The Biggest List of Board Games Ever

An Alphabetical List of Every Board Game We've Ever Heard of or Could Find, Anywhere!

The Big Board Game List

This is just a list of board games. If we have a page on a specific board game, we’ve linked to it. These are organized in alphabetical order, and this page is a work in progress, so it’s incomplete. I’ve included a brief description of each game.

0

• 7 Wonders – A card game where your goal is to develop your hand over the course of three ages.
• 1830: Railways & Robber Barons – The players’ goal is to make the most cash buying and selling stock in various rail companies.
• 1960: The Making of the President – Players take the roles of John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon during the 1960 presidential election.

A

• Abalone – Michel Lalet’s and Laurent Levi’s abstract strategy board game for 2 persons, played with colored marbles.
• Acquire – Players invest in businesses with the goal of maintaining a majority of stock in each company. Has a tile placement element.
• Advanced Squad Leader – A revision of the originalSquad Leader game.
• Age of Steam – Players take the roles of railroad tycoons who want to finance their locomotives and railroad tracks.
• 
  Agon – An abstract strategy game played on a hexagonal board.
• Agricola – Players take the role of farmers with wives. Your goal is to get meaningful work done and expand your household.
• Alien Frontiers – A science fiction themed board game where players take the roles of deep space colonists.
• Amun Re – Players become pharaohs in Egypt with the goal of building pyramids.
• Apples to Apples – This isn’t really a board game. It’s more of a party game/word game/card game, but it’s so much fun we felt like we had to include it.
• Are You a Werewolf? – Another party game, with more in common with poker and roleplaying games than anything else.
• Arkham Horror – A horror themed boardgame inspired by the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Several Arkham Horror expansions are now available.
• Automobile – Players run automotive factories over the course of several years.
• Axis and Allies – Possibly the most famous World War II board game ever. The section aboutAxis & Allies on our site includes multiple pages, including sections about some of the various spinoff/expansion games like Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulgeand Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal.

B

• Babel – One of the games featured in the Kosmos 2-player series of games, with “ancient world” and “temples” themes.
• 
  Backgammon – A traditional game that combines elements of chance with strategy. Commonly played as a gambling game.
• Balloon Cup – Another of Kosmos two player series. The players take short balloon trips and use colored cubes to keep score.
• Battle Line – Players try to win flags which are determined by placing cards into hands.
• BattleLore – A wargame set in a fantasy version of Medieval Europe.
• Battlestar Galactica – Players take the roles of characters from the show, and their goal is to help humanity survive.
• Betrayal at House on the Hill – A horror themed board game with really high production values.
• Blood Bowl – A fantasy version of football played by orcs.
• Boggle – A famous word game–not as famous as Scrabble, which is a crossword puzzle board game.Boggle is a word search board game.
• Brass – A historical game where players try to build cotton mills, coal mines, and other things in order to have them used and score points.

C

• 
  Candyland – One of the most famous kids’ games in the United States.
• Car Wars – More of a miniatures game from Steve Jackson, where cars battle it out in the near future.
• Carcassonne – A tile laying game set in historic France.
• Caylus – Players take the roles of master builders who are responsible for building the King’s castle and the surrounding city.
• Chaos in the Old World – Players portray gods in the fantasy setting ofWarhammer.
• Checkers – One of the most famous and popular abstract strategy board games in the world, and a game which appeals to young and old alike.
• Chess – Possibly THE most famous abstract strategy board game of all time.
• Civilization – Players lead ancient civilizations throughout history.
• Claustrophobia – A fantasy adventure game representing battles in underground tunnels.
• Cluedo – Whether you call itClue orCluedo, it’s still the most famous and popular game of amateur detective-ness in the world. This section of our site includes multiple pages, including pages about Clue: Secrets and Spies and Clue: Discover the Secrets.
• Combat Commander: Europe – A board game that recreates tactical infantry combat in Europe during the second World War.
• Commands & Colors: Ancients – A historical war game that spans from 3000BC to 400AD.
• Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! Russia 1941-1942 – A tactical boardgame set during the German invasion of Russia.
• Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! Kursk 1943 – A wargame that recreates the German tank attack on Kursk.
• Cosmic Encounter – Players lead an alien race that’s establishing colonies in the other players’ solar systems.
• Crokinole – An abstract strategy game that requires skill in order to flick the disks.
• Cyclades – Players build cities in the ancient Greek islands, the Cyclades.

