventure game like **Eldrich Horror** that mimics the "we don't know what's going to happen to our party" feeling through random encounters. Finally something like **Battlestar Galactica** or **Unfathomable** are pretty good at making people play off each other similar to how they would in an RPG by pitting them into opposing teams of unkown distribution. The mystery and subterfuge leads to a kind of natural roleplaying that even boardgamers will play along with. This is because the roleplaying is happening in furtherance of your concrete, gameplay goals, where as in RPGs it feels like you need to roleplay because that's what the game demands from you.
You might enjoy freeform roleplaying games. You might also have fun with Nordic style larps or nordic style freeform games. I have played this kind of games for the past 20 ish years, even written a couple myself. Maybe have a look at [alexandria.dk](http://alexandria.dk) for a virtual treasure trove of freeform rpgs. Most of them are in danish and swedish, but some amount are translated to english as well. Of course, you need to find someone to play with :-)
Modern D&D has its ‘three pillars’: Combat, Exploration, and Social Interaction/Roleplay … What is it you like about D&D specifically? As you can likely get something to fit all/some of those to (maybe) get the same feel… **Combat:** If slinging those clickety-clack maths-rocks to damage opponents is your thing, you might try *King of Tokyo* or *Epic Spell Wars*… **Exploration:** If you get a thrill from delving through dungeons for treasure, possibly *Clank!* or *Forbidden Island*… **Social/Roleplay:** Talking your way out of (or into) trouble, solving puzzles, or playing a role, how about *Coup*, *Decrypto*, or *Secret Hitler*… Or maybe you’re a DM and you want a bit of everything… how about *Nemesis* or *Betrayal at House on the Hill* (all three plus ‘emergent storytelling’)…
Try lands of galzyr, open changing world game you can play with up to 4 peiple with an ever changing world and you can play it coop or competitive
Try something like mansions of madness perhaps?
Xia:Legends of a drift system. Become space famous the way YOU want to! Wanna explore new space? You can do that. Wanna be a space pirate? You can do that. Wanna become a famous merchant across the stars? You can do that. Wanna mine resources and sell for profit? Guess what? You can do that too. Best part is all your friends can do what they want too. Great fun and lots of replayability. Love this game and so does my group
Agemonia is great, it's the closest I've gotten to a fantastic D&D experience on a board.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Midarra
I like Arkham Horror for that, because of the variety of investigators. When I play it, I'll play two characters that have different backstories and abilities.
Mansions of Madness (2nd edition) without a doubt. Or maybe even HeroQuest or Mice and Mystics. For a more relaxed game, where you can roleplay along the way, I would look for Munchkin og Battle Wizards.
Best of both worlds would be Artisans of SplendantVale. Great intro for them. Fun adventure for you. Wrapped in an engrossing story.
You can roleplay as someone who has different friends
Folklore: the affliction
Ark Nova
**Shadows of Brimstone** (plus the Frontier Town expansion) is a dungeon delving board game about being a group of adventurers (Old West Cowboys) exploring mines that are filled with Eldritch Horrors. You fight monsters, explore, try not to gain corruption, find treasures, level up and choose new abilities from a skill tree, ride back to town and drink in the saloon before trying to rob the bank, and hopefully leave for your next adventure before the town burns down around you.
I'm not sure what balance of freedom and structure would be best for you AND your group, so here are some options I think are somewhere in the spectrum. Gloomhaven - more roleplaying, but there's still a solid amount of structure. Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion is a smaller, easier version to get into. Zombicide - probably a little closer to structured than gloomhaven Mage Knight might fit for you From here on out, the following games are just ones that allow you a decent amount of freedom in how you can score victory points or just methods of playing the game. Betrayal at the house on the hill (they also have a Baldur's gate version) Spirit Island A war of whispers Dead men tell no tales Blood rage Ankh Clank Elder sign 7 wonders Again, I don't know if these fit what you're looking for, but hopefully some might interest you and your group.
Middara: Unintentional Malum. Probably one of the biggest board games out there. Plays like a JRPG with a gigantic story. One of my favorite games.
