Product Code Database
A board game is a type of tabletop game Alt URL that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the term "board game" are between the 1840s and 1850s.
While game boards are a necessary and sufficient condition of this genre, card games that do not use a standard deck of cards, as well as games that use neither cards nor a game board, are often colloquially included, with some referring to this genre generally as "table and board games" or simply "tabletop games". Alt URL
Currently, Senet is argued to be the oldest known board game in the world, with possible game board fragments () and undisputed pictorial representations ( – ) having been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials dating as far back as 3500 BC. However, while Senet was played for thousands of years, it fell out of fashion sometime after 400 A.D. during the Roman Egypt; the rules were never written down, therefore they are not decisively known. Similarly, Mehen is one of the oldest games dated with reasonable confidence, i.e., – , with some estimating it dates back to . The rules, scoring system, and game pieces, however, are unknown or speculative.
The title of the oldest known board game has been difficult to establish. An example of this is mancala, which includes a broad family of board games with a core design of two rows of small circular divots or bowls carved into a surface, which has had numerous estimations of its generic age due to the many variants that have been discovered in different locations across Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. These are dated across many different historical periods, from archaeological sites dating the game at – (Roman Settlements); – (Egypt); and even – (Jordan). The later based on divots carved out of limestone in a Neolithic dwelling from ± 240 BC, although this later dating has been disputed. Furthermore, when considering the Neolithic period game boards discoveries, caution has been given against considering these finds as representing earliest human game playing, as the absence of evidence of such games does not equate to evidence that no games were played during earlier periods. Alt URL
| + British Empire Games | |||||
| A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions | 1850 | John Betts | This board game was a race game that consisted of a board with 37 numbered pictures, each correlating to a British colony, arranged in four circular levels, numbered 1 (Heligoland, Germany) to 37 (London, England), three concentric ones and an inner fourth level of London ("Metropolis of the British Empire"). A teetotum was spun with a player's piece correspondingly moving ahead through the spaces of the game board, upon which a corresponding description to the space the player lands was read out aloud from an accompanying rule booklet by the presiding player (a player abstaining from directly playing the game), except when directed in the book. The descriptions included commentary about the various colonies and occasional game board movement directions to the player. There winner would be the player to reach London first. | Alt URL | |
| A Voyage of Discovery, or The Five Navigators | 1836 | William Spooner | A race game where five players ('sailors') follow distinctly colored tracks, on a board decorated with islands; seas; and ships, with each player restricted to the path of their own color. The player's followed the instructions printed in circles along the tracks, which contained sailor-themed dangers and advantages. |
Many games require some level of both skill and luck. A player may be hampered by bad luck in backgammon, Monopoly, or Risk; but over many games, a skilled player will win more often. The elements of luck can also make for more excitement at times, and allow for more diverse and multifaceted strategies, as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered.
Luck may be introduced into a game by several methods. The use of dice of various sorts goes back to one of the earliest board games, the Royal Game of Ur. These can decide everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, to how their forces fare in battle, as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, as in Catan (1995). Other games such as Sorry! (1934) use a deck of special Playing card that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble (1948) creates a similar effect using randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. German-style board games are notable for often having fewer elements of luck than many North American board games. Luck may be reduced in favor of skill by introducing symmetry between players. For example, in a dice game such as Ludo (), by giving each player the choice of rolling the dice or using the previous player's roll.
Another important aspect of some games is diplomacy, that is, players, making deals with one another. Negotiation generally features only in games with three or more players, cooperative games being the exception. An important facet of Catan, for example, is convincing players to trade with you rather than with opponents. In Risk, two or more players may team up against others. Easy diplomacy involves convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Advanced diplomacy (e.g., in the aptly named game Diplomacy from 1954) consists of making elaborate plans together, with the possibility of betrayal.
In perfect information games, such as chess, each player has complete information on the state of the game, but in other games, such as Tigris and Euphrates (1997) or Stratego (1946), some information is hidden from players. This makes finding the best move more difficult and may involve estimating probabilities by the opponents.
There are also virtual tabletop programs that allow online players to play a variety of existing and new board games through tools needed to manipulate the game board but do not necessarily enforce the game's rules, leaving this up to the players. There are generalized programs such as Vassal Engine, Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia that can be used to play any board or card game, while programs like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are more specialized for role-playing games. Some of these virtual tabletops have worked with the license holders to allow for use of their game's assets within the program; for example, Fantasy Grounds has licenses for both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder materials, while Tabletop Simulator allows game publishers to provide microtransaction for their games. However, as these games offer the ability to add in the content through user modifications, there are also unlicensed uses of board game assets available through these programs.
A 1991 estimate for the global board game market was over $1.2 billion. A 2001 estimate for the United States "board games and puzzle" market gave a value of under $400 million, and for United Kingdom, of about £50 million. A 2009 estimate for the Korean market was put at 800 million won, and another estimate for the American board game market for the same year was at about $800 million. A 2011 estimate for the Chinese board game market was at over 10 billion yuan. A 2013 estimate put the size of the German toy market at 2.7 billion euros (out of which the board games and puzzle market is worth about 375 million euros), and Polish markets at 2 billion and 280 million Polish zloty, respectively. In 2009, Germany was considered to be the best market per capita, with the highest number of games sold per individual.
