3 of our top 10 board games are super-cheap in Amazon's Black Friday sales

Save up to 47% on fantastic board games in Amazon's early Black Friday deals – including Ticket to Ride, Pandemic and Splendor

Splendor board game laid out on table ready to play
(Image credit: Future)
Matthew Bolton
By
published
in Deals

Now is the perfect time to pick up a great board game, whether you're looking to buy your gifts early, or just want something to while away the winter hours with family or friends. And the best Black Friday deals have kindly provided you with the perfect opportunity: Amazon has up to 47% off a selection of board games, including three games that feature in the top of our guide to the best board games!

• Splendor board game: was £33.65, now £17.99 at Amazon
• Pandemic board game: was £33.54, now £19.56 at Amazon
• Ticket to Ride board game: was £30.95, now £23.91 at Amazon
• 7 Wonders: Duel board game: was £26.10, now £15.71 at Amazon

Those are the four I wanted to specifically call out from Amazon's sale, because they cover a great range of game types – including the fact that 7 Wonders: Duel is specifically a two-player game. Meanwhile, Splendor, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride are all in my guide to the top board games, and play with 2-4 players (or 2-5 in Ticket to Ride's case).

Splendor is maybe my top pick here at this price. Yes, it has the biggest discount, but it's also such a simple and satisfying game to play. In it, you use gems (represented by weighty poker-type chips) to buy mines that produce more gems, and you then use more gems to buy even better mines that give you victory points. The game just builds and builds – early on, you're carefully saving to get just a single mine, and then at the end you're combining ridiculous piles of gems to take whatever you want. And this creates a smart sprint to the finish line that can be tight and exciting. You can read more in our full Splendor review.

Pandemic is the only game here that's cooperative, so is ideal for groups or families where competition maybe gets too heated. You're all scientists and aid workers trying to prevent the spread of four diseases across the world and find the cures. Each of you has a unique power to contribute to this fight, but the twist is that the same resources that make it easier to fight the outbreaks are also the resources you need to find cures, so you have to decide how best to use them…

Ticket to Ride is the game that kids might enjoy most here, because you get to build train lines across America from colour plastic train pieces. It's extremely simple to play: on your turn, you can either pick up resource cards that enable you to claim tracks; you can claim tracks; or you can pick up new points cards that tell you where to lay tracks. You only do one per turn, so the game goes round the table faster than a TGV. 

Splendor board game: was £33.65, now £17.99 at Amazon

Splendor board game: was £33.65, now £17.99 at Amazon
Save 47% on one of T3's favourite board games, which has you competing with other players to buy the best gem mines? How do you buy gem mines? With gems, of course! The game is a constant upward spiral of becoming richer and richer with gems, represented by satisfying weighted poker chips.

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Pandemic board game: was £33.54, now £19.56 at Amazon

Pandemic board game: was £33.54, now £19.56 at Amazon
Work together to save the world from dangerous diseases! And save 40% at Amazon while you're at it. Pandemic is basically a game of holding back the tide – treating continuously outbreaking disease while also trying to find a cure before time runs out… but you can't do both at the same time. It's a brilliant puzzle to try to solve together.

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Ticket to Ride board game: was £30.95, now £23.91 at Amazon

Ticket to Ride board game: was £30.95, now £23.91 at Amazon
Build snaking train lines across America, taking the tracks you need before someone else can reserve them. This is fast, fun and colourful game of trying to connect cities, and has been a deserved best-seller for years. It's an ideal family game, and plays up to 5 people. And it's 25% off!

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7 Wonders: Duel board game: was £26.10, now £15.71 at Amazon

7 Wonders: Duel board game: was £26.10, now £15.71 at Amazon
This two-player game has you building a civilisation out of cards, and engaging in a constant tug of war with your opponent to best them in different areas. You both draw your cards from the same pyramid in the middle, meaning anything on of you takes is denied to the other… but also may open up new opportunities for your opponent. It's a really rich game to dive into, and is 40% off right now!

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T3's guides to the Black Friday sales and deals

Matthew Bolton
Matthew Bolton

Matt is T3's former AV and Smart Home Editor (UK), master of all things audiovisual, overseeing our TV, speakers and headphones coverage. He also covered smart home products and large appliances, as well as our toys and games articles. He's can explain both what Dolby Vision IQ is and why the Lego you're building doesn't fit together the way the instructions say, so is truly invaluable. Matt has worked for tech publications for over 10 years, in print and online, including running T3's print magazine and launching its most recent redesign. He's also contributed to a huge number of tech and gaming titles over the years. Say hello if you see him roaming the halls at CES, IFA or Toy Fair. Matt now works for our sister title TechRadar.

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