W includes one of the most celebrated games of the modern era.
Every game below is listed with the details that actually decide whether it suits your table: player count, playing time, the age it works from, and who designed it.
Board Games Starting With W at a Glance
| Game | Players | Time | Age | Designer & year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingspan | 1-5 | 40-70 min | 10+ | Elizabeth Hargrave, 2019 |
| Wavelength | 2-12 | 30-45 min | 14+ | Wolfgang Warsch, Alex Hague and Justin Vickers, 2019 |
| Werewolf | 8-18 | 30+ min | 8+ | Dimitry Davidoff, 1986 |
| Wits & Wagers | 3-7 | 25 min | 10+ | Dominic Crapuchettes, 2005 |
| War of the Ring | 2-4 | 150-180 min | 13+ | Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, 2004 |
| Welcome To… | 1-100 | 25 min | 10+ | Benoit Turpin, 2018 |
Wingspan
1-5 players · 40-70 min · Age 10+ · Elizabeth Hargrave, 2019
Attract birds to three habitats, where each bird gives a power that chains into the others, building an engine of eggs, food and cards. It won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2019 and sold out repeatedly – a genuine mainstream breakout for a medium-weight strategy game. The 170 bird cards carry real natural-history facts and wingspan measurements, which is a large part of its charm.
Wavelength
2-12 players · 30-45 min · Age 14+ · Wolfgang Warsch, Alex Hague and Justin Vickers, 2019
A hidden dial sits somewhere on a spectrum between two opposites – hot and cold, overrated and underrated – and one player gives a clue to help their team find it. The arguments about whether coffee is hot or cold on a scale that already contains lava are the game. The physical dial-and-screen component is unusually good for a party game.
Werewolf
8-18 players · 30+ min · Age 8+ · Dimitry Davidoff, 1986
The village sleeps, the werewolves choose a victim, and by day the survivors argue about who to lynch. Created by a Soviet psychology student as Mafia, it is the ancestor of every social-deduction game that followed, including Among Us. It needs a large group and a good moderator, and it is free – all you need is a deck of cards.
Wits & Wagers
3-7 players · 25 min · Age 10+ · Dominic Crapuchettes, 2005
Every question has a numerical answer, everybody writes a guess, and then you bet on whose guess is closest – including someone else’s. That betting layer means knowing nothing is survivable, because judging who is likely to know is a skill of its own. It is the rare trivia game a non-trivia person can win.
War of the Ring
2-4 players · 150-180 min · Age 13+ · Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, 2004
The Free Peoples and Shadow armies fight across Middle-earth while the Fellowship moves secretly toward Mount Doom, and either side can win militarily or through the Ring. Action dice constrain what you can attempt each turn, so the two victory paths stay in constant tension. It is the most complete adaptation of Tolkien in game form and rewards the length it asks for.
Welcome To…
1-100 players · 25 min · Age 10+ · Benoit Turpin, 2018
A flip-and-write game of 1950s American suburbia: three cards are revealed each turn and every player writes the same numbers onto their own street, in ascending order, however they choose. Because everyone uses the same reveals, player count is effectively unlimited – the box says up to a hundred. It is Yahtzee’s structure with genuine planning underneath.