While there has been a fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of older board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala), less has been done on contemporary board games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk, (2025). 9781841693361, Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841693361 and especially modern board games such as Catan, Agricola, and Pandemic. Much research has been carried out on chess, partly because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise. The works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase, Herbert A. Simon, and Fernand Gobet have established that knowledge, more than the ability to anticipate moves, plays an essential role in chess-playing ability.
Linearly arranged board games have improved children's spatial numerical understanding. This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one.
Research studies show that board games such as Snakes and Ladders result in children showing significant improvements in aspects of basic number skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, numerical estimation, and number comprehension. They also practice fine motor skills each time they grasp a game piece. Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive functions and help reduce risks of dementia for the elderly. Related to this is a growing academic interest in the topic of game accessibility, culminating in the development of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of modern tabletop games and the extent to which they are playable for people with disabilities.
Additionally, board games can be therapeutic. Bruce Halpenny, a games inventor said when interviewed about his game, The Great Train Robbery:
With crime you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player's imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble, they take in the early stage of the game there is a build-up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society because most jobs are boring and repetitive.
Playing games has been suggested as a viable addition to the traditional educational curriculum if the content is appropriate and the gameplay informs students on the curriculum content.
Modern board games have been classified in a variety of ways, a classification that can be based on the board game's mechanics, theme, age range, player number, and promotion. The diversity of board games means that some games belong to several categories.
| + Board game categorization by mechanics | ||||
| Alignment | Alignment board games are a subcategory of space board games. In an alignment game, a player is required to position their tokens in an array of a prescribed length. Like space games, these games are often abstract games. | Renju; Gomoku; Connect6; Nine men's morris; Tic-tac-toe | ||
| American-style | Ameritrash board games are those from the North American region, usually having an emphasis on theme; randomness, usually through dice; numerous ways to win; and direct player conflict. These board games are also called Ameritrash board games; however, this term is not necessarily a negative label. | Betrayal at House on the Hill; Zombicide; Twilight Imperium; Arkham Horror; Talisman | ||
| Auction | Auction board games are those that use bidding, a competitive assigning of value to different items, resources, privileges, or game scenarios, as a mechanism by which players attempt to obtain valuable in-game assets or establish a favorable turn order. These board games are also called bidding board games. | Examples include: Biblios; Condottiere; El Grande; For Sale; Hit Z Road; Hoity Toity; The Estates; High Society; Irish Gauge; ; Medici; Power Grid; Skull; Taj Mahal; Ra | ||
| Area control | Area control board games are those with some form of map or board defining a space that players compete to dominate, usually through adding their own pieces to regions or areas or removing their opponents’ pieces. | Small World; Risk; Nanty Narking; Blood Rage; Spirit Island; Scythe; even arguably Scrabble | ||
| Bluffing | Bluffing board games involve convincing opponent players on the accuracy of a claim, which includes tricking opponent players into believing something that is incorrect. All bluffing board games revolve around an element of hidden information. | Blood on the Clocktower; Coup; The Resistance; Sheriff of Nottingham; Skull; Shadows Over Camelot; Enigma Beyond Code; Bacchus’ Banquet | ||
| Campaign | Campaign board games are defined by players following a series of connected scenarios, where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next. | Charterstone; Gloomhaven; Return to Dark Tower; The Ungame | ||
| Chase | Chase board games often have an asymmetrical layout, where players start the game with different sets of pieces and objectives, usually rolling one or more dice to move a corresponding number of spaces along a looping track of spaces, or a path with a start and finish. When players land on certain spaces, it triggers specific actions or offers the player certain gameplay options. These board games are also known as roll-and-move games. | Classical: Tafl games; Snakes and ladders; Hyena chase Modern: Cluedo; Cranium; Monopoly; The Game of Life; Formula D | ||
| Chess variant | Chess variant board games are displacement games that are variations upon the general chess concept. | Traditional: Shogi; Xiangqi; Janggi Modern: Chess960; Grand Chess; Hexagonal chess; Alice Chess | ||
| City building | City building board games involve building and managing a city via planning decisions, in a way that is efficient, powerful or lucrative. | 7 Wonders; The Capitals; Suburbia; Citadels; Catan; Everdell; Life in Reterra; Lisboa; On Mars; Puerto Rico; | ||
| Civilization building | Civilization building board games are those that involve developing and managing a society of people, often from scratch, requiring the contemplation of long-term strategy, good resource management, and sometimes even conflict with opponents. | 7 Wonders; Anno 1800; Civilization; Eclipse; Gaia; Shogun; ; Terra Mystica; Twilight Imperium | ||
| Collectible component | Collectible component board games involve collecting and trading certain game elements, usually cards and miniatures. These games are built around strategy and collection building, but also luck. These board games are also often called building board games. | ; Yu-Gi-Oh; Pokémon; KeyForge | ||
| Configuration | Configuration board games are a sub-category of space games. However, as opposed to alignment games, the objective of players is to line up their pieces to complete per-determined array targets in a particular order. Like space games, these games are often abstract games. | Lines of Action; Hexade; Entropy | ||
| Connection game | A connection board game is often an abstract strategy game, in which players attempt to complete a specific type of connection with their pieces. This could involve forming a path between two or more endpoints, completing a closed loop, or a player connecting all of their pieces so they are adjacent to each other. | TwixT; Hex; Havannah | ||
