Must-have family board games for 2024

If you're fed up of slogging through hours of Monopoly, it's time to break out the best family board games. There's no shortage of choice these days, and all of them leave old-timers like Clue in the dust. That's why the 12DOVE team and I have narrowed things down with this list of top-tier board games for families.

Alongside suggestions for parties, lazy afternoons at home, and everything in-between, you'll find recommendations here that'll suit all skill-levels or budgets. The best family board games get everyone involved, so even reluctant players should be happy to try them out. Oh, and don't assume they'll bore you to sleep if you're a tabletop veteran; I'd argue that these are some of the best board games overall.

To make sure we're recommending the best of the best when it comes to family board games, this list is made up of options our experts have had extensive hands-on experience with. If it doesn't wow the 12DOVE team, it doesn't get on the list… and because we review board games for families as a living, that bar is pretty high. You can find out more in the 'how we test' section further down the page.

Written by

Written by

Benjamin Abbott

Benjamin's been covering board games for more than five years, and he's personally tested every single entry listed below. He's currently getting back into Catan.

Quick list

Best board game for families overall

No matter whether you want to entertain the kids on a lazy Sunday or you're feeling sleepy post-Christmas dinner, the last thing you want is a complicated game that'll tax your brain. This is why Ticket to Ride is so brilliant. While there are tactics involved, it's a much more laid-back experience than other family board games on this list. It's the kind of thing you can learn in 15 minutes or less, too, so everyone will be able to join in regardless of their experience level. Finally, it's competitive but not to the point you'll fall out – players should still enjoy themselves even if they lose.

Ticket to Ride whisks us back more than a hundred years to a time when top hats were considered cool, and you're a businessperson hoping to earn their fortune on those new-fangled steam locomotives. Players score points by creating train routes across North America, Europe, or wherever your copy of the game is set.

Easy enough, right? Sort of – winning isn't so straightforward. Because certain routes are worth more than others, the race is on to claim them before anyone else can.

Differently-colored train cards are critical for that. You need sets (ranging between two and half a dozen cards each) to place your tokens on a route, and these are drawn either from a face-up market available to everyone or blind from the deck. That means others can figure out what you're gunning for and act first if you're not careful. This gives Ticket to Ride a push-your-luck edge.

Yes, it's a little more cutthroat than you might have expected. But hey, Ticket to Ride is pretty enough for you to let it off. Even the standard version comes with 3D train tokens, and the cards provide pops of color that leap off the table. The board itself is rendered in a quaint turn-of-the-century style as well, so this board game for families has personality to spare.

Because everyone is scrambling to earn cards and win routes (many of which cross over with one another), Ticket to Ride draws you in by the scruff of your neck despite it being so laid back on the whole. This also makes it a satisfying personal challenge, even if you end up losing; there's something pleasing about completing a long and complicated route, especially if you have to go around a rival's line. Indeed, needing to take the long way round may be frustrating in the heat of the moment, but coming up with a workaround is rewarding.

Speaking of which, all that jostling for space injects an undercurrent of strategy. Which routes should you prioritize? And once you've finished your current batch, should you take any more? It's a fun conundrum to wrestle with, because failure to complete routes before the end will see those points taken off your total.

Then there's the question of which routes you choose. Do you risk building a longer line for maximum value? Or should you finish a bunch of shorter routes to score quickly? It's a similar dilemma to Jaipur, one of the best card games, and will keep you invested for a while.

Just be careful not to overdo it. You might learn Ticket to Ride's routes if you play it too much (thus allowing you to guess what other players are working on right away), and that robs it of some magic. Although the game got me and my extended family through the pandemic lockdown because we were able to 'play' together virtually via webcam, we did eventually become overfamiliar with Ticket to Ride so needed a break before getting it out again.

Board games for families - best party

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If my family is getting together and wants to play something, I'll always break out Herd Mentality first. It's the perfect board game for families that don't even like board games; it's dead easy to understand, is low-pressure, and doesn't require any kind of specialist knowledge. It won't ever become outdated, either – this one hinges on what your group thinks instead of your ability to remember obscure trivia.

Herd Mentality was designed by the company behind many of the best party board games, and that means it's wonderfully silly. Rather than posing trivia questions to make you think, it throws out bangers like "what is the best sauce?" You'll then scribble down your answer.

There's no 'right' answer, of course. Instead, you're trying to match what you think everyone else is going to say. You earn points if you're in the majority, and anyone in the minority gets penalized with the squishy pink cow of shame. This is basically a stress toy, so at least you can work through your angst if you get it.

While we're on that subject, the theming is absolutely on point. Each player is trying to build their 'herd' by collecting eight cows (e.g. point tokens), and all of these are amusingly bizarre. They are also taken from a central, grassy pen rather than a boring case, so full points for effort. When combined with the fuzzy black spots on its box, Herd Mentality is more than a little quirky.

This is also a game that can be explained in 10 seconds flat, and that's a huge bonus if you're trying to corral rowdy family-members. There's next-to-no downtime either, as everyone is writing down or sharing their answers together.

Crucially, the fact that there's no 'correct' answer is helpful for those who don't play board games, or avoid them because they aren't sure what to do. It's also perfect if you have loved ones that are uncomfortable about joining in, or just prefer to watch – you'll find them starting to get involved from the sidelines by chipping in with what they think. My mom certainly does, and she never plays family board games with us.

