{{Short description|Tabletop social game}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} [[File:US Navy 110713-N-NT881-124 Personnel Specialist 2nd Class James Vail, left, and Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Nathaniel Eaton play board games with ch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The board game ''Monopoly'' is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages.<ref>{{cite web|date=20 February 2008|title=You can choose cities for new Monopoly game |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23238096|work=NBC News|access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref>]] [[File:Pelipäivä Iisalmen kaupunginkirjastossa.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Young girls playing Alias in a library at Iisalmi, Finland, 2016]]
A '''board game''' is a type of tabletop game<ref name="game-categories_woods_2024_p5">{{Cite book|last=Woods|first=Stewart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgmjCHxSxvoC&q=history+of+board+games&pg=PP1|title=Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games|date=16 August 2012|isbn=978-0-7864-9065-3|page=5|publisher=McFarland}} [https://ia801801.us.archive.org/5/items/woods-2012-eurogames-p-5/Woods%20%282012%29%20Eurogames%20-%20p5.pdf Alt URL]</ref><ref name="engelstein_2020"/> that involves small objects ({{boardgloss|pieces|game pieces}}) that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board,<ref name="definition_merrium-webster_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Merriam Webster (www.merriam-webster.com)|language=en|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/board%20game|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009142052/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/board%20game|archive-date=9 October 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="board-game_cambridge_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Cambridge (www.dictionary.cambridge.org)|language=en|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213204013/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/board-game|archive-date=13 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="definition_oxford-learner_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Oxford Learners Dictionary (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)|language=en|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808181909/http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/board-game|archive-date=8 August 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="definition_oed_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Oxford English Dictionary (www.oed.com)|language=en|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/board-game_n?tab=factsheet&tl=true#1410500690|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118074145/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/board-game_n?tab=factsheet&tl=true#1410500690|archive-date=18 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="definition_collins_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Collins Dictionary (www.collinsdictionary.com)|language=en|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103131400/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/board-game|archive-date=3 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="definition_dictionary-com_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board Game|website=Dictionary.com (www.dictionary.com)|language=en|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/board%20game|access-date=7 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250107093506/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/board%20game|archive-date=7 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="definition_britanica_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Britannica Dictionary|language=en|url=https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/board-game|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208030134/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/board-game|archive-date=8 December 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> potentially including other components, e.g. dice.<ref name="definition_oxford-learner_current(2025)"/> The earliest known uses of the term "board game" are between the 1840s and 1850s.<ref name="definition_oed_current(2025)"/><ref name="definition_merrium-webster_current(2025)"/><ref name="definition_dictionary-com_current(2025)"/><!--''Oxford English Dictionary'' states 1840s (1844 - translation by F. Metcalfe), while the Merriam-Webster Dictionaryy states 1850s (its own definition). ''Dictionary.com'' states 1930–1935; however, there is little indication of why it has estimated a date 100 years after the other dictionaries, and therefore, this source has not been relied upon.-->
While game boards are a necessary and sufficient condition of this genre, card games that do not use a standard deck of cards, as well as games that use neither cards nor a game board, are often colloquially included, with some referring to this genre generally as "table and board games" or simply "tabletop games".<ref name="game-categories_woods_2024_p5"/><ref name="engelstein_2020">{{Cite book|last=Engelstein|first=Geoffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpEIEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22tabletop+games%22+%22game+board%22&pg=PP10|title=Game Production: Prototyping and Producing Your Board Game|page=1|date=21 December 2020|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-000-29098-1|language=en}} [https://ia600707.us.archive.org/32/items/engelstein-2020-game-production-p-1/Engelstein_2021_game-production_p1.pdf Alt URL]</ref>
==Eras== {{Further|History of games}} [[File:Board Game Timeline.png|thumb|Timeline of board game history, based on the Wikipedia articles Board Game, Hasbro, Board Game Cafe, Tabletop Simulator, and Monopoly as of 24 November 2024]]
===Ancient era=== Board games have been played, traveled, and evolved in most cultures and societies throughout history.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Livingstone|first1=Ian|title=Board games in 100 moves|last2=Wallis|first2=James|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2019|isbn=978-0-241-36378-2|location=London|oclc=1078419452}}</ref> They have been discovered in several archaeological sites, and there are several contenders for the oldest game, depending on the exact requirements applied and the accuracy of dating.
Archaeological finds of game boards exist that date from as early as the Neolithic period, including, as of 2024, a total of 14 sites reporting 51 game boards, ranging from the early 7000s BC to the mid-6000s BC.<ref name="discoveies_rollefson_2024">{{cite journal |last=Rollefson |first=Gary |date=December 2024 |title=What are the odds? Neolithic "game boards" from the Levant |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014019632400137X |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |language=en |volume=225 |article-number=105257 |bibcode=2024JArEn.22505257R |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2024.105257 |access-date=18 April 2025 |number=105257}}</ref><ref name="finkel_20072">{{cite book |last=Finkel |first=Irving L. |url=https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~pbarfuss/On_the_Rules_for_the_Royal_Game_of_Ur.pdf |title=Ancient Board Games in Perspective {{!}} Papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions |publisher=British Museum Press |year=2007 |publication-place=London |page=16 |language=en |chapter=3. On the Rules for the Royal Game of Ur |access-date=17 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417000000/https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~pbarfuss/On_the_Rules_for_the_Royal_Game_of_Ur.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mancala_simpson_20072">{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=St John |url=https://www.academia.edu/3584121 |title=Ancient Board Games in perspective: Papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions |publisher=British Museum Press |year=2007 |editor=I.L. Finkel |publication-place=London |pages=5–10 |language=en |chapter=1. Homo Ludens: The Earliest Board Games in the Near East |access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="discoveries_rollefson_2012">{{cite journal |last=Rollefson |first=Gary |date=December 2012 |title=La Prehistoire des jeux |trans-title=The Prehistory of Games |url=https://www.faton.fr/dossiers-dhistoire/numero-33/art-jeu-jeu-l-art/prehistoire-jeux.32646.php#article_32646 |journal=Histoire Antique & Médiévale |language=fr |pages=18–21 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250808110043/https://www.faton.fr/dossiers-dhistoire/numero-33/art-jeu-jeu-l-art/prehistoire-jeux.32646.php#article_32646 |archive-date=2025-08-08 |access-date=18 April 2025 |number=33}}</ref>