| Cooperative | Cooperative board games are those in which all the players work together to achieve a common goal rather than competing against each other. Either the players win the game by reaching a predetermined objective, or all players lose the game, often by not reaching the objective before a certain trigger event ends the game. These board games are also called non-competitive or co-op games. | Examples include: Max the Cat; Caves and Claws; Bambino Dino; Forbidden Island franchise games; Gloomhaven; Horrified; Mountaineering; Nemesis; Nurturing Game; Pandemic; Spirit Island; There’s a Growly in the Garden; The Ungame; ; Shadows over Camelot | ||
| Count and capture | Count and capture board games are where players use tokens in rows of designated positions to capture their opponent's pieces. They are often also called sowing or mancala games. | Examples include: Mancala; Wari; Oware; The Glass Bead Game | ||
| Cross and circle | Cross and circle board games are race games with a board consisting of a circle divided into four equal portions by a cross inscribed inside it like four spokes in a wheel. | Examples Cross and circle games that are also included: Yut; Ludo; Aggravation | ||
| Deck-builder | In deck-builder board games, each player starts with their own identical deck of cards but alters it during play, with more powerful cards being added to the deck and less powerful ones being removed. | Aeon's End; Black Box; Clank! franchise games; Dominion (game); ; ; Hero Realms; ; Mystic Vale; Star Realms; | ||
| Deck construction | Deck construction board games involve players using different decks of cards to play, constructed prior to the game from a large pool of options, according to specific rules. This type of board game is also called a trading card board game. | ; ; Disney Lorcana; Keyforge; ; ; Pokémon; YU-Gi-OH! | ||
| Deduction | Deduction board games involve requiring players to form conclusions based on what is occurring or has transpired based on available premises, such as provided clues either by the board game itself or by fellow players. These board games are also called Investigation games. Social deduction board games are a subcategory of deduction board games. | Examples include: Alchemists, , Clue; Cryptid, Decrypto, Hanabi, Kryptos, Love Letter, , Mastermind, Scotland Yard; , Sleuth, Spectator Ops, Werewolf; Zendo | ||
| Dexterity | Dexterity board games are those that require accurate movements of the body in response to real-time game situations. These games are a particular form of physical board game where fine motors skills are more important than physical attributes such as strength or endurance, including flicking, balancing, or even throwing objects around. Dexterity board games test motor skills, reflexes and coordination; and reward carefulness and punishing clumsiness. These board games are also known as action board games. | Flick ‘em Up; Beasts of Balance; Dungeon Fighter; Flip Ships; ; Jenga; Jungle Speed; Klask; ; Pitch Car; Spot It!; Tumblin' Dice; What Next? | ||
| Displacement | Displacement board games are those in which the main objective is the capture the opponents' pieces. These board games are also often called elimination or war board games. | Chess; Draughts; Alquerque; Fanorona; Yoté; Surakarta | ||
| Drafting | Drafting board games involve a mechanism where players are presented with a set of options, usually cards, from which they must pick one, thus choosing the best options from a pool, leaving the remainder for the next player to choose from. They combine strategy, quick decision-making, and outguessing opponent players. The drafting mechanism can be a small part of a game, in order to select an ability for use during a round, or the entire decision space for a game. | 7 Wonders; Blood Rage; ; Citadels; Exploding Kittens; Sushi Go!; Ticket to Ride; | > | |
| Dungeon-crawler | In dungeon-crawler board games, players take the roles of characters making their way through a location, often depicted by a map with a square grid or a page in a book, defeating enemies controlled by another player, a companion app, or the game system itself. | ; Gloomhaven; Betrayal at House on the Hill franchise games; HeroQuest; Mansions of Madness; ; Mice and Mystics | > | |
| Economic | Economic board games involve players managing resources and making smart decisions about how they spend or invest money. A player's strategy usually revolves around ensuring they have enough resources to achieve a strong financial position. Economic board games usually simulate a market in some way. These games are often also called Economic simulation games. The term economic board game is often used interchangeably with resource management board game. | Examples include: Ark Nova; Brass franchise games; The Business Game; Terra Mystica; Great Western Trail; Catan; Food Chain Magnate; The Game of Life; Monopoly; Power Grid; Terraforming Mars; ; Twilight Imperium | ||
| Educational | Educational game board games are those designed to teach new ideas, concepts, topics or understanding while playing. The board game's learning is based on a particular theme. While educational games exist for different age groups, they are usually designed for children. | The Magic Labyrinth; Brain Quest; Cashflow; Evolution franchise games; Mariposas; Wingspan | ||
| Engine-builder | Engine-builder board games are those where the course of the game involves building an engine, something that takes your starting resources or actions and turns them into more resources, which often eventually accumulate scored points. | ; ; Everdell; Imagnarium; Race for the Galaxy; Splendor; Terraforming Mars; Wingspan | ||
| Euro-style | Eurogame board games are those with a strategy focus, prioritising limited randomness over theme. These board games usually have competitive interactions between players through passive competition, rather than aggressive conflict, in contrast to the more thematic but chance-driven American-style board games. Euro-style board games are also called Eurogames or German-style board games due to the fact many of the early games of this style were developed in Germany. | Agricola; Catan; Carcassonne; Decatur; Carson City; Five tribes; Le Havre; Lords of Waterdeep; Montana; Paladins of the West Kingdom; Power Grid; Puerto Rico; Stone Age; Suburbia; Takenoko; Ticket to Ride | ||
| Exploration | Exploration board games are those that have an unexplored map of tiles or cards, which the game encourages players to explore by flipping them and dealing with the consequences, either beneficial or detrimental. These board games are also often called Travel or 4x games. | ; Betrayal at House on the Hill franchise games; Eclipse; Gloomhaven; The Lost Expedition; Lost Ruins of Arnak; ; Twilight Imperium | ||
