New titles see the light every year, but nothing beats the classic board games! From the masterpieces that you’ve played since childhood, like Monopoly and Clue, to more recent ones like Cards Against Humanity and What Do You Meme?, there’s a whole world of old-school fun waiting for you to discover. We think you should really consider adding some of the best board games to your collection — because if you want to be the cool kid at the party (or just the cool person in general), you need to know how to play these classics.
Nothing beats a game party night when it comes to getting your friends together, cracking open some beers, and having a good time. So get ready for some good old-fashioned delight; you’ll be surprised at how easily you can get sucked into these games — and before long, everyone will be clamoring for their turn at bat!
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Scrabble
1938 | 2-4 players | Age: 8+
Scrabble is still a pretty popular board game, and word-puzzle enthusiasts all over the world have fallen in love with it! There’s just something about the way the tiles sound when you lay them on the board or how your brain goes into overdrive as you try to come up with words you’ve probably never used before. The latest editions of the game added new possible words and neologisms.
Sorry!
1929 | 2-4 players | Age: 6+
Sorry! is a board game based on Pachisi, a cross-and-circle game that originated in ancient India. Sold for the first time in 1929, it’s stood the test of time to the point that it’s soon gonna celebrate 100 years of success! The goal is pretty simple. To win, players move their pieces around a board, attempting to get them all “home” before any other player. A PC video game version was released in 1998.
Trouble
1965 | 2-4 players | Age: 5+
Trouble is a popular family board game and the perfect way to spend time with your loved ones. Thanks to a device called “Pop-O-Matic,” players compete to push four pieces all the way around a board. Trouble’s concept and gameplay are based on an Indian game called Ludo.
Trivial Pursuit
1981 | 2-6 players | Age: 16+
Ready to find out which one of you is the real smartass? The classic game of Trivial Pursuit is a staple in many households, and for good reason: it’s fun and challenges you to learn new things! If you haven’t played it in a while, now’s the time to dust off the board game box and start playing.
I absolutely love trivia games. I have a few versions of trivial pursuit but I prefer the family edition. I am terrible with the genius edition.
Monopoly
1935 | 2-8 players | Age: 7+
A classic among classics, Monopoly has been around since 1935, and it’s still going strong. The franchise blessed us with new versions of the game over the years, like Monopoly Junior, Monopoly Empire, and even a Star Wars edition! But the premise of the game stays the same: it’s all about buying property and making money off other people’s misfortune… and that’s what makes it one of the best board games of all time!
Clue
1949 | 2-6 players | Age: 8+
If you love a good mystery (and who doesn’t?), then Clue is an excellent choice for your next board game night. It’s a classic game of investigation and intrigue, where players take on the roles of different suspects as they try to solve a murder. The game is all about guessing the victim’s killer, the location of the crime, and the murder weapon. Ready to find out who done it?
Guess Who?
1979 | 2 players | Age: 6+
Choose your character and keep your identity secret as long as you can! Whether you’re playing with your grandma, your dad, or your kids, Guess Who? has been around for ages and shows no sign of giving up its special place on the podium. Despite how good the game is in its simplicity, it took so long for the creators to finally add some diversity to it: the original edition included only five women out of 24 characters, with the game featuring only one non-white character.
Boggle
1972 | 2+ players | Age: 8+
You remember Ruzzle, right? The mobile game that took the world by storm in 2013? Boggle is the original game that inspired Ruzzle, and it’s still as fun and challenging as it was back in the 1970s. The best part about Boggle is that it’s easy to learn and quick to play, so even if you’re not much of a board game person, you can still enjoy a game party with your favorite people!
The Game Of Life
We did a live action version of this game in our Economy and Society class at school. I've never played the board game though.
Rummikub
1978 | 2-4 players | Age: 8+
Pronounced “rummy-cube,” this tile-based game combines elements of other famous games like rummy and mahjong. Players take turns placing numbered tiles, trying to create runs and groups of the same. Don’t have Rummikub at home? Time to visit your local board game store!