Some of the oldest discovered gaming pieces have been discovered in southwest Turkey, including a set of elaborate sculptured stones in sets of four, speculated to be designed for a chess-like game, which were created during the Bronze Age around 3000 BC.<ref name="oldest-board-game_smithsonian-magazine_2021">{{Cite web|last=Solly|first=Meilan|title=The Best Board Games of the Ancient World|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/best-board-games-ancient-world-180974094|access-date=6 February 2020|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001091826/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/best-board-games-ancient-world-180974094|archive-date=1 October 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="oldest_discovery-news_2013">{{cite web|title=Oldest Gaming Tokens Found in Turkey|website=Discovery News (www.news.discovery.com)|date=14 August 2013|first=Rossella|last=Lorenzi|language=en|url=http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/oldest-gaming-tokens-found-130814.htm|access-date=13 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214203403/http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/oldest-gaming-tokens-found-130814.htm|archive-date=14 February 2014}}</ref>
Senet has been argued to be the oldest known board game in the world, with possible game board fragments ({{circa|3100 BC}})<ref name="senet_piccone_1980"/> and undisputed pictorial representations ({{circa|2686 BC}} – {{circa|2613 BC}})<ref name="Sebbane">{{cite journal |last=Sebbane |first=Michael |year=2001 |title=Board Games from Canaan in the early and intermediate Bronze Ages and the origin of the Egyptian Senet game |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=213–230 |doi=10.1179/tav.2001.2001.2.213 |s2cid=162219908}}</ref> having been found in ancient Egyptian Predynastic and First Dynasty burials dating as far back as 3500 BC.<ref name="oldest-games_oldest_current(2025)"/> However, while Senet was played for thousands of years, it fell out of fashion sometime after AD 400 during the Roman period;<ref name="Sebbane"/> the rules were never written down, therefore they are not decisively known.<ref name="oldest_how-stuff_works_current(2025)">{{cite web |last=Dove |first=Laurie L. |date=4 April 2012 |title=How Senet Works |url=https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/senet.htm#pt1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207171850/https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/senet.htm#pt1 |archive-date=7 February 2025 |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=How Stuff Works (www.entertainment.howstuffworks.com) |language=en}}</ref>
Similarly, Mehen, also from ancient Egypt, is one of the oldest games dated with reasonable confidence, at {{circa|3000 BC}} – {{circa|2300 BC}},<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crist |first=Walter |title=Ancient Egyptians at Play: Board Games Across Borders |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-2117-7 |location=London |pages=15–38 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name="ur_british-museum_20212">{{cite web |date=26 February 2021 |title=Top 10 historical board games |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/top-10-historical-board-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027133607/https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/top-10-historical-board-games |archive-date=27 October 2023 |access-date=3 January 2025 |website=British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org) |language=en}}</ref> with some estimating it dates back to {{circa|3500 BC}}.<ref name="oldest_good-games_current(2024)2">{{cite web |date=31 July 2023 |title=The Oldest Games in the World |url=https://www.goodgames.com.au/articles/the-oldest-board-games-in-the-world |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106224937/https://www.goodgames.com.au/articles/the-oldest-board-games-in-the-world |archive-date=6 January 2025 |access-date=7 January 2025 |website=Good Games (www.goodgames.com.au) |language=en}}</ref> The rules, scoring system, and game pieces, however, are also unknown or speculative.<ref name="oldest_good-games_current(2024)2"/><ref name="ur_british-museum_20212"/>
The Royal Game of Ur is estimated to have originated around 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia, with specimens found in royal tombs.<ref name="ur_british-museum_current(2020)">{{cite web|title=''game-board'': Museum number 120834|website=British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org)|language=en|pages=11–15|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1928-1009-378|access-date=15 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250415000000/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1928-1009-378|archive-date=15 April 2025|url-status=live}}[https://ia600704.us.archive.org/16/items/the-royal-game-of-ur-british-museum/The%20Royal%20Game%20of%20Ur%2C%20British%20Museum.pdf Alt URL]</ref><ref name="finkel_british-museum_2007">{{cite book|title=Ancient board games in perspective {{!}} Papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions|editor=I.L. Finkel|publisher=British Museum Press|publication-place=London|date=2007|first=Irving L.|last=Finkel|language=en|url=https://annas-archive.org/md5/189bf3233143e3aa74a521089bae39dc|access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="mancala_board-game-studies-lournal_2020_p127">{{Cite journal|last=Depaulis|first=Thierry|date=1 October 2020|title=Board Games Before Ur?|journal=Board Game Studies Journal|language=en|volume=14|issue=1|pages=127–144|doi=10.2478/bgs-2020-0007|issn=2183-3311|doi-access=free|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350710812|access-date=17 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417000000/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350710812_Board_Games_Before_Ur|archive-date=17 April 2025|url-status=live}}[https://ia601508.us.archive.org/14/items/depaulis-2020-board-games-before-ur/Depaulis%20%282020%29%20Board%20Games%20Before%20Ur.pdf Alt URL]</ref> It has been claimed to be the oldest playable board game in the world, with well-defined game rules discovered written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in {{Circa|177 BC}} – {{Circa|176 BC}}.<ref name="ur_british-museum_2021">{{cite web|title=Top 10 historical board games|website=British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org)|date=26 February 2021|language=en|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/top-10-historical-board-games|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027133607/https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/top-10-historical-board-games|archive-date=27 October 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="finkel_2007">{{cite book|title=Ancient Board Games in Perspective {{!}} Papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions|chapter=3. On the Rules for the Royal Game of Ur|page=16|year=2007|first=Irving L.|last=Finkel|language=en|publisher=British Museum Press|publication-place=London|url=https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~pbarfuss/On_the_Rules_for_the_Royal_Game_of_Ur.pdf|access-date=17 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417000000/https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~pbarfuss/On_the_Rules_for_the_Royal_Game_of_Ur.pdf|archive-date=17 April 2025|url-status=live}}[https://ia600704.us.archive.org/32/items/finkel-2007-on-the-rules-for-the-royal-game-of-ur-p-16/Finkel%20%282007%29%20On%20the%20rules%20for%20the%20Royal%20Game%20of%20Ur%20-%20p16.pdf Alt URL]</ref>
Another game similar to the Royal Game of Ur was discovered in 1977 by the Italian Archaeological Mission in grave no. 731, a pseudo-catacomb grave at Shahr-i Sokhta, a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site in Iran. This board game set, comprising 27 pieces and 4 different dice, dates to 2600 – 2400 BC. The set has been scientifically analyzed and a reconstruction has been proposed by researchers.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://osf.io/kctnj/download|title=Analysis of the Shahr-i Sokhta Board Game and Suggested Rules Based on the Royal Game of Ur|date=4 December 2024|website=SocArXiv.com|doi=10.31235/osf.io/kctnj |access-date=26 July 2025 |last1=Jelveh |first1=Sam |last2=Moradi |first2=Hossein |doi-access=free }}</ref> It has similarly been claimed to be the oldest complete and playable board game ever discovered.<ref name="Games of old">{{cite journal |last1=Hsu |first1=Jeremy |title=Games of old |journal=New Scientist |date=14 December 2024 |volume=264 |issue=3521 |pages=48–49 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(24)02191-2 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0262407924021912 |issn=0262-4079}}</ref>