| Fighting | Fighting board games are those that encourage players to engage game characters in close quarter battles and hand-to-hand combat. They differ from Wargames in that the combat in Wargames exists as one part of a large-scale military simulation, while in Fighting games the focus is on the particular combat scenarios. | Gloomhaven; Scythe; Spirit Island; War of the Ring | ||
| Guessing game | Guessing board games are those that involve a player, or players, guessing the answer to a question based on clues from another player. | Battleship; Mysterium; Pictionary | ||
| Hidden movement | Hidden-movement games are defined as those that feature one or more players who move across the board, unseen to the other players. | Black Sonata; Captain Sonar; City of the Great Machine; Fury of Dracula; Letters from Whitechapel; Mind MGMT; | ||
| Hidden role | Hidden-role board games involving a player, or players, with a hidden role within the group, where the rest of the players have to identify them, avoiding any influence or tricks used to deflect any suspicions that they have those roles. Sometimes called hidden traitor board games. | Mafia; The Resistance franchise games; Werewolf franchise games; Secret Hitler; Betrayal at House on the Hill franchise games | ||
| Legacy game | Legacy board games are a sub-category of campaign board games, as they also involve players following a series of connected scenarios, where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next. However, in legacy board games, a player's choices and actions cause permanent, often physical, changes to the game and its components, such as applying stickers to the board or tearing up cards, thus providing a one-time experience. | Betrayal Legacy; Charterstone; Gloomhaven; ; Pandemic Legacy; | ||
| Math | Math board games explicitly require players to use mathematical knowledge and concepts to achieve game objectives, thereby testing each player's number skills. These games combine mathematical skills, such as calculations, with regular game structures, such as sources of randomness. | Lost Cities; Sentient; The Shipwreck Arcana; Turning Machine; Prime Club; ; Math Fluxx | ||
| Maze and labyrinth | A maze and labyrinth board game often requires players to navigate a series of complex pathways that are located on the game board. This type of board game tests a player's spatial awareness and problem-solving skills, often while adding in design elements from other types of board games. | Burgle Bros; RoboRally; Labyrinth; ; Sub Terra; Ricochet Robots; The Magic Labyrinth | ||
| Memory | Memory board games concern memorizing certain facts, figures, and other information while testing a player's ability to recall sequences, locations, or specific items. | Codenames; Confusion; Cortex + Challenge; ; Hanabi; The Magic Labyrinth; Memory; That's not a hat; The Resistance franchise games; Sideshow Swap; Simon; Wandering Towers; Whitehall Mystery; Witness | ||
| Moral and spiritual development | Moral and spiritual development board games are those that prioritise player moral and spiritual development above any technical process of establishing a winner and loser. | Transformation Game; Mansion of Happiness; or Psyche's Key | ||
| Negotiation | Negotiation board games are where players must persuade fellow players to make deals and alliances or even offer bribes to get ahead in the game. The only exceptions to this are often euro games, which have stringent resource management rules. | Ca$h’ n Guns; Cosmic Encounter; Diplomacy; Hegemony; The Resistance franchise games; Rising Sun; Sheriff of Nottingham; Twilight Imperium; Paydirt; Pax Pamir | ||
| Number | Number board games are ones in which players are required to use or manipulate numbers to achieve their the games objectives. | ; Arboretum; Take 5; The Shipwreck Arcana | ||
| Paper-and-pencil | Paper-and-pencil board games are those that can be played solely with writing implements, usually without erasing. They may be played to pass the time, as icebreakers, or for brain training. | Dots and boxes; Hangman; MASH; Paper soccer; Spellbinder; Sprouts; Tic-tac-toe | ||
| Party | Party board games are those that encourage social interaction. They are designed for larger groups of players with the aim of fostering social interaction amongst players, thus combining humour, creativity, and social interaction. | Classic: Charades; Pictionary Modern: Blood on the Clocktower; Codenames; Concept; Dixit; Decrypto; Just One; Mysterium; The Resistance franchise games; Secret Hitler; Snake Oil; Telestrations; Time’s Up; Werewolf franchise games | ||
| Physical | Physical board games are those involving physical challenges, and fall into two sub-categories:
| Camp Granada; Flick ‘em Up; Beasts of Balance; Dungeon Fighter; Flip Ships; ; Jenga; Jungle Speed; Klask; ; Pitch Car; Spot It!; Tumblin' Dice; What Next? | ||
| Physical skill | Physical skill board games involve challenges involving gross motors skills, through assigning whole body movement tasks to players. | Camp Granada | ||
| Position | Position board games are where the object is not to capture, but to win by leaving the opponent player unable to make a move. | Kōnane; Mū tōrere; L game | ||
| Push-your-luck | Push-your-luck board games that invite you to take ever bigger risks to achieve increasingly valuable rewards against the risk of significant loss. These board games are also called press your luck board games. | Biblios; Formula D; ; King of Tokyo; The Quacks of Quedlinburg; Port Royale; Deep Sea Adventure; | ||
| Puzzle | Puzzle board games are based on the solving of a puzzle or mystery and are commonly single-player games. | Classic: Peg solitaire; Sudoku Modern: Azul; Bärenpark; Blokus; ; Patchwork; Ubongo; Unlock! | ||
| Race game | Race board games are those in which each player has the goal of being the player to finish first, either by moving all their pieces to the final destination or completing an objective, e.g., the first player to collect five gems. This also includes games where the objective is to be the first to reach a checkpoint by navigation or steering around obstacles, usually by having greater speed or control than your opponents. The basic requirement is that race mechanics be an operative mechanism; however, racing is not required to be part of the board game’s theme. | Classic: Agon; Pachisi; Backgammon; Chaupar; Chinese checkers; Coan ki; Dogs and jackals; Five-field kono; Grasshopper; Halma; Hyena chase; Kerala; Liubo; Ludo; Ludus duodecim scriptorum; Mehen; Nyout; Pachisi; Patolli; Royal Game of Ur; Salta; Saturankam; Senet; T'shu-p'u; Chowka bhara; Kilkenny Cats; Game of the goose; Zohn ahl Modern: Camel Up; ; ; Formula D; Istanbul; ; Montana; ; The Quest for El Dorado; Snow Tails; Thunder Road franchise games | ||
