The 10 best digital board games, ranked

One of the biggest barriers to playing board games with your friends is simply scheduling the time. Getting everyone around the table to play can be tough. Fortunately, there are plenty of digital board games out there that you can play with friends online, cutting out the geographical barrier at least. If you’re looking for something different to play during your online game night, here are some of the best digital board games you can play on both PC and mobile.

Related: The 10 best card games for PC

The best digital board games to play with friends – our ten favorites

You can find hundreds of options for digital board games that allow players to enjoy their favorite games together without needing to be in the same physical place. Many of the most popular board games out there have digital versions to download, so you’ll be spoiled for choice as you set up your next online game night.

10) 7 Wonders

7 Wonders combines much of what people love about games like Civilization and turns it into a deceptively complicated card game where players vie for control of the world. There are multiple ways to achieve victory and each tactic requires a careful balance of skill and luck to succeed. You can play the online version of this on either Android or iOS devices, setting up games with your friends no matter where you are.

9) Ticket to Ride

The physical version of this game has been a staple of the tabletop gaming community for years. Players compete to build the largest, most lucrative train line from one side of the country to the other. This game gets bonus points for being incredibly simple and quick to learn; each game will only last around an hour, so you can get multiple games in on a single evening or work it around other, more involved games as a palate cleanser.

8) Magic: The Gathering Arena

Anyone who has spent any amount of time around trading card games will know about Magic: The Gathering. Despite stiff competition, it is still the biggest and most popular game in the genre. However, the physical version of the game can quickly become incredibly expensive and time-consuming to keep on top of. Fortunately, this digital version is much more accessible and allows you to test your deck against players from all over the world. You’ll still need plenty of strategy if you want to come out on top, no matter which version of the game you play.

7) Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is a dark-fantasy board game with a progressive, persistent story to play through and plenty of options for player characters. It is the top of the line for board games, but it is big and cumbersome and takes a long time to set up, making this digital version a very attractive alternative. It handles things like shuffling, dungeon building, and character progression for you, letting you focus on keeping your team alive in the tense and dangerous world the game is set in.

6) Mysterium

This is a great game to break out during the spooky season. In it, players must attempt to solve a murder. The catch? One of the players plays the victim, trying to help the other players by relaying clues via cards. These tend to be vague and players need to find the right context for each card to solve the case. It is a lot of fun and pushes your creative skills to the brink.

5) Hive

Many board games tend to take hours to play, but Hive manages to avoid that by being incredibly light on the rules and taking only around 10 minutes to complete a game. Players play as insects in a hive, trying to swarm the opponent’s queen before their own queen is captured. It only takes a few minutes to master the mechanics, making this a great game to kick off game night or introduce new players to the group.

4) Lords of Waterdeep

Dungeons and Dragons is the biggest name in tabletop roleplaying games, but it has also branched out into areas like board games in the past. Lords of Waterdeep is set in one of the most famous settings in the Dungeons and Dragons’ cosmos and puts players into the role of managing the city rather than setting off on adventures of their own. It doesn’t quite capture the gritty, deep feel of the original game but it is a fun, competitive strategy game in its own right.

3) Terraforming Mars

In the far future, corporations have taken to space to satisfy their need for profit. In Terraforming Mars, players play as one of these corporate entities as they seek to tame the red planet and make it suitable for human life. They will establish oceans, raise the planet’s temperature, and create oxygen for the new inhabitants to breathe. The digital version plays very close to the original game but is much quicker, taking care of the difficult math so that players can focus on just enjoying themselves instead.

2) Twilight Struggle

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Twilight Struggle pits players into the role of either the US or the USSR in a contest for control of the world. The digital version of the game plays almost the exact same as the physical game, which uses real-world history to color the events of the game. Compete against your fellow player in the Space Race and try to avoid a nuclear war, all for the sake of world domination.

1) Armello

The king is dead. At least, the king is dying. In Armello, players take control of different factions with different strengths. The rats are tricky and cunning. The bears are noble and strong. The rabbits are quick and difficult to spot. Every faction seeks to take advantage of the fact that the king is slowly succumbing to a mysterious illness and is lashing out at the kingdom around him. There are multiple ways to win, from trickery to outright conquest, and plenty of events that can bring fortune or woe to players. No playthrough is quite the same and anyone can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at any moment.