The best games where you can take loans 🏦 2026

Players take on the role of great rulers from the past to build their own ancient city. Each round, players invest gold to construct tiles that enhance their city’s economy. There are five building types that yield resources, helping the city grow, while monuments and wonder tiles provide victory points but require all your gold. Once a player reaches the maximum population, they are declared the winner of the game.

In Architects of the West Kingdom, set against the backdrop of the late Carolingian Empire around 850 AD, players step into the roles of royal architects. Tasked with constructing important buildings and advancing the construction of the Archbishop's cathedral, this game uniquely combines resource management, worker placement, and moral choices into a rich strategic tableau. Players vie for the King's favor and maintain their noble status in a world where virtue and vice coexist.

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game and a sequel to the 2007 game Brass. It immerses players in the world of industrial revolution entrepreneurs in Birmingham between 1770-1870.

Manila is an engaging and speculative board game for 3-5 players, centered around the bustling world of maritime trade. Players take on the role of investors, speculating on and betting against a variety of goods shipments – jade, ginseng, silk, and nutmeg – as they make their precarious journey along sea routes to Manila. The game is a blend of strategy, risk, and luck, with the fate of each shipment ultimately being decided by dice rolls.

The Royal Monstrological Society includes the most renowned experts in monster studies. Each year, only one new member is allowed to join, and applicants must compete to capture the most extraordinary monsters they can find. Players collect cards to capture and display exotic monsters, hire talented assistants, and pursue secret goals, earning points through monster exhibitions, achieving objectives, and collecting crowns over four seasons. The player with the most profitable and spectacular carnival at the end wins!

London (Second Edition) is a refined version of a classic board game that caters to players who enjoy strategic planning and city-building. Set in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London, players are tasked with the ambitious goal of reconstructing the city. This game challenges players to balance the complexities of urban development, financial management, and social responsibility.

Railways of the World, initially released as Railroad Tycoon, is a grand-scale board game where players build and manage their own railroad empire. This 2009 edition revitalizes the original with several improvements and expanded features.

Players participate in an auction game where colorful dice are auctioned based on a random roll. Winning bidders place the dice on the board, and once a section has seven dice, it is locked and cannot receive more. Players can borrow a limited amount of money each round, but they must repay loans with interest at the end of the game, where they tally their property values to determine the winner.

Brass: Lancashire is a compelling economic strategy game set during the industrial revolution in Lancashire. The game chronicles the story of competing cotton entrepreneurs and requires players to develop, build, and expand their industries and networks to capitalize on the growing demand for iron, coal, and cotton.

Ponzi Scheme plunges players into the shadowy world of financial deception, inspired by the infamous scam run by Charles Ponzi in 1919. As ambitious fraudsters, you'll engage in the delicate art of attracting investors to fund nonexistent ventures, promising them outrageously high returns. The game becomes a balancing act of acquiring funds and managing the ever-increasing dividends owed, all while attempting to outmaneuver your fellow scammers. The objective is clear yet challenging: avoid bankruptcy at all costs and emerge as the mastermind behind the most lucrative sham corporation.

From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Pyramids of Egypt and the Greek Parthenon, builders face a range of challenges. Players must don their foreman attire and make key decisions about hiring workers, managing resources, and purchasing tools or slaves. Completing buildings earns points based on various traits, while strategic use of workers and additional actions can lead to becoming the greatest builder of all time.

Unfair is a strategic and competitive board game where players compete to build the most impressive theme park. The game involves a mix of creativity, strategy, and a bit of mischief as you navigate through the competitive world of theme park management.

Container returns in a Jumbo edition to celebrate its 10th anniversary. With large ships and realistic containers, building or destroying your vibrant economy is even more enjoyable. Players must manage factories and warehouses, ship goods, and navigate a player-driven market while focusing on maximizing profits and adapting strategies as needed.

Le Havre is a strategic board game that simulates harbor management, focusing on resource distribution, building construction, and economic development.

