The Best Times to Buy Board Games Every Year

‘Tis the season for Black Friday shopping, and if you’re someone who loves board games, now is an excellent time to pick up some that you’ve had on your radar. If you happen to miss out on the seasonal savings this year, though, have no fear. There are a couple of different times throughout the year where you can find good savings on some of the very best board games.

Below, we’ve broken down some of the best times to buy board games during the year. Alongside Black Friday, you can also find killer deals during Amazon Prime Day and October Prime Day. Most retailers also frequently have board games on sale throughout the year, and we’ll point you towards some of the best ones to check out.

For the Best Time to Buy Board Games, Keep in Mind…

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

One of the best times to pick up discounted board games is during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which occur at the end of November. It’s not just on the day that sales will pop up, either. You’ll usually find sales at a variety of different retailers during the entire week of Black Friday and the following week after Cyber Monday. Some retailers even start up their sales as early as the first week in November like what is happening with .

With Black Friday on the horizon, we’ve put together some roundups with details on what you can expect from the sale event this year for Amazon Black Friday and Walmart Black Friday to help you plan ahead for your holiday shopping. All of these spots are great places to look for board game deals and we’ll keep you updated on the best individual deals as they appear throughout the sale event as well. It’s also worth keeping GameStop and Target on your radar during this time as they’re likely to have plenty of discounts on board games, too.

For this sale event, it’s also a good idea to plan ahead for what you want. Board games, in particular, can sell out during this period of time, so make a list of the ones you want before diving into the discounts. It’s also worth keeping multiple tabs open to compare prices at various retailers. Sometimes, you’ll find a 30% discount at one spot and 40% off at another, so you want to make sure you get the best deal possible before hitting that ‘Buy’ button.

Amazon Prime Day

Alongside Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day is another sales event that’s worth keeping in mind for board game deals. This usually occurs earlier on in the year, around the end of June or start of July, so if you missed a board game deal during one sale you can plot to pick it up at the next. However, unlike Black Friday, Prime Day only occurs at Amazon and is only for Prime members. The only time you’ll see competing deals is if another retailer, like Best Buy, counters the sale day with their own selections.

And like Black Friday, you’ll want to make a list of which board games you want to buy for your collection. This will help you figure out what to look for but also helps with setting a budget. Another helpful planning tool is using a website like camelcamelcamel, which shows the price history on a product that’s listed on Amazon so you can see how often it goes on sale and at what price. This can help you figure out if it’s a better buy during Prime Day or if you should wait until Black Friday rolls around again to pick it up.

October Prime Day

Amazon also has a second Prime Day in the year – called Prime Big Deal Days or Prime Day 2, for short – that occurs in October. During this 48-hour sale event, they give a little preview of what’s to come during Black Friday, making it another good time to check out board game deals and see if something you missed in the first Prime Day popped up again here. It’s also just a good time to scope out the Black Friday deals and see what’s in store for you then.

Retailer Sales

The nice thing about board games is that you can find deals on them fairly frequently at a variety of stores all throughout the year. Amazon, in particular, has random deals on them often. And, as mentioned previously, it’s worth using a tool like camelcamelcamel so you can see when the best time is to pick up a board game you want there. Their helpful price history chart can show you what times of year their prices drop.

Other retailers, like Target, will usually match Amazon’s board game deals throughout the year as well. Alongside those two spots, it’s worth keeping an eye on stores like GameStop, Walmart, and even Barnes and Noble to find board game deals. We’ll always keep you updated on the latest board game deals as well, whether that’s during big sale events like Black Friday or on a regular basis in our best board game deals roundup. If you follow IGN Deals on Twitter, we’ll keep you updated there as well on the best board game deals as we come across them.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.