The best combinatorial games 🧮 2025

Patchwork is a two-player game where you compete to create the most beautiful and high-scoring patchwork quilt on your personal 9x9 game board.

Immerse yourself in the world of Onitama, a dynamic two-player abstract game offering perfect information and a randomized starting setup on a 5x5 board. Both participants begin the game with five pawns each, strategically placing the main pawn at the board's center.

Santorini is a beautifully re-imagined strategy game that combines abstract elements with accessible gameplay, suitable for a wide range of players.

Players engage in a deceptively cute and challenging abstract strategy game for two. Each time a player places a kitten on the bed, it shifts other kittens on the board, creating a dynamic gameplay experience. Align three kittens to transform them, and then align three cats to win. The game features a fabric board that fits over the game box and includes 32 adorable wooden cat figures.

Embark on a frigid escapade with Hey, That's My Fish! as players compete to secure the most fish using their waddle of penguins. Each turn unfolds a strategic journey as players guide their penguins in a straight line across hex-shaped ice tiles, each adorned with 1, 2, or 3 fish.

Players engage in a tactical battle inspired by pebbles stacked along paths. Each player begins with eight colored pebbles, while a neutral colored set is placed in the corners of the board. On their turn, players stack a pebble on a chosen pile and then shift it, leaving one pebble on each space crossed. The first to stack four pebbles of their color wins the game.

Players take on the role of members of Julius Caesar's entourage, tasked with expanding the borders of his empire by building roads. The objective is to connect Rome with new cities across the world, gaining points each time a road is built or a new city is reached. The game ends when all cities on the board have been connected, and the player with the most points wins after tallying their city and treasure tiles.

SHŌBU is a beautifully designed abstract strategy game for 2 players. The game features 4 square wooden boards in two colors and 16 natural river stones for each player, along with a rope dividing the playing area. Players take turns moving their stones in a passive and then an aggressive manner, aiming to remove all four of their opponent's stones from one of the boards to win.

A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King is a fast-paced card game set in the world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Players are thrust into the heart of King's Landing's court, where they must use cunning and strategy to outmaneuver their opponents in a quest to become the Hand of the King. This game for two to four players is filled with conspiracies and unexpected turns of fate, where influencing key characters from the series is crucial to gaining power.

Hive is a highly strategic two-player game that stands out for its versatility and unique gameplay mechanics, involving a variety of insect-themed pieces.

Polyssimo Challenge is a tactical game for 2 to 4 players featuring a 12x11 square board and 24 game pieces, including 12 pentominoes and 12 hexominoes. Players take turns selecting pieces from the center of the table, and once all pieces are claimed, they alternately place them on the board. The winner is the player with the fewest remaining squares. The game emphasizes strategic thinking and allows for handicaps to level the playing field between varying skill levels.

Blokus is an abstract strategy game known for its simple rules and deep strategic gameplay. It features colorful Tetris-shaped pieces that players aim to place on the board.

YINSH is a strategic abstract game that is part of the renowned GIPF series of games. It involves a clever combination of movement and flipping of markers on the board, with players aiming to align five markers of their own color. The unique aspect of YINSH is its balance between advancing towards victory and simultaneously weakening your position.

Rats on the old junkyard have long told the legend of the cheese moon, dreaming of reaching this endless treasure. When the young rats discover a comic about the first moon landing, they hatch a plan to build a rocket and conquer the cheese moon. Players must gather resources, build rocket parts, and train ratonauts while competing against other families to collect the most cheese and points. The game ends when a player launches their fourth rat or achieves their eighth scoring marker, with the winner being the one with the most points.

Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small offers a specialized, two-player experience derived from the popular Agricola game, focusing exclusively on the aspect of animal husbandry.

Through the Desert is a strategic board game where players guide caravans through the desert to claim oases and territory. Often compared to the classic game Go, it combines strategic planning with a visually appealing setup featuring colorful plastic camels.

New York Zoo invites players into a world where they can unleash their creativity while managing a unique animal park. Designed by the acclaimed Uwe Rosenberg, this game combines the joy of puzzling with the challenges of animal breeding. As a player, you'll embark on a journey to construct captivating animal enclosures, introduce diverse animal species, and nurture their offspring. Your choices are simple: strategically fit new enclosure tiles into your zoo or acquire new animals to enrich your exhibits. Timing is key, as you aim to maximize animal breedings and create a thriving and harmonious zoo.

Blokus Duo, also known as Travel Blokus, is a two-player version of the popular abstract strategy game Blokus. It offers a compact and travel-friendly design, perfect for on-the-go gaming sessions.

TZAAR is a compelling abstract strategy game that emphasizes the delicate balance of weakening your opponent versus strengthening your own position. With 30 pieces each, divided among Tzaars, Tzarras, and Totts, players navigate a game of tactical decisions where every move counts. The core challenge lies in managing these three distinct types of pieces, each essential to the game's strategy, as players aim to either deplete one type of the opponent's pieces or trap them in a position where they can't capture anymore.

Players arrange game pieces to gain the favor of the emperor in Okiya, also known as Niya. They can also block opponents from placing their tokens in the imperial garden to show more control.

Ancient ancestors created images on cave walls to narrate stories about their surroundings and the animals they shared them with. In Great Plains, two players compete for dominance over the plains. Using the help of spiritual animals, they navigate hills, cross lowlands, and invade each other's territory to become the tribe that survives.

Battle Sheep, formerly known as Splits, is a light-hearted yet strategic board game where players aim to spread their flock of sheep across the pasture to occupy the most territory. The game is known for its simple rules, quick gameplay, and fun theme, making it a great choice for families and casual gamers.

Players engage in an area-control game by swapping tiles from a large mandala on the table. Each player aims to mark connected areas of color as their territory. At the end, the player with the most points wins.

Quarto is an abstract strategy game that offers a unique blend of simplicity and depth. This game captures the essence of strategic thinking, wrapped in an elegant and easy-to-understand design.

Tak is a beautifully simple yet strategically deep two-player game, originally conceived by Pat Rothfuss in his novel The Wise Man's Fear and brought to life by game designer James Ernest. In Tak, players aim to build a continuous path of their pieces across the board, connecting two opposite sides. The game's elegance lies in its minimalistic ruleset which belies the rich tactical decisions it demands.

Blokus 3D, originally known as Rumis, is a spatial puzzle game where players engage in building ancient Inca structures using uniquely shaped, three-dimensional pieces. Each player aims to cleverly place their pieces next to those of the same color on the board, with the challenge of accommodating different shapes to maximize space and block opponents.

Six Making, also known as Sixth, is an abstract strategy game for two players that challenges them to build chess pieces. Players take turns placing their own pieces as pawns on the board or moving existing pieces. The objective is to create a stack of six or more pieces of the player's color on top, and the first player to achieve this wins the game.

Players aim to be the first to move one of their octagonal "dragon" towers to the opposite side of the 10x10 board. Towers move in straight lines or diagonally forward, but must follow the color of the square that their opponent moved to in the previous turn. Players will need to navigate around both their own and their opponent's towers, as blocked paths can hinder their movements.

Kulami is an abstract strategy game for two players played on various wooden tiles that are assembled randomly into a board. Players place their pieces on the tiles, and the placement of the previous stone determines the rows where the next piece can be placed. The goal is to claim as many tiles as possible by occupying the majority of fields on a tile, with bonus points awarded for completing rows or areas.

Photosynthesis is a green strategy board game where players engage in the growth and development of a forest. The game revolves around the central theme of photosynthesis, the process by which trees and plants use sunlight to produce energy.