Throughout this year I have been talking about some amazing board games ranging from little small box games at under £10 to fill any stocking at Christmas, to your big box, board game hobbyist experiences coming in at £50 plus.
The main takeaway from this has been that no matter the price there are incredible board games out there for anyone to enjoy, whatever your budget and level of experience, which highlights the incredible versatility the hobby affords.
In my final Great Games feature (for now at least), I wanted to go through some incredible games that really are a collectors item. Board games that you certainly can’t buy on a whim, that you can’t neatly fit into a snug bit of shelf space, and that are more than likely going to take an entire day to play. But what a day it will be.
Yes, this time I am going to go through 5 great board games over £100, the special purchase games that you save up to buy and become a glorious unboxing experience when it arrives.
I have said throughout this feature that you don’t have to spend loads to get an incredible board game and its true, these games won’t be for everyone, but if you find you’re really into the hobby and want to treat yourself to something special, then these 5 games might be the ones for you.
All prices correct as of 13.10.25.
1. Return to Dark Tower
We will start this big box list with a very big box and an even bigger tower, with a sequel to the 1981 cult classic board game, Return to Dark Tower.
I am not personally familiar with the original 80s game, but I know it had an incredible amount of love, which is why many were excited for this sequel released in 2022 by the kings of restoring and tweaking old classics, publisher Restoration Games.
Either competitive or co-operatively, you and your fellow heroes will be going up against the ominous Dark Tower, in a strategy game which features classic board game mechanisms like engine building and resource management, spliced in with modern innovations including an in game companion app to add more depth and flavour to the game.
You will be gathering resources, slaying monsters, going on epic quests, and ultimately building up your strength for an epic second act where you have a chance to face the tower and hopefully defeat the evil that lurks within.
All this is lovely and a huge amount of fun, but where Return to Dark Tower really shines, and where it justifies its epic price tag, is the gorgeous tower that will stand proudly in the middle of your game table.
Yes you shouldn’t judge a game by its components, but its hard not to talk about this game without mesmerizing at the quality of the tower in front of you. Its table presence really is its selling point, it helps you and the other players fully immerse yourself into the world. The strategic gameplay is excellent, the addition of the app makes setup, teach and play much easier, but it’s the big, beautiful, daunting Dark Tower facing you that really makes this game a must buy for anyone into the hobby, whether you’re familiar with the original or not.
2. Nemesis
Staying with the dark and brooding theme, the next game on my list is currently one of my favourites, and a game that I used to be quite sceptical about, Nemesis.
Nemesis has had a huge amount of hype and aura surrounding it ever since I got into the hobby a few years ago. It was one of the first games I heard about when I was looking to start my collection, providing this incredible horror experience and consistently being on people’s top 10 game lists.
However, the sheer size of it, the complicated rules, and of course the cost, did put me off ever really thinking I would add it to my own collection.
Then my birthday this year, my wife surprised me by getting me a copy, and now I can’t stop thinking about playing it any chance I get.
All my reservations are still there, it is huge, there is a steep learning curve, and it is also bloody difficult, but I adore it.
Its shamelessness at essentially being Alien the board game without calling itself that is firstly, hilarious, but secondly incredible thematic. It does Alien without calling itself as such. It feels like you’re on the Nostromo facing impossible odds and scratching and clawing your way to survival.
The interactions and story’s that you create each turn with your fellow crew makes every round feel cinematic. The betrayal and traitor mechanics when reading about it felt kind of out of place, but when you play it, it feels so alive and story driven, with the wonderful short story the game comes with it to explain why you might have a traitor amongst you only adding more flavour.
And then there is the wonderful Invader (the Alien essentially) figurines, which makes Nemesis come alive. When the Queen is pulled and lands on the space you’re in, you will feel like Ripley trying to escape its clawed clutches as it broods over your tiny little human miniature.
With each character playing differently and the objectives you’re trying to do potentially changing each game, there is just so much to Nemesis that at just over £100 you start feeling like you’re getting a bargain.
I’ve not won a game yet, I’ve died early in the game to simply then have to just spectate, and been horribly betrayed, and I don’t care. I love it, and urge anyone that can get a copy to treat themselves, maybe this Christmas, and give Nemesis a try. The hype is real people.
3. Dune: War For Arrakis
Two of the biggest and best board games of all time are War of the Ring, and Star Wars: Rebellion, and in 2024 a new two player asymmetric war game was released in Dune: War for Arrakis, which takes the template of those two behemoths and sets it within the Dune universe.
