When people think of weird games, their thoughts most likely go to weird indie video games like Untitled Goose Game. However, video games are far from conquering the market on strange game concepts. Board games can be just as niche, just as weird, and just as controversial.
Board games can get weird in a number of ways. They can use strange mechanics or ask players to perform tasks they’d rather not do. Board games can also be conceptually strange, leaving players to step back and wonder who would come up with such an idea. Whatever the reason, these games excel at delivering the unexpected.
10 Wingspan tasks you perform when creating Bird Engines
Deck-building games are a popular subgenre of board games that are often very thematic. For example, The DC Deck-Building Game let players recruit heroes and fight super villains. On the other hand, wingspan asks players to create the most valuable engine using birds, and collect the one they think will bring the most points.
While wingspanThe theme for the individual cards makes sense, like raptors eating smaller birds, the overall concept is strange. Imagining people collecting birds competitively and even encouraging their birds to eat others to score points feels like a stretch.
9 Quelf makes you do embarrassing things
Quelf is a game designed perfectly for older kids and young teens looking for a change of pace from traditional board games. The game does its best to keep players interested and constantly guessing what comes next, but it can go a bit too far.
Quelf seems so preoccupied with not being boring that it swings too far in the other direction and asks players to perform potentially embarrassing stunts. For example, a 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 to his friends would be a sign that the game is going badly. However, Throw Throw Burrito Matthew Inman of the Oatmeal not only instructs players to throw game pieces at each other, but players will have a harder time winning without doing so.
The squishy toy burritos players throw at each other are relatively harmless, but it takes some getting used to sitting down to a game where players know something is being thrown at them. Ties are also decided by wild west showdowns, where players take ten passes and then toss the burritos at each other.
7 We haven’t tested this at all Promises pure chaos
Playtesting is the name for when game developers sit down and play the game they created to see if it works. If the name of this game is to be believed, the developers behind We have not tested this at all just put their untested ideas in boxes and ship them.
Players use randomly dealt cards and try to win a game that can end as quickly as it starts. There are plenty of cards that end the game as soon as they are played, and others introduce point systems into the game that didn’t exist before. As weird and confusing as the game sounds, it’s highly entertaining.
6 Donner Dinner Party takes tragedy and turns it into a game
In the winter of 1846 and in 1847, a group of travelers called the Donner Party became trapped by heavy snowfall in Northern California. After four months, nearly half of the tour group had died, and some survivors had reportedly eaten the bodies of their companions to survive. Then, in 2017, someone turned tragedy into a board game.
In the game, Donner dinner, players take on the role of a pioneer or secret cannibal, similar to other hidden identity games like Mafia or Werewolf. The difference is that players might feel a little weird playing a historically inaccurate version of the tragic deaths of real people.
5 Butts In Space looks like it was designed by kids
mechanical, Butts in Space: The Card Game is a relatively simple family-friendly card game. The strange elements of the game are made clear by the title. The game focuses on evil butts in space stealing toilet paper and destroying toilet shaped spaceships.
Ends in space is full of cute artwork and wacky cards that kids will love, like a butt with a top hat and monocle. As weird as the concept sounds, it’s likely to make for a fun time for those who can embrace a more childish sense of humor.
4 Death penalty is a political diatribe disguised as a game
The board game from 1981, Capital punishment, is an overt political game. The creators seemed far more concerned with delivering a message to their players than making a game, which is reflected by the poor player reviews online.
In Capital punishment, players win by having their prisoners sentenced to death. To make matters worse, the game’s cover reflects a clear political cartoon, complete with awkward racial stereotypes. It’s hard for players to enjoy a game when they feel like the designers invested more in indoctrinating them than providing a fun experience.
3 Nyctophobia makes you play blindfolded
Nyctophobia is an asymmetric game where a majority of players try to navigate through a maze while one player tries to reduce at least one of them to zero hit points. While this may sound pretty standard, like a board game version of Dead in daylightthere is a catch.
The players trying to escape Nyctophobia‘s maze are forced to play the game with blackout glasses. Unable to see, they must work together through touch and communication to escape from the only player who can see. The game doesn’t shy away from trying something new and is worth a try.
2 mr. T Game is a prequel to a cartoon you’ve never heard of
In the eighties there was a cartoon series about the actor Mr. T who coached a gymnastics team that also solved mysteries. As if that wasn’t strange enough in itself, the show got its own spin-off Milton Bradley board game called Mr T Game.
You would expect the spin-off game to solve mysteries, but that would underestimate how weird the game really was. Mr T Game turned out to be a prequel to the show, focusing on characters who had to run errands and catch a flight on time. Unfortunately, no one was allowed to play as Mr. T.
1 War on Terror was once seized by the police
The board game war on terror would always be controversial, especially since 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 around war on terror, some players’ game was seized by police because authorities said the in-game balaclava could be used to carry out acts of terror. When it comes to weird games, it’s hard to beat one that gets taken by the cops.
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