Most popular family board games 2010

How can you not love the panda game? Players in Takenoko try to match objective cards by building out the shared Japanese garden on the table, placing the three types of tiles, irrigating them to grow bamboo, and moving the panda around to eat the bamboo so you can take it. The patterns on your cards may give you points for certain arrangements of tiles all irrigated , for collecting sets of bamboo pieces, or for building bamboo stalks of up to four pieces on multiple tiles of specific colors.

Players compete to fill out their own kingdoms of hexagonal tiles, each of which confers some benefit when placed—sometimes just points, but often some additional bonus move or gain—allowing them to build up little engines for big point scores by the end of the game.

There are also big bonuses for filling in an entire region of one color on your board, worth more points the earlier you do it, and some large end-game bonuses from the yellow tiles that can easily be worth points as well. Designer Stefan Feld has made several games in this same vein, including Bruges and Bora Bora , but Castles is still his best.

Practically perfect in every way, Wingspan combines immaculate design, complete dedication to its theme, and incredible artwork for a serious gaming experience that usually takes under an hour to finish and that will leave you ready to play again. When people ask me for my favorite tabletop game of all time, I have two answers: Carcassonne , which rules for its sheer simplicity, and 7 Wonders , a marvel of design and speed.

Players build their cards to their own cities, and can try to gather enough resources to complete all stages of their unique Wonders for large point totals and other gains, while also trying to stay ahead of their neighboring players in military strength, collecting sets of science cards, or getting the right purple guild cards in the last stage for more big scores.

You can read his baseball content at search. Share Tweet Submit Pin. If someone gets a Bunco, or all dice in the current same denomination, they ring the bell, and the round stops. Then, simply trade partners and do it all over again. Or rather, the point is to be social, to laugh, engage, and get to know other people at the party.

This combination of easy-to-learn rules and social interaction have both contributed to Bunco being one of the most enduringly popular games in our ranking.

You can play with up to 12 players, and modern Bunco sets come complete with everything you need to get started. Appropriate for ages 8 and up. The ancient Chinese game of Go is up next in our list of the best board games pres. Some estimate the game has been played in one form or another for the past 4, years! Most modern Go sets come complete with a board, bakelite game pieces, or stones, and bowls to keep the pieces organized.

Another classic game in our ranking is Checkers, sometimes called Draughts. Played since approximately 3, BCE, opponents use light- and dark-colored pieces in alternating turns to move to any unoccupied adjacent square. That piece is no longer in the game. That piece can now move and capture backwards. Fun for up to two players, Checkers is a great starting point for teaching kids 8 and up about strategy. Lots of different game sets exist of varying quality and varying size. One of the most iconic games in history is the sixth pick in our ranking of the 10 best board games since the s.

Chess is an incredibly complex game that many spend years mastering, but gameplay is versatile enough for whole families to enjoy. The player who has done so has won the game, though simplified versions are also fun in which the player who takes the most opposing game pieces wins. Chess sets are traditionally wooden, as are the game pieces, but these days many are made from plastic or also high-end metals like brass.

Picking up an adequate chess set can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose. The two-player game is generally considered suitable for ages 6 and up, but advanced play takes time—and those who gain mastery start young. Played in China since at least the s, rules to the ancient game of mahjong vary widely. Most commonly, though, the game involves both skill and chance. Many play the game with an element of betting.

These days, Mahjong sets are available in all sorts of styles and made from all sorts of materials — such as wood and plastic — and include extra chips, dice, pushers, and betting chips. Most come with bags to keep all the pieces organized. Four-player Mahjong is the most common way to play the game, though three- and even two-player Mahjong variations exist with their own sets of rules.

The game is recommended for ages 12 years and older. Like many ancient games that continue to be played today, the modern version of Dominoes got its start in China around the s, though mentions of the game go all the way back to the 12th and 13th centuries. There are a few different ways to play Dominoes. One common way is to shuffle the tiles and place them face down. After the tiles are shuffled, each player draws a domino. The order in which the dominoes are drawn can vary, but the most common order is left to right.

The game can be as simple or as complicated as you choose. Backgammon has been played in some form or another for about the past 5, years, and like a lot of games that have been around a long time, gameplay and rules related to Backgammon vary somewhat. Most often, though, the game is played between two people with a board, dice in a cup, and 15 checkers of different colors.

After the checkers or pieces are arranged in a certain order on the board. Gameplay is limited to two players. Backgammon sets are common and vary widely in quality. Most sets are portable, coming with nice felt-lined carrying cases that include everything you need to get started. Backgammon is good for both young and old, but the game is generally recommended for ages 14 and up. The first player draws a yellow card from the deck and follows the instructions on the card, moving forward.

