Top 5 Underrated Hobby Board Games

Underrated can mean a lot of things - the literal sense where a game receives a poor rating/score, one that doesn't get released with a lot of fanfare and flash, one from a lesser-known company without massive distibution, or maybe one that just suits your personal tastes JUST right, but not others'. For me, I selected games that are rarely discussed in my gaming circle/FLGS game nights. Not frequently seen, even less often played, but I think they deserve more. What about you? How do you define an underrated game, and what are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

[BUC]

My top underrated game is one that is close in time and publisher to your top one:

1. Knightmare Chess: Maybe it is because I love chess, maybe it is because it sparks my childhood memories when the chessboard was an actual battlefield and every piece a character, at any rate, I love this game and think it should be higher in the ranks.

2. Once Upon a Time: A great storytelling game with wonderful art. I lost my copy but I used to carry it around everywhere and almost everyone who played it loved it, except for very competitive people who just can't understand the objective is to create a story and not to win or lose. A lot like a roleplaying game in that aspect.

3. Legends of Andor: I absolutely love this game. The art is amazing, the components are pretty good, the rules are complex but it is playable out of the box thanks to a brilliant design. Many people complain about its puzzly nature, but Mage Knight, Robinson Crusoe or Pandemic are a lot higher and pretty puzzly also.

4. Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game: With all the hype many dungeon crawlers get, I can't understand why this one is so low. It is a great dungeon crawler where you trully feel like a party of adventurers, with very simple rules, a great AI and an amazing dice rolling combat system. The fact that there is no board and only cards makes you imagine the scenes and you trully live the adventure. It has a great campaign mode and every level up makes a strategic impact on the game. There were no expansions for this game but even so with the delve quest variant and the random set ups you get pretty good replayability.

5. Galaxy Defenders: A great miniature tactical game that happens to be a Coop thanks to a great AI. The AI works in a similar way to WQACG (#3) and similar to what I have heard of Gloomhaven. The downside to this game is the art, which honestly is pretty mediocre, but it is such a better game than many of the fantasy ones ranked better than it.

[thebadnotes]

Millennium blades. The theme makes it tricky to get to the table, but fun.

Cacao, light tile layer/worker placement... nobody talks about it, but it’s really well thought out

Royals, ever so slightly meatier than ticket to ride, but still very much a gateway. Lovely game. Had a lot of success with new players.

The others. The corruption mechanic is absolutely delicious. My favourite 1 v all

Catch the moon. A wonderful abstract dexterity/party game.

[scottchladek]

Thanks for another thoughtful list, and pointing out some new games I hadn't heard of before. Keep up the good work.

[diamondmeeple]

I like Illuminati Deluxe a lot. A new version of it comming out this fall. Hilarious fun game.

[headphonecatty]

Treasure Lair. I saw it, it went to clearance, I bought it, haven't heard anything about it since. It's a cute lil euro-style card game, lots of fun too so idk why the neglect

[Haldurson]

I'm going to list games that I love, but either are divisive (ie. some people just don't like the game at all), or are (as I believe) truly underrated.

Tales of the Arabian Nights -- I'll pick this one because it's pretty divisive. Many people don't like it because it's less of a game, and more of an activity. On the other hand, if you are into the spirit of the storytelling, it's damned fun.

Robo Rally -- I'm picking this one because some people get frustrated with it. If you don't take it too seriously, and you have somewhat of a head for programmed movement, I think it can be darned fun. And I especially love it more, the more crowded the map.

Conquest (also Grand Conquest) -- like Robo Rally, this is a game that some people simply had trouble wrapping their head around, simply because the number of things you can do on a turn is just staggering. I love that it's very puzzly, but in a good way. Imagine a chess-like game where you can make 20+ moves on your turn (which means that you have to have a really good head for figuring out if you have pieces at risk, since your opponent(s) can do the same thing). I had one friend in college who told me that I 'thrive on chaos'. Based only on my love for this game, I'd have to say he was right.

Fortress America is a game that had the misfortune of having to compete against a popular giant, Axis and Allies. I loved both games, but I somewhat preferred Fortress America. I think that A&A has a slight advantage because of the WWII theme (which obviously is a big draw). But just from a game flow standpoint and because of the reinforcement cards, I have to say that FA is simply more fun (at least to me). I was very good at both games, and I loved both games. But I know a lot of people who really didn't like Fortress America.

And finally, I'll list a couple of honorable mentions (they don't quite make the list because they are out of print:

Going back a ways, I'll pick Steve Jackson Games' Hacker -- I loved it for the theme (I was a computer programmer, and systems analyst for many years, so this was right up my alley).

Eon Products, in my opinion, had TWO outstanding games -- of course, Cosmic Encounter is the one that everyone agreed with me on. The one that very few others did is Borderlands. It's similar in some ways to Conquest, in that the shear distance that you (and your opponents) can potentially reach makes strategy hard to wrap your head around, but as I said, I loved the chaos. Some of the stuff they added in the expansions added a bit too much chaos, imho. But still, I loved the game.

[shaneannigans]

5 Underrated games off the top of my head

5. Mage Knight. (Because this is my 'Cosmic Encounter' I'll bring up as often as possible 😆😜)
Whilst it gets tonnes of praise in the hardcore solo community, I think that more people outside of it should give it a go and maybe they'll see the potential that the solo experience can offer.

4. Aeon's End
Ask people what a good co-op deck builder is and they'll go on about the Legendary/Encounters series but I honestly believe that if they didn't have those IPs slapped on them a lot more people would be suggesting the amazing Aeon's End.
Low on the list because it gets great reviews by the people who actually do play it. Just needs more people to experience it.

3. Battlelore 2nd Edition
Want a light wargame to introduce your kids or curious non/potential-gamer friends to the hobby?
Something that 'pops' on the table but doesn't have that Games Workshop price tag?
Skip Memoir 44 and check this baby out!!

2. ASHES: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Love beautifully illustrated competitive card games full of strategy and tactical options but have differing opinions within your group about deck construction?
Well if you hate deck construction, skip Magic: The Gathering
If you love deck construction skip Keyforge
Want the OPTION so everyone is happy?: Get ASHES!!

1. Valeria Card Kingdoms
Want something that offers a bit more than Machi Koro?
Darker art than Dice City?
Want to get that 'lottery winner' feeling almost every turn?
VCK has you covered!

[JaKamps]

Good list! I own Abyss, & have interest in trying the others.

I feel Element should get more attention.

[robbylava]

Thanks for the list -- I hadn't heard of any of these!
Let's see if my knowledge of the industry fails me again: besides Sails of Glory (which is, again, amazing), I'd definitely recommend MoonQuake Escape. It's on the simpler side, but I've seen kids and adults equally enjoy it and it absolutely deserves more press.

[williammcguinness]

5. Illuminati: NWO
4. Cuba
3 Merchant of Venus
2. Legends of Andor
1. Tesla V. Edison