The Best Board Games of All Time Board/Card Games

The Best Board Games of All Time

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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.
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Rank     Name
  1. 51
    Up 55
    Down 20

    Say Anything

    Party game
    added by: lukewarren
  2. 52
    Up 3
    Down 0

    Mahjong

    added by: The Monto Gawe
  3. 53
    Up 3
    Down 1

    Dungeon!

  4. 54
    Up 219
    Down 422
    Children's game
  5. 55
    Up 3
    Down 0

    Cards Against Humanity

  6. 56
    Up 1
    Down 0

    Scattergories

  7. 57
    Up 0
    Down 0

    Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot

    Card game
  8. 58
    Up 222
    Down 393

    Othello

  9. 59
    Up 195
    Down 442
    Party game
  10. 60
    Up 48
    Down 55

    1812: The Invasion of Canada

  11. 61
    Up 88
    Down 100
    Grand strategy game, Strategy game
  12. 62
    Up 0
    Down 1

    Mille Bornes

  13. 63
    Up 7
    Down 3

    Descent: Journeys in the Dark

    Fantasy
    added by: JamesCoffin
  14. 64
    Up 62
    Down 27

    Wits and Wagers

    Party game
  15. 65
    Up 62
    Down 85

    Hi Ho! Cherry-O

    Children's game
    added by: KristenLeighBizzarro
  16. 66
    Up 90
    Down 98
    Economic simulation
  17. 67
    Up 3
    Down 0

    Key to the Kingdom

    added by: surferstylee
  18. 68
    Up 176
    Down 578
    Children's game, Roll and move
  19. 69
    Up 69
    Down 84

    Mancala

  20. 70
    Up 187
    Down 276
    Sports
  21. 71
    Up 2
    Down 0
    No image

    Domino

    added by: The Monto Gawe
  22. 72
    Up 1
    Down 0

    Free Parking

    added by: surferstylee
  23. 73
    Up 1
    Down 0

    WWF Wrestling Challenge

    added by: surferstylee
  24. 74
    Up 1
    Down 0

    Six Steps

    added by: surferstylee
  25. 75
    Up 174
    Down 377
    Party game
  26. 76
    Up 45
    Down 71

    UNO Attack

    added by: KristenLeighBizzarro
  27. 77
    Up 97
    Down 120
  28. 78
    Up 175
    Down 459
  29. 79
    Up 21
    Down 36

    Warhammer 40,000

    Science Fiction, Miniature wargaming, Collectible miniatures game
  30. 80
    Up 176
    Down 436
    Party game
  31. 81
    Up 28
    Down 41

    Cribbage

  32. 82
    Up 93
    Down 99
    Tile-based game
  33. 83
    Up 91
    Down 89

    Shadows Over Camelot

    Board game, Cooperative board game
  34. 84
    Up 65
    Down 81

    Scotland Yard

  35. 85
    Up 14
    Down 33

    Space Hulk

    Science Fiction, Board game
  36. 86
    Up 77
    Down 82

    Acquire

    Economic simulation, German-style
  37. 87
    Up 103
    Down 95

    Le Havre

  38. 88
    Up 99
    Down 92
    Cooperative board game
  39. 89
    Up 80
    Down 90
  40. 90
    Up 134
    Down 152

    Summoner Wars

  41. 91
    Up 14
    Down 32

    Warhammer Fantasy Battle

    Miniature wargaming
  42. 92
    Up 67
    Down 101

    A Few Acres of Snow

    deck building, wargame
  43. 93
    Up 173
    Down 453
    Children's game, Roll and move
  44. 94
    Up 40
    Down 73

    Monopoly Deal

    added by: JasonEMorgan
  45. 95
    Up 21
    Down 50

    Star Trek: Fleet Captains

  46. 96
    Up 21
    Down 47

    cards against humanity

  47. 97
    Up 110
    Down 110

    King of Tokyo

  48. 98
    Up 56
    Down 74

    Crokinole

  49. 99
    Up 15
    Down 35

    Pay Day

    Economic simulation
  50. 100
    Up 101
    Down 106
    German-style
  51. +Add New Item

items 51 - 100 of 152

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    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.

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