These five essential board games are perfect for cheering up rainy days, so check them out if the weather's getting you down

Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar board and pieces — (Image credit: Future)

It's that horrible time of year where things are glum 'n gray with spring just out of reach, so there's nothing for it but waiting out the weather with a good board game. If you want to add a little coziness to a dreary weekend, I've got some recommendations that will do the trick.

Besides writing about the best board games for a living with news, reviews, and guides, I also spend much of my free time playing them. This has given me a collection that makes my house feel like an impromptu board game cafe, but I'll always gravitate toward a few in particular when the weather closes in. Life in Reterra always helps me get out of a funk thanks to its puzzle-like mechanics and cheery style, for example, while Finspan provides a dose of the tropical when I'm missing summer vacations. And those are just two of my go-tos - I have a whole list of them. If you want something to brighten up a winter weekend, here's my full first-aid kit of board games you need to play.

Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar | $33.49 $29.57 at Amazon
There's nothing better than having a long-running game you and a partner can keep coming back to over the winter months, and this spin on the Jurassic franchise is a real tour de force. It challenges you to run the doomed dino-park and create your own version, altering the board with stickers that provide an endgame totally unique to you. Its mechanics also borrow heavily from some all-time classics, so there's a lot to love here (particularly for a pair – it's one of the best 2-player board games, in my opinion). Did someone say "island getaway"?

UK price: £63.16 at Amazon

Betrayal at House on the Hill | $59.99 $45.22 at Amazon
We're going to the opposite end of the scale for this one. It's always Halloween in my heart, and grim weather always gives me a hankering for the spooky. I'll go to my grave saying that this is one of the best horror games ever made (as you may be able to tell from my five-star Betrayal at House on the Hill review), and thanks to its many randomly-decided scenarios, you're never sure of what you'll face in this creepy mansion.

UK price: £46.16 at Amazon

Life in Reterra | $29.99 $21.52 at Amazon
Most games about the end of the world are bleak and bitter, but not this one. It's precisely the opposite; a cheerful art style blends with fast-paced but thoughtful puzzle gameplay, making it a great tonic to rainy days or winter blues. Your job is to rebuild society by laying down buildings and settlers on a patchwork board of tiles, with victory going to whoever amasses the most points. Like I mentioned in my Life in Reterra review, it's a total delight.

UK price: £29.99 £28.93 at Amazon

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion | $49.97 at Walmart
Even though this series is pretty grungy in itself, there's no better distraction than a grand adventure – and few do it better than the 'havens. A new version of the original is now available, but this shorter take on the questing system is a better starting point if you ask me. As pointed out in our Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion review, it provides all the greatness in a more bitesize package that loses none of its predecessor's depth.

UK price: £49.99 £45.45 at Amazon

Carcassonne | $41.99 $33.99 at Amazon
It's an oldie, but a goodie. Carcassonne is a modern classic that sees you creating a patchwork kingdom of farms, castles, abbeys, and cities each turn, all in an effort to amass the most points by claiming locations. Although it's less strategic than some of the other options listed here, sometimes that's what you need; a laid-back puzzle that you can relax with. As our Carcassonne review says, it's heaps of fun with tons of replayability. Perfect for dreary days inside when the weather is dire, in other words.

UK price: £30 £24 at Argos

Finspan | $50 at Amazon
If you want something to play with family that's a little deeper than Monopoly or Clue, this is a bright spot. It takes us to the oceans where we have to collect different kinds of fish across a variety of zones, making this the closest we'll get to snorkelling in a dark February. Despite building on the same mechanics as predecessor Wingspan, it improves the formula with more accessible gameplay and a faster pace. That makes it amongst the best family board games, so far as I'm concerned.

UK price: £42 $32.80 at Magic Madhouse

Personally speaking, the game that's been getting me through the last few weeks has been Life in Reterra. It's exactly the kind of cheery, colorful game I need after a deluge of seemingly endless rain where I live, and although I've discovered in the process that I'm not brilliant at it (I've spent several days having my butt handed to me), it's done a great job of brightening my mood.

Similarly, The Hobbit: There & Back Again has been a real bright spot in February. This roll-and-write adventure game is like a personal puzzle, and it's totally engrossing. If you've not tried it yet, I can definitely recommend giving it a go. (It's currently $34.99 at Amazon.)

Is there anything you like to play when the weather turns gray? Shout it out in the comments below.

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For more tabletop recommendations, don't miss the best card games or the best tabletop RPGs.