Sometimes the card instructs a player to draw a red card, which can instruct the player to move forward or a certain number of spaces backward. When a player reaches Dr. The next step is to host a game night.

The first step to hosting a great game night is, of course, the game. The first step in planning any game night is to invite people. I mean, kind of a no-brainer, right? The question of kids. Will there be kids at your party, and if so, is the game you plan to play appropriate for them? If not, will you have alternate activities ready to keep the little ones busy while the grownups play?

How many is too many? Basically, will there be enough players for the game you intend to play? Or, perhaps even worse, will there be too many players, leaving some people out? As you can see, inviting people to your game night is a little more complicated than it might seem.

So another key point:. Let folks mingle a bit and get to know one another. Furthermore, have your gaming area cleared off in advance. Here are some easy snack ideas to serve at your next game night.

Great dip options include guacamole and salsa. If you do go the salsa route, have a few levels of spiciness available and make sure each is clearly labeled. Have lots of napkins handy, though, because any finger food such as chips and dip is bound to get a little bit messy. For a touch more sophistication, try a charcuterie board, a mixture of meats and cheeses, and also possibly savory add-ons like olives or pickles—served with toothpicks. Go even further with a sliced baguette or crispy, crunchy crackers.

Next, consider serving your guests a platter of sliced fruits and vegetables. Apples, grapes, and strawberries are always popular choices. Just remember to have a variety of dressing options available for your guests because, believe it or not, not everyone likes ranch. Game nights remind us of the comforts of home, and for many people, nothing says home like a grilled cheese sandwich. Prepare some grilled cheese sandwiches cut into squares. Ranking first in the best overall board game of the last decade category is Pandemic Legacy Season 1 from , which brought legacy-style board games to the mainstream.

Unique to legacy-style games, the rules, strategy, even the game board itself changes as the game progresses, a little like a movie, as players race against time to save the world and themselves from a deadly virus. A great game for parties needs to be light on rules and heavy on social interaction — and most of all fun. We found that game with Codenames , also from In the game, undercover teams match wits with two rival spymasters to discover the real names and identities of 25 secret agents, using single-word clues.

Codenames is heavy on teamplay and quick-witted action, but most of all, the game will provide just the right amount of fun, breaking the ice at your next party. Kids need games that are fast-paced and easy to understand. After our own thorough research, and after consulting a variety of gaming experts, we settled on We Rate Dogs as the best board game of the last decade for kids.

Game chosen, invites sent, snacks prepared. What else do you need? Here are a few board game accessories no serious board-gamer can do without. Skip to content William Kennedy. So, what are the best board games of all time? Just remember to always read the rules, and no cheating! Best overall board game Pandemic Legacy Season 1 Check Price Go to review.

Best board game for parties Codenames Best board game for kids We Rate Dogs Shop Pandemic Legacy Season 1 Pros Unlike any tabletop board game many have played Can be played with two players Epic twists. Cons Easy to miss a rule. Shop Wingspan Pros Teaches you about birds; educational Has a solo mode Beautifully made!

Cons Bit of a learning curve Instructions unclear in some parts Cardboard dice tower a little low quality. Shop Azul Pros Good Youtube videos to learn gameplay Easy setup Tiles well made, build quality high. Shop Codenames Shop Modern Art Pros Oversized cards depicting real works of art Every game a little different Twists change the game flow. Cons Too complicated for some Ran a little long for some groups Auctions can get tedious.

Shop Election Night! And, bonus: it's another educational game! Ready to travel the world in search of goods and riches? You can set sail with nothing but a deck of cards. Dominion takes the title for Best Family Strategy game. There are Treasure cards, Victory cards, Kingdom cards and Curses. You buy these cards, fending off your competitors who are trying to do the same to expand their dominions as well.

And if you get bored with it, there are four expansion packs to keep play interesting. Dixit wins Best Party game, which is typically the type of game I'm after. It's really unique and unlike any game I've ever heard of. The storyteller looks at the card and decides on a word that describes the picture.

Then everyone throws one card into the pile like Apples to Apples , including the storyteller's single card, and everyone has to guess which one was the storyteller's card based on the word he or she gave. Otherwise, the storyteller and the people who guessed the correct card each get three points. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Bonus: the cards are gorgeous! La Ora Stelo will satisfy your need for a brainteaser, as this is the Best Puzzle game. If 10, piece puzzles are a joke to you, perhaps you'll find this challenging. Honestly, I don't even know how to explain this one, so I'm just going to borrow the description from Games :. La Ora Stelo is a remarkably novel polyform puzzle, with pieces based on two types of isosceles triangles whose side lengths are related by the golden ratio. The golden ratio is an irrational number known as phi approximately equal to 1.