Best Games Set in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 2026

Ticket to Ride: Europe invites you to embark on an exhilarating train adventure through the heart of Europe. From the historic streets of Edinburgh to the vibrant city of Constantinople, and from the sunny shores of Lisbon to the grandeur of Moscow, you'll traverse the great cities of turn-of-the-century Europe. Whether you're a seasoned gamer or a family looking for a fun challenge, this game, like the original Ticket to Ride, offers an elegantly simple gameplay experience that can be mastered in just five minutes.

Players slide 30 wooden discs along a 2-meter-long table in three rounds, aiming to get them through four arches numbered 1 to 4 at the other end. Scoring in both low and high point categories is crucial, as each set of four discs in the designated areas counts double. This skill game, known as Sjoelen, has its origins in the Netherlands and is popular there, with official championships held every two years.

In Frosted Blooms, children and adults create their own tulip garden in a gentle Dutch spring landscape. This family game for ages 8 and up combines calm planning with colorful tile placement. Round by round, a garden of flowers, paths, and special features takes shape, with every turn offering small decisions and fresh opportunities.

Players must keep track of a busy rail network filled with trains. As more trains are placed on the board, the game becomes increasingly intense, requiring effective coordination to transport goods without delays. The journey spans Europe, the United States, and Canada, and with simple rules, players can start right away—time is of the essence.

Tulip enthusiasts explore the Amsterdam Tulip Festival to create colorful bouquets, gift tulips to others for points, and manipulate market values. The game features tulips in four colors with values ranging from 2 to 4, and players take turns drawing cards to keep, give, or set aside to influence the festival rankings. Points are awarded based on the current standings and players' actions throughout the game.

Alhambra: The Card Game is inspired by the popular and award-winning game franchise, Alhambra. This version maintains the same core rules but features different themes and minor changes from its predecessor, Stimmt So!. Players acquire shares in various aspects of a large company using a mechanism similar to Union Pacific, with different currencies and stock types rewarding majority and minority shareholders throughout the game.

Set in the golden era of the Netherlands in the 17th century, players aim to expand the province of Zeeland by reclaiming land from the sea. The game board features three main sections: a scoring track, a rondel for collecting seed and windmill tiles, and land areas where players place tiles for scoring. Players can gain bonus points by uncovering farm tiles and earn points based on the types of adjacent tiles when scoring windmill tiles. The game ends when the supply of windmill or seed tiles runs out, and the player with the highest score wins.

Maria is a strategic board game set during the tumultuous period of the War of the Austrian Succession, offering a rich blend of military strategy and historical diplomacy. Designed primarily for three players, it casts them into the roles of the major powers of the time: Austria, France with Bavaria, and Prussia along with the Pragmatic Army. Utilizing a unique map that is divided into two parts—Flanders and Bohemia—Maria challenges players to navigate the complexities of warfare and alliance, demanding not just military might but also political sagacity to emerge victorious.

Players represent a European colonial nation competing for the most support. They gain support by supplying their population with goods, produced when their people work in the territories. Winning wars allows players to acquire people, territories, goods, and support, with gold earned through victories and selling goods. All actions occur simultaneously, and trading is unrestricted at any point in the game. The player with the most supporters at the end of the final round wins.

This family of card games is extremely popular in Europe and involves collecting sets similar to Game of Authors and Happy Families. Played by three or more players, each player must check their cards, and when someone has a complete set of four, they place it on the table.

Players aim to secure the top or second place in various categories, including goods markets and trading colonies in Amsterdam. On their turn, a player draws three cards and chooses how to use them, either by removing them from play, keeping them, or auctioning them off. The game features a spring-driven auction clock, creating a dynamic auction experience where the price of cards decreases over time until a player stops the clock by striking it.

Kontor is a tile-placement game for two players, which can also be played by two teams of two. Players act as merchants competing for dominance in late 17th-century Amsterdam by building trading houses along the canals and aiming to control three key resources (spices, tea, and wine) in each harbor area. The game includes many optional rules, scenarios, expansions, and variations, and it is recommended to play with the advanced rules.

The game revolves around the economic and cultural development in the Netherlands during the 17th century. Players aim to be the first to reach 33 victory points by expanding their influence in provinces, promoting artists, investing in businesses, establishing colonies in India, or achieving civil progress. Various cards represent these actions, each with unique benefits that can yield victory points, income, or special actions on the game board.

Players flick small smooth discs into a cup situated at the center of a target area. The objective is to land the discs in the cup for maximum points, while landing them in the target zone earns fewer points. Players can decide to play a set number of rounds or until someone reaches a target score.

Players control major powers involved in the military, political, and religious conflicts of Europe during the reign of Elizabeth I and Philip II. Spain, as a dominant force, faces various threats, including Ottoman expansion and English naval raids. The game features multiple powers such as the Ottomans, Spain, England, and France, and introduces new mechanics like religious conversion, diplomacy, and espionage, providing a rich strategic experience across different scenarios.

Players engage in a complex battlefield set during the retreat of the German army to the Westwall after severe defeats. The game features a mix of material superiority for the Allies and German resilience, influenced by treacherous terrain and weather. Numerous special rules, including random events and strategic considerations, add depth to the gameplay, which spans significant historical campaigns and offers various scenarios, enhancing its realism and historical flair.