The best action drafting board, card & dice games 2023

Looking for a good game that involves fighting over actions? Then we have just the thing: our top list of the best action drafting games 2023.

What are action drafting games?

Action drafting literally means "action drafting" or "action selection." In the board game world, this means that players choose from an assortment of actions in a common pool. The available actions are limited in quantity. Once a player has selected an action, he and usually everyone else may not select it again.

Differentiation from other game categories

A very related game category is "open draw"/ "drafting" (e.g. card-drawing (Wingspan), Dice (That's pretty clever), tokens (Azul)). This is more general and not limited to actions - which is why we created a separate category for it: drafting-games.

List of the best action drafting games 2023

This list was last updated on November 27, 2023. We compared 129 board games for this list and selected the top 30. There's also a print version for this list.
  1. Paris: La Cité de la Lumière

    All details for the board game Paris: La Cité de la Lumière and similar games
    • 2 Players
    • 30 Minutes
    • 8+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  2. Citadels

    All details for the board game Citadels and similar games

    Nominated for 5 awards and won 2.

    ⭐️ Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2000

    More details for Citadels
    • 2 - 8 Players
    • 20 - 60 Minutes
    • 10+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  3. San Juan

    All details for the board game San Juan and similar games

    Nominated for 6 awards and won 2.

    More details for San Juan
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 45 - 60 Minutes
    • 10+ years old
    • Easy to learn

    Video reviews for San Juan

    • YouTube Review for the game "San Juan" by Shut Up & Sit Down
      Video is in English
    • YouTube Review for the game "San Juan" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  4. Puerto Rico

    All details for the board game Puerto Rico and similar games

    Nominated for 12 awards and won 8.

    ⭐️ Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2002

    More details for Puerto Rico
    • 3 - 5 Players
    • 90 - 150 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  5. Grand Austria Hotel

    All details for the board game Grand Austria Hotel and similar games
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 60 - 120 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty

    Video reviews for Grand Austria Hotel

    • YouTube Review for the game "Grand Austria Hotel" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  6. El Grande

    All details for the board game El Grande and similar games

    Nominated for 3 awards and won 3.

    ⭐️ Spiel des Jahres 1996

    More details for El Grande
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 60 - 120 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  7. Tokaido Duo

    All details for the board game Tokaido Duo and similar games

    Nominated for 2 awards.

    More details for Tokaido Duo
    • 2 Players
    • 20 - 30 Minutes
    • 8+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  8. Dice Hospital

    All details for the board game Dice Hospital and similar games

    Nominated for 3 awards and won 2.

    More details for Dice Hospital
    • 1 - 4 Players
    • 45 - 90 Minutes
    • 10+ years old
    • Easy to learn

    Video reviews for Dice Hospital

    • YouTube Review for the game "Dice Hospital" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  9. War of the Ring: Second Edition

    All details for the board game War of the Ring: Second Edition and similar games
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 150 - 180 Minutes
    • 13+ years old
    • Hard to learn

    Video reviews for War of the Ring: Second Edition

    • YouTube Review for the game "War of the Ring: Second Edition" by Shut Up & Sit Down
      Video is in English
    • YouTube Review for the game "War of the Ring: Second Edition" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  10. Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition

    All details for the board game Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and similar games
    • 3 - 6 Players
    • 240 - 480 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Hard to learn
    👍 Good price!118€ atAmazon.de

    Video reviews for Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition

    • YouTube Review for the game "Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition" by Shut Up & Sit Down
      Video is in English
  11. Rising Sun

    All details for the board game Rising Sun and similar games

    Nominated for 9 awards and won 3.

    More details for Rising Sun
    • 3 - 5 Players
    • 90 - 120 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  12. Yspahan

    All details for the board game Yspahan and similar games

    Nominated for 8 awards.

    ⭐️ Nominated for Kinderspiel des Jahres 2007

    ⭐️ Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2007

    More details for Yspahan
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 45 - 60 Minutes
    • 8+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  13. Coimbra

    All details for the board game Coimbra and similar games

    Nominated for 9 awards.

    More details for Coimbra
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 60 - 90 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  14. Orichalcum

    All details for the board game Orichalcum and similar games
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 45 - 60 Minutes
    • 10+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  15. Tiny Epic Kingdoms

    All details for the board game Tiny Epic Kingdoms and similar games

    Nominated for 1 award and won 1.

    More details for Tiny Epic Kingdoms
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 30 - 45 Minutes
    • 13+ years old
    • Easy to learn
  16. New Frontiers

    All details for the board game New Frontiers and similar games

    Nominated for 1 award.

    More details for New Frontiers
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 45 - 75 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  17. In the Year of the Dragon

    All details for the board game In the Year of the Dragon and similar games
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 75 - 100 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
    🔥 Great price!15€ atAmazon.de
  18. In the Year of the Dragon: 10th Anniversary

    All details for the board game In the Year of the Dragon: 10th Anniversary and similar games
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 75 - 100 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  19. Puerto Rico

    All details for the board game Puerto Rico and similar games
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 70 - 120 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  20. Riverboat

    All details for the board game Riverboat and similar games

    Nominated for 2 awards.

    More details for Riverboat
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 90 Minutes
    • 10+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  21. Yukon Airways

    All details for the board game Yukon Airways and similar games
    • 1 - 4 Players
    • 60 - 90 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  22. Yamataï

    All details for the board game Yamataï and similar games

    Nominated for 1 award.

    More details for Yamataï
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 40 - 80 Minutes
    • 13+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  23. Gentes

    All details for the board game Gentes and similar games

    Nominated for 5 awards and won 1.

    More details for Gentes
    • 1 - 4 Players
    • 90 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty

    Video reviews for Gentes

    • YouTube Review for the game "Gentes" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  24. Alchemists

    All details for the board game Alchemists and similar games

    Nominated for 11 awards and won 3.

    More details for Alchemists
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 120 Minutes
    • 13+ years old
    • Hard to learn

    Video reviews for Alchemists

    • YouTube Review for the game "Alchemists" by BoardGameGeek
      Video is in English
  25. Hyperborea

    All details for the board game Hyperborea and similar games

    Nominated for 2 awards.

    More details for Hyperborea
    • 2 - 6 Players
    • 50 - 150 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  26. Imaginarium

    All details for the board game Imaginarium and similar games
    • 2 - 5 Players
    • 90 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
  27. Pipeline

    All details for the board game Pipeline and similar games

    Nominated for 5 awards.

    More details for Pipeline
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 60 - 120 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Hard to learn

    Video reviews for Pipeline

    • YouTube Review for the game "Pipeline" by Shut Up & Sit Down
      Video is in English
  28. Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun

    All details for the board game Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun and similar games
    • 1 - 4 Players
    • 60 - 120 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Hard to learn
  29. Nauticus

    All details for the board game Nauticus and similar games
    • 2 - 4 Players
    • 90 Minutes
    • 12+ years old
    • Medium difficulty
    👍 Good price!45€ atAmazon.de
  30. Golem

    All details for the board game Golem and similar games

    Nominated for 3 awards.

    More details for Golem
    • 1 - 4 Players
    • 90 - 120 Minutes
    • 14+ years old
    • Hard to learn

Didn't find the game you were looking for?

We're positive that you'll find it in one of our other lists! To make the search easier for you, we split our website into different categories. The following board game categories will help you find the right list: