The Best Board Games of All Time Board/Card Games

The Best Board Games of All Time

original ranker Ranker Community  324,824 views 152 items 124 followers
The best board games ever made, ranked by aficionados and casual players. What are the greatest board games ever? The classic games that have entertained families of players for decades? Or innovative new table-top role playing games pushing the boundaries between fiction and reality? This list attempts to determine, once and for all, which are the greatest and most fun board games of all time.

A board game here is defined as any game in which pieces are placed on or moved around a flat surface, such as a board. This would include classic centuries-old board games such as Go, Chess and Checkers, along with more modern games like Settlers of Catan, or even some role-playing games involving game pieces or miniatures. What are the best board games ever? What's the best board game for two people? What's the best board game for groups?

Some games still utilize game pieces but are built more around live interaction or conversation than traditional "turn-based" board games. These games - such as Scattergories or Taboo - may not meet the strict definition of board game, but nonetheless resemble board game-style play and entertainment enough to warrant inclusion.

This list was determined by allowing users to make lists of suggestions for the greatest board games ever, and then holding an open vote on which games were actually the best of all time. If you don't see your favorite board games on the list, add your own list and suggest them. And don't forget to vote on the best games on the list already to ensure they rise to the top! If your mind needs some board game refreshment check out the complete list of board games.
6,310 voters +
105 reranks

see all
rerank this list your way
< >
View:
More Options Add Item
Rank     Name
  1. 1
    Up 1744
    Down 937
    Board game, Perfect information, Zero-sum
  2. 2
    Up 1669
    Down 1593
    Board game, Economic simulation, Roll and move
  3. 3
    Up 1219
    Down 1032
    Word
  4. 4
    Up 1520
    Down 1164
    Board game, Grand strategy game, Strategy game
  5. 5
    Up 1763
    Down 714
    German-style
  6. 6
    Up 1060
    Down 863

    Clue

  7. 7
    Up 1203
    Down 493
    Railroad, German-style
  8. 8
    Up 487
    Down 174

    UNO

    added by: KristenLeighBizzarro
  9. 9
    Up 759
    Down 972
  10. 10
    Up 840
    Down 727
  11. 11
    Up 917
    Down 466
    German-style
  12. 12
    Up 845
    Down 342
  13. 13
    Up 578
    Down 730
  14. 14
    Up 701
    Down 949
    Trivia, Party game, Roll and move
  15. 15
    Up 668
    Down 575
    Board game, Strategy game
  16. 16
    Up 575
    Down 643

    Checkers

  17. 17
    Up 551
    Down 289
    Strategy game
  18. 18
    Up 528
    Down 665
    Children's game, Cross and Circle game
  19. 19
    Up 471
    Down 225
    Board game
  20. 20
    Up 520
    Down 690
    Party game, Roll and move, Word
  21. 21
    Up 581
    Down 254
    Cooperative board game, Cooperative game
  22. 22
    Up 651
    Down 519
    Board game, Strategy game, Perfect information More
  23. 23
    Up 520
    Down 629
  24. 24
    Up 618
    Down 449
    Cooperative board game
  25. 25
    Up 518
    Down 554
    Board game
  26. 26
    Up 468
    Down 322
    Grand strategy game
  27. 27
    Up 146
    Down 75

    Poker

    Card game
  28. 28
    Up 197
    Down 117

    Candyland

  29. 29
    Up 361
    Down 214
    Economic simulation, German-style
  30. 30
    Up 477
    Down 820
    Economic simulation, Roll and move
  31. 31
    Up 332
    Down 191
  32. 32
    Up 339
    Down 210
    Science Fiction
  33. 33
    Up 389
    Down 251
  34. 34
    Up 164
    Down 103

    Trouble

    Children's game
  35. 35
    Up 275
    Down 172
  36. 36
    Up 341
    Down 234
  37. 37
    Up 91
    Down 44

    Life

  38. 38
    Up 225
    Down 169
    German-style
  39. 39
    Up 291
    Down 197
  40. 40
    Up 238
    Down 154

    7 Wonders

  41. 41
    Up 156
    Down 95
    Role-playing game
    added by: RyanRhoden
    Dungeons and Dragons is a game of imagination and is the biggest influence of role-playing games
  42. 42
    Up 199
    Down 139

    Magic: The Gathering

    Collectible card game
  43. 43
    Up 324
    Down 535
  44. 44
    Up 235
    Down 157
    Railroad, German-style
  45. 45
    Up 99
    Down 77

