Classic board games are typically classics for a good reason, although they can be so notorious, such as Monopoly, that people scarcely want to play them anymore. However, this list not only contains brilliant classic board games but also advises on more modern renditions to make them more exciting to play if you’re grown tired of them. Here are the best classic board games that still hold up today.
Risk
Risk is one of the most popular war board games and has a large competitive following to this day. For more casual audiences, Risk may come across as incredibly boring and drawn out as players refuse to attack and take risks, as it ultimately leaves you vulnerable.
However, Risk provides a very simple war gaming experience of pushing counters around the map and rolling dice over and over again, leading to minimal teach and lots of “take that!” moments swiftly followed by “you’ve got to be kidding me” as you roll nothing but ones.
If Risk has become too boring or “samey,” then thankfully, there are countless Risk variants that make it a more established war game, such as Risk: Europe (my personal favorite) or even Risk Star Wars: Clone Wars edition) for an asymmetric two-player compatible version. Risk is a great war game that can be enjoyed by anyone who likes moving dudes on a map and rolling away.
Clue
Clue is a brilliant deduction game of investigating a manor to try and identify the who, what, and where of a murder. As players go around into different rooms, they will identify cards of other players to figure out, through deduction, the cards of the killer.
This classic stands up to today’s standards pretty firmly and has a real skill level. The only real impeding element of randomness is the dice used to track players’ movement through the manor, although some players ditch this mechanic and allow players to move freely between the rooms, allowing for a more streamlined and fair investigation.
If you’re fed up with Clue but want something like the classic, then Deception: Murder in Hong Kong provides a card-based deduction game with secret roles and asymmetric communication for a more exciting and thoughtful rendition of Clue’s system.
Monopoly
No one really likes Monopoly, do they? In a horrid irony, the game designed specifically not to be fun but to warn against the dangers of extreme capitalism and monopoly has become one of the most popular board games sold worldwide where it feels like everyone has a copy. Even though it kinda sucks.
The goal here is to slowly bleed everyone else dry of their funds until they’re forced to sell everything they own – only to then slowly lose what little they have left. Monopoly can drag on for hours as the whim of the dice dictates who lands where and how much money they have to lose.
If you’re not a fan of Monopoly but enjoy gaining assets and partaking in shrewd business with your friends, then Lords of Vegas and Food Chain Magnate are great substitutes. They may seem removed from the classic game of Monopoly, but they’re everything people want in Monopoly that Monopoly doesn’t provide.
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is the classic go-to for any trivia game night due to its gargantuan presence, many editions, and many questions. Although fans of trivia games can get a lot of mileage out of Trivial Pursuit, it can grow tiresome when you start to come across the same questions.
If you haven’t played Trivial Pursuit yet and want a classic trivia game, then you can’t go wrong. However, there are many Trivial Pursuit-adjacent games that can be neatly summed up to your friends as “like Trivial Pursuit.”
For a lighter and endlessly more fun trivia game, then Wits & Wagers is always a great game that’s earned a place on many trivia fans’ shelves. For something more comprehensive than Trivial Pursuit, try out Trivial Pursuit: Mastermind Edition or Outsmarted.
Yahtzee
Yahtzee is one of the most popular dice games out there, likely thanks to it being so easy to recreate at home as long as you have enough spare dice. Although the dice results are random, what you do with them and how you score is completely up to you.
Endlessly replayable and always at least a bit of fun, Yahtzee remains a classic game I’d generally recommend everyone to have, thanks to its accessibility and ease of play. Perfect for setting up or closing a game night.
However, for those sick and tired of Yahtzee, you can try out a whole genre of “roll and write” games inspired by Yahtzee’s core mechanic. King of Tokyo and Dinosaur Island: Rawr and Write are only a couple of examples of games using this classic formula to create something completely distinct.
Code Breaker
Code Breaker is a lesser-known classic, but it is one nonetheless. With no luck involved, a player secretly sets a code, and the other player will need to guess it with mechanics similar to Wordle’s. There is only a set number of attempts, so the player breaking the code will need to be savvy in their decision-making.
For this classic board game, there isn’t anything that really beats this straightforward code-cracking gameplay, so if you think you’ll enjoy it, then you can procure many games from it.
However, Turing Machine is a fantastic game that pits players against an analog computer. Players will need to keep questioning the machine to try and crack the code before anyone else. To graduate from Code Breakers for a real challenge, try out Turing Machine.
Chutes and Ladders
Chutes and Ladders is the classic kid’s game of nothing more than random luck. There is zero skill or thinking required, which is perfect for allowing children to cry and get mad thanks to losing for no reason. Despite this, I still enjoy Chutes and Ladders to this day and have no idea why.
Due to its simple nature, Chutes and Ladders is an easy pick for younger audiences to get out and play; however, there are similar games that are much better as they are either more interactive or have some thought processes behind them.
Mousetrap is essentially Chutes and Ladders but with exciting contraptions that are a joy to activate whenever you’re winning or losing. The Game of Life also has random progression but allows some choices in the way of choosing professions, buying property, and more, to make it much more fun to play repeatedly.
Battleship
Battleship has such a simple premise yet provides such a tense and infuriating time. Hearing your opponent close in on your ships elicits a nightmarish feeling, and you desperately drop bombs only to keep missing.
As both players list out coordinates, all you’ll know is if you’ve hit something or missed. From there, you’ll have to work out where the rest of the ship is to bring it down. Just don’t get your “g” and “j” sounds mixed up, or you’ll be in for an argument.
If you’ve played too much of Battleship and can’t stand hearing another “miss,” then you can revitalize the Battleship feel with Decrypto for group play or Codenames: Duet to keep it a 1v1. They’re brilliant deduction games that only excel and improve where Battleship remains simple.
Catan
Catan is an incredibly popular and persevering game of settling, trading, and building. The real competition here is for space, as players will strive to settle and build toward needed resources, although they will keep getting in each other’s way.
Unless Catan just isn’t for you, it’s hard to get tired of it. The nature of the game allows repeated plays to try out new strategies and ideas, although the dice and decks will keep tugging at your plans. If you haven’t played Catan and think that expanding a small settlement and trading with your foes sounds enticing, then you have to try this next.
If Catan has grown tiresome, thankfully, there are some expansions and many scenarios to make this game feel better and/or utterly different. There isn’t a great substitute for Catan that’s better than trying all of the expansions and keeping it current with modern improvements and ideas.
Now that you know about these classic board games and their substitutes for the jaded, you can bring new life into these old games.
Published: Sep 21, 2024 09:57 am