Best Cooperative Games Teens and Adults Will Love-Bring People to the Gaming Table

Cooperative Games Teens and Adults love are a great way to introduce people to the fun of Board Games! You don’t need to be an experienced Board Gamer to enjoy them… and because everyone plays together against the game, you can help your companions along the way. These are games that don’t have an intimidating 2 inch thick rule book, or so many moving parts that you need a degree in engineering to keep things straight. Cooperative Board Games are perfect for Board Game night, because they encourage discussion, and keep everyone on the same team!

Note- These games are for Teens and Adults because of their complexity, not because they are of a “mature” nature… If you have tweens in your world who love board games, you can certainly include them when playing these cooperatives.

What Is a Cooperative Board Game?

In Cooperative Board Games, all players work together as a group to achieve a goal. Either everyone wins, or Everyone loses… but you work together. This means that players discuss strategies and help each other make the best moves. Competition is against the game itself.

Some Cooperative Board Games will allow for an ultimate winner. Basically, everyone works together to achieve the goal, but points may be tallied up after the team wins to determine who is the supreme winner. Note- these are the only cooperative games my older daughter likes to play… but her sense of competition is VERY deeply ingrained…

Best Cooperative Games Teens and Adults will LOVE!

These are games that we own, and enjoy playing in our home. Each game has successfully turned a non-gamer into a person who looks forward to game night.

Horrified

In Horrified you and your fellow players must face down classic movie monsters like Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride, the Werewolf, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and of course, Dracula! Work together to pick up the right combination of resources to kill the monster, while at the same time, protecting villagers from being killed. Players contribute with different special abilities, and you must work together. Each game you can choose different monster combinations, randomly, or pick favorites. Increase the difficulty by adding MORE Monsters. Either way, the clock is ticking…..

Order Horrified HERE–> Horrified

Forbidden Desert

The game Forbidden Desert takes place in a desert wasteland… think the Namib…. You and your fellow Steampunk Airship crewmen have crashed into the shifting sands, and must now work together to find all of the pieces of your craft, reassemble it, and fly off before the sun bakes you to death. Sound fun? It really is. The Game Board is actually a layout of tiles that shift and are covered in sand. You all need to move to new tiles, dig through sand if needed, and find the tiles that lead you to the pieces. Each person has a special ability that will help them in the task. You also carry a stash of water, that diminishes whenever the sun gets hotter.
There are more ways to die than to live in Forbidden Dessert… but the fun, and replay value of this game make it totally worth trying! This is a true Cooperative Board Game… Everyone wins, or Everyone Dies. And truly, the only way to win is to work together.

Order Forbidden Desert HERE–> Forbidden Desert

Forbidden Island

Yes, Forbidden Island is similar to Forbidden Desert, the games use similar mechanics (and were both designed by Matt Leacock)… however, it’s not the same game. In Forbidden Island, you and your companions are searching for treasures … collect all four, get to the helipad, and head for home. But while you are gathering cards Treasure Cards, the island is sinking beneath your feet. Make moves, reinforce island, make trades with other players, and the hope for the best. Flood cards are drawn after each turn, so beware of drowning…

Forbidden Island is another true Cooperative game… everyone wins, or everyone drowns. You have to work together to collect and trade cards, then get everyone off the island before it sinks into the sea for good.
We own both games in our home, and truly enjoy both.

Order Forbidden Island HERE–> Forbidden Island

Castle Panic

When playing Castle Panic, everyone works together to protect the tower from invading Orcs, Goblins and Trolls. The board is set up in concentric rings, with the Castle in the center. Monsters enter from the edge ring, and work their way in. Players are given cards with different colored knights, swordsmen and archers on them. Each card specifies where the attack can be made (ie. Red Swordsman Ring or Blue Knight Ring). For the most effective strategy, players trade cards with each other to insure they have cards that will be effective on their turn. Some cards attack, others reinforce walls, and others push monsters back to the outside track. When a monster is hit, it rotates down a hit point. Once the monster is out of hit points, the last person who hit it, gets to keep it. HOWEVER… if the monster hits the tower wall… there is panic to keep the rest of the walls reinforced, or the castle may fall!
Castle Panic is a Cooperative Board Game, because everyone has to work together… however… because each player gets to keep the monster they killed, points can be added up at the end of a successful campaign to see who is the Supreme Winner. So, the game is good for people who like a bit of competition and bragging rights. The basic Castle Panic game is a good Gateway Game, that is, it’s a good entry level game. Add the Wizard Tower or Dark Titan expansions to make it more interesting for experienced players.

Order Castle Panic HERE–> Castle Panic

Read more here—> Castle Panic Review

Exit: The Game

Thames & Kosmos Exit the Game Bundle of 3: The Secret Lab, The Abandoned Cabin, and The Pharaoh’s Tomb Thames & Kosmos Exit Games: Polar Station, Forbidden Castle, and Forgotten Island (Set of 3)Thames & Kosmos Exit the Game Bundle of 2: Dead Man on the Orient Express and The Sunken Treasure (2 items)

Escape Rooms are popping up all over the country. The premise is simple… you get locked into a room with friends, and using clues and riddles, you work out how to escape. Exit Games (there are several) work the same way. The group (up to 4 people) work together to “escape” from the room. The Exit games won the Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel in 2017, and with good reason. These games are fun brain benders that work best when groups work together to figure it all out. Note, the games are one-use only (game parts are written on, torn and basically destroyed with use) but they are priced reasonably (around $10). To me, these games are more entertaining than going to the movies, so the cost for 4 people works out really well.
If your group loves figuring stuff out… but doesn’t feel like leaving the house… the Exit games are for you.