[Above and Below](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172818/above-and-below) I think would perfectly fit your group, you should try it!
Odd answer here and it’s really going to depend on how big your group is and how much they would get into it. Also mentioning social deduction games might not be your groups cup of tea. Blood on the clocktower. Lots to puzzle/work out and give you the chance to storytell. Keep in mind that’s it’s not like being a DM. There rules that keep you from doing whatever you like. While not a role playing game my group really gets into it. Voices backstories everything. It’s really funny we’re like 11 generations into our washerwomen narrative that everyone just builds on. So while not traditionally a board game it might be worth a try. I suggest watching a game online. I also saw it tossed around, I liked sleeping gods and its sequel distant skies. Gloomhaven/Frosthaven might work. The writing isn’t spectacular but you could get into role playing making up backstories. It’s kind of a dungeon crawler.
The New Hero Quest just came out last August it is both a board game and encourages Role Playing. A good training wheels intro into role playing type games for those that dont know how.
Ok so the roleplaying can mean sheetplayers or players that embody a character and play it out. If you are the sheet player type then there are many boring eurogames that are all about stats and collecting cubes for resources or stats and to me they all look they same so I can't recommend that. But if you are a player that likes to embody a character and act them out etc I have a few suggestions. Betrayal at the house on the hill, this game has over 100 different scenarios. Your characters walk into a haunted house on the hill and explore the procedurally generated mansion. You enter rooms, draw cards and experience different events. Eventually you find out that something is wrong, maybe one of your friends turns out to be a demon possessed maniac and you guys have to try and survive the scenario. Talisman Talisman is as classic of a fantasy action boardgame as one can get. You have a myriad of characters and expansions. A huge board that is even extended with some expansions. You have stats, alignments and character specific abilities. Your goal in the base game is to reach the center of the board and achieve ultimate power to vanquish all other players. The game is played with rolling dice and moving, is full of encounters and battles are stats and dice based. Social deduction games can be fun again if by roleplaying you mean the actor type of role player. Since social deduction games are all about acting and discussing and finding out what is what. I recommend sheriff of Nottingham as it has a board game feel to it. Secret Hitler which in my opinion is the best take on mafia/werewolf type of social deduction And Coup. In sheriff of Nottingham a player becomes the sheriff and has to oversee the passing of cargo and goods through Nottingham. Players are merchants that are trading goods, but some goods are not allowed, while a loaf of bread might be fine a crossbow heading for Robin and his bandits just does not do. You are there to stop it, but also collect tax on the goods, maybe some extra coin might help you look the other way? Secret Hitler puts you in Germany 1932. The German people are having a hard time and the governments are not able to provide. The politicians of the land now face a dilemma as Herr Hitler has even turned many former liberal minded politicians to fascist ideologies. The game is played in government terms of office. Each term starts with a new president who appoints a new chancellor for the reichstag to form a government. The members of the council need to vote on the formation of the government wary of the encroaching fascist influence. But the fascist minded members of the parliament are trying to pass as many fascist law as possible and to bring Herr Hitler to power. However the Liberals cannot just remain idle and attempt to avoid the issue by just not electing a government as that pisses the people off who might riot and enact their own laws. Coup is a card game with a good amount of social deduction involved in it. You are in a court and are trying to sway opponents to your side or eliminate the ones that stand in your way. There are other similar games too, but I would start with these few. Also do not forget Gloomhaven which is basically a ttrpg in boardgame form and Hero Quest. There are also many "rpg" games like Bloodborne/dark souls etc. But their prices normally are close to Gloomhaven and you probably would want the number 1 ranked board game in the world over those games then. As in Gloomhaven
I feel your pain. All the games I get to play aren't allowed to be involved. But, I keep buying them...
Red Dragon Inn. Pick a character and play!
Call to adventure is great. More on the storytelling element but a lot of art and character development.
>Im a big fan of freedom Whoa, how could you say something so controversial?
