Many factors go into a board game's success. The quality of the design and how fun the gameplay is are first and foremost. However, the quality of the materials also factors into it. Players prefer games with well-made and evocative game pieces. Even more than high-quality art or boards, miniatures tend to be a major selling point for players.
Miniatures are a chance for a game to show off its production values. They're also a more lifelike representation of the game's events and are simply fun to move around the board. Some games sell well purely off of the strength of their miniatures, which appeal to collectors or roleplayers.
Updated by Lauren Turner on January 15, 2023: Board gaming is an expansive hobby with many genres for players to choose from. Many board games have amazing miniatures. Fans of miniatures will always want to know more about which board games have the best selection, so we've revamped this list with even more information.
15 World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King Is Perfect For WoW Fans
1-5 players, 40-60 minute play time
World of Warcraft: Wrath of The Lich King is based on the game system introduced by the modern classic, Pandemic. In the game, each player takes on the role of a hero in the World of Warcraft universe. They work together to fight off enemies, complete quests, and hopefully defeat The Lich King in the end.
The miniatures in Wrath of the Lich King are gorgeous. They're chunky and perfectly carry across the game's aesthetic. Plenty of Warcraft fans may well buy the Wrath of the Lich King simply for how well it represents the game's art and not for its quality as a game.
14 Dark Souls: The Board Game Captures The Series' Art Design Perfectly
1-4 players, 90-120 minute play time
The Dark Souls series is known for its grim, eye-catching aesthetic. The games don't take place in pleasant environments, but they still manage to be distinctive and memorable. In particular, enemies and bosses tend to be impressive, disgusting, or outright horrifying.
Dark Souls: The Board Game reimagines this aspect of the series perfectly. The miniatures, both for players and for enemies, are all high-quality and distinctive. Bosses like the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, the Smelter Demon, and Ornstein and Smough are especially well-crafted.
13 Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit Comes With Tons Of Minis
2-4 players, 120 minute play time
Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit is based on the climactic battle of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It attempts to adapt three very different battles to one game's rules. Both sides in these three battles have well-designed miniatures representing them.
Players have miniatures for the droid and Gungan armies, Amidala's assault force and the palace's defenders, and for Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul. The miniatures aren't overly detailed or lifelike, but their sheer variety and charm are probably enough for any Star Wars fan.
12 Scythe Perfects Its Unique Aesthetic
1-5 players, 90-115 minute play time
Scythe is a quasi-wargame where players battle for resources in an alternate 20th century, building up their forces and going to war with mechs. One thing that sets it apart from many other games is its aesthetic. Scythe leans on a unique dieselpunk style and combines futuristic technology with the look and feel of the interwar period.
All of Scythe's miniatures are impressive, humans and mechs alike. They carry a huge sense of character, but they are all right at home in the game's unifying aesthetic. Scythe is popular for many reasons, but the style and quality of its miniatures is a big part of its success.
11 Twilight Imperium Comes With Fleets Of Spaceships
2-6 players, 240 minute play time
Twilight Imperium is an involved space opera of exploration, political intrigue, and combat. Each player uses fleets of warships and armies of ground troops to project their power through the galaxy. These forces are represented through dozens of miniature spaceships.
Despite their small size, Twilight Imperium's ships manage to carry plenty of variety and a distinct sense of character. There are seven types of ships, from small fighters to mighty War Suns. Players don't need to struggle to tell them apart, as each one is well-designed and has a distinctive appearance. Ground troops have less variety, but they look impressive with plenty of cool mechs marching to war.
10 War Of The Ring Is The Lord Of The Rings In A Box
War of The Ring features the entire storyline of the Lord of The Rings trilogy of books in board game form. Players fight the entire war between the kingdoms of the West and the forces of Sauron. Each player gets an army of stylized plastic miniatures to use in this war.
All of the famous characters from Lord of the Rings are in the War of the Ring. Gandalf, Saruman, Frodo, Gollum, and more are all represented by miniatures. War of The Ring also has miniatures for the armies of many nations in the Lord of The Rings universe. The game also has expansions available, which come with more beautiful minis.
9 Space Hulk Shines In The Grim Darkness Of The Far Future
2 players, 45 minute play time
Space Hulk is an asymmetric, competitive game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. One player controls Space Marine Terminators as they explore a derelict spaceship while the other controls the alien genestealers lying in wait. It's a tense game of ambushes and stealth. Each side has to leverage their unique strengths or lose immediately.
Space Hulk's miniatures help its tense, evocative nature. They're designed to be usable in regular games of Warhammer 40,000, but they're even more high-quality than the regular models for that game. Space Hulk's Terminators are impressive juggernauts, and its genestealers are unsettling and menacing.
