Prime Day has arrived for 2026, and with it comes one of the best times of the year to restock your board games shelf with some brand new additions. From heavy war games to party games that are sure to delight the crowd during your next shindig, here are some of our top picks from Amazon's sale so far.
Feel free to go on a scroll through all of our top picks, or learn more about each specific board game I’ve picked out below.
With its elegant pattern-matching design, Azul is an easy game to pick up but still involves plenty of strategy. That combo makes it the perfect game to take with you to the coffee shop or bust out during your lunch at work.
The basic premise is players will take turns drafting colorful tiles from the board to fill up rows on their board, scoring points as you go, with the goal of having the most points when the end is triggered. Matches only take around 15 minutes, making it tough to resist setting up for “just one more game”. Just like our review says, there is little doubt that Azul has earned its place as a modern classic.
One of the newer games on this list, The Lord of the Rings Trick-Taking games offer a cooperative spin on the classic card game genre by letting you and up to three others tackle the tale of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring. The game is composed of more than a dozen “chapters” that tell the story of the first novel, each of which pose new challenges to players as you work to fulfill unique win conditions. With amazing card art that looks almost like stained glass and a small box that can easily fit in your bag, this first entry in the trilogy “offers a lot of pleasure in a small box” according to our reviewer. This is easily one of the best Lord of the Rings board games of all time.
Finding its way onto a number of our “Best of” lists, including “Best Strategy Games and “Best Classic Board Games,” Catan (formerly Settlers of Catan) was a pivotal game in the tabletop world. It marks what many would consider the start of the modern era we still find ourselves in.
In CATAN, players will work to gather resources, build roads, and settle towns in a race to claim 10 victory points. While it seems calm on its surface, there is a surprising amount of strategy and elements like the movable rubber pawn that cane make things a little cut-throat. There's a reason that Catan is considered a modern classic in the tabletop world, and has earned its place on any board game shelf.
Few game manage to utilize an IP quite as well as Fantasy Flight Games did with Star Wars: Rebellion. In this 2-4 player game (it should really only be played at either 2 or 4), you will take on the role of either the commander of the Rebellion or the Empire.
Rebellion is a galactic-spanning game of cat-and-mouse where you will replay your own version of the films. The Empire works to sniff out the location of the Rebel’s secret base, destroying planets with their massive Death Stars and Star Destroyers, while the Rebels have to hold out as long as they can, sabotaging and completing missions to turn the tide. Both sides will have access to a wealth of awesome-looking miniatures of both space and ground troops, special characters with unique powers, and a host of other tricks to play. Star Wars: Rebellion is one of the best Star Wars board games out there and one of the best war board games too.
Don’t let the adorable critters and Redwall-esque aesthetic fool you - Everdell is strategy-dense engine-building game that can really make you think. You and up to three others will take turn recruiting furry villages into your part of town, gathering resources, and constructing buildings to help score points. With each shifting of the seasons, you will get more workers to send out to help you out, all to help prepare you for the coming winter.
In addition to the almost painterly look of the 150+ cards, Everdell also features a large tree that the board sits around, really giving the whole experience some great table presence. If you find yourself enamoured with the base game, the series has gone on to get a wealth of expansions and other standalone games that may be worth your time too, so be sure to check out our buying guide to get more details on what’s out there!
With some lovely artwork, Dixit is one of those games that is perfect to reach for when you are having a party. Playing anywhere from 3-6 players, each round, a single player picks a card from their hand then uses words or sounds to express a general idea they glean from that card before placing it face down. Everyone else will then take a card from their hand they feel matches that feeling. Then, everyone shuffles and reveals all of the cards, with each player secretly guessing which card is the one from the person who started the round and earning points if they’re correct. Dixit is a bit of an abstract and silly game, which really helps it lean into the party game vibe.
Building rails from coast to coast, Ticket to Ride is at its heart a set-collection game where players will attempt to build lines of train tracks to connect cities together and complete goal cards to earn points. Another modern classic that has seen a plethora of alternate versions and expansions over the years, Ticket to Ride is the perfect family game that plays just as well at two players as it does at its max count of five. With only one or two trains able to claim a specific path, it can make for some great (and occasionally mean) interaction and moments between players, but it’s still a great time. The neat little train miniatures that mark your paths are also a really cute touch.
Adopting the same great gameplay of the competitive Unmatched series (that we ranked as some of the best 2-player board games of last year), the Unmatched Adventure series is a cooperative romp where players work together to take out powerful bosses that creep around the board.
The latest features the heroes in half-shells, the Ninja Turtles, with each turtle featuring their own unique miniature and decks of cards, as you fight to take out the foot clan, Shredder, Krang and a handful of other classic TMNT goons. Then, once you’re done saving New York, you can pit your favorite turtles against one another in typical Unmatched fashion, or pit them against any of the other wild characters that Restoration Games have released. Can Raph take on Bruce Lee? Or what about Donatello vs. Sherlock Holmes? And Adventures works with other Unmatched sets too, so you can find out Houdini has the chops to go toe-to-toe with Shredder!
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
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