10 Best Engine Building Board Games

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Are you one of those die-hard board game lovers? Or are you looking for some of the best engine-building board games for your upcoming game night?

Well, worry not as we are back with a list of some of the best engine-building board games that you will love. 

 Boardgame
Boardgame (Source: Wikimedia.com)

So, let’s proceed with the list of the 10 best engine-building board games without further delay.

10 best Engine Building Board Games

Let’s quickly have a brief of the list before we go on with the details about the products. The games mentioned below can accommodate more players. Plus, the game selection is made for amateur players also.

It’s time to kiss your debit card goodbye as you won’t be able to resist these fantastic products from amazon. Links to the products are given down below!

S.N. Name of Games Players Designer
10 Wingspan 1-5 Elizabeth Hargrave
9 Russian Railroads 2-4 Helmut Ohley, Leonhard Orgler
8 7 Wonders 3-7 Antoine Bauza
7 Splendor 2-4 Marc Andre
6 Fleet 2-4 Ben Pinchback, Matt Riddle
5 Terraforming Mars 1-5 Jacob Fryxelius
4 Fantastic Factories 1-5 Joseph Z Chen
3 Steam Works 2-5 Alex Churchill
2 Star Realms 2 Robert Dougherty, Darwin Kastle
1 Everdell 1-4 James A. Wilson

10. Wingspan

  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 10+
  • Playing Time: 40-70 Minutes

The wingspan was designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and distributed by Stonemaier games. Basically, it’s a card game related to birds.

More specifically, there are seventeen types of birds in the games. It can be played in four rounds among one to five players.

The main motto of the players in this game is to discover and gather a collection of a variety of beautiful birds for wildlife preservation. Each bird species starts a chain reaction that can be used to attract other birds, lay eggs, and earn food tokens.

The players can use card drafting, dice rolling, hand management, end game bonuses mechanisms to play the song.  

Wingspan
Wingspan (Source: Instagram)

The main components of the game are 170 Unique bird cards, 20 Bonus cards, 16 Automa cards, 103 Food Tokens, 75 Egg miniatures, 5 Wooden lice, and a Birdfeeder dice tower.

The wingspan is so widespread that it won the 2020 JUG Adult Game of the Year award. Apart from that, it also won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres award.

Get this product for yourself from the Amazon link!

9. Russian Railroads 

  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 12+
  • Playing Time: 90-120 Minutes

Russian Railroads is the ninth entry in the best engine-building board games list. Again, the players are in control of making the railroads and trains. It’s an excellent game for players who are interested in trains.

In this game, the players have to build extensive railroads. There is a fixed number of workers given to construct the railroads. So, the players have to deploy the workers carefully.

Russian Railroads
Russian Railroads (Source: Wikimedia.com)

It can be played between two to four players. Players use end-game bonuses and worker placement to play the game. The players will have the following items:

  • A unique board for each player
  • 3 Rail tracks
  • 5/6 workers in the beginning

The game is played for 6 to 7 rounds. Designed by Helmut Ohley, Leonhard Orgler and, this game has won the Deutscher Spiele Preis 2014 award. Similarly, it also won the International Gamers Awards 2014 Multiplayer category.

For further information, this game was published by Hans im Gluck.

Amazon link to this board game

Read more about Best 5 Practice Dartboards to Buy

8. 7 Wonders

  • Players: 2-7
  • Age: 10+
  • Playing Time: 30-40 Minutes

Counting at eighth on the list, we have 7 Wonders designed by  Antoine Bauza.

Artists such as Dimitri Chappuis, Miguel Coimbra, Etienne Hebinger, and Cyril Nouvel drew the game and published it by Repos Production.

It won the 2012 Ludoteca Ideala award. Similarly, it also won the Vuoden Peli Adult Game of the Year award in 2011.

This game takes place in an ancient world, consisting of 7 cities and three ages (rounds). Every player is the leader of one of the 7 cities.

Seven Wonders
Seven Wonders (Source: Wikimedia.com)

The players have to develop the city by expanding its military and commercial activities. 

Every player draws seven cards from a specific deck after each age. They pass the six cards to others and keep one for themselves. The cards hold resources that can be traded among players.

Not to forget to keep an eye on the opponent’s progress as every player has a similar ambition.

The players use drafting, hand management, set collection, simultaneous action selection, and variable player powers to play the game.

The winner of the game is determined by comparing the military sources of every player. And after the end of the third age, the players add the score they gain from their cards and military. Lastly, the one with the high score wins the game.

Amazon link to the new edition of the product!

7. Splendor

  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Playing Time: 30-35 Minutes

The next on the list of best engine-building board games is Splendor, designed by Marc Andre and published by Space Cowboys.

The game managed to grab a nomination for 2014 Game of the Year. Later, it was also released for iOS and Android.

In this game, the players act as merchants during the Renaissance period. The players have to buy gems, mines, vehicles, and shops to sell them.

The players have to have control over gem mines in order to attract prestigious buyers and trade in large quantities. The goal is to establish the most prestigious jewelry business.

Splendor (Source: pinterest)
Splendor (Source: Pinterest)

The game has the following components:

  • 40 Gems tokens
    • 7 Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, Onyx Respectively
    • 5 Gold
  • 90 Development Cards
  • 10 Noble tiles

The player who reaches the 15 prestige points first wins the game. Here’s the Amazon link to the game.

Also, read The Top 12 Best Dice Games of All Time.

