My Top 10 Favorite Games for 5+ Players (Medium Weight)

In today’s video I discuss my favorite medium-weight games for 5 or more players and why they work well at higher player counts. These are all games that play at 5+ players out of the box (no expansions necessary).

Ambassador picks: Scythe, Tapestry, Viticulture, Wingspan; Architects of the West Kingdom, Battlestar Galactica, Blood Rage, Caverna, Concordia, Eclipse, First Ascent, Forbidden Desert, Gugong, Libertalia, Lords of Waterdeep, Obsession, Orleans, Nemesis, poker, Power Grid, Red Rising, Rising Sun, Sidereal Confluence, Smartphone Inc, Summit, Terra Mystica, Tokaido/Namiji, Trade on the Tigris, Space Base, Ticket to Ride, Terra Mystica, Terraforming Mars, Twilight Imperium, Tiny Towns

Stonemaier Games: Between Two Castles, Charterstone, Euphoria, Libertalia, My Little Scythe, Pendulum, Red Rising, Scythe, Tapestry, Viticulture, Wingspan

Top 10

10. Castles of Mad King Ludwig
9. Cartographers
8. Fantastic Factories
7. Isle of Skye
6. The King’s Dilemma
5. Architects of the West Kingdom
4. Space Base
3. Lords of Waterdeep
2. Ra
1. Orleans*

*I realized after posting this video that Orleans doesn't actually play up to 5 players out of the box. I have no idea why I thought this. We'll bump Ra up to #1, and the new #10 will be Terra Mystica.

00:00 - Introduction
01:02 - Ambassador Picks
02:12 - Stonemaier Games
02:36 - Top 4-10
11:18 - Top 3

[DaveConnollyM]

My favorite game at five players is El Grande. I enjoy the game at other player counts but I just love it at five.

The bidding for actions is more meaningful and it's harder to keep track of the number of "caballeros" in the "castillo". Both of which make the game more exciting for me.

[ddobrien]

I love how Fantastic Factories "scales well" for all player counts, especially solo.

[mrp]

Some thoughts:
1) Orleans has a 5th player expansion that has the player color black. Jamey addresses this in his video description.
2) I like a lot of these picks, Isle of Skye works so well at 5.
3) A low key medium weight game that plays well at higher player counts is Antike II.
4) I wouldn’t consider Twilight Imperium IV as ‘medium’ and I often wonder what games gamers are playing where TI IV is considered ‘medium’.

[DiFFERENTversionOFmE]

Hansa Teutonica is my favorite 5 player game. So much fun and it's pretty snappy. I love the whole pull your cubes off your board to get better actions mechanic (similar to Terra Mystica). I usually upgrade too much and forget about the main board...which is also a lot of fun to explore and get in other player's way.

[jessicaside]

Stockpile is fantastic game that works at 5 really well.

[TheSludgeMan]

I LOOOVE the 'Invasion' co-op expansion for Orleans. I keep meaning to go back to the competitive mode but every time we get it out we end up playing Invasion.

It has a beautiful arc, at first you're peacefully tending to your own garden until the threats ramp up and it really tests how well you can work together by swapping workers, tiles and prioritising, all while having your own personal goal to complete.

[kevinfrank]

My favourite games I think fall into this category are Mission Red Planet and Colt Express. Simultaneous selection keeps things pretty quick but fun decisions and a bit of chaos.

[marcosseven]

Queendomino is good at 5. And Quacks of Quedlinburg. Libertalia WoG. I love Isle of Skye and Lords of Waterdeep. And I just got my copy now of the new edition of Ra, which I never played and I keep hearing good things about it

[aetherllama]

At 5+ I like games with more interaction; trading, negotiation, auction, and war games.
Moonrakers, Chinatown, Sidereal Confluence, Kemet, Eclipse, and Modern Art.

[JonathanNation]

Always good to talk about 5+ players ... I had not realized the philosophy of Stonemaier Games.
Here are some of the ones we like that were not mentioned:

Moonrakers
Veiled Fate
Creature Comforts
Flamecraft
Northguard
Marvel United - need season 2 or beyond (X-Men) and really the 1 vs Many is much harder and complicated than playing all co-op

Ecos: First Continent - I think .. been a while since we played, might be time to play again.

[jacquesfouche]

Interesting insights as always, thanks! I recently played Cosmic Encounter for the first time and we were 5 players. It was so much fun and is one of those rarer games where you almost need at least 4 or 5 players for it to really work.

[vincentskater]

Broom Service is best at five !
Quacks with the Herbs expansion makes it play five, and that's fun because it's simultaneously played!
Liberatalia Winds of Galecrest is one of my favorite games of all time, and crazy how fun it is at all player counts actually!
Mysterioum is good at five, though more of a lighter game .
Awesome video with some amazing picks! I do find it's hard to find a good heavier game that plays well at five, but that's also a huge reason I love Stonemaire games so much! Most of your games scale so well into the higher player counts, so owning some of them as a gamer is a must !

[johnorr]

This is a really good list and very helpful, since the 5 player game night is a dilemna my group often faces! I am surprised that Nidavellir didn’t make the cut!

[danbrown]

I appreciate the focus on 5 player games as this is the typical player count in my game group, and I rarely get to play the (too) many games that are designed for 4 players. I agree with comment below that El Grande may be the best 5-player game (because all the cards are used), but a close second is Modern Art and throw Hansa Teutonica in as well. These unfortunately do not scale down very well.

[elainelydon]

I think Keyflower works well at 5. The bidding for tiles involves everyone, then you simultaneously place your tiles.

[dennissein]

Love the "mean board" in the Trade and Intrigue expansion

[daniellebackus]

Camel Up is probably on your light list, but as an avid gamer who leans toward medium weight games, I think it’s FANTASTIC at high player counts. I played with my family at 8 over the holidays, and we all had a great time.

[Breyfunk]

I have acquired Ra, Isle of Skye and Castles of Mad King Ludwig based entirely on your past recommendations, and I also own Cartographers, Lords of Waterdrep and Architects.

All of that is to say I think you have immaculate taste sir ;)

[wesleydunkerton]

I would argue that Tokaido is a lighter game (hopefully to be featured in the future!) but it is my absolute favorite game to play with a full 5 players. Turns are simple enough to keep things moving but the limited spaces and different goals for finishing a painting first or having the most friends still encourage healthy competition and strategy when choosing where to go.

[BillyIndiana]

We just played Ra with 5-players yesterday and had a lot of fun. It was my first time playing! We also played Princes of Florence with 5 and that was terrific as well. It would be a medium to heavy game though. Last week we played Moonrakers with 5, and while it went a little long with 4 players learning the game, it spiced up the negotiations. Great list👍