Searching for the best board games  to play with family and friends? Well, lucky you. we’ve looked through tons of board games, and found the 27 best board games for you and organized them in this handy list.

1. Decrypto

Decrypto is a team-based word game where players try to communicate codes to their teammates using clues, while preventing the opposing team from intercepting and deciphering their messages. Each team has four secret words, and one player on each team gives coded clues that correspond to specific numbers. Teammates must interpret the clues to guess the correct code, while the opposing team listens in, attempting to crack the code over multiple rounds. The game challenges both creativity and deduction, blending elements of wordplay and strategic thinking.

2. Patchwork

Patchwork is a two-player tile-placement game where players compete to create the most aesthetically pleasing and efficient quilt. Using buttons as currency, players take turns selecting and placing uniquely shaped fabric tiles on their personal quilt boards. Each tile costs a certain number of buttons and time, and players must balance acquiring pieces with managing their resources. The goal is to fill up the quilt board as much as possible while leaving minimal empty spaces. Patchwork combines strategic decision-making and spatial awareness in a simple yet engaging way.

3. Sheriff of Nottingham

Sheriff of Nottingham is a bluffing and negotiation board game where players take on the roles of merchants trying to smuggle goods into the city while avoiding detection by the Sheriff. Each turn, players declare the goods they are bringing into the city, but they can lie about their contents. The Sheriff decides whether to inspect the merchant’s goods or let them pass. If the goods are found to be as declared, the merchant gains rewards; if they are not, they face penalties. The game combines strategic deception, negotiation, and risk-taking as players strive to maximize their profits and outwit their opponents.

4. Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a tile-placement game where players build a medieval landscape by placing tiles featuring cities, roads, and fields. Each turn, a player draws a tile and places it adjacent to previously laid tiles, aiming to complete features like cities, roads, and cloisters. Players can then place their followers, known as “meeples,” on these features to score points based on their completion. The game ends when all tiles are placed, and the player with the most points, accumulated from completed features and their followers, wins. Carcassonne is known for its strategic placement and simple yet engaging gameplay.

5. Codenames

Codenames is a word-based party game where players split into two teams, each with a spymaster and field operatives. The spymasters give one-word clues to help their team identify specific words on a grid that represent their team’s “agents,” while avoiding words associated with the opposing team and the dangerous “assassin” word. The goal is to correctly guess all of your team’s words before the other team does, based on the spymaster’s clues. The game combines clever word associations with teamwork and deduction, creating an engaging and strategic experience.

6. Scythe

Scythe is a strategic board game set in an alternate-history 1920s where players control different factions vying for dominance in a war-torn region. Each player manages resources, builds structures, recruits units, and expands their territory while engaging in combat, diplomacy, and economic development. The game features a combination of area control, engine-building, and asymmetric gameplay, with each faction having unique abilities and goals. Scythe is known for its deep strategy, intricate mechanics, and immersive world-building, offering a complex and engaging experience.

7. Wingspan

Wingspan is a strategy board game where players act as bird enthusiasts, aiming to attract and nurture a diverse collection of birds in their wildlife preserves. Players use various actions to gain food, lay eggs, and draw bird cards, each with unique abilities that contribute to their ecosystem and scoring. The game features a beautiful bird-themed design and integrates a mix of engine-building and resource management mechanics. With its emphasis on bird species and natural habitats, Wingspan provides a tranquil yet strategic experience for players.

8. Splendor

Splendor is a fast-paced, tile-laying board game where players act as wealthy merchants in the Renaissance, acquiring valuable gemstones to purchase development cards and earn prestige points. Players collect gem tokens to buy cards that provide permanent bonuses and reduce the cost of future purchases. The goal is to accumulate enough points to achieve a set number of victory points before your opponents. The game combines strategic planning with resource management, offering a streamlined yet deep experience as players build their gem empire and aim for the highest prestige.