This two player big box game will have you either play as the conniving Harkonnen, backed by the imperial house Corrino, or you will be House Atreides, battling with the support of the local Fremen, for control as in all Dune games for the incredible resource Spice, as well as dominion over the desert planet Arrakis.
If you have played Rebellion or War of the Ring you will know the format, incredible miniatures, long sessions playing epic cards and events, tactically manoeuvring your troops and having battles using dice in typical wargame fashion, and the ability to tell your own unique stories of these incredible worlds every time you play it.
If you’re a fan of the Dune films or books Dune: War For Arrakis could really appeal to you. The systems that were designed for War of the Ring and Rebellion are really smooth and suitably epic, and fits perfectly in Frank Huberts fantasy world. And if you’re a fan of those systems already, perhaps you just want a new world to explore.
The game is big, imposing, and bold in its approach and again like a lot of the games on this list looks incredible on your table while playing. While I think Dune: Imperium is possibly a better game from a mechanics stand point (and half the price), I do think if you’re really wanting to invest time and energy into the Dune world, than War for Arrakis is probably the better thematic game of the two.
Just stick on the Dune soundtrack, order yourself a cheeky takeaway and get washed away in all that spice, with an incredible game of Dune: War For Arrakis.
4. Blood on the Clocktower
There is no game out there that I can recommend more, despite the fact that I do not own, nor have played, than Blood on the Clocktower, The Pandemonium Institute’s social deduction phenomenon.
A game that feels like it will be on my wish list for ever more, Blood on the Clocktower takes everything amazing about the television show The Traitors, and turns it up way past 11.
Essentially you and your fellow players will all be given roles within the town of Ravenswood Bluff, roles that all have unique powers to help solve a murder mystery. Some of you will be Townsfolk, or on the Good team, trying to work out who the evil person or people are that are going around killing innocent villagers. Others will be demons, or minions to said demon, the evil team, who can sow discord amongst the townsfolk, hide among them, and each night the demon can kill an opposing player.
So good needs to find the demon character and banish them from the town, whereas evil needs to appear good while murdering their way through Ravenswood. So yes, its traitors and faithful if you’ve seen the show, but with a lot more powers and ways to either solve the mystery rather than just vibes based, or as the evil characters, actually clever ways to appear like you’re on the good team.
Honestly all you will need to do to see if this game is for you or not is go onto YouTube and watch a playthrough of it, either an in person game or over Zoom. I’ve watched hundreds of hours of games now and I never get bored of it.
The main reason I don’t own it surprisingly isn’t the rather inflated price tag (its on this list after all). No, it’s the rather inflated player count that is Blood on the Clocktower’s biggest draw back.
For a proper game of it you’re probably going to need at least 8 people, if not more. 1 of those, will need to be the storyteller, who runs the session. As such you also require the space and time to actually play it. Consequently, this is not an easy game to get to the table, in fact it’s a huge undertaking, and I am not sure I could ever realistically get a game of it going if I did own it.
BUT, I still find myself tempted. Maybe I can be more social, maybe I can force it upon my work board game group, because Blood on the Clocktower honestly looks like the most fun game to play there is. I love social deduction, and smaller alternatives like Avalon and Secret Hitler are a great deal of fun, but Blood on the Clocktower feels like its just perfected the formula, and I really hope through sheer force of will, I will get a chance to play it myself one day.
5. ISS Vanguard
The last game on this list, and currently the most expensive, is ISS Vanguard, published by Awaken Realms and released in 2022.
ISS Vanguard is a cooperative campaign game, as you and up to three other players can go on a sprawling Sci Fi adventure with a mega story to complete that can take many sessions to finish.
Feeling like you’re on missions straight out of Star Trek, the story that ISS Vanguard takes you on features potentially pivotal player choices, huge twists and turns, and branching storylines which means if you finish the game, you could restart it and have a whole different adventure.
The game like any huge campaign can be quite overwhelming when you start, with lots of rules and things to learn within the two main stages of the game, the ship phase and the planet landing phase.
But like Return to Dark Tower before it, ISS Vanguard benefits from modern touches like its app assisted gameplay which also works to help tell the epic story that unfolds. And that is where the magic lies in this game. The gameplay is good and engaging, but it’s the story that you and your friends get to experience and almost tell your own way that makes it this science fiction opera, bellowing onto your game table.
The price will sadly put some people off, and with any big purchase I would always recommend you do your research before buying, but any sci fi fans out there need to at least do some digging into ISS Vanguard, as there isn’t a original game out there like it.
And if you and your regular game group love a narrative campaign, and are perhaps on the lookout for something fresh to play, ISS Vanguard should be at the top of your list.
