Suggestions for 5-8 player board games

[Invader]

I'm looking for suggestions for 5-8 player board games. I really want to play Pandemic legacy but it's only 4 and I'm picking up Betrayal at the House on the Hill which is really fun but only for up to 6. Sometimes it's nice to get a larger group of people to play so are there any suggestions for fun relatively easy to pick up and play games for larger groups?

[Elaborigen]

For that number of people you will probably want only light games, or anything that doesn't have long turns.
BANG! is a possibility, but more for 6 rather than 8 in my opinion, because of said problem with turns, and there is also player elimination in the game, so you can be out of the game for a long time if you are the first player to be eliminated.
I'd probably recommend something along the lines of The Resistance, or Avalon. They both have the same mechanincs, and they are about a group that has to decide who goes on missions, and there are secret traitors amongst you. The traitors need to make the missions fail without getting discovered, and the rest need to make the missions succeed by not sending traitor on missions.
One Night Wolf I think would also meet your criteria and is a nice enough game.

[BiblioRook]

Tsuro and Red Dragon Inn come to mind (the later with expansions).

[Tentreto]

Junta is hard to find but is good with 7, though is quite annoying to learn. Doesn't really have traditional turns, and has no elimination.

As said, werewolf or other hidden role games work well. We routinely play Avalon.

7 Wonders plays up to 7, and is quite simple. Probably the easiest and best to try. It has no elimination and simultaneous turns.

And if you really want to try, Diplomacy plays 7, and is simple, but is an...experience. Suffice to say it is known as the most friendship breaking game ever... This has simultaneous turns, but also pseudo and real elimination.

Of these, in best to worst to play with large and inexperienced group: 'Hidden roles', 7 Wonders, Junta, Diplomacy.
If I remember any more, I'll add them.

[Murska]

Eclipse is pretty good, if you don't have the stamina for the entire Twilight Imperium experience but like the idea.

[Wraith]

Smallworld typically sits up to 5 players, but with expansions and the extra big board it can almost certainly work for 8. I highly recommend you look into it, it's a really good game with a lot of replayability.

[Chen]

Eclipse is pretty good, if you don't have the stamina for the entire Twilight Imperium experience but like the idea.

I find Eclipse practically as long as TI. I've also found you can get REALLY screwed in Eclipse with the opening explores, so much so that you really have no chance of doing anything meaningful in the game and maybe can act as kingmaker in the best case. Worst case is you just sit there taking pointless turns for 3 hours.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Yeah, Tsuro covers this number easily.

It's also a great fit for The Resistance, which moves a lot quicker than BANG! in my experience and covers the same ground, pretty much. I personally recommend the Avalon variant, for all the extra information it gives out.

Coup works fairly well with that player count, especially if you add in the team element from Reformation.

If you have an even number of players, Space Cadets: Dice Duel is a delightful team-vs-team game where you're both Star-Trekking it up, trying to blast one another down with torpedoes. Well, hopefully you loaded the torpedoes on the right end. And that the pilot pointed your ship in the right direction. And that your Captain calls for the weapons to fire at the right time.

Mascarade is a fun, silly game that's like Love Letter for a large group. Except that nobody gets to know what their role is.

[VoxRationis]

You can play Catan with up to 6 if you get the "extensions" (I believe that's the term used, as "expansion" refers to gameplay-changing additions like Seafarers).

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Eldritch Horror/Arkham Horror covers the 5-8 player range pretty nicely (although you might want some expansions). Ultimate One Night Werewolf is great, but not really a BOARD game, per se. I've heard good things about Elder Sign, but haven't played it personally.

[GloatingSwine]

Struggle of Empires doesn't go up to 8, but it does go up to 7 and tends to work best when there are 5+ (it handles odd numbers p. well too because it shuffles alliances around so one side doesn't always have numerical advantage)

[Woot Spitum]

I would also recommend Seven Wonders. You'd think it would be impossible to live up to the amount of awards that game has won, but somehow it does. Lords of Waterdeep is also very good, but it can't support more than 5 players.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

I would also recommend Seven Wonders. You'd think it would be impossible to live up to the amount of awards that game has won, but somehow it does.

Which is weird, as I was largely disappointed by it. :smalltongue:

[The Hellbug]

One that I haven't seen suggested yet that I personally enjoyed is Cash and Guns. It's light, plays a lot of people, and plays fairly quickly and enjoyably. It's another one that leans strongly on bluffing and table politics and whatnot, like the Werewolf type of game. Long story short, you're a bunch of criminals that just hit it big, and each round consists of drawing a bunch of loot, having a big standoff over it, and then the survivors who didn't back out divvying up whatever's in the middle. Like I said, I had a good time with it.