| Role-playing | Role-playing board games are those where players assume a fictional character identity to participate in the game and its narrative. These games combine the character development and narrative of classic role-playing games with the mechanics of a board game. | Arcadia Quest; Dungeons & Dragons; Gloomhaven; Mage Knight; Mice and Mystics; Pathfinder; Shadowrun; Sword and Sorcery; | ||
| Real-time | Real-time board games are those with time limitations, usually playing against a timer, necessitating quick decision-making under pressure. In some real-time games, players take their turns simultaneously, creating a fast-paced, chaotic environment. | Captain Sonar; Galaxy Trucker; Pendulum; Space Alert; Fast chess; | ||
| Resource management | The aim of resource management board games is to achieve objectives and gain an advantage through players acquiring, using, and managing a set of resources, which can be anything from physical materials, currency, and points to abstract concepts like time or influence. | Everdell; Imperial Settlers; Concordia; Scythe | ||
| Roll-and-write | Roll-and-write board games are those where players roll dice and decide how to use the outcome, writing it into a personal scoring sheet. Each decision impacts on a player's options for the rest of the game, so even in games where everyone uses the same dice, slightly different choices at the start can lead to very different end results. Some games replace dice rolls with card exposure or the writing with miniature-based roll-and-build. | Bargain Basement Bathysphere; Corinth; ; Twilight Imperium; ; Yahtzee | ||
| Running-fight | Running-fight board games are those that combine the movement of race games with the goal of eliminating opponent player pieces like in chess or draughts. | Examples of Running-fight games that are also board games include: Bul | ||
| Share-buying | Share-buying board games are those in which players buy stakes in each other's positions. These board games are typically longer economic-management games. | Acquire or Panamax | ||
| Social deduction | Social deduction board games are those where one or more players have a secret that the rest of the players need to figure out. Often, players are secretly assigned roles known only to them and must achieve their own objectives, commonly either establishing the odd one out or hiding the fact that they are the odd one out. These board games generally involve deceit, bluffing, and accusations. | Blood on the Clocktower; Werewolf franchise games; The Resistance; Secret Hitler; Unfathomable | ||
| Space | In space board games are often abstract games where the objective is for players to line up their pieces in order to complete predetermined array targets. Space board game fall into either two of the following sub-cateogires:
| Connect6; Entropy; Gomoku; Hexade; Lines of Action; Nine men's morris; Noughts and crosses; Renju; Tic-tac-toe | ||
| Storytelling | Story-telling board games are those with a focus on narrative and description that is directed or fully created by the players. This can be an overarching story lasting the whole game, or across a campaign of multiple sessions, read from pre-written passages, or a sequence of vignettes tasking players with inventing and describing something. Story-telling board games often test a player's creativity, improvisation, and sometimes acting skills. | Examples of story-telling games that are also board games include: Betrayal at House on the Hill; Dixit; Fog of Love; The King’s Dilemma; Once Upon a Time; Tales of the Arabian Nights | ||
| Stacking | Stacking board games involve players physically stacking and balancing game pieces. | Examples of stacking games that are also board games include: Boom Blast Stix; Bamboleo; ; Animal Upon Animal; Junk Art; Jenga; Beasts of Balance; Lasca; Meeple Circus; Riff Raff; Rhino Hero; DVONN | ||
| Territory building | In territory building board games, players establish or gain control over a specific area. These games often use area majority mechanics, also known as influence or enclosure mechanics, where areas are created as the game progresses. | The Castles of Burgundy; Faust; Terra Mystica; Go; Reversi; Risk; Scythe; Spirit Island; Terraforming Mars; War of the Ring | ||
| Trivia | Trivia board games are those that test a player's ability to recall trivia facts. Many are based on a simple design that revolves around a deck of cards with questions. | Articulate!; ; Fuana; Hipster; Half-Truth; Linkee!; ; Timeline franchise games; Trivial Pursuit; Wits and Wagers | ||
| Unequal forces | Unequal force board games are classified as any game whose core mechanics involve one player who is playing against all the other players right from the start or at least changes their allegiance, usually pledging it to the dark side. These board games are also known as hunt or one vs many board games. | Betrayal at House on the Hill; Fox games; Fury of Dracula; Not Alone; Shadows Over Camelot; Tafl games | ||
| Word game | Word board games involve the competitive use of language, testing each player's vocabulary, creative thinking skills, spelling or ability to quickly come up with words, phrases, or sentences. | Anagrams; Boggle; So Clover!; Codenames; Decrypto; Bananagrams; Just One; Paperback; Scrabble | ||
| Worker-placement | Worker-placement board games are those where actions are taken by assigning worker tokens, from a player's allocated allotment, on designated game board spaces, which trigger specific actions, like collecting resources or completing tasks. Such board games are more commonly Euro-style board games, which concentrate on player interaction. Actions one player has taken often can not be taken by or come with a cost for other players. | Agricola; Charterstone; Caverna; Caylus; ; Everdell; A Feast for Odin; Keyflower; Lords of Waterdeep; Ora et Labora; Stone Age; Tōkaidō; Village | ||
| Wargame | Wargame board games are strategy-based board games with a war theme. Their mechanics are also closely tied to simulate battles, either fictional or historical, within differing settings, e.g. Napoleonic Wars, World War II, even Mars. Players pit armies against each other, represented by collections of miniatures or tokens on a map, with a grid or actual measured distances for movement. Players are required to eliminate the opponent's figures or achieve objectives to win, with combat usually dictated by dice rolls or card play. This type of game has three subcategories:
| Examples include: Axis & Allies; Cry Havoc; ; Inis, Kings of War; Memoir '44; Risk; Root; ; Scythe; Twilight Imperium; ; Warhammer |
Such games have come under criticism, usually when trending thematic concepts, such as those based on popular television show licenses, have been used to supplement deficiencies in the game mechanics. When discussing this practice, Edwards wrote "A bad game, however, remains a bad game even if it has been themed to a favorite television show." Parlett went so far as to describe these promotional and television spin-off games as being “of an essentially trivial, ephemeral, mind-numbing, and ultimately soul-destroying degree of worthlessness".