An example of a game with highly uncertain age is mancala, which includes a broad family of board games with a core design of two rows of small circular divots or bowls carved into a surface. It has had numerous estimations of its generic age due to the many variants that have been discovered in different locations across Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia.<ref name="oldest_good-games_current(2024)">{{cite web|title=The Oldest Games in the World|website=Good Games (www.goodgames.com.au)|date=31 July 2023|language=en|url=https://www.goodgames.com.au/articles/the-oldest-board-games-in-the-world|access-date=7 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106224937/https://www.goodgames.com.au/articles/the-oldest-board-games-in-the-world|archive-date=6 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> These are dated across many different periods at different sites, from {{Circa|800 BC}} – {{Circa|200 BC}} (Roman Settlements); to {{Circa|2500 BC}} – {{Circa|1500 BC}} (Egypt); and even {{Circa|7000 BC}} – {{Circa|5000 BC}} (Jordan). The latter is based on divots carved out of limestone in a Neolithic dwelling dated to {{Circa|5870 BC}} ± 240 BC,<ref name="mancala_simpson_2007">{{cite book|title=Ancient Board Games in perspective: Papers from the 1990 British Museum colloquium, with additional contributions|publisher=British Museum Press|publication-place=London|editor=I.L. Finkel|year=2007|first=St John|last=Simpson|chapter=1. Homo Ludens: The Earliest Board Games in the Near East|pages=5–10|language=en|url=https://www.academia.edu/3584121|access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="oldest_good-games_current(2024)" /><ref name="mancala_south-african-art-mmuseum_2020">{{cite web|title=Mancala|url=https://www.savannahafricanartmuseum.org/2020-workshops/05-2#:~:text=There%20is%20archeological%20and%20historical,floor%20of%20a%20Neolithic%20dwelling|website=Savannah African Art Museum|access-date=10 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210045650/https://www.savannahafricanartmuseum.org/2020-workshops/05-2|archive-date=10 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> although this has been disputed.<ref name="mancala_board-game-studies-lournal_2020_pp.127-144">{{Cite journal|last=Depaulis|first=Thierry|date=1 October 2020|title=Board Games Before Ur?|journal=Board Game Studies Journal|language=en|volume=14|issue=1|pages=127–144|doi=10.2478/bgs-2020-0007|issn=2183-3311|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Furthermore, when considering Neolithic period game board discoveries, caution has been given against considering these finds as representing the definitively earliest human game playing, as the absence of evidence of such games in earlier periods does not equate to evidence that no games were played.<ref name="discoveries_rollefson_1992">{{cite journal|title=A Neolithic Game Board from Ain Ghazal, Jordan|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|date=May 1992|number=286|first=Gary O.|page=3|last=Rollefson|language=en|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1357113.pdf|access-date=18 April 2025|publisher=University of Chicago Press|doi=10.2307/1357113 |jstor=1357113 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419000000/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1357113.pdf|archive-date=19 April 2025|url-status=live}}[https://ia601504.us.archive.org/20/items/rollefson-1992-a-neolithic-game-board-from-ain-ghazal-jordan-p.-3/Rollefson%20%281992%29%20A%20Neolithic%20Game%20Board%20from%20%CA%BFAin%20Ghazal%2C%20Jordan%2C%20p.3.pdf Alt URL]</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Men Playing Board Games.jpg|'' Men Playing Board Games'', from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript File:-3000 Abydos Spiel der Schlange Mehen anagoria.JPG|Mehen game with game stones, from Abydos, Egypt, 3000 BC, Neues Museum File:Maler der Grabkammer der Nefertari 003.jpg|Painting in tomb of Egyptian queen Nefertari (1295 – 1255 BC) playing senet </gallery>
===Golden era===
The 1880s–1920s were a board game epoch known as the Golden Age, a term coined by American art historian Margaret Hofer,<ref name="golden-era_hofer_2003"/> where the popularity of board games was boosted through mass production, making them cheaper and more readily available.<ref name="Hofer">{{Cite book|last=Hofer|first=Margaret|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icYtGRUZrZUC|title=The Games we Played: The Golden Age of Board and Table Games|date=1 March 2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-56898-397-4|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|11}} The most popular of the board games sold during this period was ''Monopoly'' (1935), with 500 million games played as of 1999.<ref name="monopoly_guiness-world-records_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Most popular board game|website=Guinness World Records (www.guinnessworldrecords.com)|language=en|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/72473-most-popular-board-game|access-date=6 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426181116/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/72473-most-popular-board-game|archive-date=26 April 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Renaissance era===
[[File:Board_games_with_expansions_1944-2017.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange.]] In the late 1990s, companies began producing more new games to serve a growing worldwide market.<ref name="board game resurgence">{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Quintin|date=October 2012|title=The Board Game Golden Age|url=http://www.shutupshow.com/post/34426556753/su-sd-present-the-board-game-golden-age|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601124655/http://www.shutupshow.com/post/34426556753/su-sd-present-the-board-game-golden-age|archive-date=1 June 2013|access-date=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=A look into the golden age of boardgames {{!}} BGG|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1943195/look-golden-age-boardgames|access-date=11 December 2024|website=BoardGameGeek|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211111105/https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1943195/a-look-into-the-golden-age-of-boardgames|archive-date=11 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>'' The Settlers of Catan'' (1995) is often credited with popularising German-style board games outside of Europe and growing the hobbyist game market to a wider audience.<ref name="influence of catan">{{Cite web|last=Jarvis|first=Matt|date=April 2023|title=Without Catan, board gaming as we know it today wouldn't exist|url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/catan-1/opinion/catan-board-gaming-lasting-legacy|access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref> The early 21st century saw the emergence of a new "Golden Age" for board games called the "Board Game Renaissance".<ref name="board game resurgence"/><ref name="guardian_2014(oct)">{{Cite news |date=25 November 2014 |title=Board games' golden age: sociable, brilliant and driven by the internet |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/25/board-games-internet-playstation-xbox |author-last=Duffy |author-first=Owen}}</ref><ref name="golden-age_konieczny_2019">{{Cite journal|last=Konieczny|first=Piotr|date=2019|title=Golden age of tabletop gaming: Creation of the social capital and rise of third spaces for tabletop gaming in the 21st century|url=http://bazekon.icm.edu.pl/bazekon/element/bwmeta1.element.ekon-element-000171561541|journal=Polish Sociological Review|language=en|issue=2|pages=199–215|issn=1231-1413|doi=10.26412/psr206.05|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 }}</ref><!-- This field ("|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024") is throwing up an error, so I have removed it to this comment; however, the doi is actually broken.--> This period of board games industry development, of which board games such as ''Carcassonne'' (2000) and ''Ticket to Ride'' (2004) were a major part, saw a shift away from the 20th-century domination by well-established standby Golden Era board games like ''Monopoly'' (1935) and ''Game of Life'' (1960).<ref name="15-anniversary-review_ign_2024">{{cite web|title=Ticket to Ride: Europe 15th Anniversary Edition Review|website=IGN (www.ign.com)|date=12 July 2024|first=Chris|last=Reed|language=en|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/ticket-to-ride-europe-15th-anniversary-edition-review|access-date=19 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716192906/https://www.ign.com/articles/ticket-to-ride-europe-15th-anniversary-edition-review|archive-date=16 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Regional history== {{Further|History of games}}
