Top RPG Board Games to Play in 2025

A lot of modern board games are highly strategic affairs that might see you conquering lands for their resources or trading and optimizing your way to victory with an economic engine. However, if you find that kind of subject matter dry and boring, and yearn for the lure of exploration and adventure, there's a whole group of games tailor-made for you: role-playing board games. Like their pen-and-paper counterparts, they imagine you as another person in an outlandish setting, where you'll either compete or cooperate with fellow players to overcome quests and challenges. Yet, as board games, they still offer plenty of strategic depth beneath their narrative exteriors. Here are our top picks for the best RPG board games, promising untold hours of fun in 2025 and beyond.

Top Role-Playing Board Games at a Glance

### Gloomhaven: Jaws of The Lion

6See it at Amazon### WizKids Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

1See it at Amazon### The Witcher: Old World

3See it at Amazon### Star Wars: Imperial Assault

6See it at Amazon### HeroQuest

4See it at Amazon### Arkham Horror: The Card Game

2See it at Amazon### The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

2See it at Amazon### This War of Mine: The Board Game

0See it at Amazon### Descent: Legends of the Dark

3See it at Amazon### Mice & Mystics

1See it at Amazon### Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon

5See it at AmazonDon'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

6See it at AmazonLet'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. You step into the shoes of adventurers, working together as the roster changes through the game's labyrinthine campaign, with protagonists retiring or meeting a sticky end in a dungeon. The compelling tactical combat system involves building a deck of multi-use ability cards, with each scenario building 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, sequel Frosthaven ups the ante by including an entire town you can explore, build, and populate as part of the action. These games also shine as solo experiences when you're without a game crew.

Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

### WizKids Dungeons & Dragons: Temple of Elemental Evil

1See it at AmazonRole-playing is 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 both. Each box comes with a huge stack of tiles you draw at random to create the dungeon, populated with traps and monsters that operate according to simple flowchart routines. This dynamic system conjures the sense of exploring a mysterious labyrinth controlled by a dungeon master, powering you through an included narrative campaign. Temple of Elemental Evil, based on one of D&D's most famous old-school scenarios, is perhaps the pick of the bunch.

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

3See it at AmazonAn acclaimed board game adaptation of an acclaimed role-playing video game, Old World is set years before the events of The Witcher video games and novels. Players take on the roles of Witchers hunting and fighting monsters, competing to see which style earns the most coin and glory. The different styles feed into a compelling game of deck-building, seeking to create card combos and strategy synergies to boost your power ahead of rivals in a race to take down fearsome foes. There's also a solo mode for those wanting to explore this fascinating fantasy world and kill its mythical monsters. See our The Witcher: Old World board game review for more information.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

### Star Wars: Imperial Assault

6See it at AmazonNot all role-playing games fit the fantasy archetype, and if you're a sci-fi fan, this excellent entry swaps tombs and traps for starship interiors and high-tech bases. Set after the original Star Wars film, one player commands the Empire while others control a team of Rebel operatives working to undermine the Emperor's rule. The engaging tactical combat system supports one-off scenarios, but the real draw is the game's campaign, linking battles into a grand, cinematic narrative, allowing you to fight alongside iconic figures like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Many other famous figures are available in the game's huge range of expansion packs.

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

HeroQuest

### HeroQuest

4See it at AmazonOlder readers may remember this dungeon-crawling board game from their childhoods, originally released in 1989. Now back with improved miniatures, its RPG-on-a-board approach, complete with a games master, is still top-tier. The GM has a booklet with scenario secrets while other players take the role of heroes exploring the dungeon, which the GM reveals as they round corners and open doors, fighting monsters and looting treasure. It's perhaps the closest to a true role-playing experience, full of mystery, narrative, and hero upgrades, but with family-friendly rules and tactical gameplay. Once you're done with the campaign in the box, there are plenty of additional HeroQuest expansions with new adventures.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