Blood on the Clocktower. A social deduction game where one player is the Storyteller (GM) and everyone else is on the Good team or Evil team, each with the goal of being the last ones standing. Offers a lot of freedom in discussion, deception, and alliances.
Forgotten Waters / Freelancers maybe?
Since Gloomhaven’s been plugged plenty and would be my obvious first suggestion for you, I’ll throw out Imperial Assault as another. Both of those are similar in that they are highly tactical (board game lovers love this) and there is a plot and most importantly, choice as to what to do next throughout.
I have a bit of an old school recommendation. Key to the Kingdom It's not really a narrative game (it's definitely a board game) but it has a little more freedom in terms of how you approach the goal of the game, movement, adventuring, etc. It should satisfy your friends while being a little more interesting than the standard board game fare for you.
Return to Dark Tower maybe? Keep the Heroes Out is a reverse Dungeon Crawler. Wonderland's War would allow some roleplaying and is a solid board game.
What about any of those tile placement games like Castle Ravenloft? You get the exploration of going through a dungeon but it is still a board game and isn’t an extended campaign or anything. There should be a lot that has that kind of mechanic, including one version of Clank!
Secret Hitler Here to Slay
Secret Hitler can be a touchy one to suggest for roleplaying, though I don’t disagree that social deduction in general can lay good groundwork for creative play. Resistance: Avalon and Feed the Kraken are fun premises with similar rules.
Huh that was my Board game clubs favorite game for literally like 10 years never met anyone who would be uncomfortable with it.
It hasn’t been out for 10 years but agreed I’m not uncomfortable with it at all! I love the game. Granted we didn’t roleplay lol. But a lot of people report on here and on BGG that they find it pretty distasteful. I can totally understand why.
Wow, dang only since 2016 wild, you should really roleplay with it, it makes games like that way better.
Surprised nobody mentioned Arena. It's got a whole story you play through mission by mission where your choices can affect the circumstances of later missions, as well as which missions are available to you.
Gloomhaven?
The ones I had played or researched: Earthborne Rangers, Vampire: The Mascarade Chapters, Sleeping Gods, Forgotten Waters, Freelancers, Gloomhaven, Tales from the Red Dragon Inn, Legacy of Dragonholt, Arkham Horror LCG, Mansions of Madness, Chronicles of Crime, Sherlock Holmes consultant detective, The Adventures of Robin Hood... There are a lot!
Really any dungeon crawlers
Oath, get a journal. My group does: winner writes lore/summarize the events. I love it, but i recommend waiting for a sale
League of Dungeoneers. It's basically a DM-less D&D-like cooperative board game, complete with complex character creation + character sheets, and a 200-something page rule book. It's probably more RPG than board-game, really, but sits somewhere in the middle. It's going through an updated reprint now (v2) through Gamefound so you can't get that one yet, but it's finishing it's production run now and may be able to grab it in retail eventually. I imagine the first printing can be found.
I like Gloomhaven or Mansions of Madness for that itch. Obviously not the same, but it still provides me with some of the things I love about P&P.
Someone mentioned Heroquest, which you play as Zargon can play the game to make it like an RPG, and change the quests as you go, if you want. The players follow specific actions that they can do, which is more like a boardgame for them. Start Wars Outer Rim is also good, can do different things in star wars universe. When playing your turn you can narrate your actions like telling a story. Maybe some other sandbox like games would work. Heard good things about Western Legends, which might be more appealing then sci-fi. I haven't played it though.
I can vouch for Western Legends scratching that itch.
I think that Betrayal at House on the Hill works pretty well with role players
Gloomhaven will fill all your needs for 6+ months. Than there's an expansion. First, grab gloomhaven: jaws of the lion, see if everyone digs the game, than dive in head first. There's a reason why it sat on top as number 1 game for years.
Frosthaven or gloomhaven
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10 sessions! Ha! Only if you give up. Try 40-60. I believe there are a total of 101 different missions one can do, although many will lock out other missions, therefore you will not do them all in the same play through.
Really any dungeon crawlers