The best board games from the 18th century🏛 2026

Mus is a Spanish card game that originated in the Basque Country. Played with a Spanish deck of 40 cards, players compete in various rounds to win specific combinations of cards, such as the highest or lowest. A unique aspect of Mus is its verbal nature, where much of the gameplay revolves around betting and calling rather than showing cards until the end of a round.

Hanafuda cards originated in Japan in the early 18th century, believed to be developed by the Edo Shogunate from Portuguese playing cards. A Hanafuda deck consists of forty-eight cards in twelve suits, each representing a month or individual flowers. The cards are compact, beautifully illustrated, and can be used for various games, with Koi-Koi being the most popular today.

Schnapsen is a trick-taking card game for two players, using a 20-card deck consisting of aces, tens, kings, queens, and jacks in four suits. Players receive five cards, with a trump suit revealed after each trick. The goal is to collect 66 trick points, with values assigned to each card. Depending on the margin of victory in a deal, players receive 1-3 game points, and reaching 7 points wins the game. There is also a more complex variant for three to four players called Bauernschnapsen.

"Shut the box" is known by many names and features numbered tiles or levers from one to nine. Players roll two dice and can flip levers based on the rolled values or combinations that match the sum of the dice. The game continues until a player can no longer use the total die value, with scores calculated from uncovered numbers, and a player automatically wins if they close the box.

Mercante in Fiera is a popular game in Italy, played with two decks of cards, each containing 55 cards, with unique illustrations on the front. The game proceeds in two phases: the first involves auctioning 1-4 cards, while the second features players revealing cards from the second deck and exchanging them to maximize their chances of winning. The player with the most tokens at the end wins.

A traditional German card game played with a Bavarian 32-card deck. It is similar to Skat but features simpler bidding and scoring rules. Players can form teams or a single player may opt for a solo play, which is worth more points against the other three players.

Solitaire or Patience is a family of solitaire card games using a standard deck of cards, primarily designed for one player, though some rules exist for two players, known as "Zankpatiencen" in German Patience books. There are also commercial versions that include two complete decks of cards, designed specifically for playing Patience, featuring extra-small cards for easy portability in a small box, along with instructions for various Solitaire games.

"Jeu Du Nain Jaune" is an appealing and unique traditional French card game that balances luck with genuine strategy. High-quality sets feature wooden trays with special scoring cards and a standard 52-card deck, along with poker chips. Cheaper versions are typically plastic and can be easily found in most French supermarkets for a few euros.

Jass is a point-trick game that uses a 36-card deck, featuring suits of clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds arranged with ranks including ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, and six. Unlike other trick-taking games, the ranks and values of cards vary when a trump suit is in play, and players can also play trump cards during a non-trump lead, except when they have no other options. Another unique aspect of Jass is the "Weis" feature, which is announced during the first trick and allows players to score points based on specific combinations of cards in their hand.

A traditional Hawaiian game, the board consists of rows and columns similar to a chessboard. Players alternate placing black and white pieces on the board.

Tablut, also known as the "Oldenburger Königsspiel," is a traditional Tafl game played on a 9×9 grid. One player controls the shields while the other commands the swords. The objective for the sword player is to capture the top shield, while the shield player must create a safe path for the top shield to escape from the board. Game pieces can move any number of spaces in a straight line and are captured when sandwiched between two opposing pieces.

Blackjack originated in French casinos around 1700, where it was known as "vingt-et-un" (21), and has been played in the U.S. since the 1800s. The game typically uses six or eight decks of standard playing cards shuffled together. Players must place a bet before being dealt two cards, and the dealer also receives two cards with one face up and one face down. A "Blackjack" occurs when a player’s first two cards are an Ace and a ten-point card, generally winning a payout of three to two unless the dealer also has a Blackjack, resulting in a tie.

Originally created as a treatise on Whist published around 1742, later editions included additional games. The 10th edition, released in 1750, featured chapters on Quadrille, Piquet, Chess, and Backgammon. At least 20 different versions have been published over the years, making it the best-selling series on games in history.

Roulette means "little wheel" in French and is one of the oldest casino games still in existence. Its modern version emerged around 1842 in France, where it was simplified to include only a single "0", contrasting with the American variant that added a "00". The game features a balanced wheel with alternating black and red numbers, allowing players to place various bets, each with different payout ratios.