6. Fleet

  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Playing Time: 30-45 Minutes

The board game Fleet was designed by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle and published the game in 2012 by Eagle-Gryphon Games. 

In the game, players have to build ships fleets using mechanisms such as auction/bidding and hand management.

Fleet (Source: Amazon)
Fleet (Source: Amazon)

In the beginning, the player will have a single boat and license to catch a specific fish. The goal is to increase the number of ships and types of fish as well as to attract fishers to Nanavut, Canada.

The players have to get a license for each boat, and fish. Then, the players compete in fishing the crabs and fish. 

The components of the game are mentioned below:

  • 26 License Cards
  • 96 Boat Cards
  • 4 Player Reference Cards
  • 100 Fish Crates
  • 1 Starting Player Marker

This product is not available on Amazon.

5. Terraforming Mars

  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 12+
  • Playing Time: 120 Minutes

Ranking fifth in the best engine-building board games list is Terraforming Mars, designed by Jacob Fryxxelius. Fryxgames distributed the game on the market.

The players have to terraform mars as a corporation. Every player is awarded points on the basis of their contributions to terraforming and developing infrastructure in the whole solar system.

Initially, the players start with a raw score of 20 and then try to gain resources to gain income (total resources available 6). Further, the resources can be used to build cities.

Terraforming Mars
Terraforming Mars (Source: Wikimedia.com)

Overall, the game is divided into three phases. They are the research phase, action phase, and production phase.

Moreover, the game has components of 208 Project Cards, 5 Beginning Corporations, and 12 Advance Corporations.

The game won the Vuoden Peli Strategy Game of the Year in 2019. Similarly, it also won the MinD-Spielepresis Compex Game in 2018. Get this award-winning board game from Amazon.

Don’t forget to read; Ranking Top 7 Sports Board Games of This Year.

4. Fantastic Factories

  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 14+
  • Playing Time: 45-60 Minutes

Moving on at #4 is Fantastic Factories, designed by Joseph Z Chen and Justin Faulkner. Metafactory games published it on the market. 

In this game, the players have to build and manage factories that produce goods on a large scale.

Mechanisms such as card drafting, dice rolling, and set collection are used to play the game. The round is split into two phases.

Fantastic Factories
Fantastic Factories (Source: Instagram.com)

In the first phase, the market phase, the players have to build the factories. Then, players make strategies for their factories.

After completing the market phase, the players go to the work phase. First, the players use workers to produce the goods. 

This product has 28 dice, 50 energy tokens, 30 metal resource tokens, 85 goods tokens, 4 tool label tokens, 78 blueprint cards, 18 contractor cards, 1 first-player token, and 5 player boards and player aids.

Have a fun night with Fantastics Factories!

3. Steam Works

  • Players: 2-5
  • Age: 14+
  • Playing Time: 60-120 Minutes

Alex Churchill designed the Steam Works board game. It was brought to the market by Tasty Minstrel Games.

The board game is set in the Victorian era. The players play the role of an inventor who uses the power of clockwork, steam, or electricity to build machines.

Steam Works
Steam Works (Source: Amazon.com)

Each player will play the role of an inventor with unique abilities. Further, the skills of each player will be a secret. The players can create special devices to impress the queen.

Each device can be started with two components. One is the source, and another is the machine.

The board game consists of 28 Age I Tiles, 23 Age II Tiles, 16 Age III Tiles, 60 Basic Source Tiles, 8 Start tiles, 15 Persona Tiles, 45 Clock Tokens, 42 Money Tokens, and 42 Prestige Chips.

Collect this board game from Amazon.

2. Star Realms

  • Players: 2
  • Age: 12+
  • Playing Time: 20 Minutes

Star Realms is a spaceship combat deck-building indoor game designed by Robert Dougherty and Darwin Kaste and published through Wise Wizard.

It combines two types of game, i.e., deck building and combat. The players can use the cards to build ships and trade or combat their opponents. Mechanisms such as card drafting, deck, bag, and pool building are used to play the games.

 Star Realms
Star Realms (Source:staticflickr.com)

The cards are divided into four factions Trade Federation, The Blobs, Star Empire, and Machine Cult. Players can use any faction as a base.

Different types of cards in Star Realms are available such as 800 Trade deck cards, 10 Explorer ships, Two 10-card decks each for an individual player, and 18 double-sided scorecards.

Here’s an Amazon link to the game.

1. Everdell

  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 13+
  • Playing Time: 40-80 Minutes

At the top of our list is Everdell, designed by James A. Wilson and published by Starling games.

It won the Nederlandse Spellenprijs Best Expert Game award in 2021.

The Everdell board games consist of 128 Critter and Constructional cards, 16 Event Mini-cards, 11 Forest Mini-cards, 30 Berries, 30 Twigs, 25 Resin, 20 Pebbles, 30 Point tokens, 20 Wooden Occupied tokens, and an 18-sided die.

In the game, the players have to lead the forest animals by aiming at building a city. Many new interesting characters will turn up during the process, making the game more fun.

Everdell
Everdell (Source: Wikimedia.com)

A player can make three moves at one time. The first move is to place the character at the location, which will further grow the player’s tableau.

In the second move, the player has to find the sources, grant abilities, and score points. The last move is all about preparation for next time, that is relocating the previous workers to place new workers for the next time.  

The players have to build the city over four seasons (one winter till the next winter). The winner will be the player with the city with the highest score at the end.

Conclusion

So, which one do you find the best among all the above-described engine-building board games? Also, comment below about the engine-building board games that we missed.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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