22 Fun Board Games for Adults Game Night

Hosting a game night? Any of these fun board games for adults would be the perfect addition for game night where everyone wants to spend time actually playing games! They are some of the most fun adult board games out there that me, my spouses, and adult siblings have tried during our hundreds of game nights over the years!

The Best Adult Board Games for Game Night

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m a board game addict. My parents have been getting me at least one board game for every holiday and my birthday since I was like 12, and I even had a board game closet built into our house specifically to hold all the games. You can see a picture of my board game closet at the bottom of this post (or over on my Instagram page).

When I originally wrote this post, it was just all of the most fun game night board games, but I have too many of them now so I’ve had to separate them out based on what kind of games people are looking for.

How Did We Choose Our adult game night games?

These board games are the ones I consider the best based on my own experience. I’ve played every single one of these board games and highly recommend them all. I’ve had a number of people ask me for my top board games if I had to choose my top 25 – well here you go, my top board games!

So let’s make up a batch of homemade Chex Mix and get to playing!

Azul (2-4 players) 
In Azul, players have to strategically place beautiful mosaic tiles to compete for high scores. It’s totally different than most of our other board games and a family favorite because it’s easy to play but hard to master!

Ponies (unlimited players)
If I had to choose one board game that we’ve played the most in my family over the past year it would be what we call ponies. It’s actually just a horse racing game, but we call it ponies. The idea is simple – you get cards associated with horses that are racing in the middle, racing based on the roll of dice. And it’s maybe one of the most fun games I’ve played as an adult!

Card vs Gravity (2-8 players)
This one is a totally different game than the rest of the ones on this list – you’re literally stacking cards on top of each other to play the game. It’s gone viral for a reason because it takes game night to an entirely different level. And it’s a blast!

Chameleon (3-8 players)
This is the game my sister always asks to play when she comes over. It’s a bluffing word game where everyone knows the clue except for the chameleon, and the chameleon has to convince everyone they do know the word. It’s like the viral game imposter but in a fun word game (just don’t tell my sister I said it was fun).

Calliope Tsuro (2-8 players)
This is another tile placing game but this time it’s to try and keep your own stone the board while blocking others paths. It’s super easy to learn, making it great for game night. And the game board looks like a dragon – and if you’ve read my book retreat post – you know I love dragons!

Sounds Fishy (2-8 players)
This is another bluff your way to victory game! It reminds me a lot of the classic game of Balderdash but the things you have to make up are much easier! One person reads something, then everyone else has to come up with the answer to the statement on the card – but only one of them has the right answer! It’s hilarious to see what kinds of things people come up with!

You Can’t Say Umm (2-8 players)
Get your team to guess random things without using filler words like umm or err. Oh and you may have rules added to you to make it even funnier – this one is technically family-friendly but the things you have to come up with are a little more challenging, making it one of my favorite adult board games!

Pandemic (2-4 players) 
In the Pandemic board game, you’re working as a team to try and rid the world of diseases before they outbreak and take over the entire world. Each game is a little different depending on where the outbreak starts and which characters you randomly draw. It was our introduction into the cooperative board game world and is still my favorite.

Pandemic Legacy (2-4 players) 
There’s also a version of Pandemic out these days called Pandemic Legacy, which is basically like Pandemic on steroids. Okay, maybe not. It’s designed to be played by the same four players every single game month after month and as you beat the game, you open boxes, which change the game completely and you have to continue playing the game like that from then on.

Mysterium (2-7 players) 
Mysterium is another cooperate game but this time tied to a haunted mystery that you’re trying to work together to solve! There are also different versions so that if it’s your first time playing, you can go on beginner mode but on your third or fourth time playing, you can make it more challenging – perfect for repeat game nights! If you like mystery, ghosts, and such – this is a great option!

7 Wonders (3-7 players) 
This is one of those games that takes a bit of figuring out but once you do, it’s super simple to play. In the 7 Wonders board game, basically everyone gets a land that has special perks at the beginning of the game.

You go through three different rounds of picking and playing cards to try and earn the most points by the end of the game. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it and the graphics on the game board are gorgeous! And if you don’t have three players, they have a 7 Wonders Duel version too that’s fun!

Splendor (2-4 players) 
Splendor is a bit tough to describe. The goal of the Splendor board game is to be the first to earn a certain number of points and you earn points by earning jewels, picking up cards, and building sets.

Like 7 Wonders, it takes a game or two to get the hang of it, but then it’s simple and typically fairly quick to play.

Settlers of Catan (3-4 players, up to 6 with expansion pack)
Settlers of Catan is one of the first strategic adult board games I ever played, and it’s still a family favorite. The goal of the Settlers of Catan board game is to earn points by building settlements, roads, and armies.

You do that by gaining resources when numbers matching those resources are rolled on the die. It’s a combination of strategy + luck because the roll of the die can change the entire game. This is a great classic strategy game that most adults I know enjoy.

Ticket to Ride (2-5 players) 
Ticket to Ride, or as my family calls it, The Train Game, is a classic strategy game where you have to try to use your color trains to connect one destination to another. The catch is that you have to collect colored cards to do it and that can be tougher than it sounds.

It’s a good slow-paced game and a classic one that doesn’t take much at all to learn. I’d recommend this one if you’re playing with perhaps in-laws or someone who doesn’t do a lot of strategy games and isn’t going to get the complex rules of one of the more complicated games mentioned above.

Suspicion (2-6 players) 
Suspicion is like a grown up version of the classic game Clue. Everyone is invited to a party and comes disguised with a secret identity. You spend the game paying attention to all of the little details and things that happen to try and figure out which character is which player. This is one of our newest games we got for Christmas this year and a new favorite.

Last Word (unlimited players)
Last Word is a good party game if you have people that like to talk and yell things out. The basic idea is that you flip over a category and a letter and people just start yelling out words that fit that category and letter and whoever says the last thing before the buzzer goes off gets the point for that round.

Wavelength (2-12 people)
This one is super unique because you’re trying to figure out where the answer lies on a spectrum (e.g., hot to cold) based on clues that your teammate gives. It’s all sorts of analyzing clues, trickery, and laughter!

Hues and Cues (3-10 people)
This is another unique one that has you trying to get people to guess a specific color spot on a board (with 480 spots to choose from) based on one and two-word clues. If you want to try something different, this is definitely it!

Herd Mentality (4-20 players)
This is one of the best games on the list for a big group! The goal like the game suggests is to guess what the majority guesses for all sorts of different questions and topics. It’s a great game to play when you don’t want to explain much, want to be able to just pick up the game and start playing, and when you want some laughs!