9. Azul

Azul is a tile-placement game where players compete to decorate a palace wall with colorful ceramic tiles. Each turn, players draft tiles from a central factory display and place them on their individual boards according to specific pattern rules. Points are scored based on the placement of tiles and the completion of patterns, while penalties are incurred for unused tiles. The game features strategic decisions about tile selection and placement, with the aim of creating the most aesthetically pleasing and high-scoring mosaic. Azul is known for its beautiful design and engaging gameplay.

10. Terraforming Mars

Terraforming Mars is a strategy board game where players take on the roles of corporations working to transform Mars into a habitable planet. Players manage resources, develop infrastructure, and undertake projects to increase the planet’s temperature, oxygen levels, and ocean coverage. Each turn involves playing cards that provide various benefits and contribute to the terraforming efforts. The goal is to score the most points by the end of the game through successful projects and advancements. Terraforming Mars is celebrated for its deep strategic choices, thematic immersion, and complex interactions.

11. 7 Wonders

7 Wonders is a card-drafting game where players build ancient civilizations by developing structures, engaging in trade, and advancing science. Over three ages, players select cards that represent various building types, resources, and military advancements, and then use them to improve their cities and gain points. The game involves strategic planning and resource management, as players must balance their own development with competition from neighboring civilizations. The goal is to accumulate the highest score through diverse achievements and well-planned growth by the end of the third age.

12. Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is a cooperative, campaign-driven board game set in a dark fantasy world where players take on the roles of mercenaries exploring dungeons, battling monsters, and completing quests. The game features a rich narrative, evolving storylines, and a vast array of scenarios that change based on players’ decisions. Each character has unique abilities and a deck of action cards that drive their actions in combat. Gloomhaven is known for its deep tactical gameplay, character progression, and the immersive, ever-changing world that unfolds over numerous sessions.

13. Risk

Risk is a classic strategy board game centered around global domination. Players control armies and strategically deploy them across a world map divided into territories. The objective is to conquer territories and continents through tactical combat and strategic planning. Players take turns attacking and defending territories, aiming to eliminate opponents and achieve their own strategic goals. Risk involves dice-based battles, alliances, and territorial control, making it a game of strategy, risk management, and negotiation as players vie for global supremacy.

14. Pandemic

Pandemic is a cooperative board game where players work together as members of a disease control team tasked with preventing global outbreaks. Each player assumes a unique role with special abilities, and together they must strategize to contain and cure four deadly diseases that threaten the world. Players travel between cities, treat infections, and research cures, all while managing limited resources and dealing with escalating outbreaks. The game is known for its collaborative gameplay and requires careful planning and teamwork to successfully overcome the spreading diseases and avert a global crisis.

15. Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride is a railway-themed board game where players collect train cards to claim railway routes across a map of North America or other regions, depending on the version. The objective is to complete destination tickets that connect specific cities by building continuous train routes. Players score points for claimed routes and completed destination tickets, while longer routes and completed tickets yield higher rewards. The game involves strategic route planning, card management, and competition for key rail connections, making it an engaging blend of strategy and luck.

16. Catan

Catan, formerly known as The Settlers of Catan, is a strategy board game where players compete to build and expand their settlements on an island rich with resources. Players gather resources such as wood, brick, wheat, and ore from surrounding hexes, which they use to build roads, settlements, and cities. The goal is to earn victory points through development and strategic placement, while trading resources with other players and managing the robber that can disrupt resource production. Catan is renowned for its dynamic gameplay, strategic depth, and emphasis on negotiation and resource management.

17. Twister

Twister is a physical, party board game where players place their hands and feet on colored circles on a large mat, following instructions given by a spinner. The spinner indicates which color and body part players must move to, leading to a tangled and often humorous physical challenge. The game continues until a player falls or touches the mat with a body part that is not on a circle, with the remaining players winning. Twister is known for its fun, active gameplay that requires balance, flexibility, and coordination.

18. Trivial Pursuit

Trivial Pursuit is a trivia-based board game where players answer questions across various categories to earn pie-shaped pieces for their game piece. The board features spaces that correspond to different categories, such as Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, and Sports & Leisure. Players move around the board by answering questions correctly, and the objective is to collect all six pieces of the pie and then correctly answer a final question to win. The game is celebrated for its broad range of trivia questions and its challenge to general knowledge.

19. Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders is a classic board game where players navigate a numbered grid from start to finish, using dice rolls to determine their movement. The board features ladders that help players advance quickly and snakes that cause them to slide backward. The objective is to be the first to reach the final square, usually labeled as 100, while avoiding the setbacks caused by landing on snake squares. The game is known for its simple rules, reliance on luck, and the element of unpredictability as players climb and descend the board.

20. Checkers

Checkers, also known as draughts, is a strategic board game played on an 8×8 grid where players each control 12 pieces, typically colored red and black. The objective is to capture all of the opponent’s pieces or block them so they cannot make a legal move. Players move their pieces diagonally across the board and capture opponents’ pieces by jumping over them. When a piece reaches the far side of the board, it is “kinged,” gaining the ability to move both forward and backward. The game emphasizes strategic planning and positioning to outmaneuver the opponent.

21. Ludo

Ludo is a classic board game where players race to move their four tokens from their starting area to their home base by rolling dice. The board is divided into a cross-shaped path, with each player’s home base in a corner. Players take turns rolling a die to move their tokens along the path, with the goal of reaching the center of the board. They can capture opponents’ tokens by landing on the same space, sending them back to their starting area. The game combines strategy with luck, as players must decide when to advance, capture, or block opponents.

22. Monopoly

Monopoly is a classic board game where players compete to buy, sell, and trade properties to build their financial empire. The goal is to bankrupt opponents by collecting rent on developed properties, which can include houses and hotels. Players move around the board based on dice rolls, landing on spaces that may involve buying properties, paying taxes, or drawing chance or community chest cards. The game is known for its negotiation, luck, and strategy, as players aim to dominate the real estate market and become the wealthiest player.

23. Scrabble

Scrabble is a word-based board game where players use letter tiles to form words on a grid-like board, scoring points based on the length and complexity of the words they create. Each letter tile has a specific point value, and certain board spaces offer multipliers that can increase the score for a word or letter. Players take turns placing tiles and building on existing words to maximize their score while blocking opponents. The game combines vocabulary skills with strategic placement, aiming to achieve the highest score by the end of the game.

24. Clue

Clue, also known as Cluedo, is a classic murder mystery board game where players attempt to solve a crime by deducing who committed the murder, with what weapon, and in which room of a mansion. Players move around the board to collect clues by entering different rooms and making suggestions about the crime. They receive information from other players based on these suggestions and use deduction to narrow down the possibilities. The game ends when a player correctly identifies the murderer, the weapon, and the location, solving the mystery and winning the game.

25. Guess Who

Guess Who is a two-player deduction game where each player starts with a board featuring a set of distinct character cards. Each player selects a character in secret, and the goal is to guess the opponent’s character by asking yes-or-no questions about their appearance. Players eliminate characters based on the answers they receive, gradually narrowing down the possibilities. The game ends when one player correctly identifies the opponent’s chosen character. Guess Who is known for its simple mechanics and engaging process of elimination and questioning.

26. Chess

Chess is a classic two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 grid, where each player controls an army of 16 pieces, including a king, queen, rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns. The objective is to checkmate the opponent’s king, putting it in a position where it cannot escape capture. Each type of piece moves in a specific way, and players must use tactical and strategic thinking to maneuver their pieces, attack the opponent’s pieces, and protect their own king. Chess is renowned for its deep strategic depth and the endless combinations of moves and tactics.

27. Rummikub

Rummikub is a tile-based game where players aim to form sets and runs of numbered tiles to score points and empty their racks. Each tile has a number and color, and players draw and play tiles to create groups of three or more matching numbers in different colors (sets) or consecutive numbers of the same color (runs). The game involves strategic planning to build and rearrange existing sets on the table, making it possible to use tiles from other players’ sets. The goal is to be the first to play all your tiles and score the highest points based on the remaining tiles in opponents’ hands.