The best board games from the 19th century🏛 2026

Crokinole is a traditional action and dexterity game that has been enjoyed for generations. Played on a circular wooden board, it combines skill, strategy, and a touch of luck.

Perudo, also known as Liar's Dice, Bluff, or Dudo, is a classic South American dice game that combines elements of luck, skill, and bluffing. It's a game where players attempt to outwit each other through bold claims and challenges.

Players slide 30 wooden discs along a 2-meter-long table in three rounds, aiming to get them through four arches numbered 1 to 4 at the other end. Scoring in both low and high point categories is crucial, as each set of four discs in the designated areas counts double. This skill game, known as Sjoelen, has its origins in the Netherlands and is popular there, with official championships held every two years.

Euchre is a trick-taking card game that uses trumps. While it accommodates two to seven players, it is best played with four players in partnerships. The game typically uses a 24-card deck, with players aiming to win three out of five tricks. A card is revealed to determine the trump suit, which players can accept or decline, leading to further bidding rounds to establish the trump. The player who sets the trump can choose to play alone or with a partner, with solo play increasing points and penalties.

American Carrom, attributed to Sunday school teacher Henry Haskell, is a variant of traditional Carrom. It features a larger board and pocket size, and players can use a striker the same size as the other pieces. The game can also be played with a cue and allows for various other board games due to its patterned design.

Players throw a spinning top onto the game board to score points based on which pins are knocked over. It's a classic action game that combines skill and strategy.

Hearts is a classic trick-taking card game played with a standard deck, beloved for generations and known for its simple yet strategic gameplay. The primary objective is to avoid collecting hearts, each worth one point, and the queen of spades, a pivotal card worth thirteen points. However, the game has a twist – players can attempt to "shoot the moon" by capturing all the hearts and the queen of spades. This daring move either adds 26 points to each opponent's score or reduces the player's own score by 26, depending on the variation played.

Briscola Chiamata is a five-player version of the classic card game Briscola. Each player receives eight cards and bids on how many points they believe they can achieve. The last player to make a bid wins the auction and declares the trump suit and a specific Briscola card, with a partner chosen based on that card. Players strategize to determine partnerships and mislead opponents throughout the game. The advanced version requires players to bid the rank of the trump card before moving on to bidding the total points needed to win.

Lotería is a traditional Mexican game that combines cards and Bingo, played for gambling, leisure, and educational purposes. Players draw cards and match the illustrations with Bingo-like grid cards, each displaying 16 of the 54 possible images. The cards are colorful and appealing, featuring Spanish captions that assist language learners, and the game helps teach reading, writing, history, and social values. The most famous version is the "Don Clemente Gallo," introduced in Mexico in 1887 and maintained by three generations.

A traditional Japanese card game for two players, it is played with beautiful Hanafuda cards. Players take turns playing cards and trying to match them based on the months depicted. The game includes various scoring patterns and special combinations, with the objective of reaching 50 points to win.

Mahjong, known as 麻將/麻将 (Májiàng) in Chinese, is a traditional game that utilizes illustrated tiles and shares similarities with rummy. While it's a popular gambling game, it's important to note that playing for real stakes is not a requirement to enjoy the game.

Rummy 500 is a popular family card game played with a standard 52-card deck. Players aim to get rid of all their cards by laying down sets of three or more cards in groups of the same value or in sequences of consecutive cards. Points are scored for cards laid down on the table, while remaining cards in hand count negatively; the game ends when one player lays down their last card.

Poker is a classic card game that combines strategy, skill, and a bit of luck. It's played with a standard 52-card deck, and sometimes Jokers are included as wild cards. The game's primary goal is to win the pot, which is the sum of all bets made during a hand.

A classic trick-taking card game where players bid on how many points they will score for the privilege of choosing trump. Pinochle is played with a modified standard deck consisting of 48 cards, omitting 2-8 cards, and featuring two copies of each remaining card. Players form melds before playing their hands, adding additional points to their score, and must follow specific rules for trumping and overtrumping during play.

