Snakes & Lattes Chicago

2-5 players. From the creators of Exploding Kittens, FINALLY you can answer the age-old question of who would win in a fight in this delightful monster-building card game.

4 or more players. You’ll work together with your team to win a high-stakes word guessing game. But don’t make your clues too good or the other team will intercept you.

1-5 players. A roleplaying, dungeon-crawling, cooperative game of heroes vs. monsters. Descend into adventure with 20 quests for hours of playtime. Dungeons & Dragons for those that want a board game, and Gloomhaven for those that don’t want to lug around 25 lbs.

2-5 players. Created by brilliant game designer Elan Lee and popular internet comic The Oatmeal, this fast-paced card game is the biggest Kickstarter project of all time. It’s like Go Fish or Old Maid, but with kittens holding hand grenades.

This add-on to Illimat gives new Luminaries and okus tokens inspired by the Decemberists record of the same name.

Players: 1-4 A modern cooperative classic. You play scientists and doctors frantically working to stop a global outbreak of a deadly disease. Fun!

2-4 players. Explore and save a world ravaged by disease in this cinematic take on the popular cooperative game. You change the board as you go, and no two games are the same! Also, you don't need to have played season 1 to enjoy this.

2-4 players. A game about trying to become as rich as possible by acquiring endless resources (for 98% of us, this genre is called “fantasy”). If you’re into setting up long-term strategies for making sure you get more/better stuff than others, this is for you.

2 players. This is the chess-like abstract strategy game from the Kingkiller Chronicles novels. Author Patrick Rothfuss asked veteran game designer James Ernst to make a game that felt like it was a thousand years old. Play it while you wait for the 3rd book.

2-5 players. Play a railroad magnate trying to connect your cities with train routes. This is widely considered one of the best board games ever made and is great for families.

3-6 players. A perfect place to start the hobby. Includes everything you need to start playing D&D: the rules, a set of dice, an adventure, and premade characters. All you need is other players and imagination.

Made in collaboration between Chicago's Field Notes and the Chicago Board Game Cafe, this 2-pack of journals is the sweetest way to track your adventurer's development.