Even though board games are really fun, they're also even more expensive, costing up to hundreds of dollars. But if you're into card games, the Commander format of the card action game Magic: the Gathering is a very interesting option, taking no more than 5 to 20 dollars per player on the table.
Why is this Commander thing a viable option, though? Aren't Magic cards really expensive? Well, tournaments allow up to 4 cards per deck, which ends up favoring the strongest cards in current strategies by a lot. This makes these cards cost a lot because every competitive player is looking for them. But Commander isn't a format widely used in tournaments.
You can make entertaining decks that are a lot cheaper than the official packs
You can't use more than one copy of a card in your decks, which makes for a lot of variety and personal touch according to each player's preferred style of play. This means your friends will probably use decks very different from each other, guaranteeing a variety of results in every match. By agreeing noone should spend more than $ 20 on their own decks, you easily get a friendly and competitive playgroup.
Is Magic hard to get into if you're not familiar with card games? Not really. You can copy decks on a budget online and watch some youtube videos about the game. Discovering new mechanics is really fun, so the learning experience is not frustrating, but a lot of fun.
Commander is the go-to format when you want to play with and against many people at a time! You can go with free-for-all or team-based, so you just can't go wrong.