50 Most Popular Board Games

Hues and Cues

This is one of our newest favorite games and also one that so many of my readers love. There are 100 different squares of color on the board and you have to give clues to get people to guess the exact hue on your card. It’s way harder than it seems and so funny to see what some people see as say eggplant or mauve. It’s also an easy enough one that most people can play regardless of age or skill level.

Poetry for Neanderthals

I think this game is so fun. Others may not agree but I included it here because I love it and a number of people mentioned it as a favorite. If you’ve ever played Catch Phrase where you have to describe a word to people, it’s like a combination of that, Taboo, and a game where you can hit people with an inflatable club when they mess up. I haven’t laughed this hard in a while.

Piles

I’ve seen this one all over the place over the past year and for good reason. We finally played it a few months ago, and it is super everyone friendly, fast moving, and pretty funny to both watch and play. Everyone plays at the same time trading cards while trying to match matches – think Spoons but trading with everyone and all at once!

Hitster

This isn’t just one of my favorite music party games, it’s one of my favorite party games. And so many people recommended it, I had to buy it to try at our most recent retreat. It’s one of those games that doesn’t sound that fun and then you start playing it. You play songs (of all sorts), try to name them, and then try to remember what year they came out. It’s a mix of music, nostalgic memories, and just so fun.

Ponies

I was so excited to see this horse racing game mentioned by a bunch of people because it’s one of my family’s favorites! It’s a combination of dice rolling, card flipping, and horse racing fun for everyone. If my extended family had to choose one game to play, it would probably be this one!

Skyjo

I’m going to be honest, I bought this game like a year ago and still haven’t opened it. We’ve had so many other games to try out it just got lost in the shuffle but after seeing how many people recommended it as their favorite, I’m definitely playing it this weekend. It was probably the top game for people! It’s a card game good for up to eight players where you’re trying to collect as few points as possible!

Tapple

I first saw this one when it went viral on TikTok and immediately made my family play with me. It was just as fun as the video showed. The basic idea is that you have to come up with words in categories that start with certain letters but it’s a fast-paced, scrambling kind of game that makes it more fun than something like Scattergories!

Azul

This is a tile laying board game that is so different than the other board games on this list. It’s not only full of beautiful pieces inspired European mosaics, it’s surprisingly strategic and fun. You have to think hard about where your tiles go lining up different colors and patterns to earn points.

Plunder

I actually haven’t played this one but the board and description remind me a bit of Risk where you are battling ships in the Caribbean. You have to conquer islands, upgrade your ships, and make wagers against competitors to win. The reviews are fantastic and most people say it’s super fun to play even with kids!

Cockroach Poker

This is a new one I’d never heard of before but I read the description and it sounds hilarious. It’s kind of like a combination of B.S. where you have to pass cards (and possibly bluff what you’re passing) and Old Maid where you’re trying to get matches to win. It sounds like a blast and something my boys would think is hilarious as they’re passing stink bugs around!

Secret Hitler

The teens, tweens, and young adults spent hours playing this game at our most recent family reunion. It’s a game of hidden roles, secrets, deception, and betrayal. It sounded like so much fun, I know my tween loved playing!

Carcassonne

This is another tile laying game where you lay down your tiles to create roads and villages to score in the game. It’s a more methodical and strategic game than a lot of the ones in this list (my readers like fast and easy games apparently), but it looks like a really fun one based on reviews!

Panda Royale

This is a dice game that up to 10 player can all play at the same time. Unlike other dice games, the dice in this game all have different abilities like clear dice let you steal, blue glitter dice multiply, and so on. It’s easy to learn and fast to play!

Trekking the World

A game that was recommended numerous times is Trekking the World. I couldn’t find that one so I grabbed Trekking the National Parks instead, looked the same but with National Parks. It’s a game of planning a route to visit as many parks as you can while using your resources in the best way you can, all while trying to win the game. Plus, it’s beautiful!

Survive the Island

This is a newer game where your entire goal is to get your little people to the island to survive. It includes strategy combined with risk and reward choices, but not too much, making it great for older kids, teens, and adults. The base version is for five people but there are expansions available too!

Camel Up

I’d never actually heard of this game until I had several readers recommend it and now I can’t wait to play it. It’s a camel race game where players bet on quirky camels, but you never know what’s going to happen. It sounds like the perfect addition to any party or game night to me!

Fire Tower

This is another one I’d never heard of but that looks fun (and came recommended by people). I’ve been on a Chicago Fire kick lately, so it’s right up my alley. You have to play cards to defend your tower from growing flames with different action cards. It’s simple to learn, play, and totally unique from other games you probably have.

Flip 7

I think Flip 7 may be going down in popularity (being replaced by Piles) this year but that doesn’t mean it’s any less fun. It’s a game of press your luck choosing to take another card or to stay (and keep the points you’ve already earned). If you push your luck too much, you’ll bust and lose it all. It’s simple to learn, easy to play with any number of people, and a ton of fun. Also a great travel game!

