I am constantly talking with friends about different categories and types of games I like. I really enjoy most games, but the games I have found that I enjoy the most fit in what is called the Euro Game category. One of the most important mechanisms that Euro Games use is a focus on strategy, while minimizing luck. So, I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favorite games that have no dice—which is a major game mechanic that injects a little bit of luck in games. That’s not to say there’s no luck in these games, but eliminating dice, reduces luck built into most games. Let’s talk about them below.
So what are 10 awesome board games that don’t use dice?
- Dominion
- King Domino
- Carcassonne
- 5 Tribes
- Splendor
- Sheriff of Nottingham
- Azul
- Colt Express
- Dixit
- 7 Wonders
As with any product in the world, every game isn’t ideal for every person. Some are more complex than others, while others provide just the right mix between rules and learning.
1) Dominion
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-4 | 30 minutes | 13+ | Medium |
Gameplay
Dominion is a strategy-heavy, deck-building game where players attempt to gain the most victory points through purchasing cards that have specific abilities, which sounds a lot nerdier than it is. Players take turns drawing cards from their own, separate decks looking for ways to optimize the cards to either buy more cards, more money, or victory points. As the game progresses players have more efficient decks that allow them better turns. Eventually players are able to buy the higher valued victory point cards with their finely tuned decks. This enables a player to buy the last victory-point card to end the game. Whoever has the most points earns the title of being better than all his/her friends. Congratulations!
Ideal For
This game is ideal for people who like a lot of strategy. And with that comes more rules. This game takes a few minutes to learn, but after a few rounds in a game, new players have generally picked up the gist.
I wouldn’t say this is an easy game to learn but it isn’t the most complicated either. I would rank it at about the middle of most games as “medium” (on a scale of very easy, easy, medium, hard, and very hard). The difficulty, as with any strategy game, is learning successful strategies and unsuccessful strategies. It took me quite a few rounds to learn how to play this game well.
2) Kingdomino
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-4 | 15-20 minutes | 8+ | Easy |
Gameplay
Kingdomino is a tile-laying game that won the game of the year award in 2017—which was well deserved. Players in this game attempt to build kingdoms of different types of terrain. As they collect more of the same terrain together—along with crowns that act as a multiplier—players earn points toward victory. The catch is that players bid for the best tiles each round from a communal set in the middle. When a player takes a coveted tile in a given round, they lose the better position on the next round, and have to choose after players that received worse tiles. Player with the most points wins the game.
Ideal For
This is a great game to bring together those people that love strategy games with those that love easy-to-learn and light-hearted games. With an “Easy” rating, this game can be learned with just a minute or two of explaining, and players can become competitive relatively fast. If you’re looking for a simple, yet strategic game, this is a great one to look at.
3) Carcassonne
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-5. More with expansions | 30-45 minutes | 8+ | Easy |
Gameplay
Carcassonne earned the game of the year all the way back in 2001 and is an extremely successful game. Players in this game attempt to earn points in a number of ways. Some of the most common are through building castles, building roads, farming fields and occupying monasteries. Players can change the course of the game through raiding other players castles and roads or by blocking their progress in any number of ways. The player that has gained the most points by the time the last tile is laid claims victory as well as bragging rights.
Ideal For
This might be my favorite game of all time. That may be surprising to some of you, but it is a game, that no matter how many times I’ve played, I keep coming back to it and playing over and over again.
Pretty much every element to this game can be taught while playing, which is why is is marked in our books as “easy”. The only part of the game that is tricky and may take a few games to get the hang of, is the farmers. Players can link farms together in sneaky ways, which takes points away from other players. Those that aren’t vigilantly watching might get caught with their pants down and see a massive swing in points at the end of the game. Some people I’ve played with choose to play without the farmers altogether. I highly recommend this game!
4) 5 Tribes
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-4 | 40-80 minutes | 13+ | Hard |
Gameplay
5 Tribes is a game where the board is made up of a grid of tiles—5 wide and 5 high. There are 5 colors of meeples, each with a different ability. 3 random-colored meeples are placed on top of each tile. Players take turns bidding for the first move down to the last move of each round. Whoever is willing to pay the most goes first each round. When turns are determined, players take their turn earning points through the special abilities of each meeple color. Player with the best overall strategy, thus earning the most points, wins.
Ideal For
This might be the most complicated, and strategy heavy game on this list. And yet, it is one of my very favorite games on this list—and I do not like overly complicated games. Some games seem to have so many rules that it’s more work to play the game than it’s worth. This isn’t one of those games. As I think about it more, it actually might be climbing the ranks as one of my favorite games of all time.
I will admit that there are a few things to learn before you can really understand which is the best move in a given round, or even remember what each color meeple can do. It takes a bit of work to learn which strategies work best or what new combinations of strategies will do even better. I guess why I like it so much is because it keeps me thinking and looking throughout the game for something no one else is seeing. It gets the wheels working in my head in a fun way, where I don’t feel like it’s work. If you like strategic games, buy this one!
5) Splendor
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-4 | 30 minutes | 10+ | Medium |
Gameplay
Splendor is all about buying resources to buy points. It is a card-based game where players collect precious gem tokens to then buy cards. These cards are kept and are worth whatever gem is indicated on the card. Each round the card is worth the gem it has on it for the owner. Players can use these cards—along with the gem tokens to buy more cards. Some more valuable cards are worth points, which players can earn, to inch closer to victory. Owning certain gem cards entitles players to a visit from nobles that bring points along with them. The first player to earn 15 points wins the game.