    Don't Break the Ice

    Children's game
    added by: KristenLeighBizzarro
  46. 46
    Up 223
    Down 164
  47. 47
    Up 122
    Down 85
    added by: Demon_Boy
  48. 48
    Up 333
    Down 624
    Party game
  49. 49
    Up 65
    Down 53

    Scattegories

  50. 50
    Up 236
    Down 167
  51. +Add New Item

items 1 - 50 of 152

rerank this list your way embed list
what's a rerank?
  • LOADING HISTORY

    leave a comment

    comments powered by Disqus
    1. Sadye Segar
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 12/02/2012 9:30 PM
      best board games ever. That's clear.
    2. Jiminy Christmas
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 12/01/2012 10:30 AM
      best strategy board games of all time! Jajaja!
    3. Marvis Mcclamroch
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 10/21/2012 8:30 AM
      all time best board games! No way.
    4. Ewa Newsam
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 10/08/2012 7:30 PM
      best board games of all time. Finally?...
    5. Darius Ramming
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 8/20/2012 6:30 PM
      top board games. No idea
    6. Kendrick Mientka
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 8/07/2012 12:30 AM
      best board games. Aaah.
    7. Merrilee Stewert
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 7/02/2012 9:30 PM
      greatest board games. On Ranker, huh. Sweet.
    8. Alvaro Carosella
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 6/21/2012 1:30 AM
      top board games of all time! You don't say.
    9. MCCCCI.
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 6/05/2012 2:09 PM
      horrible worst list ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    10. power
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 5/04/2012 8:01 PM
      History of the World
    11. AllegraJackson
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 5/03/2012 11:54 PM
      You forgot about Mancala, and Domino.
    12. shalmar
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/18/2012 6:32 PM
      How does one add games that are not on the "master" list?
    13. MacB
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/17/2012 4:31 AM
      You can't really call this a best list. You can call it the list of low quality walmart games that everyone has because they don't know what the best games are. There are a few good quality games on the list.

      I'd call it the list of highest production mass produced games or the list of how the term "Ameritrash" games came to be.

      All one needs to do is go to boardgamegeek and see the actual ranking of the games on this list and you will see that some of these "highly" rated games are actually among the worst games of all time. LOL!
    14. david111
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/17/2012 3:19 AM
      What horrible games! Pleeeez learn about
      games at
      boardgamegeek,com
    15. robbeachler
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/16/2012 8:41 AM
      Aficionados my ass!
    16. femgoth
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/16/2012 7:27 AM
      also the 'complete list of boardgames' contains under 200 games? i hardly call that a complete list of games..
    17. femgoth
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/16/2012 7:21 AM
      thinking about it is this list for real.. it seems if you do a BGG search for several of the games they all show up around the 7800th rank mark... (original monopoly, mouse trap, connect 4, sorry, etc) they seem to be mixed in with some games that actually rank quite highly (dominion, settlers, TTR, P'Rico).. either it is a joke or the aficionados/regular player split is more black and white than i thought...
    18. femgoth
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/16/2012 7:15 AM
      wow, as someone that plays boardgames (a lot) i would say there are a few there i would rank in my top 100 (chess/backgammon). i seriously cannot believe that monopoly is number one on the list.. if you want a decent ranking of games look on boardgamegeek.com. monopoly (amongst the actual aficionados) is rated ~3000th.. i also would certainly not call it a classic by any stretch...
    19. Dude
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/09/2012 5:57 AM
      Hero Quest anybody?
    20. mwahahahaha
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/07/2012 7:57 AM
      Nobody likes Xiangqi here? That's impossible!
    21. Hero
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 2/25/2012 4:19 PM
      Why is sorry so high and parcheesi so low???


      sorry is clearly a copy of parcheesi
    22. Rohan
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 2/20/2012 4:13 AM
      Chess is the greatest board game of all times Most perfect game ever
    23. R20X
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 1/10/2012 1:07 AM
      Scrabble = #2
    24. Pontus
      The Best Board Games of All Time at 9/21/2011 2:49 AM
      Horrible, horrible list. Monopoly? Risk? Really?
      1. Hero
        The Best Board Games of All Time at 2/25/2012 4:17 PM
        Hey don't dis the classics.
        1. david111
          The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/17/2012 3:21 AM
          Play some Euro games before you criticize.
        1. femgoth
          The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/16/2012 7:12 AM
          classics!? really, monopoly is not a classic...
          1. bryanlane
            The Best Board Games of All Time at 4/24/2012 11:31 AM
            well, it's a classic example of horrible board games.

    today on Ranker