===Europe=== {{further|Eurogame#History}} Board games have a long tradition in Europe. The oldest records of board gaming in Europe date back to Homer's ''Iliad'' (written in the 8th century BC), in which he mentions the Ancient Greek game of ''petteia''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Brouwers|first=Josho|title=Ancient Greek heroes at play|url=https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/ancient-greek-heroes-play|access-date=6 March 2020|website=Ancient World Magazine|date=29 November 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111205115/https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/ancient-greek-heroes-play|archive-date=11 November 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> This game of ''petteia'' would later evolve into the Roman game of ''ludus latrunculorum''.<ref name=":0" /> {{ublist |'''Germany''' :{{lang|de|Kriegsspiel}} is a genre of wargaming developed in 19th century Prussia, to teach battle tactics to officers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Asbury|first=Susan|date=Winter 2018|title=It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan|url=https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/10-2-Book-review2.pdf|department=Book Reviews|journal=American Journal of Play|volume=10|issue=2|page=230|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711112435/https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/10-2-Book-review2.pdf|archive-date=11 July 2020|access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref> |'''Ireland''' :''Fidchell'' boards dating from the 10th century has been uncovered in Ireland,<ref>{{Cite book|first=Kenneth Hurlstone|last=Jackson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkTUotRW8_AC&q=the+oldest+irish+tradition|title=The Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on the Iron Age|date=28 February 2011|isbn=978-0-521-13493-4|page=23|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=28 December 2024}} [https://ia600105.us.archive.org/1/items/hurlstone-2011-the-oldest-irish-tradition/Hurlstone%20%282011%29%20The%20Oldest%20Irish%20Tradition.pdf Alt URL]</ref> with the game said to date back to at least 144 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harding|first=Timothy|date=2010|title='A Fenian pastime'? Early Irish board games and their identification with chess|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=37|issue=145|page=5|doi=10.1017/S0021121400000031|issn=0021-1214|jstor=20750042|hdl-access=free|hdl=2262/38847|s2cid=163144950}}</ref> |'''Scandinavia''' :The ancient Norse game of hnefatafl was developed sometime before 400 AD.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schulte|first=Michael|title=Board games of the Vikings – From hnefatafl to chess|url=http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/MOM/article/download/1426/1411|page=5}}</ref> |'''United Kingdom''' :In the United Kingdom, the association of dice and cards with gambling led to all dice games except backgammon being treated as "lotteries by dice" in the Gaming Acts of 1710 and 1845.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Neilson|first=W Bryce|title=Gaming history and Law|website=Gamesboard.org|url=https://www.gamesboard.org.uk/articles/gaming-law-bryce-neilson-aug-2020.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001082026/https://www.gamesboard.org.uk/articles/gaming-law-bryce-neilson-aug-2020.pdf|archive-date=1 October 2020|access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> One of the most prolific publishers of board games of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the English board game publisher John Wallis and his sons (John Wallis Jr. and Edward Wallis).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adam|first=Gottfried|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lb6ZEAAAQBAJ&dq=John+Wallis++publishers+of+board+games&pg=PA177|title=Thumb Bibles: The History of a Literary Genre|date=31 October 2022|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-52588-7|language=en}}</ref> The global popularisation of board games, with special themes and branding, coincided with the formation of the global dominance of the British Empire.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kentel|first=Koca|date=Fall 2018|title=Empire on a Board: Navigating the British Empire through Geographical Board Games in the Nineteenth Century|journal=The Portolan|volume=102|pages=27–42|doi=10.17613/M6JW86M71}}</ref> Examples of british empire games included: }} {| class="wikitable" |+ British Empire Games |- ! Game title ! Release date ! Creator ! Description ! Ref |-
| ''A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions'' | 1850 | John Betts | This board game was a race game that consisted of a board with 37 numbered pictures, each correlating to a British colony, arranged in four circular levels, numbered 1 (Heligoland, Germany) to 37 (London, England), three concentric ones and an inner fourth level of London ("Metropolis of the British Empire"). A teetotum was spun with a player's piece correspondingly moving ahead through the spaces of the game board, upon which a corresponding description to the space the player lands was read out aloud from an accompanying rule booklet by the presiding player (a player abstaining from directly playing the game), except when directed in the book. The descriptions included commentary about the various colonies and occasional game board movement directions to the player. There winner would be the player to reach London first. | <ref>{{Cite web|title=A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions │ Board Game │ 1850-60 (published)|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26285/a-tour-through-the-british-board-game-betts-john|website=Victoria and Albert Museum (www.vam.ac.uk)|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102100727/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|archive-date=2 November 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="colony-tour_betts_1850">{{cite book|title=A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions|via=National Library of Australia (www.library.gov.au)|date=1850|first=John|last=Betts|language=en|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-360189129/view?partId=nla.obj-360192281#page/n0/mode/1up|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228000000/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-360189129/view?partId=nla.obj-360192281#page/n0/mode/1up|archive-date=28 December 2024|url-status=live}} [https://ia802208.us.archive.org/33/items/betts-1850-a-tour-of-the-british-colonies-and-foreign-possessions/Betts%20%281850%29%20A%20Tour%20of%20the%20British%20Colonies%20and%20Foreign%20Possessions.pdf Alt URL]</ref><ref name="colony-tour_yale-centre_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=A tour through the British colonies and foreign possessions, [1850s?]|website=Yale Centre for British Art|language=en|url=https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:14039395|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731062554/https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:14039395|archive-date=31 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
|style="white-space: nowrap;"| ''A Voyage of Discovery'', or<br />''The Five Navigators'' | 1836 | William Spooner | A race game where five players ('sailors') follow distinctly colored tracks, on a board decorated with islands, seas, and ships, with each player restricted to the path of their own color. The players followed the instructions printed in circles along the tracks, which contained sailor-themed dangers and advantages. | <ref name="voyage-of-discovery_vam_current(2025)">{{Cite web|title=A Voyage of Discovery or The Five Navigators │ Board Game │ 1863 (published)|date=4 March 2000|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|website=Victoria and Albert Museum (www.collections.vam.ac.uk)|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102100727/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O26352/a-voyage-of-discovery-or-board-game-spooner-william|archive-date=2 November 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> |}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Attic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg|Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena, Attic black-figure neck amphora, {{circa|510 BC}} File:German - Box for Board Games - Walters 7193 - Bottom.jpg|''Box for Board Games'', {{Circa}} 15th century, Walters Art Museum File:Clevelandart 1953.284.jpg|An early games table desk (Germany, 1735) featuring chess/checkers ({{em|right}}) and nine men's morris ({{em|left}}) </gallery>
===Americas=== The board game patolli originated in Mesoamerica and was played by a wide range of pre-Columbian cultures such as the Toltecs and the Aztecs. {{ublist |'''United States''' :Due to a number of factors, such as the decrease of industrial working hours and the implementation of a Saturday half-day holiday, United States shifted from agrarian to urban living in the nineteenth century, which provided greater leisure time and a rise in middle class income.<ref name="us-leisure_library-of-congress_current(2024)">{{cite web|title=America at Leisure|website=Library of Congress (www.loc.gov)|language=en|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-leisure/|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710085054/https://www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-leisure|archive-date=10 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="us-leisure_gambiter_2025">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Gambiter (www.gambiter.com)|language=en|url=https://gambiter.com/tabletop/Board_game.html|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520082329/https://gambiter.com/tabletop/Board_game.html|archive-date=20 May 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> The American home, once an economic production focus, started to become one for entertainment, enlightenment, and education under maternal supervision, where children were encouraged to play board games that developed literacy skills and provided moral instruction.<ref name="us-leisure_gambiter_2025"/>{{pb}}The first board games published in the United States were ''Travellers' Tour Through the United States'' and its sister game ''Traveller's Tour Through Europe'', published in 1822 by New York City bookseller F. & R. Lockwood.