D

• Descent: Journeys in the Dark – A fantasy boardgame of dungeon crawling, with multiple scenarios.
• Die Macher – Players control political parties in different German regions during various elections.
• Diplomacy – A favorite board game of JFK’s, Walter Cronkite’s, and Henry Kissinger’s.
• Dixit – A storytelling card game.
• Dominant Species – Players take the roles of a class of animals, and their goal is to survive the impending Ice Age.
• Dominion – A popular card game where the players take the roles of monarchs trying to expand their kingdoms.
• Dork Tower – A tongue-in-cheek comedy fantasy board game with art from John Kovalic.
• Dune – A board game set in the eponymous universe of Frank Herbert.
• Dungeon Lords – A dungeon crawl board game where the players run the dungeons–hiring monsters, buying traps, etc.

E

• Earth Reborn – A science fiction board game set 5000 years after a nuclear holocaust.
• Egizia – Players build monumnets in ancient Egypt.
• El Grande – Players take the roles of Grandes in Spain during the medieval time period. Your goal is to draft caballeros and take control of provinces.
• Endeavor – Players try to build a European empire by exploring and trading throughout the world.

F

G

• Galaxy Trucker – A science fiction board game where players try to build spaceships using sewer pipes.
• A Game of Thrones – Players take the roles of several noble families fighting for control of the kingdoms. Based on the George R.R. Martin novels. Gameplay is similar to Diplomacy.
• Glenn Drover’s Age of Empires: The Age of Discovery – Players portray colonial powers seeking wealth and fame in the New World.
• Glory to Rome – A resource management game where players try to rebuild Rome after a fire in 64AD.
• Go – An ancient abstract strategy game that originated in China.
• Goa – An auction and resource management game set in India and Portugal.

H

• Hammer of the Scots – A boardgame that recreates the rebellion of William Wallace, the Braveheart.
• Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage – A historical game set in 200BC that recreates the struggle between Hannibal and the Roman Republic.
• Hansa Teutonica – Players portray traders who try to control cities through a network of offices.
• Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation 1517-1555 – A boardgame that recreates the religious and political conflicts of Europe in the 1500’s.
• Hive – An abstract strategy game without an actual board,Hive can be played on any flat surface or table.

I

• 
  Illuminati – The card game of conspiracy written by Steve Jackson.
• Imperial – Players portray investors who influence politics.
• Imperial 2030 – Players represent investors who influence politics in the future. A science fiction themed version ofImperial.
• In the Year of the Dragon – Players become rulers in China in the year 1000AD. During the course of the game, they have to deal with disease, drought, and Mongol attacks.
• Indonesia – An economic game that transitions from an agricultural to an industrial economy during gameplay.

J

K

• Kill Dr. Lucky – James Ernst’s game standsClue on its head. Players take the roles of the murderers before and during the crime, instead of after.

L

• Le Havre – Players take the roles of townsfolk in Le Havre, a port city in France, where they use good from the wharves to make points.
• London – This board game is set in London during the 250 years following the Great Fire. It’s a citybuilding game.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – A cooperative card game set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
• Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation – A two player game that pits Mordor against the rest of Middle Earth.

M

• Mansions of Madness – LikeArkham Horror, this game is inspired by the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Players portray investigators exploring haunted houses and other spooky places.
• Memoir ’44 – A World War II boardgame that represents multiple battles.
• Merchants & Marauders – A boardgame that recreates the golden age of piracy.
• Modern Art – A Reiner Knizia game in which players buy and sell works of art. The goal is to make the most profit while buying and selling.
• Monopoly – The classic real estate buying and selling game with thousands of editions.
• Munchkin – A card game that spoofs RPG’s.
• Mystery Express – A board game with a similar theme toClue but very different gameplay.

