When family and friends come round, the drinks are flowing and the chat grows tiresome, it’s usually time to venture to the board game cupboard. Half the time is spent setting it up and packing it away, but there’s an even easier way to enjoy the world of board games at the press of a button… via the Xbox One.
So I decided to take a look at five of the best board games on Xbox One, in no particular order, each of which bring something different to the party. Here’s what I came up with for those low-key gatherings.
Monopoly Plus
Most people love the idea of having a game of Monopoly, but despise the notion of actually playing for hours and hours until everyone becomes inevitably bored and it’s time to call it a day, albeit prematurely. Monopoly Plus could offer a delightful solution to that predicament, with both a quick set-up and the option to save a game at any point to continue another day, alleviating the usual drawbacks.
Available to play in 3D and 2D, Monopoly Plus brings the cutthroat world of buying and selling properties to life – where bankrupting your relatives is a genuine goal to strive towards. There are even a few quirky ‘House Rules’ to spice things up a bit, by earning extra cash for rolling double ones or making landing on the GO spot give the choice of moving to any other position on the board, to name just a couple.
This is the easiest way to enjoy the joys of Monopoly by far.
Pure Chess
Just like the name itself, this is Chess in its purest form, with no frills or fancy nuances to change the way the legendary game is played. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, as it not only takes away the hassle of setting up all the pieces, but also becomes a great medium to learn the basics and a whole lot more. The tutorial is about as in-depth as it could be, making it very easy to get to grips with manoeuvres and rules.
A strategic game like Chess should never be rushed, and that’s no different in Pure Chess given the ability to halt a match at any point to return later, even for online play against a friend – you can make them sweat for days. The challenges included offer a terrific way to master the art of checkmate during many scenarios.
Battleship
The classic Battleship always felt like a rather tedious strategy game; shouting out random letters and numbers in an attempt to ‘hit’ and subsequently sink all of your opponent’s fleet of ships. Battleship on the Xbox One does still provide that format to keep it old school, however, the extra features available for a more modernised take on proceedings simply elevates said game to a far greater level.
Not only can you have multiple guesses within your turn, but each of your ships has their own unique abilities which can be triggered in order to aid your seek and destroy objective. This only exasperates the need to rid your opponent of their prized ships and prevent them firing multiple missiles in large areas of the playfield. There are also plenty of ways to play Battleship, with an in-depth tutorial and campaign against the A.I. as well as local and online battles against potential foes.
You’ll never want to go back to its original form once you’ve dabbled with this one.
Risk: Urban Assault
The final Hasbro game on the list, and I could’ve quite easily gone for the standard version of Risk, however, Urban Assault takes continent conquering into the future. Now, in a post-apocalyptic world, factions fight it out for power over what remains of the world’s resources after the devastation of climate change.
As long as you’re looking for a real tactical tug of war, you should revel in the idea of global domination, taking one district at a time. Deciding where to house your reinforcements is key to defending and attacking, but where Urban Assault switches it up is with the inclusion of Commanders. Each player will allocate this Commander to a controlled district, and by the roll of the die they may perform a truly devastating attack upon the enemy.
Welcome to the new world order!
Uno
Some may argue that Uno isn’t a board game, but I say ‘if I could find it in my board game cupboard, then it counts!’ The aim is to rid your hand of all its cards by matching either the colour or the number of the card gone before it. Granted, that sounds very basic, but throw in a few +4 Wild Cards, or other action cards, and the game can change in a heartbeat. Especially when someone forgets to declare Uno with only one card left in their hand.
The longevity in Uno can come from altering the ‘House Rules’ to ensure proceedings are even more unpredicatable. Playing a ‘7’ swaps hands around, whereas the dreaded action cards forcing you to draw a number of cards can be stacked and passed on to the next player. There’s also the opportunity to have a bash online with video and voice chat to really capture the game night atmosphere.
So there we have it, they are without a doubt five of the best board games on Xbox One, in my opinion. Maybe you disagree? Send us any and all thoughts you have regarding our choices by using social media, or commenting below.
