10 Best Cooperative Board Games UK

The Arkham series of games are cult classics in the board game community, but their complexity has always been a sticking point for new players. This one still takes a little time to learn the rules, but the Arkham Horror living card game is simply a must-play for horror fans.

We don't want to spoil anything because the story these games tell is part of the appeal, but you'll find yourself fully immersed in a Lovecraftian universe and pushed to the brink of madness by the various scenarios. With ingenious difficulty settings, you can always find the right challenge for your level, and each scenario has consequences for the next.

While it is difficult to recommend the original Gloomhaven due to how expensive the box is, Jaws of the Lion is the perfect solution for those who may be intrigued by the highest rated board game of all time but don't have the time or money to try it out.

Jaws of the Lion streamlines everything, cleverly using a fold-out book to hold the scenarios and playing surface. Where the original game requires plenty of space and takes a while to set up, with this edition you just open up a book and go. You'll still need a good amount of space for the cards and tokens, but it is a big improvement over the original.

Warning: This game's theme may cause some distress due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pandemic: Legacy is simply one of the best cooperative games of all time. Players are tasked with preventing a series of diseases from turning into potentially devastating outbreaks by taking on the roles of scientists, researchers, and military. You'll work together by combining unique abilities to develop vaccines, build treatment centres and cure patients.

What elevates the legacy edition is the ongoing storyline that changes as you progress from session to session, with envelopes containing secret events to be opened and the consequences of your choices ripple out across play sessions.

Fantasy Flight Games are well known for publishing some of the best living card games on the market and Marvel Champions is no exception. A living card game simply means that regular expansions are released with new cards, meaning that the game is constantly evolving over time.

In Marvel Champions, players will choose a superhero and build a deck of cards with different powers and abilities to use in scenarios against the many famous villains of the Marvel universe. Working together and thinking strategically is the name of the game here!

This is the perfect game for anyone who's had the fantasy of what they would do in a zombie apocalypse. Players will have to weigh up risk and reward when deciding how to keep their settlement of survivors standing by venturing out into infested areas for supplies.

As well as overall win conditions, each player has their own secret objectives that they must complete which really adds to the tension of the game. If you're looking for a great game where you're fully immersed in the theme, this is it.

If you're familiar with the stories of Sherlock Holmes, you'll have some idea of what to expect from this title; it's a game where you and a partner investigate a series of crimes and try to deduce the culprit. Believe us when we say it's a lot more simple than it sounds. 

This board game absolutely nails the feeling of Holmes' Victorian London, but it is a very difficult game to beat. You'll be scouring for clues in newspapers and photographs, choosing which locations to visit, and you'll need to be at your best in order to win. If you're up to the challenge, it's well worth your time but it is far from a casual relaxing experience.

You may look at that title and wonder why Gloomhaven is placed at No. 7 on our list and, in short, it's because of the massive commitment in terms of price and time. It's very expensive and it will take you and your group months to finish, but it is probably one of the best board games ever made.

For the right group of RPG or D&D fans, Gloomhaven is a must buy and split between 3 or 4 people it doesn't work out to be too expensive. For others, it'll be an expensive box that will require too much time to set up and play.

The Captain is Dead: Dangerous Planet is actually the third entry in this series of games, but works great as its own standalone game. The premise is that you're exploring an unknown alien planet in order to retrieve precious artifacts.

The players use these resources like cards in a hand in order to progress further down modular tunnels, which you then flip over to reveal what's happening on that turn (usually something disastrous). Each game is different as the set up is random, and you'll find yourselves pushing your luck further and further in order to escape the planet victorious! 

While starting off as a cooperative game, the unique part about this title is that at a certain point one of the players will turn from a teammate to an adversary, taking the role of a semi-randomised monster with their own objectives. Each turn, players will draw a tile to place down as they explore the house, before the betrayal is finally revealed.

There are a good number of scenarios, and with the board changing every time you play, there are many hours of entertainment in this box. Some sessions can feel very unbalanced due to the random nature of the game, with some scenarios unfolding where it feels impossible for the remaining cooperative players to win.

We love the Back to the Future films and we're pleased to say that this board game from Ravensburger does a great job of capturing the feeling of the classic movies. Playing as the iconic characters, you and your group will be rolling dice to play through the familiar events of the films.

While great for fans of the franchise of all ages, a lot of the enjoyment of Dice Through Time is its theme as some players unfamiliar with the films may not enjoy the random elements of dice rolls determining their moves.