Even if everyone disagrees, that can be fun in and of itself. You'll all joke about why you're right, or discuss someone else's surprising answer. That makes it a good opportunity to learn something about each other and open up new discussions that get everyone talking.

What's more, it's hugely replayable. No two groups are the same and will all answer differently. Herd Mentality is a family board game with plenty of longevity behind it as a result.

Board games for families - best for kids

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This bizarre but adorable game has the holy trinity of selling points; it's accessible, quick, and totally moreish. Seeing as a match of Sushi Go! can be finished in 15 minutes or less, it's also the sort of thing you'll want to play "just one more round" of. In other words? It's the perfect card game for families.

Straightforward rules have a lot to do with that. Sushi Go! challenges you to create the most appetising 'meal' from a deck of cards, and certain combinations earn points. Some give less but are easier to gather, while others only pay out if you collect the most of an item. That's where tactics come in. You see, everyone has to pass their hand of cards to the next player. While this means someone else might beat you to the punch, it goes both ways - watch carefully and you can start to figure out what your rivals are planning based on their choices. That allows you to steal cards they need to finish their high-scoring dish. It's brilliantly devilish.

The result is a simple but strategic family board game everyone can enjoy. If you've not tried it yet, you're in for a treat.

Board games for families - best for adults

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Both beautiful and engaging, Wingspan has more than earned its place as one of the most beloved modern board games for families. You don't become the winner of an esteemed Spiel des Jahres award for nothing, after all.

As you'll have probably guessed, it puts birds in the spotlight - you're trying to attract as many feathered friends to your reserve as possible. The mechanics for doing so are truly compelling. Players collect food that allows them to put down bird cards, and this lets them collect yet more food in turn. They can then play even more bird cards, and so on. It's a strangely engrossing loop.

You don't need to worry about it being overly complicated, though. Wingspan may take a few turns to get used to, but it's easy once you're over that hump. This allows you to bask in the game's gorgeous artwork, not to mention the clever birdbox playing piece. You don't even need to worry about someone undoing your hard work; Wingspan is light on direct competition, meaning you'll enjoy the experience regardless of whether you win or lose.

Board games for families - best trivia

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If you want a good trivia board game for families, Articulate is a fantastic place to start. It's been delighting players around the world since 1992, and that popularity is rooted in the fact anyone can get involved.

Namely, you don't need to be a font of obscure knowledge to win; you simply have to describe as many words from a category as possible within 30 seconds. Not that this isn't challenging, of course - you can't discuss what that subject sounds like or rhymes with. Instead, you've got to think on your feet and come up with a good comparison before the timer runs out. This ramps up the tension and keeps everyone on the edge of their seats.

Unlike so many family board games, Articluate can be played in a group as large as 20 or more as well. So long as you're divided into teams with at least two people per side, you're good to go. That makes it an ideal choice if loved ones are descending upon you en-masse.

Board games for families - best strategy

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Life is hard sometimes, so family board games that let you (metaphorically) put your feet up are more than welcome. Photosynthesis is one of them. Yet despite all this, it also manages to keep thoughtful strategy bubbling away beneath the surface.

Considering this game's theme, that may come as a surprise. Rather than challenging you to conquer territory or crush your enemies, you earn points simply by growing trees - it's all very wholesome. The trouble is, nature's not fair. Certain soils are richer than others so will win you a higher score, and the sun moves to a different side of the board each turn. This might leave your trees blocked behind someone else's, and that means they're unable to draw in light you can use to plant more trees. As such, thinking ahead (and hemming in opponents) is rewarded.

The design of Photosynthesis is equally impressive. Thanks to sizeable cardboard trees that come in a variety of colorblind-friendly shapes, it's impressive in action and looks gorgeous when laid out on the table.

How we test board games for families

How we test board games is incredibly important to the entire 12DOVE team, and we won't ever suggest a product we wouldn't be happy to buy ourselves. Basically, we need to love something for it to get on this list of family board games.

As discussed in our guide to how we test board games, our reviewers (who have years of experience covering the industry) live and play with a game for as long as possible to get the best sense of how it works. This helps us establish whether it'll be a five-minute wonder or not as well.

For much the same reason, we'll always run multiple sessions with different numbers of people to get an idea of how this changes the experience - if at all.

Our critique is then divided into four distinct sections:

• Features & design: We give you the lowdown on a game's 'elevator pitch' in this section (basically, what does it do differently?). We then go into the basics of how it actually works, along with a judgement on its physical components.
• Gameplay: Most of our review will focus on the actual mechanics of a game. We weigh in on what the experience of playing it is like, whether it's fun, and things we weren't so keen on.
• Should you buy: This section rounds up our thoughts on the family board game in a bite-size format. You'll also find an itemized list of reasons to buy or not to buy here.
• How we tested: We then go into how we tested the game in question, for full transparency.

You'll also start to see the following standardized set of criteria throughout our reviews and buying guides - a ranking system based on gameplay, accessibility (how easy it is to understand and get into), setup and pack-down, component quality, and how replayable it is. Here's a quick example:

For more information on our process sitewide, be sure to see the 12DOVE review policy.

Board games for families - FAQ

For more suggestions on what to play next, be sure to check out our guides to the best card games and classic board games everyone needs in their collection.