The 50 most popular🌟 board games on BoardGameGeek 2025

Mandala is an intriguing two-player game that combines strategy and contemplation. Players compete to collect valuable cards by building mandalas, but the true value of these cards only becomes clear as the game progresses. It's a delicate balance of strategy and adaptation, set against the backdrop of a symbolic ritual.

Hanabi, named after the Japanese word for "fireworks," invites players to collaboratively create the perfect fireworks display. In this cooperative game, the goal is to arrange cards on the table in the correct order to achieve a stunning pyrotechnic spectacle. However, there's a catch - players must hold their cards so that they are visible only to their teammates. To succeed, you'll need to provide hints to your fellow players about the numbers and colors of their cards, working together to avoid mistakes and complete the fireworks show before running out of cards.

Qwinto offers a refreshing twist on the roll-and-write genre, engaging players in a simultaneous play experience where quick thinking and strategic number placement are key to victory. In this game, players race to fill out their scoresheets with ascending numbers in three colorful rows, while navigating the constraints of overlapping columns and avoiding duplicates to maximize their scores.

"Face to Face" offers similar gameplay to its predecessor, where players must place their hand cards in ascending and descending stacks. Now, it’s a two-player competition where each player races to discard their cards first. Though aiming for individual victory, players inevitably have to assist their opponent along the way.

Istanbul is a strategic board game set in the bustling environment of Istanbul's grand bazaar, where players compete as merchants trying to outmaneuver their rivals to collect precious rubies.

Paleo is a cooperative adventure game set in the Stone Age, where players work together to ensure the survival of their human characters while completing various missions. The ultimate goal? To paint a woolly mammoth on a wall, leaving a mark of your existence (or just because it looks cool).

Become the mayor of your own mini-metropolis! Buy buildings to attract residents, increase their happiness, and earn income while balancing growth and citizen satisfaction for your final score. The game offers two modes: a family version and an expert version that features more interaction and strategy.

Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure immerses players in the captivating world of puzzle-solving and adventure, akin to the thrilling experience of an escape room. This installment, part of the acclaimed Exit series, introduces players to the mysteries of a sunken treasure, offering a gateway to the series with a beginner-level difficulty.

Living Forest is a captivating board game where players become nature spirits, striving to protect a sacred forest and its tree from the destructive flames of Onibi. With the help of animal guardians, players work to save the forest through a combination of strategy, luck, and cooperation.

Players create subway networks by filling in station fields on their individual game boards. Using the numbers revealed on the cards, they mark their subway plans while making tough decisions about the limited number of stations they can add to each line. Points can be amassed by completing stations with many crossing lines, and bonuses are awarded for being the first to finish routes. The game ends when all indicator fields are filled, and the player with the highest score wins.

Indian tribes gather at Pow Wows with their decorative feathers to talk, celebrate, and dance. Players draw a random feather card and attach it to their forehead without seeing its value. Bidding, bluffing, and guessing ensue, leading to challenges that can eliminate players who accumulate three loss tokens. The last player standing is the cleverest in the Pow Wow. This is a revised edition of a previous game with some differences.

Players compete to solve the same puzzle faster than their opponent using identical game pieces. Each player has 21 puzzle pieces and a stack of puzzle sheets, with a 20-sided die determining which pieces to use in each round. The first player to win five Ubongo duels wins the game.

Scotland Yard is a classic board game of cat-and-mouse, where players engage in a thrilling chase across London. The game involves strategy, teamwork, and a bit of bluffing, making it an engaging experience for players of various ages.

Robot Turtles is a board game for children aged 3 to 8. While playing, children unknowingly learn the basics of programming. Each player, known as a "Turtle Master," uses a turtle and a corresponding deck of cards to navigate through a maze of walls to reach a jewel, while adults act as the computer executing their commands.

Yeti is a fast-paced family dice game featuring unique components and humorous illustrations. Players compete as adventurers and climbers searching for the legendary Yeti's footprints in the Himalayas to earn points. They must improve their equipment and seek the help of Sherpas, all while hoping for good weather to avoid disruption in their search.

Players must quickly come up with a word that contains a specific sequence of letters before a ticking time bomb explodes in their hands. The bomb functions as an electronic timer with adjustable time limits, and a player can only pass it to the next person after finding a valid word. Creative spelling is frowned upon, but the fate of the next player is at stake.

Part of the Ravensburger Labyrinth game series, players lay down square labyrinth cards featuring fantasy symbols like griffins, dragons, and keys. When a newly placed card connects identical symbols on other cards, players can take those cards, with a limit of holding only two at a time while drawing after laying down a card. The game ends when the draw pile is exhausted, and the player with the most collected cards wins.

Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! In this worker placement strategy game, players must use their knowledge and magic to learn lessons and overcome challenges. They can send iconic characters like Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, and Draco Malfoy onto the board to improve their skills. The player who collects the most points for their house will be declared the House Cup Champion!

Players discover a wondrous labyrinth hidden in the castle garden. High walls seem to separate it from the outside world. When they enter, the old iron gate slams shut, trapping them inside. Only by working together can they solve the puzzles and escape the mysterious labyrinth. This game features elements that can be folded, written on, or torn, making it a one-time play experience.

Halma is a board game invented by American surgeon George Howard Monks in the 1880s. Players use pieces typically colored black and white for two-player games, or in various colors for four players. The game is designed for two or four participants and includes specific corner areas called "yards" for gameplay.

Bridge, a classic and strategic trick-taking card game, stands as a testament to the evolution of card games over centuries. Utilizing a standard deck, Bridge is played by four players in two partnerships, blending skill, strategy, and communication as teams vie to outmaneuver each other through both the bidding (auction) phase and the play of the hand.

Collect balloons, gifts, candles, and mountains of sweets at the birthday party. Players roll dice and select their desired items while others take what's left over. Each color coded area on their scoring sheets has different rules for checking off items, and completing sections will earn them rainbow stars. The game ends once a player marks all items in an area, and the player with the most stars wins.

The House on the Hill immerses players in a chilling adventure where they explore an abandoned, cursed house. Part of the Unlock! series, this game combines card-based gameplay with a digital app, creating an engaging escape room experience at your table.

Schwarzer Peter is a traditional children's game played with a deck of cards. Players discard all but one queen and then deal the remaining cards. During the game, players take turns drawing cards from others, aiming to form pairs; the player holding the last queen, known as the "Old Maid," loses, while everyone else wins. The game's humor often comes from the reactions of players, especially children, when the Old Maid is drawn from their hand.

Cockroach Salad is a fast-paced card game where players work together to create a salad but not always truthfully. With 128 cards representing different vegetables and the dreaded "taboo" vegetables with cockroaches, the aim is to deceive your way to victory. The game becomes a test of quick thinking and deception as you navigate through the rules of when to tell the truth and when to lie about the vegetables you're adding to the salad.

Unlock! The Formula immerses players in a thrilling escape room experience, tasking them with a high-stakes mission to recover a lost truth serum from a chemist, Dr. Hoffman, deep within the New York subway's hidden laboratory. This cooperative card game challenges players to solve puzzles, combine objects, and crack codes, all with the help of a companion app that enhances the gameplay with clues, time tracking, and more.

Unlock! Mystery Adventures – The Nautilus' Traps takes you on an underwater adventure filled with danger and discovery. After a sea monster attack leaves your submarine stranded at the bottom of the ocean, you and your team must navigate through treacherous waters to find your way back to the surface before your oxygen depletes.

It's race day in Quedlinburg, and with the right mix of food and luck, you ride your mount to victory and win the golden cauldron. Players build their own bag of tiles throughout the game, drawing them to advance on the race track. They will collect resources, gain bonuses, and strategize until someone crosses the finish line first.

Palm Island is a uniquely portable and versatile card game that can be played in almost any setting, with no table required. It's designed to be accessible and engaging whether you are sitting, standing, or on the move. The game's innovative mechanics allow players to use just 17 cards to manage resources, upgrade buildings, and shape their island through 8 rounds of play.

What lies behind the mysterious gate in the cave? Driven by curiosity and an uneasy feeling, players approach a dark portal and suddenly are pulled inside. Upon regaining consciousness, they find themselves in a dark, unfamiliar environment and must figure out how to return to their familiar world.

Players investigate in a series of mystery games with simplified rules, focusing on character psychology akin to Agatha Christie's novels. In the first installment, the brilliant and fearless Claire Harper embarks on adventures across various intriguing settings, from grand manors to shady theaters, and travels from Scotland to Egypt while solving puzzles that challenge her deductive skills and determination.

Players compete to collect as many points as possible in various colors and symbols while ensuring they score in every category to perform well. The game begins with all 126 tiles shuffled face down, and three tiles are revealed to form a shared pool. On their turn, players flip a tile; if it matches one in the pool, they can either collect tiles or take another turn. The first player to collect seven tiles of each color (five for four players) wins, but any excess tiles of a color beyond that must be returned to the supply. Players can also strategically take tiles from the supply to complete their collections while keeping an eye on their opponents' needs.

Fort is a playful and strategic card game for 2-4 players where you step into the shoes of a kid building their personal fort and growing their circle of friends.

In the immortal words of Stan Lee, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility." Enter the thrilling world of Marvel Champions: The Card Game, where Iron Man and Black Panther unite to thwart Rhino's rampage through New York, and Captain Marvel teams up with Spider-Man to face the looming threat of Ultron and global annihilation. Do you possess the mettle to stand alongside these legendary heroes and emerge as a true champion?

Players fill their scorecards with dice collected each round. They take turns choosing dice from the center of the table, ensuring that the next die matches the previous ones. At the end of a round, they mark all boxes on their filled scorecard, but competition for the needed dice adds a challenging twist.