The prominent themes found in board games of the Golden Era included: travel, sports, courtship, racism, city life, war, education and capitalist enterprise". Common modern thematic game categories include:
| + Thematic categorization of board games | ||||
| Adventure | An adventure-themed board games have themes of heroism, exploration, and puzzle-solving, often involving the game characters in quests. The storylines for these types of games often make them fantasy board games. | Gloomhaven; Nemesis; Clank! franchise games; | ||
| Abstract strategy | Abstract strategy board games are where a player's decisions affect the outcome rather than luck, but that does not overtly simulate a real-world theme or has a thematic concept disconnected from real-world experience. | Examples of abstract strategy games that are also board games include: | ||
| Animal | Animal-themed games involve animals as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to attend to their management or control. Players can even be required to take on the role of animals in the game. | Ark Nova; Great Western Trail; Root; Wingspan; Everdell | ||
| Arabian | Arab culture-themed board games are generally fantasy or adventure games that are set in, or inspired by, locations on the Arabian Peninsula of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, or North/East Africa, including themes and imagery such as deserts, palaces, camels, jewels, and oases etc. | Five Tribes; Targui; Camel Up; Wayfarers of the South Tigris; Through the Desert | ||
| Environmental | Environmental-themed games have themes and storylines regarding environmental conservation and management. | Pandemic Legacy; Ark Nova; Terraforming Mars; Spirit Island; Barrage; Cascadia | ||
| Civil War | Civil war-themed board games have storylines concerning a violent battle for government control between two more groups from the same country. The majority of Civil War games are also categorized as wargame board games. | ; ; Fire in the Lake; Pax Pamir; ; Resist! | ||
| Climbing | A climbing-themed board game is one thematically related to mountaineering or scaling a similarly steep surface, including a wall. | K2; Mountaineering; Climb!; ; Mountaineers | ||
| Fantasy | A fantasy-themed board game is one whose themes and scenarios exist in a fictional world, where magic and other supernatural forms are a primary element of the plot, theme or setting. | Fantasy games include: Clank! franchise games; Gloomhaven; Shadows Over Camelot; Spirit Island; War of the Ring | ||
| Farming | A farming-themed game, usually a turn-based game revolving around building farms, growing crops, and raising livestock. | Agricola; Caverna; A Feast for Odin; Puerto Rico; ; Viticulture | ||
| Flight | Flight-themed board games have themes concerned with mechanical flight, including planes, helicopters, and gliders etc. | Sky Team; ; Pan Am; The Manhattan Project; ; Airlines Europe | ||
| Industry / manufacturing | Manufacturing-themed games encourage players to build, manage or operate tools and machinery in order to manufacture raw materials into goods and products. Many industry / manufacturing-themed games are economic games. | Brass franchise games; Terraforming Mars; A Feast for Odin; Barrage; Food Chain Magnate | ||
| Historical simulation | A historical simulation board game is a game that attempts to create a realistic model of a historical event, battle, or encounter. The game uses rules and other elements to construct meaning about the event, and players can use these elements to interpret the game in specific ways. Common periods of history which have provided themes for board games include:
| General: or History of the World Before 4000 BC Prehistoric: Dominant Species; Stone Age; Paleo; ; Evolution franchise games, or Oceans 3000 BC–476 Ancient: 7 Wonders Duel; Concordia franchise games; Lost Ruins of Arnak; ; 476–1492 Medieval: The Castles of Burgundy; A Feast for Odin; Orléans; The Quacks of Quedlinburg; Paladins of the West Kingdom; El Grande 1380–1590 Renaissance: Azul; El Grande; Splendor; Keyflower; Lorenzo il Magnifico; Rajas of the Ganges 1500–1690 Pike and Shot: ; Merchants & Marauders; Here I Stand; Pax Renaissance; Wallenstein 1690–1789 Age of Reason: Brass franchise games; Rococo; Maria; Newton; Saint Petersburg; Imperial Struggle 1600–1800 American Indian Wars: A Few Acres of Snow; Wilderness War; Wendake; ; Navajo Wars; Wooden Ships and Iron Men 1775–1783 American Revolutionary War: Imperial Struggle; ; Washington's War; ; Wooden Ships and Iron Men; 1789–1815 Napoleonic: ; Napoleon's Triumph; , or Manoeuvre 1815–1914 Post-Napoleonic: Brass franchise games; Pax Pamir; Obsession; ; Carnegie 1861–1865 American Civil War: ; Battle Cry; For the People; The Civil War 1861-1865; A House Divided 1850–1900 American Old West: Great Western Trail; Western Legends; ; Boonlake; Colt Express 1914–1918 World War I: Memoir '44; Paths of Glory; The Grizzled; ; ; 1939–1945 World War II: Axis & Allies; ; Memoir '44; ; Air, Land, & Sea; ; Black Orchestra Modern Warfare: Twilight Struggle; ; Captain Sonar; Fire in the Lake; ; COIN franchise games 1945–1975 Vietnam Wars: ; Fields of Fire franchise games; Fire in the Lake; Phantom Leader; Vietnam 1965-1975 1950–1953 Korean War: Fields of Fire franchise games; ; ; Flight Leader; The Speed of Heat | ||
