Best Board Games for All Ages

One of the best things about board games is buying board games for all ages. Children, teens, and adults love to spend time around the game table with friends and family during the holidays or other special occasions. Whether it is a card game or strategy games, however, game developers do not always design games with all ages in mind. 

If you are shopping for a board game for children, teens, or adults, you may not know where to start or which games are the best board games for all ages. No problem! Below, we look at the best board games for all ages and which ones are currently the most popular. These games are sure to keep the competition and laughs going for hours.

You might also be interested in checking out our post on the best board games of all time. 

 

Best Board Games for Kids Ages 3 to 10

Connect Four

Parents love Connect 4 because it is easy for their kids to learn and understand how to play. Plus, it’s perfect for short attention spans because it doesn’t take too long to finish a game. It’s short enough that parents can play a few rounds and then let the kids play each other while the parents move on to other family board games or activities. 

Connect Four is also one of those classic family board games that parents played when they were kids, and now they can play it with their children. It is a timeless family board game with a simple concept: Get four red or black checkers in a row. 

A Game of Cat and Mouth

A Game of Cat and Mout is like playing Ping-Pong, but it is a family board game on an ordinary table. Each player has a cat’s paw game piece that stays on the board using a strong magnet. Players flick a yellow ball using the paw. Ideally, the ball flies through the cat's mouth to the opponent's side of the board. 

Players win the round when they get rid of all the balls on the board. Each round lasts less than a minute, but the kids’ excitement level goes through the roof as each player tries to eliminate those last few balls. A Game of Cat and Mouth is one of those perfect family board games when you want a board game that focuses more on fast-paced action than long-term strategy. 

First Orchard

First Orchard is ideal for families with young kids playing family board games for the first time. Kids work together to gather all the fruits from the trees before a raven gets to them. Based on a die roll, players will either pick fruit to add to the communal basket or move the raven one space closer to the trees.

First Orchard introduces kids to turn-taking and simple choices. It is a non-competitive, cooperative family board game that works equally well single-player as with a group. The setup process—matching the colored fruits to the corresponding trees—is part of the fun and challenge for young players.

Spot It!

With Spot It! There are loads of different versions of board games from which to choose. Therefore you can almost guarantee that it's a hit with any child age group or board game interest. Spot It! You can get your hands on alternatives featuring everything from Harry Potter to Spongebob Squarepants. There will probably be board game editions to suit your child's interests.

The goal is for you to match pictures on a card before your opponents. However, it has unique goals that either have you attempting to get rid of or collect more cards. Cards have symbols and pictures of varying sizes. So, you'll need to have your wits about you if you want to find pairs. There’s just enough strategy to challenge kids but one of those board games that are fun enough to keep them going.

Snail’s Pace Race 

Snail’s Pace requires little setup, is easy to play, and is one of the best family board games that are fun for both kids and adults! You roll the dice and move the matching snails. But watch out, you don’t want to roll someone else’s color, or they might beat you to the finish line! 

All six snails are in play regardless of the number of players. Each player bets which two snails will come in first and last. Play goes counter-clockwise; on your turn, you roll both colored dice and advance the corresponding snails by one square if their color comes up. That's how you win the board game.

 

Best Board Games for Teenagers

Phone Phever

​Phone Phever is the perfect board game for anyone who lives on their phone and loves board games at the same time. It's time to put those smartphone skills to the test with trivia and challenges that give players a real view of how the telephone has shaped all aspects of today's society.

Using your smartphone is no longer cheating - use internet access in a frantic race to answer questions and complete challenges. Your teens will love the trivia questions and hilarious challenges, which makes this one of the best family board games. They scramble to answer board game questions in six categories, including music, movies, tv, law and politics, history, and technology.

Bananagrams

Bananagrams is one of the rare board games that is fun and educational. Players race against each other to build crossword grids. Bananagrams requires no pencil, paper, or boards. It comes in a small portable banana-shaped pouch that's perfect for teenagers. Players can play one hand in as little as five minutes.

Using a selection of 144 plastic letter tiles in the English edition, each player works independently to create their crossword faster than their opponents. When a player uses all their letters, all players take a new tile from the pool. The board game object is to be the first to complete a word grid after you deplete the tiles. It's ideal for family game night or time with friends.

Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens is simple to learn and play, with silly fun in each card. It’s one of those board games like UNO, except there are goats, magical enchiladas, and a kitten that can kill you. In a deck of cards are some Exploding Kittens. You play the game by putting the deck face down and taking turns drawing cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten.

The process continues until there’s only one player left who wins the game. The more cards you draw, the greater your chances of drawing an Exploding Kitten. If you explode, you lose. If you don’t explode, you win. Exploding Kittens is great for teen parties, family game night, or occasions where you need fast-paced board games.

Taboo

Taboo is a classic game of words that gets all teens laughing uncontrollably. Playing in teams makes this fun game great for larger groups and game nights. The newer version has modern, relevant cultural phrases. The buzzer is still a part of gameplay. Taboo gives teens a chance to bleep out their parents?

Six or more players break up into two teams. Team A selects a person in their group to be the clue-giver. This person takes the cardholder and places the first card away from his team so that they cannot see it. Clue-givers start the timer and must get their team to say the guess-word on the card without using one of the taboo words in one of their clues. It is a great strategy board game.

Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island is a strategy board game that involves lots of teen collaboration if you're looking for a thoughtful, 30-minute board game for two to four players. With adventurous do-or-die missions to fulfill, this is a board game you will want to play repeatedly. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the board game. 

Players take turns moving their pawns around the island, which you build by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the board game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- players must make sacrifices. It is the perfect game for players who like to think through their strategies.

 

Best Board Games for Young Adults

Chronology

See if you can accurately build your timeline with random historical events like the invention of mayonnaise or the Gettysburg Address to claim victory in Buffalo Games' Chronology. Each player draws a card and tries to decide where that event fits within the timeline of their other cards. If they are correct, they keep the card, and their timeline grows. 

At the start of the board game, players get two cards placed face up in chronological order. On their turn, a player is read an event from a new card; the player must then indicate the position on their timeline where they should place the card. If they're correct, they take possession of the card and insert it in their line; if not, the next player gets a crack at it, and so on. The first player with ten cards wins. Chronology is the perfect game for history buffs.

Cards Against Humanity

Cards Against Humanity is not a children’s board game, and this is not a board game to play with Grandma. But if you and your friends enjoy laughing at the darker side of life, art, and pop culture, this is the classic board game for your next party. Many players call this game the adult version of Apples to Apples. Play begins with a Card Czar choosing a black question or fill-in-the-blank card from the top of the deck and showing it to all players. 

Each player passes a card to the Card Czar face-down, representing their answer to the question on the card. The card czar determines which answer card is funniest in the context of the question or fill-in-the-blank card. Play continues until the players agree to stop, at which point the player with the most Awesome Points is the winner.

Articulate!

With 30 seconds on the clock, can you get someone else to guess a specific word without saying the word itself, the length, the starting letter, any derivative, or any other words that might rhyme with or sound similar? That is the basic objective of the board game, Articulate!  Try to get your partner to say as many words from a particular category written on the cards within the 30-second time limit.

Move your team pawn forward several spaces on the board equal to the number of words you got correct. If you land on an Orange or Red space, spin the spinner for a chance to move yourself 2 or 3 spaces forward, or move an opponent piece 2 or 3 spaces back. If you land on a spade space, try to get your teammate to say the word on the card before any other team can say it.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill

Betrayal at House on the Hill lets you star in your horror movie. Over 50 distinct scenarios are available, and you never know where you will end up That makes it a replayable board game for young adults on this list.  No matter what happens, Betrayal creates a lot of tension. Players lay down room tiles at random as they make their way through a haunted house.

You can't be sure what's waiting for you on the other side of each door. You may trigger events and 'Omens' as you make your way through the dusty hallways. A mission will begin if you stumble on enough Omens, turning the house (or your allies) against you. After that, your aim is simple: survive. 

What Do You Meme?

In the classic board game, What Do You Meme?, each player chooses a photo card of a meme that one of their fellow competitors gave to match a caption card. Whoever has the funniest pairing wins the round. It’s that simple. There is no limit to the number of players that can play the game.

What Do You Meme? is a party board game for the social media generation. Each round, one player takes the role of judge and plays a photo card, after which everyone else plays a caption card to complete the meme. The judge decides the funniest pairing, and whoever played the winning caption card wins the round. It is filled with phrases and memes that Millennials and Gen-Zers know. They will enjoy playing board games and strategy games that are relevant to their culture.