N

• Napoleon’s Triumph – A wargame that recreates the Austerlitz battlefield.
• Navegador – A boardgame that simulates the Portuguese Age of Discoveries in the 1500’s.
• Notre Dame – This game is set in Paris in the late 14th century. Players take the roles of influential families who are trying to increase their power and prestige.

O

• Ogre – A miniatures game that pits super tanks of the future against each other.

P

• Pandemic – A challenging, cooperative boardgame where players portray members of the Center for Disease Control trying to stop a pandemic from destroying the world.
• Parcheesi – The classic racing board game from India, which was the precursor toSorry.
• Paths of Glory – A card game driven war game set during World War I.
• Pictionary – Another great party game. Similar to Charades, only with drawing instead of acting.
• Power Grid – Your goal is to supply cities with power by routing and connecting between power plants.
• The Princes of Florence – Players take the roles of families in Florence. Your goal is to attract scholars and artists, who generate work points which can be used to achieve victory.
• Puerto Rico – A game for 2-5 players in which the players take the roles of plantation owners in Puerto Rico.

Q

R

• Ra – An Egyptian themed auction game, where players can build monuments and influence pharaohs.
• 
  Race for the Galaxy – The players’ goal in this card game is to build a galactic civilization.
• Railroad Tycoon – Set during the early days of the railroads, the player’s goal is to build a railroad empire. A simplified version ofAge of Steam.
• Railways of the World – A revision of the Railroad Tycoon boardgame.
• Risk – Another classic of world domination. Everyone I know has playedRisk at some point in their life.
• Runewars – A fantasy game where players try to conquer territories. It’s set in the same fantasy universe as Runebound and Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

S

• Samurai – A Reiner Knizia game with a Japanese theme.
• The Settlers of Catan – Players build settlements on the island of Catan.
• Seven Dragons – Similar to Dominoes. Published by Looney Labs.
• Shadows over Camelot – A King Arthur themed board game from Days of Wonder.
• Shogun – Players portray Daimyo’s and their troops, trying to develop their kingdom in Japan.
• Small World – A fantasy boardgame where
  players try to conquer a (literally) small world.
• Sorry – A modern take on Parcheesi.
• Space Alert – Players portray spaceship crew members who go on missions and who must cooperate in order to survive.
• Space Hulk – Players take the roles of two factions, the Space Marines and the Genestealers, on an ancient, giant space vessel.
• Steam – A train themed game similar toAge of Steam but with different mechanics.
• Stone Age – Players take the roles of tribe members trying to build civilization during the Stone Age.
• Struggle of Empires – A civilization building game set in the 18th century.

T

• Taj Mahal – An auction game set in India.
• Talisman – A fantasy quest board game with a high degree of randomness.
• Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization – A civilization building game. Your goal is to develop the most culture during the game through various means: religion, literature, drama, etc.
• Thunderstone – A fantasy game where the players explore dungeons and build a card deck.
• Tichu – An Asian themed card game with a cooperative climbing aspect.
• Ticket to Ride – The players’ goal is to create the longest railway routes in North America.
• Ticket to Ride: Europe – Part of the Ticket to Ride series, this one is set in Europe at the turn of the century.
• Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries – Part of the Ticket to Ride series of boardgames, this one is set in Demark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
• Tigris & Euphrates – A civilization building game with a tile placement mechanic. Considered by some people to be Reiner Knizia’s masterpiece.
• Tikal – Players explore Central American jungles.
• Troyes – A historical boardgame set in France.
• Trivial Pursuit – Probably the most famous and popular trivia board game in history.
• Twilight Struggle – A two player board game that simulates the Cold War.

U

• Up Front – A card game in which players command a squad of soldiers.

V

W

• Wallenstein – A boardgame set during the Thirty Years’ War.
• War of the Ring – A two player game where players control the two sides of the War of the Ring in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.
• Warhammer: Invasion – A two player card game that simulates war in theWarhammer universe.
• Wiz War – A beer and pretzels game where you get to play Harry Potter type wizards having fights.

X

Y

• Yinsh – An abstract strategy game with rings and markers.

Z

• Zombies!!! – Twilight Creations’ classic tile laying nd miniatures game about the zombie apocalypse.

Did we forget to list your favorite board game? If so, contact us with the name of the game, and we’ll update the page.