| Horror | A Horror fiction-themed game is one that contains themes and imagery depicting morbid topics that are associated with fear, terror, or dread, often also including supernatural elements. | Examples of horror games that are also board game include: Arkham Horror; AuZtralia; Betrayal at House on the Hill; ; Dead Man’s Cabal; ; Eldritch Horror; Horrified; ; ; Mansions of Madness; Mysterium; Nyctophobia; Shadow Hunters; The Thing franchise games; Werewolf franchise games; ; Unfathomable; Zombicide | ||
| Mafia | Mafia-themed board games have themes, narratives or scenarios related to organized criminal groups. | ; Ca$h 'n Guns; Scarface; ; La Cosa Nostra | ||
| Medical | Medicine-themed board games often can have elements of surgery, cures, recovery/recuperation/physical therapy, psychiatry, pharmaceutical prescription, and other medicine-related matters. | Pandemic franchise games or Unconscious Mind | ||
| Murder mystery | Murder mystery-themed board games are board games that often deduction or social deduction board games, where players investigate an unsolved murder, or murders, determining the criminal details or perpetrators. | Mansions of Madness; Blood on the Clocktower; ; | ||
| Musical | Musical board games are thematically linked to music, Musical ensemble or the music industry. | Battle of the Bands; Cranium Pop 5; DropMix; Game that Song; ; Humm Bug; Encore; Lacrimosa; Melody Infidelody; On Tour; Spontuneous; Schrille Stille ; | ||
| Mythology | -themed board games are those that incorporate a thematic narrative that defines how the game world or characters came into existence, especially those related or based on narratives of ancient civilizations. The storylines usually include supernatural elements, e.g. gods, goddesses and demigods, and are sometimes even set in a fabled or primordial time, which usually corresponds to a general corpus of folk stories (myths) that used to have some form of religious or sacred nature for the cultures focused on in the game. | Spirit Island; ; Blood Rage; ; Mansions of Madness; | ||
| Nautical | Seamanship-themed board games involve sailors, ships or maritime navigation as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to effectively control ships as an objective. | Concordia; ; Underwater Cities; Sleeping Gods; Maracaibo; Le Havre | ||
| Other media | These are board games thematically link, derived or inspired from works or franchises in other media sources, including: | Comic books:
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| Pirate | A pirate-themed game has characters, themes, or storylines of nautical robbery or criminal violence, including treasure hunting, sea robbery, swords and cannons, Swashbuckler, and ship racing etc. Pirate board games are usually thematically set between the 14th to 20th centuries. | Maracaibo; Skull King; Forgotten Waters; Merchants & Marauders; Dead Reckoning; | ||
| Political | Politics-themed board games encourage players to use their character's authority to manipulate societal activities and policy. | Twilight Imperium; ; Twilight Struggle; Pax Pamir; | ||
| Religion | religion-themed games feature elements of their narrative, setting or characters that relate to current belief systems or religions of the world, either in their historical aspect and development through time, or their actual objects of faith, like sacred scriptures and articles of doctrine. | Here I Stand; Biblios; Orléans; Ora et Labora; Pax Pamir; The Pillars of the Earth | ||
| Science fiction | Science fiction-themed board games often have themes relating to imagined possibilities in the sciences. Such games need not be futuristic, or they can be based on an alternative past. | Twilight Imperium; ; Terraforming Mars; ; Gaia Project | ||
| Space exploration | Space exploration-themed board games have storylines relating to travel and adventure in outer space. Often players must seek and gather resources and territories as objectives of the game. These board games are also simply called Space games. | ; Black Angel; The Crew (card game); Ganymede; ; Kepler-3042; Pulsar 2849; Race for the Galaxy; Space Base; ; Starship Samurai; Terraforming Mar | ||
| Spies / secret agents | A espionage-themed board games often have themes or storylines relating to espionage. A common premise is that players must identify another player who has taken the role of spy or secret agent, in an attempt to reveal that player's allotted information. Since many Spies / Secret Agents-themed board games have an element of hidden information, they are therefore often also categorized as bluffing or deduction board games. | Pax Pamir; Pandemic Legacy; Decrypto; ; Codenames; | ||
| Sports | Sports-themed board games have themes or storylines related to the physical activity of sports, including football and racing (whether car, boat, bicycle, or horse) etc. | ; ; ; Blood Bowl; Downforce; Ready Set Bet | ||
| Train game | Train board games are those concerned with building and managing Rail transport. They often combine elements from many other game types, requiring the use of strategy, planning, and economic skills to gain an advantage over other players. | Ticket to Ride franchise games; 18xx; Railways of the World; Colt Express; Age of Steam; TransAmerica | ||
| Travel | Travel-themed board games are travel-themed board games where the objective is to move to and from different geographic locations. Travel games usually employ a map as the main feature of the game board. | Lost Ruins of Arnak; Orléans; Lost Ruins of Arnak; The Voyages of Marco Polo; Darwin's Journey; ; Eldritch Horror | ||