A complex card game featuring variable partnerships and multiple solo game types. It is very popular in Germany and uses a basic mechanic where tricks are collected, with different cards scoring varying points. The gameplay rules differ across many regions in Germany, with variations in the use of nines, special points, and solo games.

Othello, also known as Reversi, is a classic abstract strategy board game that is simple to learn but offers deep strategic complexity. The game involves two players capturing each other's pieces by trapping them between their own. It's a dynamic game where the balance of power can shift quickly, with pieces frequently changing sides.

A pile of plastic or wooden items (axes, guns, brooms, crutches, etc.) is tipped onto the table. Players use metal hooks to pull an item from the stack without moving others. If successful, they keep the item and try again; if they disturb another item, their turn ends and the next player goes. The winner is the player with the most items when the stack is empty.

Players aim to toss weighted paper cones into holes of varying values on the bottom of the box. The game features three lithographed caps with a plug on the underside and involves launching the cones into the air by striking the opposite end while holding them between fingers. The box artwork beautifully illustrates two children playing the game.

A bagatelle board resembles a flat, lightweight board with pins and short raised edges to keep the ball in play. Players shoot the ball from a spring-loaded mechanism at the top, aiming for various scoring holes marked with different point values. Players typically have three or more balls and keep track of their scores, with the first to reach a preset point total declared the winner. Bagatelle sets can be made from wood, metal, or plastic and may feature thematic designs.

The siege game evolved from or alongside Fox and Geese and first appeared in Germany around 1803. Players defend a fortress with two pieces, while the attacker commands twenty-four pieces to capture all nine fortress points. The attacker can only move vertically or diagonally, while defenders can move in any direction and capture attackers by jumping over them.

Players ask each other for specific cards to form sets for points, with scores varying by the set achieved. When all sets are completed, the player with the highest score wins. This version is akin to Go Fish but without a draw pile, as cards are evenly distributed among players.

Skat is a traditional German card game for three players, played with a standard deck (excluding 2-6 cards). The game involves a complex bidding process to determine the solo player, who then chooses the type of game to be played in the second phase. Winning players score points based on the announced game type and modifiers, while losing players score double.

Bézique is a trick-taking card game where players score points for winning Aces and 10s, as well as for forming specific card combinations from their tricks and hands. Scoring combinations include four-of-a-kinds, a marriage (King and Queen of the same suit), a sequence (Ace through 10 of trumps), or a Bezique (Queen of Spades and Jack of Diamonds). The game uses a subset of the standard deck, featuring cards from 7 to Ace from two sets, excluding 2-6.

Players receive a plastic fishing rod with a small magnet at the end of the line. They sit around a cardboard aquarium filled with plastic fish, cardboard fish, and hidden pieces of trash. The goal is to catch the fish while avoiding the trash, with larger catches earning more points, and the treasure chest being worth the most. The player with the highest score from the fish caught wins.

It is the classic letter-guessing game featuring plastic sleeves. Players place letters in these sleeves, which show how close the opponent is to being hanged.

Klaverjassen is one of the most popular card games in the Netherlands, traditionally played in cafés and social clubs, as well as at home. It involves four players who form two partnerships and sit opposite each other, using a deck of 32 cards featuring A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, and 7. There are various regional variants named after cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht.

Players flick small smooth discs into a cup situated at the center of a target area. The objective is to land the discs in the cup for maximum points, while landing them in the target zone earns fewer points. Players can decide to play a set number of rounds or until someone reaches a target score.

Préférence, also known as Preferenzen, is a standard deck card game played in Central Europe and Russia with a 32-card "Bavarian" deck, similar to that used in Schafkopf. The game is typically played by three players, but a fourth can join by skipping the dealer for each hand. Players bid on a trump suit or a specific game type to achieve their objectives, scoring points based on tricks won and the outcomes of their bids.

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.

Four-player chess, often attributed to Captain Charles Verney who documented it in England in 1881, involves an expanded board and four complete sets of chess pieces in different colors. In Verney's version, players formed partnerships to try and checkmate both opponents simultaneously, while modern variants allow for various playing styles, including free-for-all and temporary alliances.