It feels like finding cheap board games is getting tougher these days, especially ones that are actually good. And with the rise of plastic-heavy games, board game prices just keep climbing.
What a lot of people don’t realize, though, is that there are still plenty of excellent cooperative games out there for under $25—and even a few fantastic ones for under $10.
I’ve focused on games that consistently cost less than $25, but keep in mind that prices can fluctuate, especially if games go out of print or stock becomes limited. Some games might dip below $25 during clearance sales, but I didn’t include those here.
I’m confident that most of the co-op games on this list will remain some of the best budget board games for years to come. And just to be clear—I’d never recommend games just because they’re “cheap.” Every game here is genuinely good.
Note: If you’re looking for affordable games for kids, take a look at the Best Board Games for Kids page.
Let’s get to it! Below you’ll find some of the best budget board games that are out there right now!
Cheap Board Games
All of the games in this section are traditional cooperative board games, but they’re cheaper than most.
Forbidden Island
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2-4
Forbidden Island has been around a while, but it is still one of the best family games out there. It has similar mechanisms to Pandemic, but it’s easier to play and most people really like the sinking island theme.
If you want a great affordable family game that can also work as a filler game, chances are you’ll be happy with Forbidden Island.
Read our Forbidden Island review
Buy a copy of Forbidden Island
Back to The Future: Back in Time
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2-4
Back to The Future: Back in Time is another excellent family-weight game that has you play through a lot of what went on during the first Back to the Future movie. It’s a Yahtzee-style dice game in which you use the dice and different powers to move around the city and hopefully help your parents fall in love.
If you’re a fan of Back to the Future and/or you really like the Yahtzee mechanic, you’ll probably enjoy playing Back to The Future: Back in Time.
Read our Back to The Future: Back in Time review
Buy a copy of Back to The Future: Back in Time
Horizons of Spirit Island
Ages: 14+ | Players: 1-3
Horizons of Spirit Island streamlines the original Spirit Island experience, making it more accessible for new players. It’s a cooperative strategy game where you play as powerful Spirits protecting your island from invading colonists by spreading fear and destruction.
This is a great choice if you’re looking for an approachable way to dive into Spirit Island or if you found Spirit Island to be a bit too heavy. Even if you’ve never played the original, it’s a great game to get if you think your group will enjoy playing co-op area control games.
Read our Spirit Island review
Buy a copy of Horizons of Spirit Island
Slide Quest
Ages: 7+ | Players: 1-4
Dexterity games are some of my favorite types of board games, but there really aren’t that many cooperative dexterity games yet. Slide Quest is one of just a few inexpensive dexterity games out there right now, and it works especially well as a family game.
Your goal in Slide Quest is to use levers to slide a knight around and push enemies into the holes on the board. It’s a lot of fun for gamers of all ages.
Read our Slide Quest review
Tiny Epic Zombies
Ages: 14+ | Players: 1-5
In Tiny Epic Zombies, you’re fighting to survive a chaotic outbreak in a mall. It’s a fast-paced game that offers five different modes, including solo play and cooperative team-versus-zombie action.
If you’re looking for a quick, portable game with plenty of replayability, Tiny Epic Zombies is a solid option. It’s a great choice for fans of zombie games and survival games.
Read our Tiny Epic Zombies review
Buy a copy of Tiny Epic Zombies
Flatline
Ages: 10+ | Players: 1-5
Flatline is a real-time dice game where you’re racing against the clock to save patients in an intergalactic ER. Each round is a one-minute frenzy of rolling dice, assigning resources, and tackling emergencies.
Flatline is an awesome game for players who like high-tension games and love fast-paced teamwork. If you enjoyed FUSE, which could also be on this list, you’ll probably also be a fan of Flatline.
Read our Flatline review
Quirky Circuits: Penny & Gizmo’s Snow Day
Ages: 7+ | Players: 2-4
Quirky Circuits: Penny & Gizmo’s Snow Day is a programming game and a co-op limited communication game, which is a unique combo of board game genres. In this one, you’re attempting to program your robots so they move around the different maps and complete different types of objectives.
Quirky Circuits is a fantastic budget board game to buy if you think your group will enjoy programming games. It’s one of the best board games for kids, and it can also work very well as a family game.
Read our Quirky Circuits review
Buy a copy of Quirky Circuits: Penny & Gizmo’s Snow Day
One Deck Dungeon
Ages: 14+ | Players: 1-2
If you look around this site, you’ll see that One Deck Dungeon shows up on quite a few of our board game rankings. That’s because it’s a straightforward, fun dice game with very high replay value. You just roll dice and use your heroes’ powers to try to get through different dungeons.
I still think One Deck Dungeon is a must-try for people who like cooperative dice games. It’s one of the top two-player games out there.
Read our One Deck Dungeon review
Buy a copy of One Deck Dungeon
Codenames: Duet
Ages: 11+ | Players: 2
Codenames: Duet is one of the best two-player board games around and easily one of the better word games that you can get. Your goal is to cooperatively locate 15 agents in a 5×5 grid by giving each other one-word clues.
If you play a lot of two-player games or you just want to add a great one to your collection, I highly recommend checking out Codenames: Duet.
Read our Codenames: Duet review
Cantaloop
Ages: 16+ | Players: 1-4
Cantaloop is a cooperative adventure game that has a unique feel to it. That’s because it was designed to have the feel of a classic point-and-click game where you use codes to try to solve puzzles to move the story forward. It even has a decoder that you use to look at hidden text throughout the book.
If you like storytelling games or you’re a huge fan of puzzle board games, you should probably give Cantaloop a shot.
Read our Cantaloop review
Cheap Card Games
All of the cooperative games below are small-box card games that pack a punch!
The Mind
Ages: 8+ | Players: 2-4
The Mind is not only one of the best budget card games out there, it’s one of the best cooperative games, period. It’s a very straightforward limited communication game in which you’re trying to play cards in ascending order without ever talking to each other. It’s awesome.
You can usually get the Mind for around 10 bucks, which is amazing to me considering how many times my group has played it over the years.
Read our The Mind review
The Gang
Ages: 10+ | Players: 3-6
In The Gang, you’re pulling off a series of heists using a cooperative twist on Texas Hold’em. In this game, you and your teammates bet on how strong you think your poker hands are, then hope that everyone’s bets are in the right order.
If your group generally likes light card games, chances are you’ll have a good time playing The Gang. If your group loves poker, The Gang will probably be a huge hit.
The Grizzled
Ages: 14+ | Players: 2-5
The Grizzled is a very cool war game in which you play as soldiers trying to survive World War I. You try to survive multiple missions by getting rid of your cards and by minimizing the number of negative effects your soldiers get.
I think The Grizzled is one of those co-op games everyone should try because there isn’t anything else quite like it and it requires good cooperation to win. It’s also one of the better five-player board games out there, though it works well at all player counts.
Read our The Grizzled review
Kites
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2-6
Kites is a real-time game in which you simply play cards to keep a bunch of sand timers active. It gets crazy chaotic, though, because you never know what colors you’ll be dealt, and those sand timers seem to speed up as you play.
If you’re like me and you like to collect a lot of light card games with high replay value, Kites is one of those games you’ll want to look into getting.
Belratti
Ages: 9+ | Players: 3-7
Belratti is a cooperative card game in which you’re working to identify authentic paintings while avoiding fake ones. Some players are museum managers looking for art, while the others are painters creating submissions to match the managers’ needs.
Belratti is a great pick for groups who love deduction games and enjoy a lighthearted yet strategic challenge. It’s easy to learn and works well for both casual and experienced gamers.
Read our Belratti review
Fox in The Forest Duet
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2
Fox in the Forest Duet is a two-player cooperative trick-taking game where you’ll work together to collect gems by moving through a magical forest. Each trick influences your shared movement along a path, with unique abilities tweaking your strategy as the game plays out.