At the Gates of Loyang is a trading and farming game set in ancient China, where players focus on producing and selling goods, while utilizing the help of various assistants to boost their income and efficiency.

Players navigate their boats in areas determined by the cards they draw, aiming to be part of a capture team with nearby boats. Sometimes, a player takes on the role of the "Flying Dutchman," able to reach more locations but vanishing once a capture happens. Additionally, players can position themselves as the main trader during a conquest, allowing them to pay surrounding boats while ultimately earning more money by the end of the game.

Steam is an engaging railroad-themed strategy game where players focus on building railroads and delivering goods across a dynamic network of tracks and stations. As players work to construct tracks, upgrade towns, and optimize their trains, they strive to complete the most profitable deliveries.

Age of Steam transports players back to the pioneering days of U.S. railroad expansion, offering a strategic gaming experience centered around building and operating a railroad empire.

Homesteaders is a unique board game that offers a fresh and engaging experience for players. With its distinctive gameplay and innovative mechanics, it stands out in the world of board games.

Age of Industry is Martin Wallace's refined take on his earlier game, Brass: Lancashire, focusing on the transformative era of the Industrial Revolution. Players become industrial magnates, racing to develop factories, mines, and transportation networks, leveraging steam power to outmaneuver competitors. The game distills the essence of Brass into a more accessible format, offering a vast strategic landscape governed by regionally color-coded cards that provide flexibility while still constraining choices.

Automobile is a strategic board game that transports players into the dynamic and competitive world of the early 20th-century U.S. auto industry. Designed for 3-5 players, the game intricately simulates the challenges and decisions faced by automobile manufacturers during this historic period.

Prêt-à-Porter immerses players in the cutthroat world of fashion, blending economic strategy with the glitz of fashion shows. In this game, players manage their own clothing companies, striving for dominance in high-stakes fashion events. It's known for being one of the most intense and competitive games, where money is a powerful tool. Players work to expand their companies by opening new branches, hiring staff like Designers, Models, and Accountants, and signing contracts to boost profits and capabilities.

In Crystal Palace, players are transported back to the vibrant atmosphere of London in 1851, at the dawn of the first World Fair. Here, nations compete not with military might but with the power of innovation and influence, showcasing spectacular inventions and securing the support of notable figures from the era. This dice-placement game stands out by allowing players to set the values of their dice at the start of each round, presenting a strategic dilemma between aiming high for better outcomes and managing the cost of ambition.

Players take on the role of private investors aiming to build stations across Tokyo and create a shared network. The game revolves around worker placement, allowing players to walk and travel by metro to establish stations, invest in rail lines, and expand their actions by acquiring additional action tokens. With elements of route planning and territory control, it introduces a strong economic twist to the Tokyo series.

Grand Cru represents the best locations for a winemaker to create and cultivate wine. Players strive to operate new vineyards in prime areas while managing their finances wisely, as starting a winery can be challenging. The game concludes when the first player pays off all their loans, revealing who has the most profitable vineyard.

Cashflow 101 is a serious game designed by investor and author Robert Kiyosaki to help players learn fundamental financial strategies and accounting principles. It features two tracks: the "Rat Race," where players progress by rolling one die, and the "Fast Track," which requires rolling two dice. Players manage their finances through player sheets, selecting starting careers and tracking changes as they engage in various transactions.

Players take on the role of oil barons in the booming 19th-century oil industry. They explore oil fields, bid for oil rights, and build drilling platforms, tankers, trains, and refineries. The goal is to deliver more barrels of oil to the continents than opponents while accumulating more shares and money over seven rounds of play.

Players manage up to four factories in late 18th-century England, aiming to possess the most valuable stock portfolio. To achieve this, they need to raise their stock value, hire workers, and potentially replace them with machines to increase production. Each action influences their strategy, whether maintaining output across all factories or focusing on fewer while enhancing their capabilities. After several rounds, the player with the highest value of stocks wins, emphasizing strategic market engagement and responses to opponents.