BEST BOARD GAMES FOR FAMILIES
The Best Family Bard Games create the Best Memories!
I know people like different kinds of games – strategy, trivia, word, or card.
Therefore, I have collated the very best board game reviews worldwide and added my 20 years of experience to give you the Best Board Games for Families in 2023.
For me, life is about creating happy memories,
and board games have been a very important part of that.
Little did I know that 20 years later,
I would be working for Gibsons – a 100+ year old games company
and become their Director of Product Development.
THE BEST FAMILY BOARD GAMES
A shortlist of the best family board games when we just don’t have the time to look at every single review!
TICKET TO RIDE (Age:8+)
8 stars
CATAN (Age:10+)
6 stars
KINGDOMINO (Age:6+)
6 stars
TELESTRATIONS (Age:8+)
4 stars
EXPLODING KITTENS (Age:7+)
5 stars
PANDEMIC (Age:8+)
4 stars
BEST FAMILY BOARD GAMES
How they were scored
Game reviews were taken from the top consumer review sites such as Forbes, Wired, Goodhousekeeping & The Strategist. The top game review sites were then added to give a more ‘expert’ view.
A huge variety of games were tested, but only a select few featured consistently.
These are the games that featured the most – the BEST BOARD GAMES for FAMILIES.
Best Board Game for Families
| Game | Grand Total | Wired | Forbes | The Spruce | The Strategist | Goodhousekeeping | CNET | IGN | Mumsnet | The Guardian | Dicebreaker | BoardGameFamily | BoardGamesWizard | Gamesradar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ticket to Ride | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Catan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Kingdomino | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Exploding Kittens | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Telestrations | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Pandemic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| The Crew: Mission Deep Sea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Sushi Go! | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Takenoko | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Dobble | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Cascadia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Wingspan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Throw Throw Burrito | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Santorini | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| The Isle of Cats | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Fluxx | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| King of Tokyo | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Downforce | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Blokus | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Carcassonne | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Boggle | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Guess in 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Zingo! | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Azul | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Magic Maze | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Herd Mentality | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Just One | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Labyrinth | 2 | 1 | 1 |
MOST POPULAR FAMILY BOARD GAMES
Monopoly
Age 8+ 2-8 players 45-60 min playing time
The most popular game is currently Monopoly played by over 500 million people worldwide.
The most expensive version costing US$2 million!
There are now Lord of the Rings, Avengers, Pixar, Super Mario Bros, Friends & Star Wars editions.
Did you know there is no official Harry Potter Monopoly!
The version above is the 80s version I played as my first ever board game.
We played and played it so many times during those first few days.
My latest version has a personalised board and cards I received for my 50th birthday. Very special!
(Just be aware this game is the best selling but may take hours and cause family arguments!)
BEST CHRISTMAS BOARD GAME
(a board game is not just for Christmas)
Ticket to Ride (USA, Europe & multiple city versions)
Age 8+ 2-5 players 30-60 min playing time
Christmas is about creating memories, and “Ticket to Ride” could be your ticket to unforgettable moments.
Wired & The Strategist loved the strategic gameplay and its suitability for new and experienced players.
GamesRadar & Mumsnet said it is a game for all ages.
I can endorse all this as I played it last Christmas (the original USA version) with my teenage nephews,
who were playing for the first time, and we all loved it.
BEST STRATEGY BOARD GAME FOR FAMILIES
CATAN
Age 10+ 3-6 players (with 5-6 extension). 20min playing time
Catan is my all-time favourite game. Why?
My wife loves to play it (and she only plays three games – Catan, Ticket to Ride & our special personalised Monopoly)
In terms of gameplay, it has the great benefit of the game tiles being randomly placed for each new game – so each game is different.
Imagine Chess, where each game starts with your pieces in a different position!
Reading the rules can be a little daunting, so I recommend watching a YouTube video, which is much simpler.
Or better still, play with an experienced player to guide you through a sample game. You will then pick it up quickly in the next game.
BEST FAMILY CARD GAME
Spot it! / Dobble
Age 7+. 2-8 players. 15min playing time
Spot it! (USA) / Dobble (Europe) is a multi award-winning game of quick reflexes and sharp observation.
The challenge is to identify a matching symbol between two cards, with the catch being that the symbols can vary in size.
I really like the way several different ways of playing are included within the one game,
and it is a family favourite of ours … even though I lose to my quicker reacting sons!
Recommended YouTube videos
for Best Family Board Games
Catan Dice Roller
Catan Dice Roller
| Total Score | Expected Probability | Actual Rolls (Out of 100) |
|---|
About Geoff
I spent over 20 years at GIbsons Games – the 104 year old games company based in London, becoming their
Director of Product Development & IT.
One of my very first jobs at Gibsons was to help develop the game 221b Baker Street, and it is still very successful today.
Many more games followed including Pass the Bomb, Mind the Gap, Civilization, Diplomacy & my favourite – Hare & Tortoise.
My website brings you the best reviews of the best board games
all in one place.