Best Revamped Classic Board Games

New Year, New Takes On Your Favourite Games!

The new year is here. You promised yourself you’d venture out of your comfort zone. New year, new me, all that jazz. But it’s January: it’s grey, it’s cold, it’s slightly miserable. Sure, we all want to try new things, but we also want something that feels familiar, warm and comfortable. So, let’s find that perfect middle ground!

Here is a list of our favourite revamped classic board games, here, at Chance & Counters!

You know those games you used to play with family and old friends that are buried in your closet (really, they’re part of the furniture, at this point)? Well, they are classics for a reason. They established essential rules and objectives that are both simple and compelling. The following games, however, took inspiration and pushed them a little further, making them fresher, more intriguing and more exciting!

Whether you want to find a new hobby or spend more time with loved ones, use this list to get into the swing of your resolutions and rediscover the fun this new year!

1. If you like Uno, try… Flip 7!

Flip 7 was one of our most popular games last year, at Chance & Counters.

In this push-your-luck game, you will be competing to collect up to seven unique cards. Taking turns, each player will choose whether to draw a new card or not, at the risk of losing all their points if they get a repeated number.

Just like in Uno, the game lets you mess with your friends’ game by freezing them or forcing them to pull cards from the deck, which, let’s be honest, is the best part of Uno. There’s no better feeling than making your friend draw extra cards when they were just about to win.

Because you have your own stakes and strategy to manage, it can be a more thrilling play. So, are you going to play it safe or be ambitious and try to flip seven cards?

2. If you like Chess, try… Onitama!

A classic in its own right, Onitama is a great two-player game for beginners.

Like in chess, you are moving your pieces through a checkered board, trying to advance without getting caught by rival pieces. However, in this simplified version, your moves are dictated by a set number of cards that you will swap amongst each other.

The fact that you can predict what cards your opponent will have next, and which moves they are likely to make, turns it into a great strategy game – simpler and snappier than the original!

For another fantastic option, try… Leaders!

In Leaders, you will also be attempting to capture each other’s leaders (ding! Roll-credits). However, the big difference is that you get to recruit each of your team’s pieces.

The game lets you create your own unique team by selecting characters from its impeccably designed, eccentric cast. Each character boasts its own special power and ability to move across the board, making it a more dynamic and much faster-paced experience!

If you’ve ever wished your pawn could fly across the board, or your tower could ram your opponents back a space, then this is the game for you.

3. If you like Jenga, try… Misfits!

Misfits is, very simply, a more chaotic version of the classic dexterity game, Jenga. The goal is to build a tower without tipping it over. However, each piece is uniquely and oddly shaped, with curves and peculiar angles, making your job a bit more complicated.

Depending on how uncharitable your opponents are feeling towards you, the game may get very competitive, as it becomes increasingly difficult to place new pieces safely.

This is a straightforward game, perfect for those who don’t care for rule-reading, but want something fresh. Great fun, and lot of chaos; what more could you ask for?

4. If you like Guess Who, try… Dinosaur Tea Party!

You have been invited to the event of the season, high tea at Dinoton Abbey. This is a great honour, of course. However! You cannot remember anyone’s names, and are in great danger of committing a real social faux pas…

As in the classic deduction game, Guess Who, each player is assigned a character. By doing your best Jurassic-aristocrat impression, you will be asking questions to find each other’s names:

“Darling, how lovely to meet you here! Tell me, are you wearing a flower brooch today?”

“Me? Heavens, no! I think they are quite gauche, don’t you?”

The advantage of this game – besides the fancily dressed dinosaurs, and the recipe for tea biscuits included in the rule guide – is that it plays 3-5 players. 

Enjoy navigating the traps of polite dinosaur society in this fun, silly game!

5. If you like Connect 4, try… Santorini!

Games like Connect 4 and tic-tac-toe have been adapted many, many times, thanks to their clear mechanics and objective. Santorini, however, is one of our favourite reinventions!

In this game, you’ll be playing as builders on a little Mediterranean island, fighting to assemble a 3-storey house, one layer at a time, before your opponent builds theirs or caps yours.

Santorini has a great dynamic and tactile feel thanks to its lovely design. You can also try the expansions, which add some challenge, but know that even at its base level it’s a very enjoyable game: straightforward with some strategy, a great step up from the classic!

6. If you like Trivial Pursuit, try… CDSK!

CDSK is a trivia game that balances the playing field while maintaining the challenging and competitive feel that people love in the classic Trivial Pursuit.

Each card you draw will ask you to judge how much you know about any given topic.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you know about… Romcoms? The Periodic Table? 90s British Politics? Cheese?

There’s a question for everyone!

Questions are scaled by difficulty, with level 1 being the easiest, 10 the most difficult. When you answer correctly, you’ll progress the same number of spaces as the question’s difficulty level.

Play it safe? You might move consistently but slowly. Go for the hardest questions? You might stay put, but you’ll have the chance to jump ahead! 

7. If you like Carcassonne, try… Akropolis!

In Akropolis, a tile-laying game, you and your mates will play as architects competing to build the strongest city in the ancient Mediterranean, equipped with quarries, housing, temples, markets, gardens and barracks.

With an element of resource-management, as you must purchase each tile, and with a bit more strategy, as you only win points if each tile is placed in accordance with the building protocols, Akropolis’ gameplay is a bit more complex than Carcassonne’s, but accessible and very absorbing once you get rolling.

Will you build a balanced city? Or will you monopolise tiles and ruin your opponent’s strategy? Have a go at Akropolis and discover which type of player you are.

8. If you like Cluedo, try…Mysterium!

If you like Cluedo but wish there were a bit more challenge to the game – and ghosts, while we’re at it – this is the game for you.

Decades ago, Warwick Manor was the site of a grisly murder. Now, a group of mediums must contact the victim’s ghost to uncover the truth.

Speaking only through cards and visions, the ghost will give the players clues to resolve the mystery. As in Cluedo, players must correctly guess the suspect, the location, and the weapon to win. However, each one will have a different mission and a different set of information to use to work this out.

This cooperative deduction game might be a couple of steps up in difficulty and require a longer play session, but it makes for a great alternative to, and expansion on, the classic. 

Enjoy the tension and immersive atmosphere, and help this ghost find peace.

9. If you like Battleship, try…Captain Sonar!

Imagine the game Battleship, but if the ships were moving.

In this cooperative heavy strategy game, you and your mates are trying to locate an enemy vessel by controlling a cutting-edge war submarine. 

Playing 2-8 people, each player will have a different role, including captaining the ship, monitoring the radio, and engineering new munitions to target your enemy. All roles are equally important if you want to succeed in your mission.

Intense, fast-paced, and with real-time events, this take on the classic Battleships is perfect for those looking for a more substantial gaming session.

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Once you’ve found your comfort zone, it can be difficult to branch out. However, it doesn’t have to be daunting. Give these games a try and, who knows, you might find a new favourite hobby!

For more suggestions or for help finding your footing with any new game, you are always welcome to come to your local Chance & Counters. Our staff is trained to help you and will always be thrilled to match you up to your perfect game!

Enjoy your new year (and make it a fun one)!

All of these games are available online or at our Chance & Counters board game cafés in Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham.