Best board games 2026: top picks for adults and families

The best board games pull you away from the alluring glow of your smart devices and bring you together to create fun, lasting memories.

To help you find the best board game to buy this year, we enlisted a small army of novices and avid board game experts – who collectively own more than 300 games.

We rounded up the most popular games, from Azul to Dobble. After many hours of playing (and a bit of arguing over who won) we can reveal the best family board games, best board games for adults, two-player games and card games.

The board games we tested

Discover the hot new board games and the most popular classic games if you're in the mood for an oldy but goody. 

Jump to:

• Best family board games
• Best board games for adults
• Best two-player board games
• Top five classic board games
• Best card games

Get your game nights started with our pick of the best wireless or Bluetooth speakers and best salt and vinegar crisps

Best family board games

Jump to:

• The Traitors
• Wavelength
• The 1% Club
• Mycelia
• Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza
• Herd Mentality

Best for team deduction: The Traitors

Type of game Social deduction game

Need to know 4-6 players; age 12+; approximately 60 minutes to play; The Traitors rules

How to play Think of the TV show – just without the castle, cloaks or Claudia. You secretly become Faithfuls or Traitors, working together to build a communal prize pot while trying to spot (or hide) the traitorous sabotage.

Each round you: 

• Complete a mission to earn gold
• Vote to banish whoever you suspect
• Compete for a reward in the Armoury
• Try to survive the Traitor 'murders'.

After four rounds, there’s a final banishment.

The top two gold-holders face off in a bluffing endgame, secretly choosing Faithful or Traitor to decide who walks away with the prize pot.

What we like Fresh off the show’s success, our testers were keen to see how the board game compared. The verdict was mixed. 

It’s light-hearted and fun. Missions such as the scavenger hunt kept everyone involved, and the banishments sparked lively debate. But a few flaws stop it from matching the show’s drama.

Joel Bates, Which? Principle Researcher, says: ‘The game can feel slow without someone taking on the Claudia Winkleman role to drive the action. And because "murdered" players only lose gold rather than being eliminated, there’s not much real jeopardy.'

‘Some of the parts, like the spinner in the middle of the board, feel flimsy and low-quality. Still, it's an enjoyable party game for a relaxed evening if you’re not looking for anything too strategic.’

Best for friendly chaos: Wavelength

Type of game Mind-reading party game

Need to know 2-12 players; age 14+; approximately 45 minutes to play; Wavelength rules

How to play Players split into two teams. Each turn, one player is the Psychic, who draws a category card and secretly sets the dial along a hidden spectrum. 

All the categories are conversation-starters, such as believable/unbelievable or legal/illegal.

The Psychic gives a single-word or short-phrase clue to help their team guess the dial’s position. The closer the guess, the more points scored (up to four per round).

Teams alternate turns over several rounds. The first team to reach 10 points wins.

What we like Wavelength is the ultimate bonding board game. A favourite with our testers, they loved how it sparked discussion. 

Everyone agreed that the joy of winning felt secondary to the hilarious debates and unexpected conversations that happen while you play. 

Trying to get inside the mind of the Psychic creates a delightful mix of friendly chaos. The wide range of topics also makes it highly replayable. 

The only gripe was that half the wheel doesn't have score markers, so occasionally you'd have to spin again if it landed on a blank section. 

But if you're looking for a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that gets everyone talking, Wavelength's your winner.

Best for outsmarting the room: The 1% Club

Type of game Logic quiz game

Need to know 3-6 players; age 8+; approximately 45 minutes to play

How to play Like the quiz show, The 1% Club challenges players with a ladder of logic questions, starting with one 90% of the public can answer and climbing toward the fiendish 1% brain teaser.

All questions are multiple choice and puzzle based, not obscure trivia. But beware: one wrong answer and you’re out. Play continues until one player remains, who then tackles the ultimate 1% question.

Crack it and you win the £100,000 grand prize (game money only, sadly).

What we like It’s missing Lee Mack’s quips and a real jackpot, but the show’s concept translates smoothly into a board game. 

The questions are varied, clever, and occasionally humbling, and with 400 questions included, the box packs plenty of replayability. There’s real satisfaction – plus some relief – when you answer a question only 5% of the public managed. 

Like the show, there’s a high-stakes elimination process. Our testers felt this was a drawback, as one wrong move and you’re left sitting out for a long time, especially when playing in larger groups. 

If you want a simple quiz game that gives the whole family a fun brain workout, this one fits the bill. 

Best for relaxed gamers: Mycelia

Type of game Mushroom deck building game

Need to know 1-4 players; age 9+; approximately 60 minutes to play; Mycelia rules 

How to play Each player gets a double‑sided forest board and places 20 dewdrop tokens according to the chosen setup pattern. 

Players start with the same small deck of basic cards. On your turn, play three cards to move or remove dewdrops and collect leaves, which can be spent to buy stronger cards from the shared marketplace. You can also use basic actions to shift or clear dewdrops.

After each turn, you draw new cards and refill the marketplace, with occasional shrine events redistributing dewdrops. 

The game ends when a player clears all dewdrops from their board.

What we like Mycelia is a calm, family-friendly game with stunning visuals. Each card features a different mushroom species, beautifully designed to reflect its powers.

Testers loved that there are multiple ways to clear your dewdrops, whether by buying better cards, rearranging your deck, or using action cards. This keeps each game feeling fresh, and the included expansion pack adds even more ways to play. 

It’s perfect for a quiet game night: you can only help other players and there’s no sabotage. 

Some testers found it slow to start while learning the rules, and limited player interaction can make it feel a bit solitary.

But fans of strategic deck-building will find plenty to enjoy.

Best for the whole family: Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza

Type of game Snap-like card game

Need to know 2-8 players; age 8+; approximately 10 minutes to play; Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza rules

How to play Players flip cards while saying ‘Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.’ When the card matches the word, you slam the pile. Last to slam collects the pile. First out of cards wins. 

Watch out for special cards that have everyone performing actions before snapping.

What we like The artwork is cute and, as well as the titular items, there are gorilla, groundhog and narwhal cards in the mix.

If these extra animal cards are turned, you have to perform a special action (such as clapping your hands over your head for the narwhal) before slamming your hand on the pile of cards.

As one of our testers put it: 'Simple, fun and zany, without being too silly. A great game for all ages.'

Best for breaking the ice: Herd Mentality

Type of game Odd-one-out party game

Need to know 4+ players; age 10+; approximately 20 minutes to play; Herd Mentality rules

How to play In this game you score by matching the group’s answer. A question is read, everyone writes an answer, then reveals. 

Those who choose the most common answer earn a point; first to eight wins. 

But if your answer is unique, you get the pink cow – holding it means you can’t win until someone else ends up with it.

What we like Many games reward standing out, but this one’s all about thinking like everyone else.

The colourful components and simple rules make it easy to pick up, and with 300+ questions you’re unlikely to repeat any.

One board-game enthusiast told us: ‘It’s a great way to get people comfortable, whether at a party with strangers or with family at Christmas. You’ll bond over shared favourites and laugh when Dad has to explain why being abducted by pirates is better than aliens. Yes, that’s a real card.’

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Best board games for adults

Jump to:

• Heat: Pedal to the Metal
• Quacks
• Carcassonne
• Ticket to Ride
• Pandemic
• Settlers of Catan

Best for fierce competition: Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Type of game Racing and card play

Need to know 1-6 players; age 10+; approximately 30-60 minutes to play; Heat: Pedal to the Metal rules

How to play Each player has an identical deck of numbered cards and has seven each turn to choose from. You choose which cards to play and your car will move as many spaces as the numbers on the cards. The snag is that the number of cards you play is limited by the gear your car is in.

You can shift gears on the playmat representing your car’s cabin each turn. Higher gears mean you must play more cards, which is fine on a long straight, but as you approach a corner and need to slow down, if your car is in too high a gear and you exceed the speed of the corner, you’ll spin out.

It’s not easy to make the most of your hand and there are stress cards peppered through everyone’s decks. You’ll have to play these and when you do, you’ll add a random amount of speed, which could really scupper your corner.

What we like The board game hobby isn’t short of race games, but few capture the thrill of tearing around a track in a lightning-fast car better than Heat. The clever gear and card system ably simulates the feeling of opening up the throttle as you play a big hand of cards that sees your car careen down a long straight. 

It’s a game where you need to take risks to get the win. Do you chance staying in a higher gear to reach the corner quicker, even though there’s a possibility you could draw a card that pushes you off the track? Or do you play it safe, downshift and take a cautious approach that might see you slipstream around your nearest rival anyway?

Heat is full of these exciting decisions, but turns are quick, and it works with all player counts. A simple automa can control the other cars in the race, so even if you’re playing alone or as a duo, you get the full Heat experience.

It’s amazing value, too. You get four tracks and extra modules to up the complexity when you’re ready, such as weather conditions, variable corners and championship mode. 

Best for family thrills and agonising decisions: Quacks

Type of game Bag builder, push your luck

Need to know 2-4 players; age 10+; approximately 45-80 minutes to play; Quacks rules 

How to play You’re a potion brewer with a bag of ingredients, a cauldron and thirst for points. Each turn, players draw identically shaped ingredients blindly from their bag and place them in their cauldron. The cauldron is full of spaces spiralling out from the centre and the further you get along this track, the more points your brew will be worth and the more money you’ll have for new ingredients at the end of the turn. 

The number on the ingredient tells you how many steps along this track you can place it, which makes some things you draw from your bag more valuable than others.

Sounds simple enough, but be careful: it could all blow up in your face. Among the safe ingredients are cherry bombs and if you end up with too many of those in your cauldron, the potion’s ruined. Quacks cleverly tempers this frustration by asking you to choose between points or cash to buy ingredients if you potion ends up in the bin, while successful brewers get both.

Between rounds you can buy ingredients for your bag that give you special abilities when you draw them. You’ll get more cherry bombs as the rounds go on, too, to make sure the jeopardy is maintained.

The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

What we like If you’re looking for tension, you'll like Quacks. It used to be called Quacks of Quedlinburg, but the abbreviated name and fresh lick of paint hasn’t changed the rules, and this is still an excellent choice if you want to make sure players feel challenged, excited but not overwhelmed.

Since all players are playing simultaneously, the game is quick but always engaging. You’ll hear groans and cheers from across the table as people are either delighted by their latest ingredient pull – or lamenting their luck as a third cherry bomb appears in their trembling hand.

As the game progresses and your bag is stuffed with even better ingredients, the temptation to keep pushing your luck to get the best score possible is agonising. Quacks is a game of calculated risks (and not so calculated ones) that will have everyone at the table laughing and cursing.

Best for new gamers: Carcassonne

Type of game Strategy tile-placement game

Need to know 2-5 players; age 7+; approximately 45 minutes to play; Carcassonne rules

How to play Draw a square tile and place it so its fields, roads, chapels, or castles connect to the existing layout. 

You can then place wooden figures (called meeples) on the tile to claim that feature. 

Completed roads, chapels and castles score points, with bigger areas earning more.

What we like Carcassonne is the perfect way to get a board game naysayer changing their tune. It's easy to pick up the rules but there's enough brainwork needed to make it compelling. 

Our board games experts said: 'Each turn presents a tricky decision to the player about where to place a tile and whether the time is right to put down a meeple to score some points.'

If you like it, there are dozens of expansions to explore when you’re ready. 

Expansions (for those new to board games) are extra sets you can buy that come with new components and rules you can bolt onto the base game to add complexity. 

Best for rule-reading refusers: Ticket to Ride

Type of game Railway route-building game

Need to know 2-5 players; age 8+; approximately 60-120 minutes to play; Ticket to Ride rules

How to play Collect coloured train cards to claim routes across the USA (or other maps). 

You score for each route you build and earn bonuses for completing destination cards that link specific cities. The highest score wins. 

Variants add twists: Europe includes ferries and tunnels, while Ticket to Ride London offers a quicker, bus-route version.

What we like Ticket to Ride makes it easy to introduce new players to the game with a ‘learn by doing’ approach. There’s no need to pore over every word of the rules before you start.

Our board game experts loved it, telling us, 'Completing routes gives a strong, even smug, sense of satisfaction, and there’s a nice bit of strategy – you’re essentially balancing the temptation to complete the routes you want with trying to block other players so they don't complete theirs.

'However, it doesn't push players to be too competitive with each other, so there shouldn’t be too many arguments breaking out over Christmas.'

Best for teamwork: Pandemic

Type of game Co-operative strategy game

Need to know 2-4 players; age 8+; approximately 60 minutes to play; Pandemic rules

How to play Players take on roles with special abilities and cooperate to stop four diseases. 

Each turn you take four actions, then draw cards and reveal new infections. 

Collect five same-colour cards and reach a research station to discover a cure.

What we like The production quality of the game is fantastic, with lots of components that you interact with throughout the game, making it nice and tactile to play.

It’s truly co-operative: whether you’re a seasoned gamer or it’s your first time, everyone has a role to play in beating the game, so no one ever feels left out.

Our expert board gamers loved the brain-teaser nature of the game: 'Every turn feels like a mini-puzzle, with everyone working together to solve it.

'If you work out how to prevent an outbreak, while also getting to the city your friend is in to give them the card they need to cure a disease, and do it all in one turn, you really do feel a wave of pleasure come over you.

'The mechanisms work extremely well, with outbreaks occurring randomly every game, usually just when you think everything’s under control. It's a challenge to beat the game, but it's hugely satisfying when you do.'

Best for friendly wheeling and dealing: Settlers of Catan

Type of game Route-building and trading game

Need to know 3-4 players; age 10+; approximately 60-90 minutes to play; Settlers of Catan rules

How to play You start by creating the map with a variety of terrain, hills, forest, mountains, fields, pasture and desert.

Next, you take your starting settlements, cities and roads, placing two roads and settlements each.

Each turn you roll for resources, trade or build. Expanding your network earns victory points, and the first to reach 10 wins. 

What we like Some people instinctively shrink from strategy games, as they think they’re going to be too challenging and time consuming. But Settlers of Catan could persuade them otherwise.

Chris Brookes, Which? Senior Researcher, says: 'It’s a game that encourages cooperation through making trades with other players as you build roads and cities. However, you don’t want to give too much away or others can beat you to those all-important victory points.

'If you develop your skill enough with the classic game, there are plenty of expansions and variants to buy and keep you interested.'

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Best two-player board games

Jump to:

• Azul
• Sky Team
• Jaipur
• 7 Wonders Duel

Best for crafty strategists: Azul

Type of game Abstract strategy tile-placement game

Need to know 2-4 players; age 8+; approximately 45 minutes to play; Azul rules 

How to play Each player gets a board (start with the standard side). On your turn, grab all tiles of one colour from a factory display or the centre and place them in a row on your board’s pattern lines – one colour per row, only if it fits. Extra tiles that don’t fit go to your floor line as penalties.

When a row fills up, move its tiles to the matching spots on your mosaic wall and score points for all connected tiles.

A round ends when all tiles are taken. The game ends when someone completes a horizontal row. Add bonus points for finished rows, columns, and sets of all five colours. The highest score wins. 

What we like Azul impressed us with both its looks and its gameplay. The colourful tiles and growing mosaics make the table more attractive with every turn. Even if someone else is ahead, it’s still satisfying to admire their progress.

Hardeep Channa, Which? Researcher, says: ‘I enjoyed how deeply strategic it is. Every choice matters. You’re constantly weighing up improving your own board against blocking others, while making sure you don’t pick up tiles that cost you points.'

He also praised its replayability: ‘With so many ways to win (and lose), no two games feel the same. The more familiar you get with the game, the sharper your strategy becomes.’

Best for quick, strategic management: Sky Team

Type of game Co-operative game

Need to know 2 players; 12+; approximately 20 minutes to play; Sky Team rules

How to play In this dice-placement game, two players try to land a plane safely. 

Each round begins with strategy discussion, after which you roll your dice in secret and must place them without speaking.

You’ll use dice to manage the plane’s axis, control speed, clear traffic, deploy flaps, landing gear, and brakes.

By the end of the final round, you must be aligned with the runway, have no planes in your path, have all required systems deployed, and have reduced your speed enough to complete a safe landing.

What we like Simple to learn, a lifetime to master. A game of Sky Team runs in a tight 20 minutes, has tonnes of replay value and does a brilliant job of giving you a psychological taste of what (we think) landing a plane must be like.

With a seven-round limit and only four actions you can take per round, you have a strict limit on the actions you can take before everything has to be managed and in order for the landing in round seven.

While the dice rolls may make you think the games are purely luck, there are multiple tasks that need completing that require low numbers and high numbers. And you have the ability to modify the number with coffee. While you can get a ‘bad roll’ it never feels like you’re out of options.

There are 21 different scenarios that add in new gameplay elements, such as limited fuel or having to train up an intern while landing (trust us, you’ll loath this intern by the end of the game). Plus there is an expansion pack: turbulence that can add 20 more scenarios and mechanics. We’d be hard-pressed to find another two-player game that offers so much replay value.

Sky Team is quick to set up and play, but is highly replayable due to different airports and modules, which scale smoothly in difficulty. It would be perfect for couples wanting an engaging game to play together.

Best for light strategy: Jaipur

Type of game Buying and selling card game

Need to know 2 players; age 12+; approximately 30 minutes to play; Jaipur rules 

How to play Played in rounds, you take goods from the market and sell them for points.

The player with the most points wins the round. The overall winner is the first to win two rounds. 

Score more points for selling multiples of the same goods, but watch out: repeated sales of the same type score less over time.

What we like The game looks beautiful, with high-quality parts – apt for a game about selling expensive goods from a market.

It plays quickly, and although you simply collect and sell cards for points, different ways to buy and sell add a nice flavour of strategy. 

One of our testers summed it up nicely, saying: 'The first round felt like there was a lot to learn, but once you've done that first round the game's incredibly moreish, and it feels like there are lots of ways to win, which kept me really engaged.' 

Best for weighty decision-making: 7 Wonders Duel

Type of game Strategy tableau builder 

Need to know 2 players; age 10+; approximately 30 minutes to play; 7 Wonders Duel rules  

How to play Over three ages, you take cards that provide resources, military power, or scientific development to develop your civilisation. Cards get stronger each age.

You win through military supremacy, scientific victory or by having the most points at the end.

What we like 7 Wonders Duel is a perfect way to take your gaming up a notch. 

It’s quick to play, and the pyramid of beautifully illustrated cards looks fantastic on the table.

You’ll use those cards to build monuments, advance science and wage war, but the real brilliance is in how you gain them. Only the bottom row is available at first, but, as you take cards, those above are flipped up and revealed.

This steady revealing means you might expose a card your opponent can grab before you, creating exciting tactical choices: take the card you want, or block the one they need?

Treat yourself and your guests to a glass of the best prosecco and sparkling wines, best red wines and best Champagne

Top five classic board games

What is the most used and loved board game? Answer: the one where the board has started to scuff at the corners, and cards are lovingly bent and faded. 

We dug into the bestselling board game charts from: Amazon, Argos, Smyths, The Works and Zatu Games and crunched the numbers to come up with this overall list of the bestselling classic games you might want to add to your board game cupboard this year.

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Best card games

Jump to:

• Dobble
• Sushi Go Party!
• Monopoly Deal
• The Mind

 Best for testing your reflexes: Dobble

Type of game Speed and observation card game

Need to know 2-8 players; age 6+; approximately 15 minutes to play; Dobble rules

How to play You can play five different games with the Dobble cards, but they all share the same goal: spot the matching symbol between cards and call it out first. 

It’s trickier than it sounds. You need sharp eyes and quick reflexes. Each card contains 8 colourful symbols, from a mix of 50 symbols – everything from cheese to dinosaurs, cacti to snowmen.

What we like Dobble’s charm is in its simplicity. It’s easy for all ages to pick up, and after a few rounds, everyone gets faster and sharper at spotting matches.

The games are high-energy and competitive in a fun way, and the rounds are so quick there’s no time to sulk if you come last – you’re already playing again.

One tester noted it’s perfect for travel, as the compact tin fits in a bag and you don’t need much space to play.

Its simplicity means it’s not a game for an entire evening, but it’s perfect for a fun, energetic half-hour burst.

Best for replay value: Sushi Go Party!

Type of game Card-collection game

Need to know 2-8 players; age 8+; approximately 30 minutes to play; Sushi Go Party! rules

How to play Over three rounds, players draft sushi cards to build the highest-scoring combinations. 

Each round, you choose a menu and deal cards. Pick one card from your hand, then pass the rest clockwise. Everyone sees which cards others keep. 

Score points by collecting strong combinations, and try to block opponents from completing theirs.

What we like This party game is another fun addition to our shortlist of the best card games.

One of our testers said: 'The cards are very cute, with funny drawings. Scoring can be a little complex, but you play three rounds and after the first round it’s easy to understand.'

The game comes with lots of different types of sushi, all with their own rules and ways of scoring, so there is tons of replay value in this metal box.

It's worth noting that, while some testers found the size of the game a bit daunting at first, after just one round most were eager to keep playing.  

Best for a fast twist on a classic: Monopoly Deal

Type of game Quick-playing card game

Need to know 2-5 players; age 8+; approximately 15 minutes to play; Monopoly Deal rules

How to play You want to be the first player to collect three full property sets of different colours.

You do this by drawing property cards, putting money in your bank, and playing action cards to help yourself or hinder your opponents.

The game plays fast, so expect your family to want to play a few rounds.

What we like Everyone knows Monopoly, but not everyone wants to commit three or more hours to a board game.

That's why this card version is perfect for getting the flavour of Monopoly, without committing to playing it for hours.

Our testers really liked the speed of this game, and felt it was much more evenly matched than the classic game. They told us: 'There's good player interaction, and a few cards easily change the status quo, so it feels whoever is winning can change quite quickly.'

Best for a unique experience: The Mind

Type of game Co-operative mind-reading card game

Need to know 2-4 players; age 8+; approximately 15 minutes to play; The Mind rules

How to play You complete each level by playing numbered cards from lowest to highest. 

You can’t communicate and don’t know your opponents’ cards. Play cards when you feel yours is next. 

Higher levels increase the sequence length, requiring focus, cooperation and a bit of intuition.

What we like Most cooperative games have you talking to beat the game.

The Mind explicitly makes you zip those lips to try and tune into each other's wavelength.

It makes for a unique experience, one that some of our testers really loved. They told us: 'Some players are quite quick to play, while others you notice are quite cautious and you start to feel what that means they are about to play.

'It made us all want to try one more time to beat the game, which is a sign of a game that's simple and engaging.'

How we test board games

More than 30 volunteers of different ages and sexes took up our challenge to play, give their verdict on and vote for their favourites from the most popular board games.

Our testers included some self-confessed board game enthusiasts who own more than 300 board games between them. 

Everyone gave us expert insight, gleaned from hours of playing these games, to help you decide the right game to add (or start) your collection this year.

We regularly revisit the board games on sale to see if there are any more popular games that need testing and when we find them we do.

Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our impartiality and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.

Page last checked December 2025. We aren't able to show every retailer, and cheaper prices may be available. Top five classic board games analysis carried out October 2023: best-selling board games at retailers may change over time.