9 Best Board Games with Multiple Endings
When we dove into the riveting world of multiple endings design in board games, we knew it wouldn’t be just about the thrill of a singular climax—we were looking for titles that provide a mélange of finales, enriching each playthrough with a unique flavor. Our picks for the 9 best Multiple Endings board games cater not only to diverse groups but assure an ecosystem where choices truly matter, engaging our gaming group in a vortex of ‘What-ifs’. We focused on games that embraced narrative depth, replay value, and mechanics that fuel branching story arcs culminating in different endings every time we played.
Games on this list:
9 T.I.M.E Stories
This cooperative narrative game sends us on time-travelling missions with a strong emphasis on replayability and exploration. Each deck is a new scenario that ranges from solving crimes to preventing catastrophic events. Due to its unique ‘decksploration’ system, the story can end in several different ways, depending on the choices we make. It’s like diving into a choose-your-own-adventure book where our teamwork determines the concluding narrative.
8 Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Taking the roles of detectives working to solve crimes in Victorian London, the branching narrative in each case book means we get multiple ends to our investigations. No matter how many times we replay a case, discovering alternate routes to new clues can lead us to a variation of the same conclusion or an entirely different ending. The open-world aspect invites repeated play—every gathering yields different sleuthing strategies from us.
7 Above and Below
Possessing both city-building mechanics and choose-your-own-adventure elements, Above and Below deliver a balanced mix of strategic gameplay and narrative choices during the exploration phase. We loved the diversity in narrative outcomes which stem from encounters in the caves below our budding village. Depending on our choices, we enjoyed our journey through a variety of different endings, which maintained the mystery and excitement each time we played.
6 Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
Perfect for colder nights with a hot cocoa in hand, the story-driven decisions in Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game introduce multiple endings based on our survival strategies against the zombie threat and our own moral compasses. We tackled potential betrayers, resource crucibles, and the relentless undead, experiencing different outcomes that worthily reflect our group’s existential choices. We love the tension introduced by the Crossroads cards, frequently pivoting the game in unexpected directions.
5 Betrayal Legacy
Building on the successful formula of its predecessor, Betrayal Legacy took us on a generations-spanning haunted house experience. What set it apart was how the choices and outcomes from one game affected the following sessions. Through a series of 14 games that form a campaign, we’ve created unique narratives and several diverging endings, which felt both personally crafted and endlessly thrilling. Its stacking consequences make each play-through a pathway to our very own storyline.
4 Gloomhaven
This behemoth of a game deserves a special place on anyone’s shelf, especially if you like your choices to carve significant play experience changes. The legacy mechanic of Gloomhaven ensures that our decisions echo through subsequent games, leading to multiple endings for our epic-length campaign. We enjoyed ever-changing quest lines and a character development tree that rewards long-term strategy and creates a consequently varied closing chapter scenario.
3 Risk Legacy
It might start as a traditional game of Global Domination Risk, but the legacy component transforms each competitive play-through into a distinct experience. Our tactical choices and territorial wins rewrite the rules and molding the story toward multiple endings—either honorable or brutal vanquishing of opponents. We’ve witnessed the world we’ve built evolve organically with each exciting session, marking permanent changes to the game itself, guaranteeing no two campaigns ever concluded the same way.
2 Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Delving into Lovecraftian lore, Arkham Horror: The Card Game pitched us together to tackle otherworldly horrors and solve arcane mysteries. The modular design of its narrative-driven scenarios offered branching paths and alternate conclusions, making for a personalized cosmic horror experience. The decisions we prudently made, keeping our wit and courage against infinite possible doom, meant we reveled in examining reasons and repercussions unique to our troupe’s harried journey’s end.
1 Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
This riveting adaptation of the staple co-op outbreak management game Pandemic brought us together around the table scurrying to cure global epidemics amid evolving storylines. Its legacy nature meant that our choices permanently impacted the board and the game’s mechanisms, directing us to a bevy of multiple endings – triumphant or catastrophic. Selected as the best among The 9 best Multiple Endings board games because it brilliantly intertwines narrative depth with strategic gameplay. Its breath-taking climatic resolutions keep us exhilarated long after our final decisions are made and draw us repeatedly back into its infectious grip.
