The Godfather
The Board Game: The Godfather game pits its opponents against each other as a group of mob bosses competing for control of New York’s neighbourhoods.
Why It’s So Much Fun: Like a grittier, more conniving version of Monopoly, the joy of bombarding Mayfair with hotels is mere child’s play in comparison. You’ve now the far more adult option of purchasing your own racket (Whaddle it be? Loansharking? Extortion?) piece-by-piece with a bank loan.
Best Detail: The special edition comes packaged in a sweet violin case.
Star Trek: Expeditions
The Board Game: The Enterprise has landed on a planet slap bang on the cusp of a civil war, and the four players assuming the roles of Spock, Kirk, Bones and Uhura have to smooth things over. The crew have 30 days to stop the war, get the planet to join the Federation and get rid of a load of Klingons.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: You know those moments on the bridge of the Enterprise, where despite the life-threatening debacle at hand, the crew manage to squeeze in romance, drama and quips? That’s exactly what you’re in for here.
Best Detail: The four meticulously-detailed Heroclix figures have a clicky dial base allowing you to display a character’s battle scars.
The Lord Of The Rings
The Board Game: Similar to Peter Jackson’s masterful trilogy, the aim of the 2000 edition is to decimate the ring all while fighting off the seductive ways of Sauron. Your choice of character is a Hobbit from the fellowship, each bestowed with a special power.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: With a wee Hobbit dealing with a whole host of physical and psychological feats, the game spans across many boards. Each represents physical “progress”, another how influential Sauron is on the players and the rest are mock-ups of specific in-game scenarios.
Best Detail: A nifty Sauron figure to enhance his presence, putting players under much duress.
Firefly
The Board Game: Before anyone shoots their cuffs ready for a verbal spat over Firefly nabbing a coveted spot on a movie list, we’ve one word: Serenity . And as it includes the same characters, components and universe it’s definitely worthy of inclusion.
Players captain their own ship, traveling to various planets, selecting crew, collecting cargo and supplementing their ship, all the while steering clear of the Reavers.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: Mixing a card-pick-up game with dice rollin’, this is ultimately a film fan’s dream. Care and attention to detail burst from the design, which pays strict homage to the original series.
In short, you get to be Captain Mal, and who doesn’t want that?
Best Detail: Available expansion packs to boost the game’s frivolity include a bonus card named Mal’s Pretty Floral Bonnet.
Iron Sky
The Board Game: In a historic (sort of) battle against Nazis from outer space, as part of the United World Confederacy you and your team must win a series of scuffles in order to gain victory points for the team and bring down those sons of bitches once and for all!
If you’re the Reichers then you’re just after acquiring as much land mass as possible.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: There’s few moments of inaction for any player as the aim of the game hinges upon the success of a joint effort. It’s all hands on deck!
Best Detail: If the 120 minute game length is a tad short for you, there’s a ton of additional options to lengthen the battle, increase your strategy and bag that all-important higher score.
The Thing
The Board Game: One of the few entries to make this list that’s technically a card game, The Thing finds its players located in Antarctica, as a member of the research facility infiltrated by the shape-shifting monster.
All participants begin as human, that is, except one who masquerades as The Thing. Through a series of encounters revealed through the cards, the players must stop the beastie from creating the saucer and gettin’ the heck outta dodge...
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: The events from the film inscribed on a set of cards are shuffled, giving the narrative of the game several twists each time.
Best Detail: When a human character turns over their cards, will they still be flesh and blood, or have they become The Thing?
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game
The Board Game: Adopting the series’ most exciting sequences, you assume the role of squad leader, commandeering a group of fearless Rebel starfighters or those villainous imperial pilots in a battle of ship combat.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: It’s pretty hands on. A touch of ingenious design work shrugs off the standard roll-and-move method.
Here, each ship’s movements are determined by a dial. Once the dial is set, you’re assigned a specific manouvre before the best bit: your opponent measures the distance your ship has traveled with a weapon range ruler.
Which may blow you up, so you know, don’t get cocky kid.
Best Detail: There’s no set playing field, you can decide how vast space is and add your own planetary debris as interference. Cats might work well.
Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit
The Board Game: Situated around the final four battles in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace , the gameplay unravels depending on what’s beneath each team’s deck of cards. Whatever they draw determines the action on the board.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: There’s not one but three separate boards, keeping your gaming head fully motivated to ensure you make your way to all of them.
Best Detail: A whopping 155 miniatures and a badass three-tiered palace are included to bring your battles to life.
The King Of Tokyo
The Board Game: THE unofficial Godzilla game, in which you thoroughly trounce the city of Tokyo by rolling the dice. Depending on your throw, you can keep or discard the results, which add to your character’s skills. Kind of like Yahtzee but with kaiju. Awesome.
Why It’s Loads Of Fun: The options for destroying Tokyo include a monster, a robot or an alien. That’s right, you’re not defending the city... you help destroy it!
Best Detail: The dice not only offer up your standard numbers (yawn), but also a claw, a lightning bolt and a heart (yay!)
Aliens
The Board Game: Work your way through the LV-426 colony as you and your friends battle against the xenomorphs in this fast-action table-top RPG.
Why It's Loads Of Fun: With the option to recreate three of the major sequences from the movie – Ripley in the power loader, the marines against the queen and the air duct assault – the creativity factor is off the charts.
Plus, if you add the expansion pack you can do away with Cameron’s narrative and create a new timeline for the characters. Didn’t you always want Vasquez and Drake to hook up?
Best Detail: Tons of opportunities from the cards enable you to blast your opponents with choice quotes from the movie. Express elevator to hell, going down! indeed.