Settlers of Catan

Catan is one of the very first true strategy games I’ve played and still one of our family favorites. You build roads an settlements to try and score points all the while playing defense against your opponents. And it’s all based on the roll of a dice and which numbers you have.

I really feel like Settlers was the beginning of true strategy games and so many games have a similar concept since then. But it’s a must-have for every game closet.

Oh and if you’ve been playing Settlers forever, try out some of the expansion packs like Explorers & Pirates.

Ticket to ride

Build railroads to connect cities around the country (or continent) in this fun train game. It’s actually one of my personal favorites but we played it so much with my family that they won’t play it with me anymore.

It’s definitely one I recommend every one play at least once to see if you love it. It was one of the most popular games when I asked my readers so don’t be shocked if it becomes one of your favorites too!

There’s also a Ticket to Ride First Journey game that is actually fantastic. My boys love playing that one and sometimes I think it might be more fun than the original!

Sequence

Who can get a sequence of four or five chips in a row first? A simple game of strategy where you have to play both offense and defense well to win, and one of our personal favorites here as well!

The kids version of Sequence uses animals instead of cards and is one my boys pull out regularly as well!

Scattergories

I remember playing this one with my family when I was in high school, so it’s been around for a while, but it really doesn’t get old. Everyone has to try and come up with words in specific categories that all start with a particular letter, without repeating words that other people created. There’s a reason we’ve created a bunch of our own custom Scattergories games over the years, it’s an easy one everyone can enjoy.

Blokus

Our friends Ryan and Rachel introduced us to this game years ago and it still remains a favorite to this day. It’s so different than all of the other board games we own and reminds me a lot of Tetris where you have to think through how pieces will fit while competiting against other players as well. I personally love this larger version of the game compared to the big one, but they’re both so fun.

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

This may be the easiest game ever but also one of the most hilarious. You go around in a circle playing cards and saying Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza as you play the cards, if your card matches what you may the game is on. It’s fast-paced, fun, and family-friendly!

Apples to Apples

Pretty sure Apples to Apples is the game that launched a million other games. It was the first ever game I played where you have one descriptor card and everyone has to choose cards to play on it and the person whose turn it is chooses the winner. There’s a reason so many other games do this now – it’s a super fun concept. I know people love Apples to Apples, I personally played it so much when it first came out that I can’t do it anymore – but it’s definitely one for people who love it.

Cards Against Humanity

Another game similar to Apples to Apples where you are choosing cards to go with a descriptor but these ones are much funnier and much worse. The actual tagline on the box is a great for your horrible family, so you know it’s likely going to be funny.

There are a million variations of Cards Against Humanity as well. I’ve linked to the family variation below to keep this family-friendly but any of them are fun.

Splendor

I forget how much fun Splendor is until I play it again. It’s a combination of gem trading, card collecting, and simple strategy. My mother-in-law beat all of us the first time we played without really knowing what she was doing, so it’s one that is fun even for beginners unlike so many strategy games out there. It’s also simple to learn!

The two person variation Splendor Duel is also great.

Sagrada

Sagrada is one of the most beautiful games I own with its stained glass design. The game is centered around rolling dice to fill in your own stained glass window panes but it’s more than just rolling, you have to be strategic about where you place the dice and what you’re going after. It was one of my favorites for a while there and we’d play all the time!

Code Names

My family loves this game so much that my dad actually made a custom set for people in our family to play. It’s a game that makes you feel a bit like you’re a spy as you give clues to try to get teammates to guess things without letting the other team know what you’re guessing. It’s tricky and so much fun.

There are also about a million variations of this now as well. Some of my favorites are Harry Potter Code Names and Disney Code Names.

Cover Your Assets

My grandma sent this game to all of the grandkids like ten years ago because she loves it so much. It’s such a clever game of collecting money, stealing money, and well trying to protect your assets from other people. It’s easily the most popular game from Grandpa Beck’s Games but not their only one, there others are all super fun too!

Another one that I personally love and that came up a couple of times in my reader favorites was Skull Kings!

Qwirkle

Think Scrabble (also a great game) but with tiles that have shapes and colors on them. It’s a great tile laying, score earning game for people who don’t want to wait hours for someone to come up with the perfect word!

It’s a great one for beginners because there’s no reading, just matching colors and shapes!

Eye Found It

There a bunch of different Eye Found It games available now but the Disney one is my favorite and was the one most mentioned when I asked for people’s favorites and it’s probably because it’s so whimsical, just like Disney. In the game, you work as a team to find things hidden in a giant picture and things are harder to find than you may think. I actually love playing this one with my kids!

Chameleon

Everyone knows the secret word except one person but no one knows who that person (the chameleon is). Everyone has to give clues to the word whether they know what it is or not. It’s one of the funniest games to play when you have the right group and always a blast!

Labyrinth

This game is a maze, literally. Players have to choose tiles to move and place in different places to try and get their pawns out to score points. It’s actually super strategic but not challenging. There are also a ton of variations like a Minecraft Labyrinth and Pokemon Labyrinth that my boys have and love.

