Top RPG Board Games to Play in 2025

If you're looking for an engaging and immersive gaming experience, modern board games offer a thrilling escape into worlds of strategy, exploration, and adventure. For those who find traditional strategy games a bit dry, role-playing board games (RPGs) provide a perfect blend of narrative depth and strategic gameplay. These games transport you into the shoes of characters in fantastical settings, where you can embark on quests and overcome challenges, either competing or cooperating with fellow players. Here's a curated list of top RPG board games that promise countless hours of fun in 2025 and beyond.

Top Role-Playing Board Games at a Glance

Gloomhaven: Jaws of The Lion

6 See it at Amazon!

WizKids Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

1 See it at Amazon!

The Witcher: Old World

3 See it at Amazon!

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

6 See it at Amazon!

HeroQuest

4 See it at Amazon!

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

2 See it at Amazon!

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

2 See it at Amazon!

This War of Mine: The Board Game

0 See it at Amazon!

Descent: Legends of the Dark

3 See it at Amazon!

Mice & Mystics

1 See it at Amazon!

Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon

5 See it at Amazon!

Don't have time for reading blurbs? Scroll sideways to see all the games featured on the list above.

Gloomhaven / Jaws of The Lion / Frosthaven

Gloomhaven: Jaws of The Lion

6 See it at Amazon!

Let's start with the dragon in the chamber: The Gloomhaven series is widely acclaimed as the best board game ever made, let alone the best role-playing board game. As you step into the shoes of a series of adventurers, you'll work together, with the roster changing through the game's labyrinthine campaign as protagonists retire or meet their demise in a dungeon. The game's compelling tactical combat system lets you gradually build a deck of multi-use ability cards, with each scenario ramping up tension as your deck runs down. While the original game is currently out of stock, the prequel, Jaws of the Lion, offers much of the same gameplay in a more affordable package. Meanwhile, the sequel Frosthaven ups the ante with an entire town you can explore, build, and populate as part of the action. These games also shine as solo board games, perfect for when you're without a gaming crew.

Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

WizKids Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

1 See it at Amazon!

Role-playing can be a broad term in board gaming, but the cooperative adventure system series, based on the world's most popular pen-and-paper RPG, is a fantastic blend of the two. Each box includes a large stack of tiles you draw randomly to create the dungeon, populated with traps and monsters that operate according to simple flowchart routines. This setup creates an astonishing dynamism, simulating the experience of exploring a mysterious labyrinth controlled by a dungeon master. The system powers you through an included narrative campaign. While all are great, Temple of Elemental Evil, based on one of D&D's most famous old-school scenarios, is the top pick.

Check out our beginner's guide to Dungeons and Dragons if you're interested in classic D&D gameplay instead.

The Witcher: Old World

The Witcher: Old World

3 See it at Amazon!

This acclaimed board game adaptation of the beloved role-playing video game series is set years before the events of The Witcher video games and novels. Players take on the roles of other Witchers hunting and fighting monsters, occasionally competing against each other to see which style earns the most coin and glory. The different styles feed into a compelling game of deck-building, where you seek to create card combos and strategy synergies to boost your power ahead of rivals in a race to take down ever more fearsome foes. There's also a solo mode for those who want to explore this fascinating fantasy world and vanquish its mythical monsters. See our The Witcher: Old World board game review for more information.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

6 See it at Amazon!

Not all role-playing games fit the fantasy archetype, and if you're a sci-fi fan, you'll love this excellent entry. Set after the original Star Wars film, one player commands the forces of the Empire while the others work together, controlling a team of Rebel operatives undermining the Emperor's rule. The engaging tactical combat system supports one-off scenarios, but the real draw is the game's campaign, which links battles into a grand, cinematic narrative. You can fight alongside iconic figures like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, and explore a huge range of expansion packs featuring other famous characters from the big screen.

You can check out our guide to the best Star Wars board games overall for more like this one.

