By Blaze Aldrich | July 2, 2024
(B. Kim, 2016)
Top 7 Best Campaign & Legacy Board Games Ever
Are you tired of playing the same ol boring stagnant game, where every time you play, the experience seems to be the same. I believe that's why many people stop playing certain games and then those same games sit on the shelf collecting dust. So why not spice up your life and play a legacy game? I promise it will be worth it. What is a Legacy Game? A legacy board game is a type of board game where the actions and decisions made during gameplay permanently alter the game board, components, rules, and sometimes even the narrative. These changes persist and carry over from one session to the next, creating a unique and evolving gameplay experience over multiple playthroughs. Legacy games often unfold as a campaign or story arc, where players' choices influence subsequent sessions, leading to a game that becomes increasingly personalized and different from others of its kind. Wow, doesnt that sound amazing! I have listed 7 of the best legacy board games ever from worst to best. Saying worst sounds weird, but you get what I am saying. I have saved the best for last.
7. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle (2016)
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle was surprisingly an excellent and challenging cooperative deck building board game. My first impression when I saw this game, was like "Great! They are using Harry Potter as a theme again in a board game and it's going to be terrible." I was totally wrong. There are a total of 7 games corresponding with the 7 books in the Harry Potter Series. Every game adds new powers and new mechanics which may or may not make the game harder. Up to four students must protect the school by defeating villains and strengthening defenses. Players assume the roles of Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Neville, each with a unique deck of cards for acquiring resources. By gaining influence, players add cards representing characters, spells, and magical items to their deck. Some cards help regain health or combat villains. Villains hinder players with attacks and Dark Arts. Collaboration is essential to defeat all villains and secure the castle from evil forces.
6. Machi Koro Legacy (2019)
Machi Koro Legacy is the very first legacy board game I have ever played so I'm a little biased because of the nostalgia. This game is simple enough that you can play with your kids and anyone who isn't a hardcore board game nerd. Machi Koro Legacy retains the core mechanics of rolling dice, collecting income, and racing to build landmarks. However, as the game progresses, new elements are unlocked, offering opportunities for extra income and new areas to explore, presenting players with strategic choices. Even if you're not winning, you can influence the setup for future games, keeping the gameplay exciting. This ten-game series tells a complete story set in the Machi Koro world, with player decisions creating a unique experience every time.
5. Pandemic Legacy: Seasons Series (2015 - 2020)
Speaking of a tough board game, Pandemic Legacy can be pretty tough to play with other people. During the game, players have to be in sync or the awful deadly viruses will take over the world and players face their demise. In Pandemic players act as disease-fighting specialists, using four actions per turn to travel, build research stations, treat diseases, trade cards, and discover cures. Unique roles and abilities aid these efforts. After actions, players draw cards that may include epidemics, spreading diseases further. Each month offers two chances to achieve objectives; success advances the game, while failure provides more funding for another attempt. New rules and components are introduced, often requiring permanent changes to the game, such as altering cards and adding stickers. Characters can gain skills, suffer effects, or be lost entirely. The only negative aspect of the game is once you understand how the mechanics work, it's hard to lose.
4. Ticket To Ride Legacy (2023)
Ticket To Ride Legacy recently came out in 2023 where it flew off the shelves and had to be reprinted a couple months after it sold out. I won't be surprised if it sells out again soon. In Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West, players embark on a twelve-game journey across North America as 19th-century pioneers, starting on the East Coast and heading West. While completing tickets remains the primary goal, players must develop new skills to face unexpected events and outsmart rivals. Successes fill your vault with earnings, and as the narrative progresses, frontier boxes unlock new rules, content, and surprises, ensuring fresh and engaging gameplay. Each player’s unique role and abilities influence the story and gameplay, with decisions impacting future sessions. By the end of the campaign, players will have transformed their game into a personalized version for continued play, offering a distinct and evolving Ticket to Ride experience.
