Legacy board games are affected, at least in some way, by previous games that are played, meaning they are shaped and changed through time. Some of these games have more permanent and drastic effects than others, but they are all fantastic games.
My City is a tile-placement game at its core, with each player needing to slot different tetromino-shaped buildings into their verdant pasture to avoid losing points. The layout, order, and color of the buildings are significant, and the building that everyone must place will get revealed at random one at a time.
The legacy element in My City manifests in six different secret envelopes that get unlocked as you and your dedicated group play through the game. What starts off as simple will quickly turn into complicated and tedious as new mechanics and features are drip-fed into the game. Also, whoever wins and loses in certain matches will change certain aspects of the game for the rest of the campaign.
For a wonderfully concise yet complex tile-placement game, My City should definitely be the next game in your collection.
I typically struggle to recommend Gloomhaven to anyone thanks to my strenuous relationship with the game, but Jaws of the Lion presents a much cheaper and stand-alone expansion that is undeniably Gloomhaven and undeniably awesome.
The legacy elements of Gloomhaven and Jaws of the Lion are essentially the same, with your choices unlocking and disregarding different scenarios and missions as you progress through the campaign. Although there may not be as many boxes or envelopes to open as there is in Gloomhaven, the legacy elements are still as impactful.
Adopt the role of one of the four mercenaries as you fight tooth and nail through disastrously difficult campaign scenarios. Just ensure you always believe in your choices. There’s little room for regret here.
Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends Of The West has everything you may have come to expect from a standard legacy title. It’s got a campaign that stretches over 12 games with mechanics, rules, and additions that will unlock as you play through.
If you’re a fan of Ticket to Ride, then the legacy edition should be a natural next step. As you play, more and more of North America is opened up to you and the other players, to allow for more railways and connections and larger games.
Once you’ve completed Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends Of The West, you’ll get to play more Ticket to Ride with a map that’s unique to your players’ efforts.
The Rise of Queensdale presents a monumental game of development, as all players are vying to build up their portion of Queensdale Valley.
The legacy features of The Rise of Queensdale are staggering, as not only will your portion of land and dice become upgraded, but you’ll gain access to new types of actions and different specialists that will help you out. The game only expands and becomes incredibly satisfying to work with.
It truly feels like you’re developing your land in The Rise of Queensdale, and I can’t quite get enough of it.
Risk Legacy takes one of the most popular wargames of all time, and adds a whole lot of personalization and generational consequences.
It may play as a standard risk for the most part, but with the ability to found cities, name continents, permanently upgrade territories and more, every game of Risk Legacy will build up different advantages for different players.
You don’t need the same player group either to keep enjoying Risk Legacy, although it would be recommended as there are secret decks of cards that can only be unlocked after specific objectives have been met, and I’m sure no one would want to miss those.
For a game about unearthing treasures, Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated is a treasure trove itself with loads of boxes and envelopes and secrets just waiting to be unleashed upon you and your friends.
The campaign of Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated goes over at least ten games, and at the end of it you’ll be left with a unique Clank! game that’s been affected by the legacy aspects of the campaign, with things permanently destroyed and permanently marked.
A semi-cooperative legacy game will allow for betrayals that have generational effects that may come to haunt those players in games to come.
Betrayal Legacy streamlines the Betrayal game process and adds effects and abilities that get passed down the generations of those who keep exploring the haunted house on the hill.
This game requires a dedicated group as you and other players will be playing as one of five families who are obsessed with exploring the house of madness. Investigate the rooms to uncover the secrets of its origins as you betray your friends.
With secret decks and unlockable features, the winding mysteries of Betrayal Legacy will take everyone down surprising and shocking stories. I hope you’re ready.
The last thing you want is likely another Pandemic board game, however, the Pandemic Legacy series is a must-try, regardless of general Pandemic fatigue.
There are a few entries into the Pandemic Legacy series of board games, but they are all separate stories in a connected world, so you can play in any order. Pandemic Legacy Season 0 is the finale, which is why it would stand as my recommendation out of the three of them as it is a shockingly good game.
Whether you’ve had enough of the Pandemic system or have yet to try it out, Pandemic Legacy offers the best experience.
If you and your group isn’t shy to engage in a little roleplay, then The King’s Dilemma may be the perfect legacy board game for you.
The King’s Dilemma will require a dedicated group, as each player will be representing a different house with varying backgrounds and ideologies. The core meat of this game is in the discussions and constant consequences for different allegiances and voting decisions.
The more players the merrier for this colossal roleplaying and diplomatic experience. Just make sure that they all enjoy opening up secret envelopes, for there’s a lot of that.
Oath is what I consider to be simply the best legacy board game out there. It’s an asymmetrical war game with some of the greatest mechanics I’ve seen so far. With one player being the Chancellor and the other players being Exiles (or loyal citizens!), the usurpation or domination of the lands will affect the game to its very core.
The legacy elements in Oath are rather dramatic. The locations players can visit will change, as regions are conquered and liberated. Depending on who wins, cards are removed and added from the decks and buildings are constructed and destroyed. The loyalties and states of each role will change through the courses of the games, making the start of each game wonderfully different.
What’s great about Oath is that it can be easily reverted and that it doesn’t require the same players. As games get played with different groups and players, everyone has the chance to partake in the history of the game, to suffer the consequences of games past and make an imprint of their own.
With this extensive list of the greatest legacy board games available, you can make all your future games much more interesting.