<ref name=fv/><ref name="first-american_smithsonian_2024">{{cite web|title=What America's First Board Game Tells Us About the Aspirations of a Young Nation|website=Smithsonian Magazine (www.smithsonianmag.com)|date=21 May 2024|first=Matthew Wynn|last=Sivils|language=en|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-americas-first-board-game-tells-us-about-the-aspirations-of-a-young-nation-180984338|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103225012/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-americas-first-board-game-tells-us-about-the-aspirations-of-a-young-nation-180984338|archive-date=3 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> Margaret Hofer described this period, from 1880s–1920s, as "The Golden Age" of board gaming in America.<ref name="Hofer">{{Cite book|last=Hofer|first=Margaret|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icYtGRUZrZUC|title=The Games we Played: The Golden Age of Board and Table Games|date=1 March 2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-56898-397-4|language=en}}</ref> Board game popularity was boosted, like that of many items, through mass production, which made them cheaper and more easily available. In the 19th century, the industry itself was still developing, albeit significantly more rapidly; however, the games manufactured in America were still primarily for children.<ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> Beginning in the late 20th century, during the period known as board game renaissance, games started to evolve considerably, from a strategic play standpoint and also in terms of increased advertising and marketing.<ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> In the modern-day United States, board game venues have recently grown in popularity. In 2016 alone, more than 5,000 board game cafés opened in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Board Game Biz is Booming, and Chicago's Ready to Play|url=https://news.wttw.com/2020/02/11/board-game-biz-booming-and-chicago-s-ready-play|access-date=1 March 2020|website=WTTW News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111205114/https://news.wttw.com/2020/02/11/board-game-biz-booming-and-chicago-s-ready-play|archive-date=11 November 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> }}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Macuilxochitl Patolli.png|Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano File:FirstAmericanPrintrunOfThe MansionOfHappiness.jpg|''The Mansion of Happiness'' (1843) </gallery>
===Asia=== {{ublist |'''Mesopotamia''' : A version of the 4,600-year-old board game of the Royal Game of Ur, was found in the ancient Mesopotamian royal tombs of Ur ({{Circa|2600 BC}} – {{Circa|2400 BC}}),<ref name="oldest-games_oldest_current(2025)"/> is the oldest discovered playable board game.<ref name="fv">{{Cite web|last=Edwards|first=Jason R.|title=Saving Families, One Game at a Time|url=http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205071220/http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021"/> The game's rules of this version were written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in 177 BC, and involved two players racing their pieces from one end of a 20-square board to the other in a similar way to backgammon, with the central squares being used for fortune telling.<ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021">{{cite web|title=Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old Stone Board Game in Oman|website=Smith Sonianmag (www.smithsonianmag.com)|date=11 January 2022|first=David|last=Kindy|language=en|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-4000-year-old-stone-board-game-in-oman-180979340|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216131112/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-4000-year-old-stone-board-game-in-oman-180979340|archive-date=16 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ur_british-museum_2021"/><ref name="oldest-board-game_smithsonian-magazine_2021"/> Backgammon also originated in ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Backgammon History|url=https://bkgm.com/articles/Bray/BackgammonHistory|access-date=12 December 2024|website=bkgm.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405115545/https://www.bkgm.com/articles/Bray/BackgammonHistory|archive-date=5 April 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:British Museum Royal Game of Ur.jpg|The Royal Game of Ur, southern Iraq, about {{Circa|2600 BC}} – {{Circa|2400 BC}} </gallery>
|'''China''' :Though speculative, Go has been thought to have originated in China somewhere in the 10th and 4th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Potter|first=Donald L.|year=1985|title=Go in the Classics (ii): the Tso-chuan|journal=Go World|issue=42|publisher=Ishi Press|location=Tokyo|pages=19–21|url=http://www.kiseido.com/classics.htm|access-date=2 November 2007|archive-date=18 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218113923/http://kiseido.com/classics.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/essay/goancientchina.html|title=Go in Ancient China|last=Fairbairn|first=John|year=1995|access-date=2 November 2007}}</ref> While no archeological or reliable documentary evidence exists of the exact origins of the game, according to legend, Liubo was invented in around 1728–1675 BC in China by Wu Cao, a minister of King Jie the last Xia dynasty king. China developed several chess variants, including xiangqi (Chinese chess), dou shou qi (Chinese animal chess), and luzhanqi (Chinese army chess), each with their own variants.<ref name="chess-variants)ancient-chess_current(2025)">{{Cite news|title=How to Play Chess from Around the World|language=en|website=Ancient Chess (www.ancientchess.com)|url=https://ancientchess.com/page/play-all.htm|access-date=12 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212025110/https://ancientchess.com/page/play-all.htm|archive-date=12 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> Games like mahjong, and Fighting the Landlords (Dou DiZhu) also originated in China.{{pb}}In modern-day China, board game cafes have become popular, with cities like Shanghai having more game cafés than Starbucks.<ref name="china-cafes_flamingogroup_current(2025)">{{Cite web|title=Six Reasons China Loves Board Game Cafés|url=http://flamingogroup.com/six-reasons-china-loves-board-game-cafes#|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520043014/http://flamingogroup.com/six-reasons-china-loves-board-game-cafes|archive-date=20 May 2016|access-date=22 April 2016|website=Flamingo}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Han Pottery Figures Playing Liubo, a Lost Game (10352729936).jpg|Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board </gallery>
|'''India''' :Ashtapada, chess, pachisi and chaupar originated in India.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} In modern day India, a community game called Carrom is popular.<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Boardgametheories |date=12 September 2020|title=The most popular board games in non-Western cultures|url=https://boardgametheories.com/most-popular-board-games-in-other-cultures|access-date=1 October 2020|website=BoardGameTheories|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127003628/https://boardgametheories.com/most-popular-board-games-in-other-cultures|archive-date=27 November 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> :In Thailand, makruk (Thai: หมากรุก), or Thai chess, is a strategy board game that is descended from the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related to chess. It is part of the family of chess variants. :In Cambodia, where basically the same game is played, it is known as ouk (Khmer: អុក) or ouk chatrang (Khmer: អុកចត្រង្គ) |'''Iran''' : The Shahr-i Sokhta board game set, comprising 27 pieces and 4 different dice, dates to 2600–2400 BCE. The entire set has been scientifically analyzed and reconstructed by researchers, and it is considered the oldest complete and playable board game ever discovered.<ref name="Games of old">{{cite journal |last1=Hsu |first1=Jeremy |title=Games of old |journal=New Scientist |date=14 December 2024 |volume=264 |issue=3521 |pages=48–49 |doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(24)02191-2 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0262407924021912 |issn=0262-4079}}</ref> Jiroft civilization game boards<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maǧīdzāda|first=Yūsuf|title=Jiroft: the earliest oriental civilization|date=2003|publisher=Organization of the Ministry of Culture ans Islamic Guidance|isbn=964-422-478-7|oclc=249152908}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=May 2024}} in Iran, is one of several important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games. <gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Shahr-i-sokhta-board-game.jpg|The complete set of the Shahr-i Sokhta board game, Iran, with 27 pieces and 4 dice in its current condition, about {{Circa|2600 BC}} – {{Circa|2400 BC}} National Museum of Iran File:The scholarly reconstruction of the Shahr-i Sokhta board game.jpg|The first-ever scholarly reconstruction of the Shahr-i Sokhta board game File:Jiroft scorpion.png|Game board made of chlorite stone relief in the form of Scorpion man, characteristic of the gaming tradition in West Asia from the 3rd to 1st millennium B.C. Chlorit-Stein-Relief in Form von Skorpion-Mann