Fox in the Forest Duet is a must-play if you’re a fan of trick-taking games and are looking for games that play well at two players.
Read our Fox in The Forest Duet review
Buy a copy of Fox in The Forest Duet
Bandido
Ages: 6+ | Players: 1-4
Bandido is a co-op card game in which you use cards to close off a tunnel system so a prisoner can’t escape. You have to work with the tunnel cards you’re dealt, so each game you’re going to create a very different map.
Bandido is a solid filler board game for kids and adults because it’s light and challenging, and it has a fun theme.
Read our Bandido review
The Crew (Honorable Mention)
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2-5
The Crew is one of just a few multiplayer trick-taking cooperative games out there, and it has massive replay value because there are dozens of missions to play through. Each player’s goal in The Crew is to complete the tasks (tricks) they’re given, but that’s made pretty difficult by communication limits and the random card draw.
While The Crew is not one of my favorite co-op games, plenty of people love this one and would put it near the top of their Best Cheap Board Games lists.
Read our The Crew review
Cheap Party Games
The games in this section are light party games that are easy to play and great for higher player counts.
Just One
Ages: 8+ | Players: 3-7
Just One is one of the best party games and one of the top board games for larger groups, and it just so happens to be very affordable. In this game, everyone gives one-word clues to the current guesser based on the mystery word in front of them, but matching clues get canceled. It’s so fun.
Unless you really don’t like word games or party games, you owe it to yourself to play Just One.
Read our Just One review
So Clover!
Ages: 10+ | Players: 2-6
In So Clover!, everyone is simultaneously a clue-giver and a clue-guesser, and your job is to find links between different sets of words on each other’s boards. I find this one very challenging since I’m not great at word association games, but I always have fun playing it.
So Clover! is another word game that I recommend to everyone because it has a classic party game feel, but it plays differently enough to justify owning it alongside the other great word games out there.
Read our So Clover! review
Landmarks
Ages: 8+ | Players: 2-10
Landmarks is a cooperative word game where your team must use clever clues to guide each other out of a jungle filled with dangers, and some treasures. Each one-word clue connects to others, forming a path to safety.
If you love word games and cooperative puzzles, Landmarks is a great affordable option.
Read our Landmarks review
Cheap Escape Room Games
If you’re looking for cheap board games and you also happen to love escape rooms, you’re in luck!
Exit: The Game
Ages: 12+ | Players: 1-6
Exit: The Game is a series of escape room games with a bunch of puzzles you have to solve. In these games, the puzzles are on the cards, but you usually have components that you need to manipulate to solve those puzzles. There are also decoder disks that you move around to see if you get the correct answers.
If you’re looking for escape room games with good puzzle variety, some of the games in the Exit: The Game series will probably work for you. Just make sure you choose a difficulty rating that you think your group can handle.
Read our Exit: The Game review
Scooby-Doo: Escape from The Haunted Mansion
Ages: 12+ | Players: 1-99
Scooby-Doo: Escape from The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite escape room games because it nails the Scooby-Doo theme and I’m a sucker for a game with secret components in envelopes or boxes. What most people like about this system is the fact that you get different outcomes based on the characters you use to interact with the environment.
If you like Scooby-Doo and you like escape room games, definitely check out Scooby-Doo: Escape from The Haunted Mansion.
Read our Scooby-Doo: Escape from The Haunted Mansion review
Buy a copy of Scooby-Doo: Escape from The Haunted Mansion
Deckscape
Ages: 12+ | Players: 1-6
What I like most about the Deckscape series is that the designers took the time to make sure they made each game unique and very thematic. I also like that the system itself is very simple: You just put the deck on the table, follow any directions on the cards, and solve some puzzles.
I wouldn’t say that all of the Deckscape games are great (none of the escape room series are perfect), but there are some great ones. It’s best to just choose the themes you think your group will like.
Read our Deckscape review
What are some cheap board games that you’ve enjoyed? Any that didn’t make this list?
Be sure to also take a look at our Best Cooperative Board Games list and our other board game rankings.
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