3. Betrayal Legacy (2018)
Sad to say that Betrayal Legacy is Out of Print, meaning the publisher doesn't distribute or create new copies of the game. In addition, an unopened copy of this game can run over $200 and a used copy over $100. This legacy game is one of the most sought after games because of its rarity and unique horror game play. Betrayal Legacy combines the haunted mansion exploration of Betrayal at House on the Hill with the permanent, multi-game storytelling of legacy games like Daviau's Risk Legacy. The game includes a prologue and a thirteen-chapter story spanning decades, where players represent families with different members participating in each story, potentially including older versions or descendants in later chapters. Despite the horrors, characters continue to explore the mansion, driven by curiosity or a misguided belief in their superior knowledge and tools. The game is narratively driven, recording the history of each playthrough, with items becoming family heirlooms that offer unique advantages due to their legacy and the knowledge passed down through generations.
2. Gloomhaven / Frosthaven (2017/2022)
Would you like to play a board game that lasts forever? Well you will definitely get that with Gloomhaven and Frosthaven. These are campaign board games that last hundreds of games where the gameplay changes and players can upgrade their characters within every game. There's so much content included that Gloomhaven weighs 22lbs and Frosthaven weighs 35lbs. These board games are standalone adventure games that journey through a ton of cooperative scenarios which include combat, solving mysteries, and seasonal events throughout.
Frosthaven is the sequel to Gloomhaven which tells the tale of a small outpost north of White Oak, struggling to survive against harsh weather and invasions from both known and mysterious forces. A group of desperate mercenaries steps in to save the settlement from the brink of destruction. They must contend with severe elements and dangerous threats, including the Algox, larger yeti-like cousins of the Inox attacking from the mountains, Lurkers emerging from the northern sea, and rumors of autonomous machines wandering the frozen landscape. The mercenaries must face these perils and, in doing so, may forge alliances with these new races to combat even more sinister forces.
I haven't played either game but I thought it was necessary to put them on the list because Gloomhaven is ranked 2nd of all time on boardgamegeek.com and Frosthaven is moving up quickly in the top 100. I will say, I can't wait to play Frosthaven when I get myself a copy.
1. Clank! Legacy (2019)
Clank! Legacy board game is by far my favorite legacy game of all time and it's not even close. The game lasts 10 campaigns where during the game the board changes, cards are modified, and new objectives are started. Clank! is a deck building game that includes a board where players explore to accomplish missions without awakening the deadly dragon. Every game is very different since new enemies and mechanics are added. Clank! Legacy is a semi-cooperative game which makes players balance their strategies. This includes trying to gather up all the treasure to win but at the same time not trying to kill everyone. Killing your colleagues or yourself may make the following game a little bit harder. I can't say enough about this game. Go buy a copy! Unfortunately for us, Elevated Board Games doesn't sell this game.
Bonus.
You thought I'd leave you hanging with just 7 Legacy board games?! Come on! Who do you think I am? I wanted to share with you 2 additional Legacy board games that haven't come out yet, but will very shortly.
Clank! Legacy 2
Clank! Legacy 2 is planned to be delivered in October 2024 for whoever backed the game during its Kickstarter. Saying I am excited about this legacy game is an understatement. I'm hoping for your sake that it comes to retail around the same time.
Santorini: Riddle of the Sphinx
Not only is Santorini getting a face lift with the Pantheon Edition, but Santorini has an expansion called Riddle of the Sphinx which is a cooperative campaign mode. There's not much information out there about what it will consist of, but many including myself really enjoy the base game. So I can imagine how fun this new cooperative expansion will be.
Final Thoughts
Legacy board games enhance the gaming experience in so many ways. Sometimes you play some of the same games so many times and it seems like the gameplay and outcome never changes. What's so amazing about legacy board games is things can be unpredictable with added mechanics and new rules developing. Or the game makes you tear up cards or add in new characters. Anything can happen! What are some of your favorite legacy games? Did I miss any? Happy Gaming!
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