Explore locations, combine items, and experience stories in this series of cooperative games from the German publisher KOSMOS. Players unravel a mysterious narrative through collaboration, investigating shared areas, interacting with characters, and searching for clues. Unlike the EXIT: The Game series, the focus here is on storytelling without time pressure, allowing for multiple pathways and resolutions to each story. Each title consists of three chapters, lasting about 75 minutes each, and can be replayed without any destruction of game materials. In this installment, immerse yourself in Crime Noir as you investigate, find clues, and engage with the characters you encounter.

Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 transports you to 1962, at the height of the Cold War, where a mysterious Soviet bioweapon called "Project MEDUSA" threatens global safety. As newly recruited CIA agents and medical graduates, you and your team are tasked with a critical mission: investigate and halt the development of this deadly pathogen. This game stands alone as a thrilling prequel to the earlier seasons of Pandemic Legacy, immersing players in a tense world of espionage and covert operations.

Choose a cactus card and decide which side to touch. When you flip it, you might receive a beautiful bouquet or a prickly sting on your finger!

Rhino Hero is a dexterity-based card game that combines elements of building and strategy. Players take turns constructing a skyscraper with walls and roof cards, while moving a heroic rhino figurine up the building.

In Descent: Legends of the Dark, players dive deep into the troubled realm of Terrinoth, facing off against demonic barbarians, undead servants, and other dark forces threatening the land. This co-operative dungeon-crawling board game, enriched by an integrated free companion app, invites players to embark on the "Blood and Flame" campaign, spanning sixteen quests that weave a rich narrative full of danger and discovery. With its innovative use of 3D terrain and a host of hero and monster miniatures, the game promises an immersive adventure as players build their legends through strategic combat, exploration, and skillful management of their characters' abilities.

Villa Paletti is an engaging and whimsical game designed for 2 to 4 players, aged 8 and up, that challenges budding architects to construct a towering structure. Set in a land of blooming lemons, players follow in the footsteps of the sage "Paletti" who sought to complete his grandfather's unfinished castle in the sky. The twist in Paletti's plan is to reuse old columns from the lower levels of the castle to build higher floors, creating a daring and precarious architectural marvel – the Villa Paletti.

Players take on the role of delegates from different countries at a climate conference, facing short negotiation rounds. They aim to meet reduction targets and secure funding while trying to protect their own national wealth and pursue hidden agendas. Ultimately, the player who best preserves their wealth may win, unless the planet suffers too much damage, which would lead to the conference's failure.

Players take on the role of investigators trying to solve a crime in this fully cooperative board game for 1-5 players. The game features three standalone cases, each designed to be completed in about 90 minutes, with settings and styles that challenge players in unique ways. From uncovering family secrets in a British mansion to navigating gang tensions in an Italian neighborhood, each case offers an intriguing mystery to unravel.

Port Royal is a competitive card game that immerses players in the world of Caribbean trade during the era of pirates and merchant ships. It combines elements of risk-taking, resource management, and strategic planning.

Players embark on expeditions along six colored paths, aiming to start with the smallest possible dice rolls. They must decide whether to continue an expedition or begin a new one each round, while artifacts and acceleration fields help them progress quickly. Each player has a scoring sheet with columns for colored paths, artifacts, and dice, and points are earned based on the filled fields, with bonuses for being the first to fill certain boxes. The game concludes when all players are exhausted or all bridges are crossed, and the player with the highest score wins.

The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow is a captivating social deduction game that takes place in the mysterious village of Miller's Hollow, known for its werewolf curse. Players are secretly assigned roles and must use strategy, bluffing, and teamwork to uncover the werewolves or deceive others.

With HITSTER, the ultimate music card game, you can instantly throw a party! Listen to over 100 years of fantastic hits, arrange them chronologically on your music timeline, and relive unforgettable memories. The first player to collect 10 hits is crowned the HITSTER.

Players travel through an abstract version of Glasgow to gather resources, perform special actions, and construct buildings. By building factories, players can increase their goods production based on the positioning of other buildings. The game features a randomized arrangement of city figures, from which players collect resources and can acquire building plans to expand their creations. After constructing the sixteenth building, the game concludes, and players tally points to see who contributed the most to Glasgow's development.

Hallertau is set in the lush Hallertau region of Bavaria, Germany, around 1850, a pivotal time in its history as the largest hop-producing area in the world. Players take on the roles of village chiefs, striving to advance their village's prosperity and standing through agriculture and sheep breeding.

Warfare is an inevitable part of the Star Wars universe, featuring epic battles like the Rebel Alliance's defeat at Hoth and the elite forces battling troopers on Endor. Command your unique army in Star Wars: Legion, a miniatures game focused on thrilling infantry combat, complete with iconic characters such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Use this opportunity to assemble unpainted miniatures and create the Star Wars army you've always wanted to lead into battle, whether you fight for the overwhelming Galactic Empire or the ragtag Rebel Alliance.