When people think of weird games, they most likely think of weird indie video games like Untitled Goose Game. However, video games are far from cornering the market on strange game concepts. Board games can be just as unique, just as weird, and just as controversial.
Board games can get weird in a variety of different ways. They can use weird mechanics or ask players to complete tasks they’d rather not do. Board games can also be conceptually strange, causing gamers to take a step back and wonder who would have come up with such an idea. Whatever the reason, these games excel at delivering the unexpected.
10 Wingspan tasks you with creating bird engines
Deck building games are a popular subgenre of board games that are often highly themed. For example, him DC Deck Building Game has players recruit heroes and fight supervillains. On the other hand, Wingspan asks players to create the best value engine using birds, collecting the ones they think will generate the most points.
Weather WingspanThe theme of the individual cards makes sense, like predatory birds eating smaller birds, the overall concept is weird. Imagining people competitively collecting birds, and even encouraging their birds to eat others to gain points, seems like a stretch.
9 Quelf makes you do embarrassing things
Quelf is a game perfectly designed for older children and youngsters looking for a change of pace from traditional board games. The game does its best to keep players engaged and constantly guessing what’s coming next, however it can take things too far.
Quelf seems so concerned with not being boring that he spins too far in the other direction, asking players to perform potentially embarrassing stunts. For example, one card instructs players to mummify themselves with toilet paper until another player rolls a four.
8 Throw Throw Burrito encourages players to throw the pieces at each other
Usually, a player throwing game pieces across the room at their friends would be a sign that things are going wrong in the game. Nevertheless, Throw Throw Burrito Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman not only instructs players to throw game pieces at each other, but players will find it more difficult to win without doing so.
The soft toy burritos that players throw at each other are relatively harmless, but sitting through a game where players know something is going to be thrown at them takes some getting used to. Ties are also decided by Wild West-style showdowns, where players take ten steps and then throw burritos at each other.
7 We do not test this at all Promises Pure Chaos
Playtesting is the name given to game developers who sit down and play the game they’ve created to see if it works. If the name of this game is to be believed, the developers behind We didn’t test this at all just put your untested ideas in boxes and submit them.
Players use randomly dealt cards and try to win a game that can end as quickly as it begins. There are many cards that will end the game as soon as they are played, and others introduce point systems to the game that didn’t exist before. As strange and confusing as the game sounds, it is very entertaining.
6 Donner Dinner Party takes a tragedy and turns it into a game
In the winter of 1846 and continuing into 1847, a group of travelers called the Donner Party was trapped by a heavy snowfall in Northern California. After four months, almost half of the traveling party had died, and some survivors had reportedly eaten the bodies of their companions to stay alive. Then, in 2017, someone turned the tragedy into a board game.
In the game, donner’s dinner, players take on the role of a pathfinder or secret cannibal, similar to other hidden identity games like Mafia or Werewolf. The difference is that players can feel a little strange playing a historically inaccurate version of the tragic deaths of real people.
5 Butts In Space seems to have been designed by children
Mechanically, Butts in Space: The Card Game is a relatively simple family card game. The strange elements of the game are made apparent by its title. The game focuses on evil butts in space stealing toilet paper and destroying toilet-shaped spaceships.
asses in space It’s full of cute drawings and silly cards that kids will love, like a butt with a top hat and a monocle. As strange as the concept sounds, it’s likely to provide a hilarious moment for those who can embrace a more childlike sense of humor.
4 Capital punishment is a political diatribe disguised as a game
The 1981 Board Game, Capital punishment, is an openly political game. The creators seemed much more concerned with sending a message to their players than making a game, which is reflected in the poor reviews from players online.
In Capital punishment, players win by having their prisoners sentenced to death. To make matters worse, the game’s cover art reflects an obvious political cartoon, complete with awkward racial stereotypes. It’s hard for gamers to enjoy a game when they feel like the designers are more interested in indoctrinating them than giving them a fun experience.
3 Nyctophobia makes you play blindfolded
nyctophobia is an asymmetrical game where most players try to navigate a maze while one player tries to reduce at least one of them to zero health. While this may sound pretty standard, like a board game version of dead by daylightthere is a catch.
The players trying to escape. nyctophobiathey are forced to play the game wearing dark glasses. Unable to see, they must work together using touch and communication to escape the only player who can see. The game does not shy away from trying something new and it is worth trying.
two Mr. T Game is a prequel to a cartoon you’ve never heard of
In the 1980s, there was a cartoon show about actor Mr. T who coached a gymnastics team that also solved mysteries. If that wasn’t weird enough on its own, the show was given its own Milton Bradley spin-off board game called mr t game.
One might expect the spinoff game to involve solving mysteries, but that would underestimate how weird the game really was. mr t game it turned out to be a prequel to the show and focused on the characters having to run errands and be on time for a flight. Unfortunately, no one was able to play like Mr. T.
1 The war on terror was once confiscated by the police
Board game war on terror It was always going to be controversial, mainly because the creators, Andy Tompkins and Andrew Sheerin, wanted it that way. Released in 2006, the game acted as a satirical commentary on the invasion of Iraq by the US, UK and their allies. While a board game is an unconventional medium for political satire, things only got weirder after the game’s release.
In one of the biggest controversies surrounding war on terror, the police confiscated the game from some players because the authorities said that the balaclava included in the game could be used to carry out acts of terror. When it comes to weird games, it’s hard to beat one that’s taken by the police.
