Summary
Board games are known more for their tactile components and often complex mechanics than for their themes, but most games outside ofpopular abstract games(often with little to no narrative or theme) wrap up their mechanics with a unique theme that helps to market the game, provide context, and immerse players.
For example, one of the most usedboard game themes is WW2. However, there are plenty of games that throw clichéd themes out of the window and try something completely different. It could be argued that using a weird theme could alienate players, but these games use their strange visuals and loose narratives to great effect.
8ICECOOL
This surprisingly fun dexterity game has players taking on the role of penguins at school, skipping class to go and find fish, while one player takes on the role of “Hall Monitor,” attempting to round up the other players.
ICECOOLis centered around two to four players flicking their penguin characters around the board, but the design of the game’s pieces allows for some advanced techniques that can have players making trick shots to get their penguins around corners and through multiple doors with a single flick.
7The Ravens Of Thri Sahashri
This cooperative card game for two players is a challenging experience in which one player takes on the role of a girl (Ren) lost in a coma-like state while the other takes on the role of a detective attempting to bring her out of it by deducing what cards they need.
The gameplay is heavily based on silent communication through drawing and choosing cards of specific colors and numbers. While this may seem simple, the fact that the two players cannot communicate with words makesThe Ravens Of Thri Sahashria true test of communication that makes for an excellent puzzle.
6Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go To The Ghost Town
This game’s title is both long-winded and self-explanatory. InPsychic Pizza Deliverers Go To The Ghost Town, players take on the role of “pizza delivery professionals” tasked with finding pizza and delivering it to the correct location.
While this sounds fairly normal, the players will also have to avoid ghosts and various other obstacles, using their psychic powers to even the odds. One player takes on the role of the Mayor, who acts as a GM also competing in the game - if no pizza is delivered, the Mayor wins. Mechanically,Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go To The Ghost Townis a fairly straightforward hidden movement game, but its strange theme and psychic abilities help to keep things interesting.
5Cockroach Poker
This bluffing game features a variety of cards entirely themed around ugly critters from cockroaches to “stink bugs” visualized in a sketchy, hand-drawn art style. The gameplay revolves around bluffing as players attempt to get rid of all of their cards.
Cockroach Pokeris as simple as it is clever. The game is easy to learn and quick to set up and play, with players picking cards from their hand and telling the other players what’s depicted on it, or lying about it, and challenging them to call their bluff. The game’s strange theme and distinct artwork also make each “suit” of cards easy to discern even from across the table, which dramatically improves the readability of the game.
4Cubitos
This mechanically light, easy-to-learn dice-throwing game displays its whimsy with a dice-shaped block of cheese standing proudly on the front of its box. The game has players throwingheaps of diceto race across the board as fast as they can, building up a “deck” of distinct dice types along the way.
Cubitosis a racing game themed around a variety of quirky dice-shaped characters with their own unique playstyles, and gameplay mechanics that center around a push-your-luck system and light strategy elements.
3Millennium Blades
This “CCG-Simulator” has players taking on the role of a group of friends playing a fictional collectible card game called “Millennium Blades.” In the game, two to five players spend 2-3 hours building up their collections and constructing decks to compete in tournaments.
Millennium Bladesis strange in the sense that it’s a parody of popular CCGs likeMagic: The GatheringandYugioh, with artwork that’s reminiscent of Manga/Anime. The game also has campaign support, allowing players to tie multiple sessions together with increasingly grand tournaments and more powerful cards.
2Bohnanza
This simplisticallyclever card gamewas originally released in 1997 and is themed around farming, harvesting, and selling a variety of beans. Each of these beans is characterized by quirky, colorful artwork that works well with the game’s chaotic mechanics and makes everything easy to read.
Bohnanzais a game for three to five players in which the goal is to make as much money as possible through trading cards with other players to optimize their hand, making this a game that involves all players and keeps the gameplay social. The game’s light-hearted theme and simple yet cut-throat mechanics makeBohnanzaa strangely chaotic card game that’s more than worthits low price tag.
1Cosmic Frog
This game for two-to-six players has afantastical sci-fi settingin which players take control of gigantic immortal frogs harvesting terrain for their overlords, attempting to prove that they are the greatest harvesters of land by eating various sets of terrain.
InCosmic Frog, players can either play peacefully or attack other players to steal land from their gullets or even their collections of land. However, players cannot be killed inCosmic Frog, so the game’s combat system never takes players out of the game.Cosmic Frog’stheme may be strange, but it’s excellently executed withgreat artwork and componentsthat provide great context for its strategic gameplay.
