Deck-building is a common feature in both board games and online games. It lets players add better cards to their starting deck as the game goes on.
Deck-building is a common feature in board games that lets players add stronger cards to their starting deck at any time during the game. They do this by discarding cards and then re-shuffling their deck with the new, stronger cards when they run out of cards to draw. Because this concept works so well, it’s become famous in video games over the past few years.
It is possible for deck-building to be the only feature in a game, but some might say that deck-builders work best when mixed with other elements. Strategy games are a popular type of board game, and deck-building and strategic gameplay can be combined to make fun, new experiences that strategy game fans will love.
Cry Havoc
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.1
- Player Count: 2-4
- Play Time: 60-120 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 3.28
- Released: 2016
This asymmetrical war game has a science-fiction theme and is easy to learn. It also has light deck-building. Because it’s asymmetrical, Cry Havoc has a lot of strategy and repeat value. Players can choose to play as one of four different groups.
It’s very easy to build decks in Cry Havoc. When it’s a player’s turn, they can draw two cards from one of four different scenery decks, look at them both, and choose one to add to their deck. When players choose to add cards, this simple method makes them make tough choices every time. Because players don’t know what choices they’ll have, it helps keep the game fair and stops a very good player from making a perfect engine.
Star Realms (Boxed Set)
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.9
- Player Count: 2-4
- Play Time: 20 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.0/5
- Released: 2021
This sci-fi deck-building game can be played by two to four people, but two might be the best number. Star Realms is a small, easy-to-carry box full of themed cards with pictures of both rockets and space stations.
Star Realms is a deck-building game that is easy to learn and quick to play. The goal is to kill your opponent by slowly reducing their strength. The game moves quickly, and the main goal is to find a mix between managing your income and dealing damage. To win, you must make sure that the deck is well-balanced and that you don’t add too many of one type of card.
51st State (Ultimate Edition)
Board Game Geek Rating: 8.2
- Player Count: 1-4
- Play Time: 75 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.72
- Released: 2023
In this post-apocalyptic deck-building game, players must create new places, hire important leaders, and get supplies with the help of their people. Every round in 51st State, players choose which new cards to buy, and the game’s focus on carefully growing places adds an element of building an engine.
In 51st State, players can also destroy their opponents’ bases, but it usually takes a lot of resources to do so. The mix of deck-building and engine-building features in 51st State makes for a thematic and strategic experience as a whole.
Northgard: Uncharted Lands
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.7
- Player Count: 2-5
- Play Time: 45-90 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.70
- Released: 2022
This game is a tactical area-control game based on the popular strategy video game Northgard. Players lay tiles to make the board and try to control as many areas as they can.
Northgard cards are well-illustrated and easy to read, which makes the game simple to learn and understand so you don’t have to look at the rules as often. The deck-building parts of the game are easy, but they add a level of strategy and choice that makes the game more interesting.
Dominion
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.6
- Player Count: 2-4
- Play Time: 30 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.35/5
- Released: 2008
Many people think that this famous classic tabletop game was one of the first popular board games to use deck-building mechanics. It took the deck-building mechanics of collecting card games and applied them to a game-by-game structure.
Dominion also comes with a lot of different cards. This is because the cards are chosen at random at the beginning of the game, so there is a huge amount of variety right away. Dominion is a card game where you build an engine with cards, make sure the economy works well, and come up with a plan that works well into the late game.
Moonrakers
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.7
- Player Count: 1-5
- Play Time: 60-120 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.42/5
- Released: 2020
This science fiction deck-building game is easy for beginners. To get “Prestige,” the game’s win points, players must take on a number of dangerous contracts. Every time a player moves forward in Drive Mad, they slowly improve their deck, which is like their own personal rocket.
Moonrakers has beautiful graphics and a cleverly designed gameplay loop that is both challenging and easy for new players to understand. There are also discussion parts in the game that some people might not like, but they add a lot to the experience and theme.
Lost Ruins Of Arnak
Board Game Geek Rating: 8.1
- Player Count: 1-4
- Play Time: 30-120 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.91/5
- Released: 2020
This exploration-themed game mixes popular worker placement gameplay with light deck-building to make a deep and strategic experience full of interesting choices. It’s also pretty quick to learn how to play.
The artwork in Lost Ruins Of Arnak is very easy, and the game doesn’t take long to play, even though it has a lot of choices. Lost Ruins Of Arnak doesn’t have a very broad strategy like some other games do, but players will still spend a lot of time thinking about their next move. The cards that players add to their deck and where they put their workers are very important to how well they do.
Tyrants Of The Underdark
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.9
- Player Count: 2-4
- Play Time: 60 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.55
- Released: 2016
You play as a Drow queen in this Dungeons & Dragons board game for two to four people. The game takes place in the Underdark and the players are competing for control of the area. The game is easy to learn and fun to play. It combines area control and deck-building in a unique way.
Even though Tyrants Of The Underdark is based on Dungeons & Dragons, players don’t need to know anything about the game to enjoy it. The game is very strategic because it’s about controlling an area and sending troops to defend it. The deck-building mechanics add to the game’s basic structure.
Undaunted
Board Game Geek Rating: 7.8
- Player Count: 2
- Play Time: 45-60 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 2.25/5
- Released: 2019
There is a set of tabletop war games called “The Undaunted” that are based on making decks. The games take place during World War II. Undaunted: Normandy is the easiest to get into, while Undaunted: Stalingrad is more of a memory game with a big story.
In Undaunted, players control troops, which are shown on the board by cardboard pieces and in-hand by cards that name individual troop types and squads. You can add new troops from your stock to your deck during an Undaunted game, just like in most deck-building games. When a player loses a troop in Undaunted, they must take a card from their deck that matches the troop’s type and put it in the victim pile. This is what makes the card so special and fits the theme.
Dune Imperium
Board Game Geek Rating: 8.4
- Player Count: 1-4
- Play Time: 60-120 Minutes
- Complexity Rating: 3.04/5
- Released: 2020
Dune Imperium is a strategy war game with deck-building and worker placement features. It takes place on the planet Arrakis in Frank Herbert’s Dune world. In each game, players start with ten basic cards and add stronger cards as the game goes on to try to come up with a winning plan.
Even though Dune Imperium is mostly about building decks and placing workers, it stands out from other games because it has a separate mode called “Conflict,” where players fight to have the most powerful army and win prizes like controlling areas. Also, a lot of cards can be used for more than one thing, which makes both making decks and playing cards more fun.
