The boom in ‘designer’ board games has been a marvellous boon for this tabletop gaming world of ours. The expanding market has spawned innovative, beautiful, tactile tabletop games covering every theme you can think of, from history, to strategy, to social deception, and, of course, war board games. Such boxed beauties can, however, be taxing on the wallet – so when Amazon’s yearly discount disco comes around, we like to take the opportunity to bring you the best Prime Day board game deals.
Every year, you’ll be sure to see some stonking Prime Day board game deals, just waiting to be snapped up – and this year is no different. After all, in our experience, impulse buying awesome board games is not necessarily a one-off sort of a deal. And we’ve got the stuffed shelves and shame piles to prove it.
One reminder: you won’t be able to nab those Prime Day lovelies unless you’re an Amazon Prime member, so if you’re not yet in the club, you can start a free trial right now, before the event.
First things first – what is this Prime Day thing anyway, and why should you care?
When is Prime Day 2022?
Prime day deals start on July 12, and the event ends on July 13. That means you can already pick up some of the best Amazon board game deals of the year!
Here are the best board game deals we can unearth right this very second:
Calico – 45% off
In our list of the most relaxing things in the world, ‘board games’, ‘patchwork blankets’ and ‘cats’ all feature highly – so a combination of all three would have to work pretty hard not to be a winning formula.
AEG’s well-loved Calico most certainly is a winner, with a super-accessible mix of drafting and pattern-puzzling that has a lot in common with our hall-of-famer Azul (but somehow manages to be even cuter). At 45% discount, you should get your paws on it immediately.
Bunny Kingdom – 45% off
One of Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield’s more surprising brainchildren, Bunny Kingdom manages to merge card drafting, area control, and colourful plastic rabbits to make a top-hole strategy board game that even newbies can get the hang of.
Pick it up now for nearly half off, and enter a new ear-a of fun.
Star Wars: Legion starter set – 48% off
The short version: Star Wars: Legion is Warhammer 40k, but with Darth Vader in. That really should be enough reason to snap up its excellent original trilogy-era starter set at 48% discount, to be honest.
The longer version: Legion is much more interesting than just a Star Wars-flavoured Warhammer clone; it’s a distinctive, skirmish-based miniature wargame with a tightly-designed rule set and a passionate player base all of its own. Also, stormtroopers.
King of Tokyo Monster Box – 40% off
You’ve heard of King of Tokyo already, we know you have. A paragon of “more fun than it has any right to be”, this game is a colourful, bombastic riot of cartoon nonsense that’s ridiculously quick to teach and smooth to play.
We got excited when the Monster Box version was first announced last April, as it’s loaded with ten playable monsters, 77 power cards, 76 evolution cards and a stack of other bits too. At 40% off there’s no excuse not to get stomping.
Diplomacy – 65% OFF
OK, so you’re after a serious, hardcore board game night, with complex plans, backroom deals, alliances made and broken, tenuous truces collapsing into total war – the whole thing. Don’t panic; we’ve got you.
Avalon Hill’s classic Diplomacy is a two-to-seven-player political epic that uses a pre-WW1 map of Europe, no fewer than 315 game pieces, and approximately six entire hours to create a heavy duty experience offered by precious few mainstream historical board games. With a whopping 65% discount, we think it’s time you gave it a shot.
Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens sells itself as “a card game for people who are into kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats” – which honestly covers just about everybody on Earth. And given how easy this game is to pick up and enjoy, it’s a pretty fair summary.
This is a Russian-roulette-style game where you draw and play cards, all while avoiding the lethal exploding kitten cards that’ll eliminate you from the game. You won’t have to take any risks with the price, though. On Amazon Prime Day, you can get 30% off the original game if you’re in the UK – and a whopping 79% off the party pack if you’re in the US.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
A solid member of our best board games guide (and others like our funny board games and games like Among Us guides), One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a quick but chaotic party game everyone should try.
Everyone is assigned a role, and the secret team of Werewolves choose a villager to slaughter in the night. Once everyone wakes to find a body, you must all point your best accusing fingers and vote to kill the person you think is responsible. You’ve five minutes to make your case, and your life is on the line. Naturally, chaos ensues – and you can get all that with a 20% discount (or 6% in the UK) this Amazon Prime Day.
Jaipur
Jaipur is another card game that we at Wargamer have recommended time and time again – just see our best card games for adults and best couples’ board games guides as evidence. A colourful and deceptively simple card game, Jaipur transports you to its titular city and tasks you with earning the most money at a market. It’s a classic yet affordable game that’s only made more affordable by the added Amazon Prime Day (US) discount.
Other Amazon prime day board game deals
Check out some more Amazon Prime Day board game deals here:
We’ll keep adding our top board game deals from this year’s sale as it progresses, though, so keep an eye on this page!
