The Best Board Games (According To You)

You have likely heard time and time again, the love Jonathan and Brad have for a good session with a board game (take a listen to Episode 64R!). For someone who wants to be intellectually stimulated and off of their electronic devices and screens while taking in some good together time with friends and family, nothing beats a good board game. ChooseFI Facebook group recently shared their favorite board games, and we thought it prudent to compile this list and share it with you. These games can be purchased off of Amazon, but of course- we always recommend finding these locally at a ChooseFI meetup to borrow or a friend who loves games to team up for a few rounds.

Happy gaming everyone!

1. Settlers of Catan: 3 to 4 players (up to 6 with extension). Ages 10+, up to 90 minutes a game. Players strategize to collect and implement resources and use them to build roads, settlement and cities to take over the island and win the game. 2. Mancala: 2 players. Ages 8+, up to about 15 minutes a game. Players play with small stones or beans in strategy moves to capture the opponent's pieces. 3. Exploding Kittens: 2 to 5 players. Ages 7+, up to about 20 minutes a game. Exploding Kittens is similar to a card version of Russian Roulette, with each player making moves against the other, or using their cards to diffuse attacks, until all but one are eliminated. 4. Cards Against Humanity: Up to 10 players, ages 18+, can be up to an hour or more a game. (mature!). This card game is not for the faint of heart--as your strategy is to complete sentences in the most hilarious or offensive ways possible. If your cards played are the funniest of all the players, you win a point. 5. Ticket To Ride: 2 to 5 players. Ages 8+, up to about 45 minutes a game. A board game for players to collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities strategically to win. 6. Pandemic: 4 players. Ages 8+, up to about 45 minutes or more per game. Pandemic puts players in a scenario of cooperative crisis management after an outbreak. Players strategize to win the game by stopping all four deadly diseases from spreading globally. 7. Telestrations: 4 to 8 players. Ages 8+, up to about 30 minutes per game. This game is a mix of Pictionary and the "whispers" game played in school. A player is given a word and it is passed around, to be drawn out and guessed. 8. Dominion: 2 to 4 players. Ages 13+, up to about 45 minutes per game. Dominion is a unique card game where players build their ideal deck through "draft" play to win the game with the best cards. 9. Codenames: 4 to 8 players. Ages 13+, up to about 15-30 minutes per game. This card pins two teams to compete against each other to see who can figure out the secret identities of all of their agents first. 10. Camel Up: 2 to 8 players. Ages 8+, up to about 30 minutes per game. This board game gets all players to bet on five racing camels, trying to see which will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. 11. Dutch Blitz: 2 to 4 players, Ages 8+, up to about 15 minutes per game. A fast paced and family friendly card game where each player tries to empty his or her blitz pile as quickly as possible. 12. Shadow Hunters: 4 to 8 players, Ages 10+, up to about 60 minutes per game. Each player has a secret identity. You must first figure out who is your ally and who is your enemy then attack! 13. Cashflow: 2 to 6 players, Ages 10+, up to about 180 minutes per game. A board game of Robert Kiyosaki's books on finance and investing, that puts the principles to work in a competitive playscape. 14. Jax Sequence: 2 to 12 players, Ages 7+, up to about 30 minutes per game. Sequence is a board game where players play a card from their hand and to then place a chip on the corresponding space on the games board, strategizing spots on the board to get the right amount of sequences before the other players. 15. Bears Vs. Babies: 2 to 5 players, Ages 7+, up to about 20 minutes per game. From the makers of the aforementioned Exploding Kittens, Bears vs Babies is a card game where you build monsters who go to war with awful babies and take out your opponents as the babies attack. 16. Bananagrams Cobra Paw: 2 to 6 players, Ages 5+, up to about 15 minutes per game. Cobra Paw is a is a speed recognition game to grab six tiles to win the game after a roll of the dice--which is designed to be fast paced and family friendly. 17. Phase 10: 2 to 6 players, Ages 8+, up to about 45 minutes per game. Phase 10 is a Rummy style card game with several rounds. After each round, players will add up their score based on the number and type of cards left in their hand to win. 18. Castles of Burgundy: 2 to 4 players, Ages 12+, up to about 90 minutes per game. Set in medival, Burgundy France, players play the board to collect game-changing victory points through trade, farming, city building, and scientific research. 19. Secret Hitler: 5 to 10 players, Ages 13+, up to about 45 minutes per game. Is a political strategy game, taking place in 1930's Germany. Each player is secretly assigned to be either a liberal or a fascist, and one player is the "Secret Hitler" as everyone tries to figure out who is who. 20. Canasta: 2 to 6 players, Ages 12+, up to about 45 minutes per game. A Rummy style card game where players score points by melding cards (at least seven of the same rank), and making as many canastas as possible. Bring your loved ones together and create some memories and connection. Maybe even a little competition, and likely, smiles and laughter. Related Articles