8 Cthulhu Wars Comes With Some Of The Biggest Miniatures Ever
2-4 players, 90-120 minute play time
Cthulhu Wars pits different factions of the H.P. Lovecraft mythos against each other, all represented in beautiful miniature fashion. The well-crafted and finely made miniatures carry across the horror of Lovecraft's work and bring the indescribable to life.
However, what they're best known for is their sheer size. Cthulhu Wars is infamous for having some of the largest miniatures of any board game. Lovecraft's works make use of scale as a terrifying factor, and Cthulhu Wars delivers. Some of its highly impressive miniatures are larger than a player's hand, really pushing the definition of the word "miniature."
7 Nemesis Has Chilling Sci-Fi Horror In Every Miniature
1-5 players, 90-180 minute play time
Horror games and sci-fi both give a chance for very unique miniatures. Futuristic technology and horrific monstrosities both create unique opportunities for artists and designers. Nemesis combines both and, in doing so, gives life to some truly exceptional miniatures.
Nemesis' miniatures exemplify the best of sci-fi horror. Players familiar with Alien or Dead Space will recognize some of the elements at play, but there's plenty unique about them as well. Players will be delighted - and unsettled - by Nemesis' miniatures from the very start of a game to its very end.
6 Unfathomable Is A Reimagined Classic
3-6 players, 120-240 minute play time
Unfathomable is based on the classic Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. However, it's Lovecraftian in theme rather than science fiction. Instead of Cylons, players go up against the monstrous Deep Ones. Unfathomable's miniatures capitalize on its horror theme.
The player tokens in Unfathomable are a bit disappointing, as they are flat cardboard rather than three-dimensional plastic. However, this only enhances the game's beautiful sea-green Deep Ones by contrast. They're a variety of shapes and sizes, but all are equally repellent and delightful to look at.
5 Descent: Legends Of The Dark Is A Modern Spin On A Legendary Game
1-4 players, 120-180 minute play time
Descent: Legends of the Dark is an app-driven cooperative game for 1-4 players. The game is a spinoff of the classic game Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Players crawl through dungeons inhabited by some of the most unpleasant creatures imaginable.
Descent: Legends of the Dark is a controversial update to the game. It removes the "Overlord" player role of Journeys in the Dark, instead letting an app control the monsters. As such, players differ as to whether it's better than the original. However, they agree that the miniatures are absolutely beautiful.
4 Kingdom Death Monster Is A Lifestyle Game
1-4 players, 60-180 minute play time
Kingdom Death Monster is not difficult to get into if the players are used to miniatures games. Similar to games like Warhammer, the minis in Kingdom Death Monster do not come assembled. Instead, players must disconnect the pieces from sheets of plastic and assemble them using model glue, ideally painting them afterward.
Most players agree that it's well worth the effort. Kingdom Death: Monster is known as a "boutique" game, defined by the quality of its materials. It's both expensive and time-consuming to get the game in a playable state. However, players who put in the effort are rewarded with one of the most beautiful adventures in board gaming.
3 Tapestry Has Gorgeous Buildings
1-5 players, 90-120 minute play time
Most games use miniatures to represent their characters. Players move around models representing heroes, villains, and monsters. This isn't the case in Tapestry. Tapestry's miniatures are so distinctive because rather than people, they represent buildings.
In Tapestry, players attempt to advance their civilization by creating buildings and landmarks. These all contribute to their science, their military progress, and several other tracks that all give them points. The game comes with dozens of unique miniatures to represent the buildings and landmarks, all distinctive and beautifully colored.
2 Cthulhu: Death May Die Fulfils Every Part Of Eldritch Horror
1-5 players, 90-120 minute play time
There are plenty of games based on H. P. Lovecraft's work. Many of these have excellent miniatures, bringing to life the horror of Lovecraft's imagination. However, some neglect the other aspects of the horror. There is more to the Cthulhu mythos than just monstrosity.
Cthulhu: Death May Die provides the whole package. The horrific monsters are there and rendered in beautiful detail. However, the same loving care is also applied to the other miniatures. Cultists and investigators also get unique, characterful, and flat-out cool poses for players to enjoy.
1 Mechs Vs. Minions Is Based On A Huge Video Game
2-4 players, 60-120 minute play time
Mechs vs. Minions is a cooperative programming game for 1-4 players. It's inspired by League of Legends and gets the players to gun down its minions by the handful. It's made quite the impression since its 2016 release, thanks in part to the quality and surprising affordability of its miniatures.
Mechs vs. Minions has large, well-crafted models to represent its mechs; and small and charming miniatures for its minions. Despite coming with plenty of high-quality miniatures, the game is surprisingly cheap. Many games of similar production quality go for much higher. As a result, Mechs vs. Minions is a great investment for anyone looking to get into miniatures without breaking the bank.