</gallery> |'''South Korea''' :A board game of flicking stones (Alkkagi) became popular among people in South Korea after various Korean variety shows demonstrated its gameplay on television.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 July 2016|title=Alkkagi: A Korean Game.|url=https://kpopjacketlady.com/2016/07/08/alkkagi-a-korean-game/|website=KPopJacketLady|access-date=20 March 2025 }}</ref> |'''Oman''' :A stone slab carved with a grid and cup holes to hold game pieces constituting a large 4,000-year-old stone board game was located in a prehistoric settlement dated back to the Umm an-Nar period ({{Circa|2600 BC}} to {{Circa|2000 BC}}) near the village of Ayn Bani Saidahat in the Qumayrah Valley, Oman.<ref name="oman_simsonium-magazine_2021"/> }}
===Africa===
In Africa and the Middle East, mancala is a popular board game archetype with many regional variations. {{ublist |'''Egypt''' :The first complete set of this game was discovered from a Theban tomb that dates to the 13th dynasty.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Metcalfe|first=Tom|date=10 December 2018|title=16 of the Most Interesting Ancient Board and Dice Games|url=https://www.livescience.com/64266-ancient-board-games.html|access-date=23 December 2018|website=Live Science|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203052218/https://www.livescience.com/64266-ancient-board-games.html|archive-date=3 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> Hounds and jackals, another ancient Egyptian board game, appeared around 2000 BC.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hirst|first=K. Kris|title=What? Snakes and Ladders is 4,000 Years Old?|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/50-holes-game-169581|access-date=23 December 2018|website=ThoughtCo.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220052844/https://www.thoughtco.com/50-holes-game-169581|archive-date=20 February 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=18 November 2018|title=A 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Game Called 58 Holes Has Been Discovered in Azerbaijan Rock Shelter|url=http://wsbuzz.com/science/a-4000-year-old-bronze-age-game-called-58-holes-has-been-discovered-in-azerbaijan-rock-shelter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826203339/https://wsbuzz.com/science/a-4000-year-old-bronze-age-game-called-58-holes-has-been-discovered-in-azerbaijan-rock-shelter|archive-date=26 August 2019|access-date=23 December 2018|website=WSBuzz.com|language=en-US}}</ref> This game, originating {{Circa|2600 BC}} – {{Circa|2400 BC}} was also popular in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bower|first=Bruce|date=17 December 2018|title=A Bronze Age game called 58 holes was found chiseled into stone in Azerbaijan|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bronze-age-game-found-chiseled-stone-azerbaijan|access-date=23 December 2018|website=Science News|language=en}}</ref> Senet, originating from {{Circa|2600 BC}} – {{Circa|2400 BC}}, was found in Predynastic {{Circa|3500 BC}} and First Dynasty {{Circa|3100 BC}} burials of Egypt,<ref name="senet_piccone_1980">{{Cite journal|first=Peter A.|last=Piccione|date=July–August 1980|title=In Search of the Meaning of Senet|url=http://www.piccionep.people.cofc.edu/piccione_senet.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Archaeology|pages=55–58|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125005541/http://piccionep.people.cofc.edu/piccione_senet.pdf|archive-date=25 November 2011|access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> and pictured in fresco wall paintings and papyrus in Egyptian tombs, including the tombs of Merknera ({{Circa|3300 BC}}–{{Circa|2700 BC}} BC)<ref name="senet2">{{Cite web|date=27 April 1998|title=Okno do svita deskovych her|url=http://www.hrejsi.cz/clanky/dama1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208220158/http://www.hrejsi.cz/clanky/dama1.html|archive-date=8 December 2012|access-date=12 February 2010|publisher=Hrejsi.cz}}</ref><ref name="Pivotto">{{Cite web|last=Pivotto|first=Carlos|display-authors=etal|title=Detection of Negotiation Profile and Guidance to more Collaborative Approaches through Negotiation Games|url=http://worldcomp-proceedings.com/proc/p2011/EEE3388.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://worldcomp-proceedings.com/proc/p2011/EEE3388.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2022|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2023}}{{dubious|date=February 2023}} and Nikauhor and Sekhemhathor ({{Circa|2465 BC}}–{{Circa|2389 BC}}).<ref name="oldest_met_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=West wall of the chapel of Nikauhor and Sekhemhathor|website=The Metropoletean Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org)|language=en|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/08.201.2a-g|access-date=7 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106232519/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/08.201.2a-g|archive-date=6 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> An ancient games from the African region included the predynastic Egyptian board game of mehen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Games in ancient Egypt|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//furniture/games.html|access-date=13 June 2020|website=Digital Egypt for Universities|publisher=University College, London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202104428/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//furniture/games.html|archive-date=2 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="oldest-games_oldest_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=8 Oldest Board Games in the World|website=Oldest (www.oldest.org)|language=en|url=https://www.oldest.org/entertainment/board-games|access-date=6 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008185958/https://www.oldest.org/entertainment/board-games|archive-date=8 October 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> }}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Game of Hounds and Jackals MET DP264105.jpg|Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 699-2 Speelbord voor mancala spel.jpg|Mancala board and clay playing pieces File:Gaming Board Inscribed for Amenhotep III with Separate Sliding Drawer, ca. 1390-1353 B.C.E.,49.56a-b.jpg|Senet set inscribed with the Horus name of Amenhotep III ({{r.}} 1391–1353 BC) </gallery>
==Luck, strategy, and diplomacy== Some games, such as chess, depend completely on player skill, while many children's games, such as ''Candy Land'' (1949) and snakes and ladders require no decisions by the players and are decided purely by luck.<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 January 2009|title=The case against Candy Land|url=http://boingboing.net/2009/01/26/the-case-against-can.html|website=BoingBoing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241120044837/https://boingboing.net/2009/01/26/the-case-against-can.html|archive-date=20 November 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Board game damah at Souq Waqif.jpg|thumb|Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of ''damah'']] Many games require some level of both skill and luck. A player may be hampered by bad luck in backgammon, ''Monopoly'', or ''Risk''; but over many games, a skilled player will win more often.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Luck vs. Skill in Backgammon|url=https://bkgm.com/articles/Simborg/LuckVsSkill/index.html |access-date=19 May 2020 |website=bkgm.com}}</ref> The elements of luck can also make for more excitement at times, and allow for more diverse and multifaceted strategies, as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sfetcu|first=Nicolae|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1aAAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22board+game%22+%22expected+value%22+and+%22risk+management%22&pg=PA78|title=Game Preview|date=4 May 2014|publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu|language=en}}</ref>
Luck may be introduced into a game by several methods. The use of dice of various sorts goes back to one of the earliest board games, the Royal Game of Ur. These can decide everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in ''Monopoly'', to how their forces fare in battle, as in ''Risk'', or which resources a player gains, as in ''Catan'' (1995). Other games such as ''Sorry!'' (1934) use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. ''Scrabble'' (1948) creates a similar effect using randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. German-style board games are notable for often having fewer elements of luck than many North American board games.<ref name="How stuff works">{{Cite web|last=Kirkpatrick|first=Karen|date=27 April 2015|title=What's a German-style board game?|url=https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/german-style-board-game.htm|access-date=20 July 2021|website=HowStuffWorks.com|quote="They feature little or no luck, and economic, not military, themes. In addition, all players stay in the game until it's over."}}</ref> Luck may be reduced in favor of skill by introducing symmetry between players. For example, in a dice game such as ''Ludo'' ({{circa|1896}}), by giving each player the choice of rolling the dice or using the previous player's roll.