Order the Exit Games Here–>Exit Games

Magic Maze

Playing Magic Maze is like a bit of controlled chaos. And it’s a great exercise in learning to work as a team (note -bring it along to the next team meeting at work). There are four “characters” on the board… which actually gets built up during play. Each player is assigned a DIRECTION (not a pawn). Object of the game, move the character pawns around the board to steal objects, and then move them through the maze to escape from the mall. That doesn’t sound so tough, does it? Well… it has to be done in silence. You can only move a pawn in a direction that you are assigned. Everyone plays at the same time. So, if you want to move a pawn 2 spaces left, 3 spaces north, then 1 space right… it takes 3 people.
Did I mention it’s all timed?
And you are trying to move 4 pawns at once?
Chaos ensues…
There are some signals you may use. Intense glare! or the big red “will you do something now” Marker. Basically, this is a very active but quiet game. Some will love it, others will be frustrated out of their minds. It can be played with 1 to 8 people, and lasts about 15 minutes. A list of different scenarios is included to change things up.

Order Magic Maze here–>Magic Maze

Pandemic and Expansions

Pandemic is not a sweetness and light, “dancing with the fairies through the meadows” type game. NOPE. You and your team (fellow players) work for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) to contain, and hopefully CURE disease in order to prevent world wide Pandemic. Each player is given a specific job with a skill set that helps with either curing the disease, or working on a support team (ie. Building Laboratories or Piloting Fellow Team Members to crucial locations). In order to cure disease, colored cards must be collected and turned in… while this is happening, disease is spreading (by way of colored cubes) across the globe. Pull an epidemic card… and the disease can spread like wildfire!

This is a true cooperative game, everyone works together or everyone succumbs to the cube disease…. and really really, I am always amazed JUST how tense things get when those cubes start to pile up. Honestly, I get the sweats from worry! (In our house we give the cube diseases horrible names… just to make it more frightening). As with most cooperatives, there are more ways to lose than to win… too many outbreaks, too many epidemics, failing to work together…. and suddenly all is lost. Winning though, feels darn amazing.

Pandemic itself has great replay value, but adding Pandemic Expansions makes the game even more fun… New card, new jobs, and exiting new Disease (ooohhhh purple!).

Read more here–> Pandemic Review

Order Pandemic Here–> Pandemic

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is a newer game on our shelves, but as an old fan of HP Lovecraft I absolutely adore it. How could you not? Instead of disease, the group works together to dispatch cultists, and insure that the Shoggoths don’t get out of hand… or worse! You must prevent the Evil Ones from wrecking havoc on earth! Fabulous. There is even a strong chance that you will go insane! (no worries, insanity doesn’t kill you, immediately, it does change your abilities….).
What’s great about this game is that it takes the Pandemic game mechanism, but twists it a bit. You really have a lot more to worry about… but, you don’t have to travel so far. This game is a worth addition to your game night, and would be great for teens who love to be scared of what’s in the dark….

Order Pandemic:Cthulhu HERE–> Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

Pandemic Legacy

Legacy Games are a fun new-ish addition to the Pandemic pantheon. What makes a Legacy game different is that it’s basically one and done. Unlike regular Pandemic, where you can pull the game out and play over and over… the Legacy games include stickers to mark up the board, secret clues in sealed envelopes, and (and this is hard for me) cards get TORN UP. That said, the game lasts MUCH longer than the standard Pandemic. Play is over a year, and each month is a game within a game (built on previous months).
Pandemic Legacy is great if you have a regular group that plays together. Or… if you have an irregular group with a pair who show up regularly, you can do what a group I know does; play multiple characters, and hand them off to visitors as they show up.

Order Pandemic Legacy Here–>Pandemic Legacy

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game

While it is not a typical Cooperative Game, Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game is played like one. Players work together, building up a deck of Superhero cards to defeat Comic Book Villains and Henchmen. Deck building games have an interesting mechanic… you use a starter hand of cards to “recruit” Superhero cards to your hand… and then you also use these Superheros, along with Shield Heros to fight and hopefully defeat Villains and other nasties as they work their way through the city. Each card has Cost “recruit value” for bringing them into your hand. Superheros all have different abilities… can be used to attack, heal wounds, save bystanders or recruit new cards. Defeated Villains equal victory points.

While each player does play their own hand, and ultimately, points are scored by how many Victory Points they’ve accumulated, there is a common goal of defeating the Villains. Players must work together to create a good strategy, or all will fail. Some attack effects will affect all players… regardless of whose turn it is. And any escaped Villains or lost Bystanders count as negative for everyone. Think of it as a real Avengers or X Men mission… some heros may hit harder, others use more unusual powers, but ultimately, you work together, or the team fails.

Note- Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game is legendary (see how I did that) for having a LOT of cards… and they aren’t sorted particularly well. Before you bring a new player into the game, I suggest you take the time to set up the game with heros and villains already chosen (you will save frustration, I promise). New players don’t want to see the fussing around and setting it up part. The game is played on a board, so once the initial sorting is done, the game flows very well.,/em>