The Top Ten board games

“I don’t see you guys rating
The kind of mate I’m contemplating
I’d let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you”
Murray Head – One Night in Bangkok

The board game is becoming a lost art, and that is a damn shame. As a games enthusiast, it saddens me to see the relegation of the board game as a viable source of entertainment. A good board game can be just as exciting, challenging, and rewarding as any video game, or card game.

The key word for this post is “board.” So there are no card games (e.g. poker, Magic:The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh). Neither are there any dice games (e.g. Yahtzee); nor RPG games (e.g. Dungeons & Dragons) considered for this list.

Many classic board games are available electronically. And there is something to be said about the advantage of being able to play on-the-go on a portable device, vis-a-vis a cumbersome big box. On the other hand, there is something to be said about personally moving pieces around a board, and rolling a pair of dice.

Please, please gather some of youre friends and/or family members, and play one of these games.

With all that in mind, here are our lists:

Keith’s List

• 10. Chess
• 9. Trouble
• 8. Uno^
• 7. Battleship
• 6. Candyland
• 5. The Game of LIFE
• 4. Mousetrap
• 3. Operation
• 2. Monopoly
• 1. Pictionary

Honorable Mentions: Backammon; Chutes & Ladders; Clue; Connect Four; Family Feud; Risk; Scrabble; Sorry!; Trivial Pursuit.

^ I think Keith is referring to Uno Wild Tiles, which is a 1983 board game variant of the Uno card game.

My List

• 10. Sorry!
• 9. Password
• 8. Clue
• 7. Stratego
• 6. Dark Tower
• 5. Risk
• 4. Scrabble
• 3. Monopoly
• 2. Axis & Allies
• 1. Settlers of Catan

Honorable Mentions: Apples to Apples; Arkham Assylum; Battleship; Chess; Civilization; Connect Four; Diplomacy; Dungeon; Game of LIFE; Go; MAD Magazine Game; Othello; Pictionary; Puerto Rico; Run Yourself Ragged; Taboo; Ticket to Ride; Trivial Pursuit; Trouble

Next Podcast Unlimited List: Top Ten Batman villans.