The best board game deals of October Prime Day

Over the last several years, Amazon’s Prime Day sales have included some extraordinary deals for fans of tabletop gaming, and while these October Prime Day offerings are fewer than July’s sale, there are absolutely some great board game deals to be found.

The discounts fall squarely in the realm of what we like to call “modern classics” like 7 Wonders and Azul — excellent board games from major publishers that came out in the last 10-15 years. We’ve also found more than few great horror-themed games on sale like Unfathomable, Nemesis Lockdown, and Arkham Horror The Card Game, all perfect for the spooky season. And for more non-tabletop deals, check out our best gaming deals and overall top deals of October Prime Day.

The best modern classic board game deals of Prime Day

• Arkham Horror, once among the most daunting cooperative adventure board games around, is much improved and streamlined in this 3rd edition version for $69.99 (was $79.99).
• Azul, the charming tile-laying game and one of our 22 best modern board games, is just $17.09 (was $39.99).
• Carcassonne, the venerable road-building board game, is down to $25.19 (was $41.99).
• Catan, the favored game of the 2015 Green Bay Packers and the 2024 Buffalo Bills, is just $29.99 (was $59.99).
• Love Letter, a diminutive card game that you can fit in a single pants pocket, is just $10.99 (normally $14.99).
• Machi Koro, the original version of the best-selling city-builder, is down to $19.49 (was $29.95)
• Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, a miniatures-heavy game that uses a nifty little mobile app to drive the narrative action at the table, is 28% off — down to $79.49 from $109.99.

• Mysterium, a favorite of the Overboard crew, will have you set up for a seance in no time. It’s listed at $32.99 (was $54.99).
• Matt Leacock’s Pandemic, on sale for $25.64 (normally $39.99), should already be on your shelf by now as it’s an exceptional gateway game to introduce new players to the hobby. If it isn’t, now’s a great time to fix that problem.
• Of course, Pandemic Legacy Season 1 also comes with the base game of Pandemic – and the stellar 12-session campaign co-designed by Rob Daviau. It’s down to $40.99 (was $89.99).
• It’s best followed by Pandemic Legacy Season 2, naturally, which you’ll find on Amazon for just $50.99 (normally $79.99).
• Already finished Pandemic Legacy Seasons 1 and 2? Then you should check out the prequel, Pandemic Legacy Season 0, on sale for $59.99 (was $79.99).

The best strategy board game deals of Prime Day

• Blood Rage, from the prolific Eric Lang, is another one of Polygon’s 22 best modern board games. The rarely discounted title is just $61.49 (was $89.99). 
• Descent: Legends of the Dark is an ambitious update to the classic dungeon crawler. You can find the app-driven Gloomhaven-like for $129.49 (was $174.95).
• The original Disney Villainous is an award-winning, family-friendly strategy board game that has “the teach” built right in. Snag it for $26.99 (normally $39.99).

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game is a mechanically robust game from Modiphius Entertainment, an experience well worth the $87.49 (normally $139.99).
• The Initiative, from Corey Konieczka’s new Unexpected Games, has game elements hidden inside the box for you to find as its story unfolds. Grab it for $44.49 (was $59.95).
• Horrified: Universal Monsters is yet another rock-solid, family-friendly game from Ravensburger. It’s also a bargain at $26.49 (normally $39.99).

• Twilight Imperium is the gold standard for 4x space operas, and has served as inspiration for countless computer games and board games alike. Lock down an entire weekend with four of your closest friends for $119.99 (was $164.99).
• Not interested in a three-to-five-hour struggle? Try Twilight Inscription instead, a faster roll-and-write version of the original strategy game. This is the first time we’ve seen it discounted for Prime Day, coming in at a measly $37.49 (normally $64.99)
• More than 25,000 people contributed nearly $6 million to CMON for Marvel United: X-Men. Now you can have it all to yourself for just $24.49 (was $34.99).
• Zombicide’s 2nd edition refreshes the raucous action game, first released in 2012. Grab the latest version for just $79.49 (originally $109.99).

The best card game deals of Prime Day

It’s slim pickins for card-based board games, but the two that are on sale happen to be excellent examples of living card games, also known as LCGs. 

Unlike trading card games (TCGs) or collectible card games (CCGs), LCGs are finite — there’s only ever so many cards produced for each game. So no foils to chase or rare cards to run down on the secondary market. Just good, clean fun drawing, drafting, and building decks. Arkham Horror The Card Game Revised Core Set is down to $44.49 (from $59.95), while The Lord of the Rings: Card Game Revised Core Set will set you back $42.49 (normally $59.99).

If you need to re-up your stock of card sleeves, you can also pick up 1,000 sleeves (good for 500 cards if double-sleeving) for a good price — just $19.54 for the whole lot (normally $22.99).

The best party game deals of Prime Day

The best two-player game deals of Prime Day

Looking for more deals? Check out all of Polygon’s favorite October Prime Day 2024 deals right here, and subscribe to our newsletter below to get great deals delivered to your inbox every week.