### Arkham Horror: The Card Game

2See it at AmazonHorror board games are another popular frontier for role-playing, but it's challenging because players need control for tactical decisions, which can detract from the horror. This game, loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's works, has players working together to solve mysterious hauntings and horrid crimes linked to alien worlds and beings beyond our imaginations. The horror comes from a challenging difficulty level and bleak narratives, with expansions spinning the story into ever-more surprising places. The strategy hinges on your deck-building skills and managing statistical probabilities from the aptly-named 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

2See it at AmazonGiven the appeal of fantasy settings in role-playing board games, it's no surprise Middle-earth gets a look-in. It's a great adaptation, nestled between Tolkien's famous stories, allowing players to feel part of his epic creation without stepping on his narrative beats. Heroes build card decks representing their powers and abilities, supported by novel ideas like tile scale-flipping for overground and underground exploration, and an app for solving 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

0See it at AmazonNot all heroes wear capes, and in This War of Mine, heroism is about keeping friends alive against the odds in a war-torn city. It's an unusual and powerful setting for a role-playing board game, inspired by the computer RPG. During the day, your band scavenges for survival resources, while at night, you barricade your hideout and keep watch for raiders, soldiers, and other hostiles. The mechanics of resource gathering and base-building are supported by a book of narrative text, forming a shocking indictment of the horrors of living in a conflict zone, made personal by the board game's control over your survivor's fate.

Descent: Legends of the Dark

### Descent: Legends of the Dark

3See it at AmazonPart of the appeal of role-playing on a board is the look and feel, and Descent: Journeys in the Dark excels with its finely sculpted miniatures and extraordinary three-dimensional cardboard terrain. Thankfully, the game engine underneath matches the visuals, with a supporting mobile app sending your party on quests, complete with narrative and inter-scenario links, allowing you to shepherd treasures for new powers and equipment. See our Descent: Legends of the Dark review for more info.

Mice & Mystics

### Mice & Mystics

1See it at AmazonRole-playing board games, with their grand tales and lovely components, often attract younger players, yet many are too long and complex. Mice & Mystics bridges the age gap by telling a compelling story of adventurers turned into mice trying to save a fantasy kingdom from a tyrant. They must navigate challenges to return to human form while thwarting evil and cockroaches. 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

5See it at AmazonWhile most role-playing board games focus on mechanics, Tainted Grail wants to tell an extraordinary story. It combines Celtic legends with an Arthurian base to create a rich world, beset by challenges where characters must band together to survive. Finding and managing resources forms a strategic puzzle, but the real focus is the colossal, branching narrative campaign, supported by superbly written text, offering multiple paths for varied playthroughs.

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

“Role-playing game” (RPG for short) originated with Dungeons & Dragons, the first published ruleset to formalize the practice of telling narrative character-based stories using miniature wargame rules. These games were distinct enough to warrant their own term, with “role-playing” succinctly describing how you inhabit a character in a make-believe world full of challenge and adventure.

These games, often called “pen-and-paper RPGs,” sell themselves on their creative and imaginative potential. The possibilities are limitless, but many players also enjoy the strategic aspects like skill checks and tactical movement, and seeing their characters gain power and advance. Early pen-and-paper RPGs also needed a Games Master, a role many were unwilling to fill.

This led to the creation of board games and video games based on the concept. Either the board and cards or the computer replaced the Games Master, using either the programmer's imagination or random factors to create a world for the player(s) to explore. The strategy-minded were satisfied by the lure of leveling up their character and exploiting the game’s mechanics to win.

While role-playing has become an established term in video gaming, spawning sub-genres like JRPGs and Rogue-likes, there’s no equivalent term in board gaming. These games are often referred to as adventure or quest games, possibly because controlling a plastic avatar on a board feels less immediate than on a screen.

This plethora of terms can be confusing, especially with the intense cross-pollination between scenes. Dungeons & Dragons has inspired both board and computer RPGs, which have been adapted back into material for the role-playing game. Many board game RPGs have spawned computer versions, and many computer RPGs have received the board game treatment, creating a complex web of interconnected experiences.