Ideal For
Yet another of my favorite games! My wife and I play this with her mom constantly every time she comes into town. This game is ideal for those that are looking for an easy, strategic game. It doesn’t take long to learn, but using different, good strategies can lead to victory in very different ways. While bad strategies will almost always lead to defeat; meaning there isn’t much luck involved. It plays the best with 2-3 players, but it is still worth playing with 4.
6) Sheriff of Nottingham
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 3-5 | 60 minutes | 14+ | Easy |
Gameplay
Sheriff of Nottingham (or as we call it, Sheriff) is all about lying, bribing and manipulating. Players in this game take turns being the Sheriff, while the other players attempt to transport crops into town—some crops that are legal and others that are contraband. Each Sheriff tries to find the contraband and punish the offending players. But the Sheriff of one round might not want to be too harsh, because there’s going to be a new sheriff in town…on the next round. And they may be looking for revenge. The player that moves enough goods, whether legally or illegally, makes the most money and wins the game.
Ideal For
This is the perfect game to get out for those that like loud, funny games where nobody really cares who wins. It’s more about players jokingly interacting with each other and attempting to bribe each other in funny accents or by making compelling deals. It’s pretty simple to learn and can be done, more or less, while you play. There are a few rules to look out for though, so I wouldn’t just categorize it as a very easy game to learn.
7) Azul
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-4 | 30-45 minutes | 8+ | Medium |
Gameplay
Azul is an abstract strategy game where players collect tiles to earn points. The tiles come from a communal pool in the middle, so players can take tiles that others need, or force others to take tiles that will make them lose points. As players collect the right tiles, the tiles’ point values build on each other to produce a greater overall point total. Timing matters, so making sure there are the right amount of tiles left to take at the right time is important. The player that earns the most points wins the game.
Ideal For
Like many games I’ve played and subsequently come to love, I didn’t want to play this game initially. I thought it looked way too much like Mahjong that I used to try to play on my computer as a kid and never understood. But I do like to experiment with new games so I gave it a try. And wow, did I love it!
This game is great for those of us that love strategy games that aren’t overly complicated to play. After playing once, most people I’ve played with have picked it up and are ready to give it another try now that they know the rules. It is not good for those that don’t really like strategic games where players have to pay close attention throughout the game in order to make the best moves.
8) Colt Express
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-6 | 30-40 minutes | 10+ | Medium |
Gameplay
In Colt Express, players are in the old west robbing a train. A cardboard train actually sits in the middle as the game board, which is different than most board games. Players are fighting each other to be the one that makes the most money in this heist. At the beginning of each round, players decide their actions and take turns laying cards in a stack. Players can choose to punch, shoot, move up or down, move left or right, or pick up loot.
After each player has laid several cards/actions to be played, each action happens sequentially, without players being able to change their actions. This is where the game gets fun because one player might try to punch someone, but that person has moved out of that part of the train already. Or someone might try to pick up loot, that the player before them already picked up. Player with the most money at the end wins.
Ideal For
This game is perfect for groups that like funny and entertaining, light-hearted games but still require some planning and maneuvering. Players will find themselves laughing at a weird series of events that puts them in a very fortunate situation or wondering how to get out of a firefight and find some money. It takes a minute or two to understand how the sequencing goes and how each action works. But once they get that down, it’s a pretty easy game to play. Definitely get this game if this sounds appealing to you!
9) Dixit
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 3-6 | 30 minutes | 8+ | Very Easy |
Gameplay
Dixit is very simple. Players are each dealt six cards with random, obscure drawings on them. One player gives a clue that in some way represents one of the cards in their hand.Then everyone, including the clue giver, puts a card facedown in a pile that they feel most closely fits the clue. Cards are shuffled and then laid out face up next to each other. Players then pick which card they think was the clue giver’s card. The clue giver’s card is revealed and points are awarded to players depending on the results. The first player to reach 30 points wins.
Ideal For
Like any game, Dixit can get competitive. However, it is usually a pretty light-spirited game where players are playing more for the social aspect than for competition. This is a great game to play with those who have never played before because it is extremely simple to teach, and requires very little time to explain before diving in to play. In fact, most of the time we just teach it as we play.
9. 7 Wonders
Game Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty |
| 2-7 players | 30 minutes | 10+ | Medium |
Gameplay
7 Wonders is a card game made up of 3 rounds. Players simultaneously purchase a card that provides them with special abilities/actions from a set of cards given to them. Then, they pass the rest of the set of cards they didn’t buy to the left or right depending on the round. Players repeat the process until the cards are gone. They complete this process for all three rounds and then points are totaled. There are several different strategies that players can use to win and often cards in each strategy build on one another to compound the points. The player with the most points at the end of the three rounds wins.
Ideal For
Though this game isn’t difficult to learn, it isn’t easy either. It is probably best for those that enjoy games that require thinking and planning. As mentioned before, the cards players can choose can interact with one another, so paying close attention to the cards’ unique abilities can make or break your success throughout the game.
I really love this game. If you just take a few minutes to learn the rules, and play a few times to get the hang of it, I think you will really enjoy this game too!
Conclusion
As you have probably concluded already, any game on this list is a great option for those looking for games that don’t have a dice component at all. There is still luck in most of these games to some extent, but a little luck never hurts a game in my opinion. So good luck in your search for games with very little luck!