Risk
Great game, but it takes so long! Not really a party game unless that's what your party is about.
Pictionary
I love this game but no one will play it with me because I'm really good at both drawing and guessing but they aren't :)
Sequence
1982 | 2+ players | Age: 7+
Sequence is an exciting board-and-card game, part of the ever-popular family of strategy games. The object here is to form rows of five chips on the board by placing them on the board spaces corresponding to cards played from the player’s hand. The first player or team who completes two sequences wins!
Connect Four
Twister
Wit’s End
Uno
Cards Against Humanity
Not a game if you're easily offended or triggered. Perfect game for me lol. It's so wrong and inappropriate but bloody hilarious. Never a dull moment.
Jenga
Mancala
Scattergories
One of my absolute favourite games. The timer still makes me jump.
Ticket To Ride
Backgammon
Mouse Trap
Chinese Checkers
My grandad built a set, using marbles for playing pieces. He kept the set in a particular drawer of a coffee table he built. The drawer always had a particular smell. Years later I inherited the coffee table and when I opened the drawer it still had the smell! I don't know where the game went though. My siblings both would love to have it too, so there may be a fight in the future :)
Dominoes
So... I have a story. In the west indies dominoes are called bones. I got my grandfather (from barbados) a fancy set dominoes in this lovely leather case. The case came with a plaque you could get engraved so i went to a shop, gave them the plaque and asked them to write "Bumpa's Bones" because I've called them bones my whole life I assumed everyone in Canada would draw that mental connection. The woman clearly hadn't as she looked mortified. Me, being oblivious, thought maybe she didn't understand the name and explained that Bumpa is what I call my grandfather (as I'm holding a box of lightly clinking unseen items). That made it worse. She wouldn't do it and wanted me to remove the box from her store. I was very confused but after some back and forth realised she thought i was holding my grandfather's bones and she's superstitious. Cut to me trying to prove they are dominoes and her holding the box shut afraid of bad luck. Bumpa loved the story.
Taboo
Operation
Parcheesi
Carcassonne
Ludo
Pass The Pigs
Don’t Break The Ice
Cranium
Chutes And Ladders
We call it snakes and ladders in Australia. Of course we would bring snakes to the party :)
Azul
King Of Tokyo
Mysterium
Disney Villainous
Telestrations
Catchphrase
Hive
Quoridor
Five Tribes
Betrayal At House On The Hill
Archipelago
Crokinole
Guys, this is 2022 ! The field of board games has known a tremendous rebirth for the part 20 years, in which scores of magnificent and witty games have been created for people of all kinds and group sizes (and you have cited a few modern classics already like Catan, Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne). It is ample time you move beyond listing Monopoly or Risk !
Many of these games are less than 10yrs old. Hardly classic baoardgames. Really misleading list. It also is just quite lazy. Many were two player many were reskinned games. There are so many classic games that should have been included like 'Inventors', Careers or even Payday. These felt like they grabbed a random handful of games from their local boardgame cafe or just looked at their shelf and wrote them down. Even worse if we are including modern classics, they left of so many modern classics like Catan, Werewolf, Gloom, timestories , tribond or pandemic. Low effort, low impact, misleading list.
Guys, this is 2022 ! The field of board games has known a tremendous rebirth for the part 20 years, in which scores of magnificent and witty games have been created for people of all kinds and group sizes (and you have cited a few modern classics already like Catan, Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne). It is ample time you move beyond listing Monopoly or Risk !
Many of these games are less than 10yrs old. Hardly classic baoardgames. Really misleading list. It also is just quite lazy. Many were two player many were reskinned games. There are so many classic games that should have been included like 'Inventors', Careers or even Payday. These felt like they grabbed a random handful of games from their local boardgame cafe or just looked at their shelf and wrote them down. Even worse if we are including modern classics, they left of so many modern classics like Catan, Werewolf, Gloom, timestories , tribond or pandemic. Low effort, low impact, misleading list.
