A few years ago, I had no idea there was such a prodigious industry in strategy games. Three forerunners in this industry are Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Dominion. Below are some of my favourite strategy games. (There are more difficult ones, but I usually don’t play those because I don’t like my brain to hurt.)

Easy to learn strategy games:

Patchwork – This is a quick game that plays 2 people who are each trying to make a quilt from differently shaped blocks.

Gingerbread House – This game, usually around an hour, plays up to 4 people who are all trying to build their own gingerbread house from tiles placed on a board.

Second Chance – This fast-paced game plays up to 6 people who are simultaneously trying to fill in their individual grids by drawing shapes that appear on cards.

Medium investment strategy games:

Azul – This visually appealing game, taking about an hour, plays up to 4 people who are trying to fill in their boards with tiles to earn points.

Caverna: The Cave Farmers – This game plays up to 7 people who are farmers trying to stay alive. Keep in mind with this game that the more players there are, the longer it takes (seriously – it can end up being a long game).

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – This game plays up to 4 people who are students trying to stop the Death Eaters from winning. Play time varies depending on what game options you pick, and ranges from, “Wow! What a wonderfully thematic game!” to, “ARE YOU KIDDING?!”