Blank Slate

Have you ever played the game where someone says a word and two people have to name the first thing that comes to mind that would make it a phrase? This game is like that and was actually one of the most popular responses when I asked for favorite games. You have to fill in the blank word, trying to come up with the answer other people will write. I’ve never played it, but I just bought it because it sounds so fun!

Clue

This is one of the original solve the mystery games. The goal? Figure out who did it, where, and with what weapon. It’s such a classic there are now a ton of different variations like Scooby-Doo Clue, The Office Clue, and even Harry Potter Cluedo. There’s also a Clue, Jr. variation that is actually fantastic!

Sorry

Sorry! is one of my favorite board games of all time because it’s so simple but so fun. It combines mostly luck and a little strategy in a game where all you’re trying to do is get your pawns home. It’s easy enough that kids can play it but fun enough adults can too. Also, if you haven’t tried the variation where you deal out a hand of cards and let people choose which cards to play (instead of drawing), you need to immediately!

There’s also a giant life-size version of Sorry! that looks awesome!

Monopoly

Pretty sure Monopoly is the most popular board game of all time. It’s one of those love it hate it kind of games because everyone knows that Monopoly games can last forever. But there’s not much better than landing on Boardwalk when you already have Park Place in your property collection.

There’s also a Monopoly Deal card game that is actually one of our favorite card games! Both Monopoly and Monopoly Deal have about a million variations out there so if you are bored with regular Monopoly you can always try the Pokemon, Barbie, or Fifa World Cup version!

Oh and Monopoly, Jr. is actually great as well and much quicker! My boys love it.

The Game of Life

I was actually very surprised to hear how many people love The Game of Life. I mean I do but it’s been a while since I’ve played, but it was the favorite for a bunch of my readers!

If you’ve never played Life, it plays like an actual life where you spin the spinner and follow a path that brings jobs, marriage, kids (sometimes), and all sorts of other real-life events.

I like the original Life game but Life, Jr. is pretty different and my kids like it even more. It’s probably one of our favorite kid board games because it’s so fun!

Trouble

One of the best things about Trouble is popping your dice instead of rolling it. It makes for such a unique game and honestly, it’s just fun! It’s a similar game to Sorry where you’re trying to get your pawns from the base to home but the popping dice part just makes it so fun!

Risk

It’s been years since I’ve played Risk because it’s a time commitment but all of my memories playing Risk are great ones. It’s the original dice battle game where there’s nothing better than the feeling of beating someone coming after you with way more dice. If you haven’t played Risk, it’s a must, just be ready to commit for at least an hour or two!

Payday

Similar to The Game of Life, Payday plays similar to an actual work week where you have to pay bills, buy and sell things (with a little risk involved), open mail, and more. I loved playing this one as a kid and have recently introduced it to my own boys who also thoroughly enjoyed it, although they weren’t quite old enough to appreciate paying bills yet.

Guess Who

This classic guessing game has players using the process of asking questions and then thinking through the answers to eliminate who the other person might have as their person. If you get bored of the original version with people, they now have other variations like an animal Guess Who, fruit Guess Who, and even an NFL superstars Guess Who. And I’ve seen really fun ideas out there where people make their own guess who games using the board frame!

Candy Land

This may be the most classic kids game but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun for the whole family to play together! The types of candy characters have changed over the years but the fun of the game hasn’t. You still choose cards that tell you how far to go along the candy path with cards that could send you far ahead or far behind.

It’s a classic for a reason and will probably never get old!

Chutes & Ladders

Chutes and Ladders is one of the best beginner board games out there because the rules are so simple. Spin, count out the number of spaces, and if you land on a slide you go down and if you land on a ladder, you climb up. It’s pretty much luck but still so fun because you just never know who is going to win!

Pretty sure Chutes & Ladders has become the starting point for tons of other board games out there!

Operation

Don’t touch the sides or you’ll get buzzed in this classic play the doctor and get the body parts out game. It’s one of the most unique games out there still and will always be a favorite of my kids, even if they really just like making it buzz to annoy me!

Trivial Pursuit

The original trivia game (or at least the first one I ever played) that has people trying to answer trivia questions in all sorts of categories like history, sports, pop culture, and more. If generic trivia isn’t your thing, there are now all sorts of variations like Trivial Pursuit Generations, Family Trivial Pursuit, and more!

We love trivia games around here so this one is always a favorite!

Taboo

When someone said this was their favorite, I had to go and look to see if it was still being sold because it’s such a classic. They’ve created an updated version that’s just as fun. The goal? Get your team to guess a word without saying any of the taboo words on the card or you get buzzed. This is still one of my favorite board games for groups!

Yahtzee

Maybe the most popular dice game out there, Yahtzee has become a household name and word in our house. Everyone knows getting five of the same number on the dice is a Yahtzee!

While I love the original game, my kids also really like the picture junior variations like the Marvel Spidey and Friends version.

Uno

I’m not sure anyone knows how many variations of Uno there are now but we have like ten of them because the base game is so much fun. Anytime my oldest wants to play a game, he pretty much picks Uno. My favorite variations of the game are Uno Flip and Dos because they totally change up the game but all variations are still a good time.

The real question is – do you stack draw cards on top of each other?