The 18 Best Board Games of All Time

Timeless family staples share the table with modern hobbyist heavyweights, from quick party fillers to sprawling all-night campaigns. Which one earns the top spot?

1

Chess

The timeless two-player game of pure strategy dating back roughly 1,500 years.

1000pts

2

Catan

The 1995 resource-trading classic that launched the modern board game boom and is still a gateway favorite.

744pts

3

Monopoly

The iconic 1935 property-trading game that is a household name worldwide.

609pts

4

Ticket to Ride

The accessible 2004 railway route-building game that became a global bestseller.

546pts

5

Scythe

The 2016 engine-building and area-control game set in an alternate-history 1920s Europe.

546pts

6

Carcassonne

The 2000 tile-laying game of building medieval landscapes with meeples.

473pts

7

Clue

The 1949 murder-mystery deduction game set in a mansion, also known as Cluedo.

473pts

8

Codenames

The 2015 word-association party game of spies and one-word clues.

473pts

9

7 Wonders

The 2010 card-drafting civilization game played over three fast-moving ages.

473pts

10

Dominion

The 2008 game that invented the deck-building genre.

387pts

11

Pandemic

The 2008 cooperative game where players team up to stop global disease outbreaks.

284pts

12

Wingspan

The gorgeous 2019 engine-building game about attracting birds to your wildlife preserve.

284pts

13

Azul

The 2017 abstract tile-drafting game of decorating a Portuguese palace with azulejos.

284pts

14

Scrabble

The classic 1948 tile-based crossword game beloved by word lovers.

284pts

15

Risk

The 1957 game of global domination and army-vs-army conquest.

284pts

16

Terraforming Mars

The 2016 heavy strategy game about corporations making the red planet habitable.

284pts

17

Gloomhaven

The sprawling 2017 legacy dungeon-crawler that topped hobbyist rankings for years.

284pts

18

Splendor

The 2014 gem-trading engine builder prized for its elegant simplicity.

158pts