HeroQuest

HeroQuest

4 See it at Amazon!

Older players may remember this dungeon-crawling board game from their childhoods, originally released in 1989. Now back with improved miniatures, HeroQuest retains its RPG-on-a-board approach, complete with a games master. The GM uses a booklet with scenario secrets while other players take the role of heroes exploring the dungeon, revealed as they move through it, fighting monsters and looting treasure. It's perhaps the closest you'll get to a true role-playing experience, with mystery, narrative, and hero upgrades, all wrapped in family-friendly rules and tactical gameplay. Once you've completed the campaign, numerous HeroQuest expansions offer new adventures.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

2 See it at Amazon!

Horror board games are another popular frontier for role-playing, and this game, loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's works, is a standout. Players work together to solve mysterious hauntings and horrid crimes linked to alien worlds and beings. The horror stems from challenging difficulty and bleak narratives, with expansions spinning the story into ever-more surprising places. The strategy hinges on deck-building skills and mastering the statistical probabilities offered by the chaos bag. This is one of the best trading card games on the market right now.

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

2 See it at Amazon!

Given the appeal of fantasy settings in role-playing board games, it's no surprise that Middle-earth, the setting that popularized fantasy world-building, features prominently. This adaptation nestles comfortably between Tolkien's famous stories, allowing players to feel part of his epic creation. Heroes build card decks to represent their powers and abilities, supported by novel ideas like tile scale-flipping for combined overground and underground exploration, and an app that helps solve mysteries based on narrative clues.

You can also check out our review of The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying board game, which we also loved.

This War of Mine: The Board Game

This War of Mine: The Board Game

0 See it at Amazon!

In This War of Mine, heroism means desperately trying to keep your friends alive in a war-torn city. It's an unusual and powerful setting for a role-playing board game, inspired by its computer RPG counterpart. During the day, your group scavenges for survival resources, and at night, you must barricade your hideout and watch for raiders and soldiers. The mechanics of resource gathering and base-building are supported by a book of narrative text, creating a shocking indictment of the horrors of living in a conflict zone, made personal by your control over the survivors' fate.

Descent: Legends of the Dark

Descent: Legends of the Dark

3 See it at Amazon!

Part of the appeal of role-playing board games is their visual and tactile nature. Descent: Legends of the Dark stands out with its finely sculpted miniatures and three-dimensional cardboard terrain, allowing you to construct detailed swamps and dungeons. The game engine supports this with a mobile app that sends your party on quests, complete with narrative and inter-scenario links. As you shepherd treasures to gain new powers and equipment, the game offers a rich, immersive experience. See our Descent: Legends of the Dark review for more info.

Mice & Mystics

Mice & Mystics

1 See it at Amazon!

Role-playing board games often attract younger players, but many are too long and complex for shorter attention spans. Mice & Mystics bridges this gap, telling a compelling story of a band of adventurers turned into mice trying to save a fantasy kingdom from a tyrant. With simple tactical mechanics and whimsical adventure, this game is a crowd-pleaser for all ages.

Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon

Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon

5 See it at Amazon!

While most role-playing board games focus on mechanics, Tainted Grail aims to tell an extraordinary story. It blends Celtic legends with an Arthurian base to create a rich, challenging world where characters must band together to survive. Finding and managing resources is a strategic puzzle, but the real focus is the colossal, branching narrative campaign, supported by superbly written text. With so many different paths, you can play this game multiple times and still experience new tales.

How Do RPG Board Games Relate to Tabletop RPGs and Video Game RPGs?

The term "role-playing game" (RPG) originated with Dungeons & Dragons, the first published ruleset to formalize an experimental practice of telling narrative, character-based stories using miniature wargame rules. These games were distinct enough to warrant their own term, and "role-playing" succinctly described inhabiting a character in a make-believe world full of challenge and adventure.

Pen-and-paper RPGs, often differentiated from later types, emphasize creative and imaginative potential. However, many players also enjoy the tactical aspects and character progression. Early pen-and-paper RPGs required a Games Master, a role many were unwilling to take on.

This led to the creation of board games and video games based on the RPG concept. In these, the board, cards, or computer replaced the Games Master, using either the programmer's imagination or random factors to create a world for exploration. The strategy-minded players were satisfied by character leveling and exploiting game mechanics.

While "role-playing" is an established term in video gaming, spawning sub-genres like JRPGs and Rogue-likes, there's no equivalent in board gaming. Board game RPGs are often called adventure or quest games, possibly because controlling a plastic avatar on a board feels less immediate than on a screen.

The terminology can be confusing, especially with the intense cross-pollination between tabletop, board, and video game RPGs. Dungeons & Dragons has inspired both board and computer RPGs, some of which have been adapted back into material for the role-playing game. Many board game RPGs have computer versions, and many computer RPGs have been adapted into board games. It's a continuous cycle of inspiration and adaptation.