10 Best Board Games For Family Time

For the exhausting day spent doing piled-up and never-ending office work and juggling between personal troubles and social life, the night is meant to be reserved for a relaxing time. Of course, that doesn’t just include turning your work phone off (Personal phones too, if you can) and stopping yourself from the temptation of looking at the incoming email, one must also shut-down the outside world for family time. With so much content available on OTT platforms, we tend to find the most fitting series or movie that the whole family loves. But, what’s the fun if you end up doing that always. Especially, when watching something requires a shut mouth and sometimes, dozing off even before the bedtime.

Wouldn’t it be fun to talk nonsense, laugh over silly things and engage in little banter between everyone? I would prefer that over movie time. If you do so too, go for a game night with snacks and drinks (Don’t get excited, I meant soft drinks too) in concert.

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When talking about game nights, playing video games are only one way of spending the time. The other way is playing board games. There are thousands of board games available in the market and if you are a new bee in the world of board games, you are right to look for some help from people who have played and knows about the most engaging and exciting games available. Whether you’re looking for something that requires high-level of strategizing or narrative cooperation, or simply something that looks and feels beautiful, these are the games we recommend for rotation at your game nights.

1. Ticket To Ride

Travel the different countries from United States to India, passing through the legendary Europe or China, facing new challenges, strategizing the perfect moves and trying out different tactics to beat the competitors. Available with above mentioned countries, this cross-country train adventure holds almost the same rules across all boards. If been asked about my preferred board, it is United States.

In this railway adventure, you’ll need to be the quickest to link up your cities and reach your destinations. With so many different strategies to try, each new game is a unique experience. With its simple gameplay, Ticket to Ride can be learned in under 15 minutes. Players collect cards of various types of train cars which are used to claim railway routes in the playing country. The longer the routes, the more points are earned. Additional points come to those who complete their Destination Tickets – those are the goal cards that defines your source and destination station. And lastly, the player who builds the longest continuous route gets additional points to build up their score to win.

Are you up for winning this game? Buy it on Amazon:

2. Catan

Although, this is a life lesson, it is also the game’s secret to win — Settling, trading and building are the keys to success here. If this excites you, embark on a quest to settle the island of Catan!

Be the dominant force on your island by building settlements, cities and roads. With each rolled out dice, the resources gained by each player are determined. Players build by spending their resources (wood, brick, sheep, wheat, and ore) or trading their held on resources with other player’s to collect the required resources for building. With the exception of the unproductive desert, each hexagon card produces a specific resource: hills produce brick, forests produce wood, mountains produce ore, fields produce wheat and pastures produce sheep.

Just like in any other board game, it takes some serious strategic thinking to outsmart your fellow players. This board game appeals to both experienced gamers as well as those new to the hobby.

Don’t just sit, play to win! Buy it on Amazon:

3. 7 Wonders

We all know, even in reality, civilization was born from evolution. Be the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World. Gather resources, develop routes, build a whole city and strengthen your army to fortify your city for protection. The game is played over 3 ages totaling 18 turns, known in the game as Ages I, II, and III, each using its own decks of cards. During the course of the game, you will have to conquer kingdoms across the board or create a nation of thriving arts and philosophy or you can build architectural wonders. Once all three decks have been played, players tally their scores in all the different developed areas (civil, scientific, commercial, etc.) and the player with the most victory points wins.

Unlike other board games which lose their replay value because of fewer play opportunities, this card drafting game with 14 different wonders and infinite strategies, is as fun to play as the first time.

Stop wondering, it’s time to act! Buy it on Amazon:

4. Azul

This is a tile-drafting, pattern-building game, with set collection bonuses up for grabs. In the game, players take turns drafting colored tiles to their player board. At the end of the game, players’ score points are counted based on how they’ve placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; whereas wasted supplies affect the player’s score. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Azul is a quick game to teach and addictive to play. This fits the category of easy to learn, but tricky to master. This colorful game brings depth and strategy onto the family gaming table in a simple package.

Don’t you want to try it? Buy it on Amazon:

5. Terraforming Mars

Based in the 2400s, humans begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations which are sponsored by the World Government on Earth initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable on Mars. In the game, you play one of those corporations and be a part of the terraforming process, although you have to compete against others for victory points that are awarded for your contribution to the terraforming and for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system.

When the three global parameters (temperature, oxygen, ocean) have reached their goal, the terraforming is complete and the game ends after that generation. If your Terraform Rating and other VPs are the maximum, you are the winning corporation!

Does this entice you to play? Buy it on Amazon:

There are so many board games that I have played in the past 2 years of time that the pandemic period had to be profitable for gaming industry 😉 On serious note, playing and spending time with family had made the stay-at-home situation much better and the anxiety of what future holds lesser. From that day to the present day, board games have become an integral part of my routine, a distraction needed for fun times and a mind-sharping tool to keep us active.

6. Scotland yard

Let me tell you, this game requires some serious strategizing. This is a game similar to the one that all of us have played growing –up. The famous ‘Chor-police’. Scotland yard is all about co-ordination, mind games, strategies and putting that age old friendship on line. ARE YOU READY?!

Scotland yard is here to get your thrill quotient high where you have to nab the culprit, let’s say Mr. X, throughout Central London. And it’s not as easy as it sounds. Because Mr. X would be hiding their moves and based on the ones which he decides to disclose, the detectives gotta catch him by zeroing in on him. Scotland yard Set includes a playing board, log book, playing pieces, cards and travel tickets.

An amazing family game that could last for an entire day. LITERALLY!

Check out if your instincts support you. This game is easily available on Amazon!

7. Sequence

This game is specifically for people who love playing cards. It has been designed in such a manner that it meets the requirements of both, board as well as card game players. Can be played by anyone above the age of 7 years. It’s all about how soon you can put your cards in a sequence before the other player does.

Easy to play, this game requires your complete attention and can be played in groups too. An amazingly fun game because you can wind it up quickly to start another round. 😛

The sequence package comes with a board and 3 set of colored coins for easy identification of teams.

A game about co-ordination, concentration and blind trust is available on Amazon!

8. Monopoly

A family board game for anyone above the age of 8 years, will give you a run for your money (not literally). Fulfill your dream of buying properties in various states. 😛

Bring your business mind to play this amazing game of luck as well as strategies. To give you an idea, Monopoly is a property trading Indian game wherein you can buy, sell and scheme unless the opponent declares bankruptcy. Easy to understand as well as easy to play. All you got to do is roll a dice towards richness.

The Monopoly set consists of a gameboard, 6 Tokens, 28 Title Deed Cards, 16 Chance Cards, 16 Community Chest Cards, 32 green Houses, 12 red Hotels, 2 Dice, 1 speed die and a Money pack.

Give others a run for their money by purchasing this amazing game on Amazon!

All these games come with an instruction manual which are super easy to understand.

Note: 1-5 are suggestions by the author Shibani Shah and 6-8 are by the author Yojna Patil.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which is the most popular board game of all time?

That would be 'Chess'. The game offers several amazing benefits: Improved brain health, Strategic abilities, Abstract reasoning, Sportsmanship and Creative thinking.

What is a classic board game?

Monopoly, Ludo, Chess, Scrabble and Snakes and Ladders are among the top five most popular board games from our childhood (80s-90s).

Which is the oldest American board game?

The Mansion of Happiness -> The republication claimed 'The Mansion of Happiness' was the first board game launched in the United States of America; today, however, according to some authorities, the distinction is given to 'Lockwood's Travellers' Tour games' of 1822.