[Krade]

Red Dragon Inn come to mind (the later with expansions).

As possibly the person who has spent more money on RDI (and paraphernalia, such as my custom wooden suitcase to hold it and all the expansions, and tournament entry fees) than literally anyone else, I would strongly advise against playing it with more than 6 players. The game is just plain not balanced properly for that number of players and in my experience, it's painfully likely that someone is knocked out before their first turn. Not to mention how long it can take to come around to your turn. I LOVE Red Dragon Inn, but I will not play it with more than 6 players ever again. At that point, it's better to split off into 2 games of it.

As for my own suggestions, Smirk & Dagger makes a couple of games that play up to 8:

Dread Curse: A pirate game where you divide up the booty. Each turn the players select a crew member to represent them. They each have different methods of gaining gold (for example, the Captain can pick between 2 and 4 coins out of the bag, while the First Mate gets however many the Captain got -1 and the Cabin Boy steals 1 coin from the Captain). You can pay gold for cards that have a variety of effects to shake up gameplay. The game is over once everyone has either decided to cut & run or the bag runs out of coins. Whoever has the most money wins.

Shootin' Ladders: After the Gingerbread men fled Candland to escape a horrible fate (turns out children EAT candy), they turn on each other and have a good old fashioned death match on the Chutes & Ladders board. There are pick up locations on the board where you can draw new Weapons, Ammo, and various utility items. There are multiple game modes, including: Free for all, Capture the flag, Team Death Match, Trophy Hunting (whoever collects the most pieces of their enemies wins), and one that I've always wanted to try, a 1v7 King of the hill type game where the 1 has a Sniper Rifle and infinite ammo and the other 7 have to get to him and kill him from the other side of the board.

PS: the Gingerbread men fleeing Candyland was an actual game they also made called Run For Your Life, CANDYMAN! Unfortunately, it's only slightly more engaging than the original Candyland, and I don't recommend actually playing it.

Edit: Also, 7 Wonders plays up to 8 if you have the Cities expansion.

[erikun]

Dixit can play up to 6, and is at it's best in the 5-6 range I think. It's certainly a good game if you're interested in a more creative (or know-your-gaming-group) game.

Timeline plays up to 8, if you enjoy trivia or knowledge games.

Sheriff of Nottingham is a fun bluffing game which plays up to 5, although I think Coup would be easier to set up, plays up to 6 normally, and the expansion (Coup: Reformation) apparently can play up to 10. (Although I've not played the expansion, so can't say how well it works.)

[caden_varn]

As previously mentioned, Eldritch Horror and Arkham horror are cooperative games that are 1-8 player. I'd advise Eldritch (the newer of the 2), especially with larger numbers. Probably at least 3 hours with that many players. Tsuro is a good short game for up to 8. Seven Wonders is a good game for larger groups as it has simultaneous turns which keeps it going at a good pace, but the base game is 7 player - you'll need an expansion to take it above that. I enjoy all the above games.

Eclipse is not a game I personally enjoy with more than 4 players - it takes too long and is too reliant on good luck on the systems you draw, especially for some of the non-human races. The one time I played with 6 players I found extremely dull, with 8 it would be even worse (if the game even goes up that high, the base game only allows 6 players). I personally don't much like competitive games that go over the 2 hour mark, so if your group like longer games this might be more your kind of thing.

Some ones that have not been mentioned.
The new Kill Doctor Lucky goes up to 8 players if memory serves. Fun and reasonably short. Mysterium is a fun, reasonably quick cooperative that seats up to 7 players. Some older Cheapass games go up to seven - Unexploded Cow and Witch trial are the ones I have. You need to provide money for Witch trial, btu you can nick that from monopoly or any other game with paper money if you have one. Not sure if you'll be able to get hold of them these days though.

One game that I haven't been able to play but have heard good things about is Ladies and Gentlemen, and this does go up to 8 (you play in teams of 2). THere is also a team based game - Space Cadets I think? that sounds interesting, but I'd advise you to investigate these a bit more as I have never played either.

[Psionic Dog]

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a nice coop game that plays with up to 5.

The OOTS Adventure Game deserves honorable mention on these forums and plays with up to 6.

For 7-8 players you may want to split into two groups. The only game I've played regularly at that size has been 2-deck hearts.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I would also recommend Seven Wonders. You'd think it would be impossible to live up to the amount of awards that game has won, but somehow it does. Lords of Waterdeep is also very good, but it can't support more than 5 players.
Good point. It supports up to 7 players out of the box (and handles any number of players above 2 very admirably), and the Cities expansion allows for an eighth player. It also doesn't really slow down with additional players because everyone acts simultaneously.

Splitting into two groups is not a bad idea either; two groups of 3 players, a 3/4 split, and two groups of 4 players are all nice playercounts for smaller games.