| Transportation | Transportation-themed board games are those that have gameplay involving the movement of goods or people from one place to another. | Brass franchise games; Keyflower; Age of Steam; ; Railways of the World | ||
| Zombie | Zombie-themed board games often contain themes and imagery concerning the animated dead, including common storylines themes of an apocalypse, horror, and fighting. These games are a thematic sub-category of Horror-themed board games. | ; Dawn of the Zeds; Zombicide; |
| + Board game categorization by components | ||||
| Dice game | Dice board games are those that use dice as their sole or principal component. | Example of dice games that are also board games, include: The Castles of Burgundy; King of Tokyo franchise games; ; Sagrada; Too Many Bones; Troyes; The Voyages of Marco Polo; The White Castle | ||
| Gamebook | Book board games are those where a book is a major operative component, can be separated into two types:
| Gaslands; Four Against Darkness; Frostgrave; Spire's End; Ace of Aces franchise games | ||
| Card game | Playing card board games are those where cards are the sole or central mechanism of the game. There are two types:
| 7 Wonders Duel; Anno 1800; ; Citadels; The Crew franchise games; Everdell; Splendor; ; Wingspan | ||
| Electronic | Electronic board games are those that have an electronic apparatus as the central component of the game, such as circuitry or sometimes simple computers. Electronic board games differ from both; electrified games, such as Operation which contain no circuitry; and those games requiring a website or app to be played. | Return to Dark Tower; Space Alert; ; Loopin' Louie; ; | ||
| Game system | Game system board games are ones based around an item whose components are not a game of themselves, but are used to play games. | The Dungeons & Dragons starter set; a piecepack; a decktet; GEMJI; a chestego; a shibumi object; Mü & More s unique card deck; a card games; Unmatched's unique card deck; a Hanafuda ; Unsettleds unique card deck; a rainbow deck | ||
| Miniatures | Miniatures board games are board games that use detailed miniature models to represent characters or units. Games of this type use miniatures as part of their game mechanics, combining tactics and strategy with collecting and artistry. Of all board game types, miniature games can be some of the most complex to produce, and time-consuming for players, who often are required to paint the models. | BattleTech; Blood Rage; ; Fury of Dracula; Gloomhaven; Mansions of Madness; Memoir '44; Nemesis; Rising Sun; ; Santorini; War of the Ring; Warhammer 40,000 | ||
| Tile-based game | A tile-based board game is one that uses small tiles as playing pieces or to create the board. These board games are also called "tile placement" board games. | Examples of tile-based games that are also board games include: Carcassonne; Scrabble; Tigris and Euphrates; Evo; Takenoko; Cacao; The Castles of Burgundy; Quadropolis; Between Two Cities |
| + Board game categorization by age range | ||||
| Adult / mature | Adult and mature board games are those designed exclusively for grown-up players. Compared to family or children's games, adult / mature board games usually involve mature subject matter, including violence, mystery or sexual humour etc. | Cards Against Humanity; ; ; ; ; Monikers; | ||
| Children's | Children's board games are designed for kids and are usually straightforward enough for very young children to learn in a short period of time, having bright colors, and fun and engaging settings. | Mouse Trap; Animal Upon Animal; My First Stone Age; Dinosaur Escape and Candy Land; My Little Scythe; Perudo; PitchCar; Rhino Hero; | ||
| Family | Family board games are those suitable for the entire family, including adults who play together with younger children. | Artriculate; Birds on a Wire; For Sale; Herd Mentality; Photosynthesis; Roll Through the Ages; Sushi Go; Ticket to Ride; or Wingspan |
| + Board game categorization by player number | |||
| Large multiplayer | Take It Easy; Swat | ||
| Multiplayer game | Risk; Monopoly; Four-player chess | ||
| Two-player game | En Garde; Dos de Mayo |
| + Board game categorization by promotion | ||||
| Collectable | A collectible board game is a special edition of a board game that has limited copies, such as anniversaries or deluxe versions. | |||
| Expansion pack | An expansion of the base board game is a set of additional components and rules for expanding on an original base game. An "expansion" requires the base game to play. |
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| Fan expansion | Fan expansion board games are non-commercial enhancements made by people other than a base game's designers or publishers. These are also called "unofficial" board games. |
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| Print-and-play board games are those not published in a physical form but are those that require the players to download, print, and construct the game. Often, these games are downloaded electronically as a PDF file. | Air, Land, & Sea; Corinth; ; Monikers; The Resistance; Rolling Realms; Root; Secret Hitler; Tiny Epic Galazies | |||
| Travel | Travel versions of board games that are more amenable for packing and carrying while traveling, having smaller game components to make them more compact, and simplified rules to make them quicker to play. | Compact versions of chess, or checkers |
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