Another important aspect of some games is diplomacy, that is, players making deals with one another. Negotiation generally features only in games with three or more players, cooperative games being the exception. An important facet of ''Catan'', for example, is convincing players to trade with you rather than with opponents. In ''Risk'', two or more players may team up against others. ''Easy'' diplomacy involves convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. ''Advanced'' diplomacy (e.g., in the aptly named game ''Diplomacy'' from 1954) consists of making elaborate plans together, with the possibility of betrayal.<ref name="cooperative-games_washington-post_1986">{{Cite web|last=McLellan|first=Joseph|date=2 June 1986|title=Lying and Cheating by the Rules|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com)|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/06/02/lying-and-cheating-by-the-rules/78ab5e73-b64d-4448-875e-aae12ab43476|issn=0190-8286|access-date=2 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250102092517/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/06/02/lying-and-cheating-by-the-rules/78ab5e73-b64d-4448-875e-aae12ab43476|archive-date=2 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Annie|last=Kearns Kearns|title=16 Easy Pen and Paper Games Your Family Will Love|url=https://www.thelondonmother.net/easy-pen-and-paper-games|website=The London Mother (www.thelondonmother.net)|date=16 March 2020|access-date=31 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430124253/https://www.thelondonmother.net/easy-pen-and-paper-games|archive-date=30 April 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
In perfect information games, such as chess, each player has complete information on the state of the game, but in other games, such as ''Tigris and Euphrates'' (1997) or ''Stratego'' (1946), some information is hidden from players.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Glassner|first=Andrew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ksj1EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22board+game%22+hidden+information+estimating+probabilities+by+the+opponents+stratego&pg=PT74|title=Interactive Storytelling: Techniques for 21st Century Fiction|date=2 August 2017|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-040-08312-3|language=en}}</ref> This makes finding the best move more difficult and may involve estimating probabilities by the opponents.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levine|first=Timothy R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJzAwAAQBAJ&dq=finding+the+best+move+more+difficult+and+may+involve+estimating+probabilities+by+the+opponents&pg=PA403|title=Encyclopedia of Deception|date=20 February 2014|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4833-0689-6|language=en}}</ref>
==Software== {{main|Digital tabletop game}}
Many board games are now available as video games. These are aptly termed digital board games, and their distinguishing characteristic compared to traditional board games is that they can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some websites (such as boardgamearena.com, yucata.de, etc.)<ref name="onlineboard">{{Cite web |last1=Sargeantson |first1=Emily |date=25 February 2019 |title=6 Best Sites to Play Board Games Online for Free |url=https://mykindofmeeple.com/play-modern-board-games-online/ |access-date=23 January 2021 |website=Mykindofmeeple.com}}</ref> allow play in real time and immediately show the opponents' moves, while others use email to notify the players after each move.<ref name="chessbyemail">{{Cite web |title=U3a International Chess by Email |url=http://www.u3abroadbeach.com/chess-by-email.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015070203/http://www.u3abroadbeach.com/chess-by-email.html |archive-date=15 October 2014 |access-date=8 October 2014}}</ref> The Internet and cheaper home printing have also influenced board games via print-and-play games that may be purchased and printed.<ref name="printplay">{{Cite web |title=Print & Play |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1120/print-play |access-date=8 October 2014 |website=Boardgamegeek.com}}</ref> Some games use external media such as audio cassettes or DVDs in accompaniment to the game.<ref name="dvdgames">{{Cite web |title=DVD Board Games |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/7348/dvd-board-games |access-date=8 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="cassettegames">{{Cite web |title=Audio Cassette Board Games |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/7477/audio-cassette-board-games |access-date=8 October 2014 |website=Boardgamegeek.com}}</ref>
{{anchor|Virtual tabletop}}There are also virtual tabletop programs that allow online players to play a variety of existing and new board games through tools needed to manipulate the game board, but do not necessarily enforce the game's rules, leaving this up to the players. There are generalized programs such as ''Vassal'', ''Tabletop Simulator'' and ''Tabletopia'' that can be used to play any board or card game, while programs like ''Roll20'' and ''Fantasy Grounds'' are more specialized for role-playing games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=22 April 2015 |title=D&D now on Steam, complete with dice and a Dungeon Master |url=http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/22/8470473/dungeons-dragons-virtual-tabletop-fantasy-grounds |access-date=10 April 2017 |website=Polygon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=1 December 2016 |title=Tabletopia is slick as hell, and it's free on Steam |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/12/1/13806190/tabletopia-steam-board-games-free-to-play |access-date=7 September 2017 |website=Polygon}}</ref> Some of these virtual tabletops have worked with the license holders to allow for use of their game's assets within the program; for example, ''Fantasy Grounds'' has licenses for both ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''Pathfinder'' materials, while ''Tabletop Simulator'' allows game publishers to provide paid downloadable content for their games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SmiteWorks USA, LLC |url=http://www.fantasygrounds.com/press/ |access-date=21 July 2017 |website=Fantasy Grounds |publisher=SmiteWorks}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Conner |first=Alice |date=1 October 2015 |title=Cosmic Encounter Officially Invades Tabletop Simulator |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/01/cosmic-encounter-tabletop-simulator/ |access-date=1 August 2016 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun}}</ref> However, as these games offer the ability to add in the content through user modifications, there are also unlicensed uses of board game assets available through these programs.<ref name="gamasutra interview">{{Cite web |last=Wawro |first=Alex |date=3 July 2015 |title=Mod Mentality: How Tabletop Simulator was made to be broken |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/mod-mentality-how-i-tabletop-simulator-i-was-made-to-be-broken |access-date=8 July 2015 |website=Gamasutra}}</ref>
==Market== [[File:Nepomuk 280 - Osadníci z Katanu.jpg|thumb|left|The modern German board game ''Catan'' is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009.]] While the board gaming market is estimated to be smaller than that for video games, it has also experienced significant growth from the late 1990s.<ref name="guardian_2014(oct)"/> A 2012 article in ''The Guardian'' described board games as "making a comeback".<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 December 2012 |title=Why board games are making a comeback |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/09/board-games-comeback-freeman |author-last=Freeman |author-first=Will}}</ref> Other expert sources suggest that board games never went away, and that board games have remained a popular leisure activity which has only grown over time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 August 2018 |title=Not Bored Of Board Games |url=https://www.toyindustryjournal.com/not-bored-of-board-games/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302164229/https://www.toyindustryjournal.com/not-bored-of-board-games/ |archive-date=2 March 2021 |access-date=5 January 2021 |website=Toyindustryjournal.com}}</ref> Another from 2014 gave an estimate that put the growth of the board game market at "between 25% and 40% annually" since 2010, and described the current time as the "golden era for board games".<ref name="guardian_2014(oct)"/> The rise in board game popularity has been attributed to quality improvement (more elegant mechanics, {{boardgloss|components}}, artwork, and graphics) as well as increased availability thanks to sales through the Internet.<ref name="guardian_2014(oct)"/> Crowd-sourcing for board games is a large facet of the market, with $233 million raised on Kickstarter in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=22 December 2020 |title=Games broke funding records on Kickstarter in 2020, despite the pandemic |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/22/22195749/kickstarter-top-10-highest-funded-campaigns-2020-video-games-board-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222221453/https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/22/22195749/kickstarter-top-10-highest-funded-campaigns-2020-video-games-board-games |archive-date=22 December 2020 |access-date=8 August 2021 |website=Polygon}}</ref>
