Terraforming Mars is the gold standard for 'heavy' modern board games. It’s essentially a giant spreadsheet of resource management, but it's disguised so well by its epic theme that you won't even realize you're doing mental gymnastics for two hours straight.

It’s not 'brain rot'—it’s brain fuel. It demands focus, patience, and the ability to pivot when your plans go sideways. If you want a game that makes your teenager sit still and actually think three steps ahead, this is the one. Just make sure you have a big enough table; the components tend to spread out like a real colony.