The Best Long Board Games You Can Play All Day (or Longer)

The Axis & Allies bid of wargames has been astir for implicit 40 years astatine this point, letting fans of World War 2 combat 1 different to their heart's content. Composed of 2 abstracted games – Axis & Allies 1940 Europe and 1940 Pacific – Axis & Allies: 1940 Global is by acold the largest of the franchise, with a combined committee that dwarfs the already awesome Axis & Allies 1940 Anniversary Edition and requires a ample array to play on.

Even with its ample footprint, this crippled inactive accommodates betwixt 2 players and six players, with 1 squad assuming the roles of the Allied Powers and the different the Axis, arsenic they instrumentality turns buying units, moving them around, and rolling dice to wage war. Even with experienced players, this is simply a crippled you should program a play to play, erstwhile factoring successful abbreviated breaks for things similar nutrient oregon sleep.

These versions of Axis & Allies adhd successful caller types of crushed and aerial units, antithetic types of factories, and different adjustments that marque Europe, Pacific, and Global arguably the astir intricate of entries of the main series, and whitethorn not beryllium the champion enactment for folks caller to the games. But, if you bash program to play this enactment a lot, it whitethorn beryllium worthwhile to put successful the neoprene representation Renegade offers, which is the planetary representation and is scaled up somewhat to marque it easier to acceptable each your units connected spaces.

To get a amended thought of conscionable however agelong this crippled tin take, the satellite tourney that's held astatine Gen Con has a regularisation that limits the crippled clip to 9 hours. A nine-hour lucifer for folks who are considered experts successful the game, and adjacent then, sometimes it isn’t agelong enough!

Out of each the games connected this list, Twilight Imperium is astir apt the 1 whose fable is astir known for however agelong it takes to play, and the astir existent iteration, 4th Edition (especially erstwhile paired with its Prophecy of Kings expansion) continues that Legacy. Twilight Imperium is simply a monolithic abstraction 4x crippled (eXpand, eXploit, eXpore, eXterminate) wherever players not lone person to navigate the hazards of space, but besides of 1 another. It's a crippled I'm rather fond of, ranking it among 1 of the champion wargames connected the market.

While astatine archetypal glimpse TI whitethorn look to look similar conscionable different wargame acceptable successful space, you walk much of your clip negotiating and making deals than shooting retired missiles if you privation to succeed. While it’s astir a moving gag that anyone who owns this crippled ne'er really plays it, if you should find yourself truthful fortunate to play it oregon person the tablespace for it, determination are fewer games retired determination that tin connection specified a memorable experience. If you commencement a crippled successful the morning, you should beryllium capable to implicit a crippled successful a azygous day, adjacent though you whitethorn beryllium a small precocious getting home.

Much similar Axis & Allies: 1940 Global, Mega Empires is besides the amalgamation of 2 ample games, merged into an adjacent larger monolith that tin accommodate 18 – yes, you work that close – players. Despite its size, the existent travel and play of crippled isn’t each that complicated, with players taking power implicit advancing a circumstantial past civilization, spreading retired their troops, gathering cities, and trading resources with 1 different successful an effort to make ample pairs of the aforesaid benignant of resource, with much matching cards earning much triumph points. There isn’t overmuch successful the mode of warfare successful this game, arsenic it's overmuch much focused connected trading and negotiating trades with your neighbors to get cards.

The large twist, however, is that successful summation to having to commercialized astatine slightest 3 cards, you lone person to archer the information astir 2 of them, which tin beryllium unsafe arsenic the idiosyncratic who is promising you 1 thing, could beryllium successful fact, handing implicit 1 calamity card, too. These marque for each sorts of trouble, but they besides support things breathtaking and tense. This crippled you should astir apt origin successful a play to play comfortably, though it does person rules specifically for erstwhile players person to permission the crippled partway through. That should archer you conscionable however agelong a crippled tin last.

Often described arsenic “Lord of the Rings successful a box,” War of the Ring by ARES Games puts players successful the relation of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth and the different arsenic the Shadow arsenic they rewrite the epic confrontations from Tolkien’s masterpiece. How would things play retired if Boromir didn’t autumn successful battle, oregon the Strider divided disconnected aboriginal from the radical to rally the radical to war? Do you deliberation you could person won the warfare for the Dark Lord wherever Saruman failed? Well, it’s clip to enactment your golden wherever your dragon is and beryllium it!

For experienced players, this is simply a crippled that won’t instrumentality each day, and tin beryllium played successful a fewer hours, but you volition inactive consciousness exhausted and worn retired from conscionable however tense this crippled tin get. And for newer players, you tin expect a bully six-plus hours of gameplay ahead. Between its strategical service play, enactment cards that tin crook the tides of an encounter, and the slow-but-steady progression of the Fellowship towards delivering the One Ring to Mt. Doom, this crippled is simply a must-own for fans of Lord of the Rings. Here astatine IGN, we deliberation its 1 of the champion committee games that you should play this year.

Set successful 20th-century Europe anterior to the outbreak of World War I, Diplomacy places up to 7 players successful the roles of the heads of Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Turkey arsenic they strive to summation territory. This classical committee crippled is acold little astir rolling the dice and waging war, but is much astir making backroom deals with different players and backstabbing each different for your benefit.

Each crook begins with a 15-minute signifier wherever players tin spell and negociate their deals and determine connected their plans, earlier returning to the committee and penning their orders retired – yes, you physically constitute retired your orders – for their armies and naval fleets. No dice rolling is involved. Your extremity is to beryllium the archetypal idiosyncratic to power 18 of the assorted Supply Centers astir the board.

Diplomacy is jokingly referred to arsenic “the person killer” arsenic this crippled tin beryllium nasty, and pb to tempers rising, but that is besides portion of the fun. If you person a bully radical of friends, you tin marque a crippled of this into the event, possibly with period-appropriate nutrient and formal from the state you are controlling for added fun.

Scott White is simply a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and usher coverage. Follow him connected X/Twitter oregon Bluesky.

Originally posted:

Jul 25, 2025 7:08 pm