TOP-5 Most popular economic board games of all time
| TITLE | Gameplay rating (0-10) | Boardgamegeek rating (0-10) | Players / best | Time (minutes) | Complexity rating (0-10) / Age |
 Steam (2009)  | 7.49 | 7.63 | 3-5 / 4 | 90-120 | 7.92 / 12+ |
 Stockpile (2015) | 8.33 | 7.56 | 2-5 / 4-5 | 45-60 | 4.16 / 12+ |
 Panic on Wall Street! (2011) | 7.55 | 7.02 | 3-11 / 7-11 | 30 | 3.34 / 8+ |
 Acquire (1964) | 7.08 | 7.35 | 2-6 / 4 | 90 | 5.02 / 12 |
 Container (2007) | 7.47 | 7.14 | 3-5 / 5 | 90-120 | 6.52 / 12+ |
List of 5 top rated economic board games
Brass: Lancashire (2018) — the best economic board games of all time
Board game “Brass: Lancashire” by Martin Wallace is a modified version of “Brass” (2007), one of the best economic board games of all time. In this great, deep and thoughtful economic strategy events will develop in the XVIII-XIX century England, Lancashire County. Lancashire has become both one of the cotton industry centers and the center of cotton and coal boom.
Players will build coal mines, cotton factories, railways, factories, shipyards, coal mines, ports and water channels. You cannot do without careful strategy planning for marketing of products to increase profit and the power of your industrial empire.
Beautiful box art, panel, maps and other game elements really accurately convey the atmosphere of the industrial revolution. “Brass: Lancashire” is deep and thoughtful economic strategy for true evaluators of thoughtful intellectual gameplay, despite quite simple rules. The number of players is from 2 to 4, optimally for 4 players aged 14 and over. The game is deservedly top rated.
Clans of Caledonia (2017)
“Clans of Caledonia” (2017) is an economic and quite a friendly game about the development of industrial and agricultural clans in Scotland of the 19th century. Each clan has unique abilities that give certain advantages in trading. Players for their clans will hire workers, produce various resources which then process into goods, trade, execute export contracts, buy buildings and sell cattle.
Good replayability due to 9 asymmetric clans with unique properties, 9 fame counters, 16 different variants of modular board, 50 export contract counters, opportunity to add port counters to the game allow you to make each set interesting and unique with dozens of different strategies.
At first glance “Clans of Caledonia” is a classic “euro” game of placing workers and building productions to earn as many points as possible to win. Many key actions are borrowed from other games. But… Still it’s a great smart economic board game with good balance and atmosphere. Simplicity, intuitive comprehensiveness, average threshold of entry and complexity make it one of the best family strategies.
The game is quite dynamic without substantial downtime and this enables two experienced players to be involved in one game, for example, for 30-50 minutes. There is also a solo mode.
If you are looking for a high quality economic strategy without complex rules and plenty of time spent for a set, Clans of Caledonia can be a great choice.
Food Chain Magnate (2015) — one of the best complex board games of all time
Economic board game “Food Chain Magnate” (2015) is a serious and quite complex economic strategy to build a network of fast food restaurants in 50-60s in the United States. The main task of each participant is to build the perfect structure for their business network of fast food restaurants, at the same time it is necessary to adjust and respond dynamically to the buyers’ demand and various intrigues of competitors.
“Food Chain Magnate” is positioned as a game for advanced 2-5 players aged 14 and 2-4 hours of active brain activity. The gameplay is similar to true planning and building your business — build restaurants, establish sales channels, hire staff and distribute duties and tasks, execute right management and manage your employees, build a multi-way business strategy and calculate your profit. Your choice of what to do to win is almost unlimited.
There are no dices and accidents in the game, it can be tough and does not forgive mistakes. Most likely, the beginner will not be able to understand fully and become a professional after the first set. It is possible to configure a simpler level of difficulty for beginners. Experience increases after each set as well as understanding of different strategies. No set in Food Chain Magnate will be like previous ones. Every set, every move stimulates finding the best solution. Even one mistake when playing against strong players can reduce chances to win to almost zero.
“Food Chain Magnate” can be number one game in your personal ranking… if you like it.
Concordia (2013)
“Concordia” (2013) is a simple and quite peaceful historical strategy about economic development of ancient Rome for 2-5 players aged 12-14. The game almost eliminates the element of randomness and the gameplay depends on your decision making, anticipation opponent actions and intelligent interaction.
The task is to spread and strengthen your influence in the provinces and cities of the empire, sending colonists, buying cards of new people, building various buildings and getting maximum income. The elegant key actions associated with people cards makes the gameplay very interesting. Two-way board map: Imperium — for 3-5 players and Italia — for 2-4 players.
In “Concordia” there is a constant non-conflict interaction between players. Even though there is no direct conflict, there is rivalry, of course, and it increases gradually together with economic development of players.
You will enjoy both the elegance of the rules taking two sheets, which are simple and accessible for beginners, and the moderate number of game components. This allows you to start playing in 10-15 minutes without long preparatory work. The game is perfectly balanced, accurate and works as the perfect mechanism.
The path to the victory goes through different strategies and potential opportunities. To achieve good result you need to plan your strategy several moves forward. Interest in the game will remain until the end of the game, as the final result will be known only after the game is finished.
Le Havre (2008)
Board game “Le Havre” (2008) is a comprehensive economic strategy from the famous creator Uwe Rosenberg. Participants will play the roles of managers in a large modern port.
New cargo ships with raw materials, goods and passenger liners arrive to the port piers. Cargo and goods should be unloaded to the berth and transported to warehouses. There are many different buildings processing raw materials, selling goods or building new ships in the port. It is necessary to organize workers in the best possible way, manage trading, construction, various resources and production.
“Le Havre” is a game of medium difficulty for 1-5 players aged 12 and over. It is possible to play by one player only. Well-designed gameplay and economic engine make participants constantly estimate possible benefits of any actions and think over their actions for the next moves. However, not very complex rules, short or full version of the game, intuitively easy to understand and comprehensible gameplay reduce the learning curve for beginners. Good replayability of each set is ensured by a variety of development options, a random set of maps of special and standard buildings.