[Invader]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I've looked at no less than a half dozen games that have been mentioned that all look like a lot of fun and I haven't had time research most of the others yet. I think Tsuro might be at the top of the list atm but there are several others that look really good.

[hajo]

I'm looking for suggestions for 5-8 player board games. .. Sometimes
it's nice to get a larger group of people to play so are there any suggestions
for fun relatively easy to pick up and play games for larger groups?
Boardgames:
* Puerto Rico (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico) (2-5 players)
* Risk (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181/risk) 2-6 players, several maps/variants
* Ticket to ride (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/17/ticket-ride) 2-5 players, several maps/variants
* Zooloretto (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27588/zooloretto) 2–5 Players

* 18xx (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/18xx#) - several railroad-games (probably too heavy for you), e.g. :
** 1829 (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1823/1829) 3–9 Players
** 1830: Railways & Robber Barons (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/421/1830-railways-robber-barons) 2–7 Players

Extensions:
* Settlers of Catan (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/2807/catan-5-6-player-extension) extensions for 5-6 players
* Clue (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/130592/clue-2-6-players) 2-6 players
* El Dorado Canyon (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/173393/el-dorado-canyon-7-8-player-expansion) 7-8 players
* Treasure Tomb (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/184846/treasure-tomb-7-8-player-expansion) 7-8 players

Cardgames:
* Tichu (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/215/tichu) 3-10 players
* Citadels (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/478/citadels) ("Ohne Furcht und Adel") 2-8 players

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Whoa, what? Tichu has variants that let you play up to 10? Weird.

[Corlindale]

I second Dixit, one of my favourite games. The Dixit: Odyssey standalone expansion has a board designed for up to 12 players.

[Krade]

Having gotten home from GenCon, there's a couple really fun games I picked up that are (relatively) cheap and play up to 12.

Dead Last (another Smirk & Dagger game): The players are a team of crooks fighting over the gold they stole. It's all bluffing, secrecy, and reading the room. Each player has a card corresponding to each of the other players (and a special one for themselves). Every round you vote for a person to eliminate. The catch is that everyone who didn't vote in the majority is eliminated too, and if you think you're going to take the vote, you can play your Ambush card and eliminate one of the players who voted for you instead (the non-majority voters are still eliminated) You talk among yourselves, discreetly show cards to other players to get them to vote your way, and once everyone's ready they reveal their choice. Once it's down to 2 players, there's a face-off to split the 4 reward cards for the round where they each have to chose if they want to Share, Steal, or Take 1 and Run. If both players Share, they each get 2. If one Shares and the other Steals, the one that Steals gets all 4. If they both Steal, neither get anything and everyone else gets 1. If one Takes 1 and Runs, the other gets the other 3 regardless (unless they also took 1 and run, then the other 2 are left behind). Then everyone's back in and you start over. Play continues until one player has enough gold to win.

Stay Away: You're a team of scientists looking for the first team that disappeared exploring a recently risen mythical island. Unfortunately, one of you has been possessed by The Thing and it's now it's job to quietly infect everyone else. At the end of every turn, each player swaps 1 card from their hand to the next player. The Thing (and only the Thing) may pass an Infected card. If you receive an Infected card from a player passing it to you, you know they are the Thing and you are now their underling and you may pass Infected cards back to them if you have spares so he may continue to infect others. (from this point on you must always keep at least 1 infected card in your hand). If you draw an Infected card from the deck, you may discard it normally but you can't pass it to anyone. It is otherwise a dead card in your hand. There are several cards that reverse turn order and/or cause players to swap places with each other. Since for the most part the Thing can't infect people who aren't right next to them, manipulating this is vital for the Thing and it's Infected minions to win. The game ends when everyone is either Infected or Dead or the Thing is killed. The whole game has kind of a Cthulhu motif, but it feels more like John Carpenter's The Thing (even the monster is called The Thing).

Those were probably awful descriptions, but they are both a lot of fun, especially with a ton of people and I can't recommend them enough.

[Liquor Box]

Monopoly is a popular game, which can work in quite large groups.

[Maethirion]

For up to 7 players, by friend group plays a lot of Caverna.
It's basically fantasy Agricola with a few extra features. It's got a bit of a learning curve, but as long as one or two people are fairly solid on the rules it's not too hard to pick up. The half hour per player it gives on the box is fairly accurate so it would take ages, but it's well worth a look into.

[rcarb65]

The classic game Risk is always fun.

I think the Game of Thrones board game is in that range and it is a very good game.

Settlers of Catan is always a winner.

Axis and Allies is good, sort of like risk on steroids.

Not really a board game but cards against humanities is a hoot.