A 1991 estimate for the global board game market was over $1.2 billion.<ref name="BrowneBrowne2001">{{Cite book |last=Scanlon |first=Jennifer |title=The Guide to United States Popular Culture |publisher=Popular Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-87972-821-2 |editor-last=Browne |editor-first=Ray Broadus |page=103 |chapter=Board games |editor-last2=Browne |editor-first2=Pat |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&pg=PA103}}</ref> A 2001 estimate for the United States "board games and puzzle" market gave a value of under $400 million, and for United Kingdom, of about £50 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=So you've invented a board game. Now what? |url=http://www.amherstlodge.com/games/reference/gameinvented.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115210052/http://www.amherstlodge.com/games/reference/gameinvented.htm |archive-date=15 November 2014 |access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> A 2009 estimate for the Korean market was put at 800 million won,<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 July 2009 |title=Educational Games Getting Popular |work=The Korea Times |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20090722/educational-games-getting-popular|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105035853/https://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/07/113_48931.html |archive-date=5 January 2016}}</ref> and another estimate for the American board game market for the same year was at about $800 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monopoly, Candy Land May Offer Refuge to Families in Recession |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2HEzwndjrVQ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126045211/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2HEzwndjrVQ |archive-date=26 November 2014 |website=Bloomberg News}}</ref> A 2011 estimate for the Chinese board game market was at over 10 billion yuan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Board Game Market Overview |url=http://www.lpboardgame.com/board-games-simple-chinese-board-game-market-overview/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221075513/http://www.lpboardgame.com/board-games-simple-chinese-board-game-market-overview/ |archive-date=21 February 2016 |website=LP Board Game}}</ref> A 2013 estimate put the size of the German toy market at 2.7 billion euros (out of which the board games and puzzle market is worth about 375 million euros), and Polish markets at 2 billion and 280 million zlotys, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2013 |title=Pamiętacie Eurobiznes? Oto wielki powrót gier planszowych, dla których oni zarywają noce |url=http://menstream.pl/wiadomosci-reportaze-i-wywiady/pamietacie-eurobiznes-oto-wielki-powrot-gier-planszowych-dla-ktorych-oni-zarywaja-noce,0,1288179.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105041205/http://menstream.pl/wiadomosci-reportaze-i-wywiady/pamietacie-eurobiznes-oto-wielki-powrot-gier-planszowych-dla-ktorych-oni-zarywaja-noce%2C0%2C1288179.html |archive-date=5 January 2016 |website=Menstream.pl}}</ref> In 2009, Germany was considered to be the best market per capita, with the highest number of games sold per individual.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=23 March 2009 |title=Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre |url=http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=all |magazine=WIRED |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510075137/http://archive.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=all |archive-date=10 May 2015 |access-date=23 April 2015}}</ref>
=== Hobby board games === Some academics, such as Erica Price and Marco Arnaudo, have differentiated "hobby" board games and gamers from other board games and gamers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=Erica |date=2020-10-01 |title=The Sellers of Catan: The Impact of on the United States Leisure and Business Landscape, 1995-2019 |journal=Board Game Studies Journal |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.2478/bgs-2020-0004|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arnaudo |first=Marco |date=2017-11-29 |title=The Experience of Flow in Hobby Board Games |url=https://analoggamestudies.org/2017/11/the-experience-of-flow-in-hobby-board-games/ |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=Analog Game Studies |language=en-US}}</ref> A 2014 estimate placed the U.S. and Canada market for hobby board games (games produced for a "gamer" market) at only $75 million, with the total size of what it defined as the "hobby game market" ("the market for those games regardless of whether they're sold in the hobby channel or other channels") at over $700 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hobby Games Market Hits $700M |url=https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/29326/hobby-games-market-hits-700m |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}</ref> A similar 2015 estimate suggested a hobby game market value of almost $900 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hobby Games Market Climbs to $880 Million |url=https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/32102/hobby-games-market-climbs-880-million |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Research== {{multiple image|align=right|total_width=400 |image1=Mathematicians playing Konane.jpg |width1=1280|height1=850 |caption1= |image2=USMC-14131.jpg |width2=2000|height2=3000 |caption2= |footer=Board games serve diverse interests. {{em|Left:}} kōnane for studious competition. {{em|Right:}} kōnane for lighthearted fun.}} A dedicated field of gaming research exists, known as game studies or ludology.<ref>{{Citation |last=Fernández-Vara |first=Clara |title=The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies |chapter=Ludology |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203114261-33/adventure-clara-fern%C3%A1ndez-vara |date=3 January 2014 |pages=232–240 |doi=10.4324/9780203114261-33 |isbn=978-0-203-11426-1 |access-date=2022-08-21 |archive-date=21 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821035254/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203114261-33/adventure-clara-fern%C3%A1ndez-vara |chapter-url-access=subscription }}</ref>
While there has been a fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of older board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala), less has been done on contemporary board games such as ''Monopoly'', ''Scrabble'', and ''Risk'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gobet, Fernand |title=Moves in mind: The psychology of board games |last2=de Voogt, Alex |last3=Retschitzki, Jean |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84169-336-1 |author-link=Fernand Gobet}}</ref> and especially modern board games such as ''Catan'', ''Agricola'', and ''Pandemic''. Much research has been carried out on chess, partly because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise. The works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase, Herbert A. Simon, and Fernand Gobet have established that knowledge, more than the ability to anticipate moves, plays an essential role in chess-playing ability.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simons |first=Daniel |date=15 February 2012 |title=How experts recall chess positions |url=http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/blog/2012/02/15/how-experts-recall-chess-positions/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041450/http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/blog/2012/02/15/how-experts-recall-chess-positions/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=21 November 2017 |website=The Invisible Gorilla}}</ref>
Linearly arranged board games have improved children's spatial numerical understanding. This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Playing Linear Number Board Games—But Not Circular Ones—Improves Low-Income Preschoolers' Numerical Understanding |url=http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/sieg-ram09.pdf |access-date=30 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524170555/http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/sieg-ram09.pdf |archive-date=24 May 2011}}</ref>
Research studies show that board games such as ''Snakes and Ladders'' result in children showing significant improvements in aspects of basic number skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, numerical estimation, and number comprehension. They also practice fine motor skills each time they grasp a game piece.<ref>{{Cite web |last=LeFebvre |first=J.E. |title=Parenting the preschooler |url=http://parenting.uwex.edu/parenting-the-preschooler/documents/board_games.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521002940/http://parenting.uwex.edu/parenting-the-preschooler/documents/board_games.pdf |archive-date=21 May 2014 |access-date=10 March 2015 |website=UW Extension}}</ref> Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive functions<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lahey |first=Jessica |date=16 July 2014 |title=How Family Game Night Makes Kids into Better Students |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/07/how-family-game-night-makes-kids-into-better-students/374525/ |access-date=13 May 2019 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref> and help reduce risks of dementia for the elderly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dartigues |first1=Jean François |last2=Foubert-Samier |first2=Alexandra |last3=Le Goff |first3=Mélanie |last4=Viltard |first4=Mélanie |last5=Amieva |first5=Hélène |last6=Orgogozo |first6=Jean Marc |last7=Barberger-Gateau |first7=Pascale |last8=Helmer |first8=Catherine |date=2013 |title=Playing board games, cognitive decline and dementia: a French population-based cohort study |journal=BMJ Open |language=en |volume=3 |issue=8 |article-number=e002998 |doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002998 |doi-access=free|issn=2044-6055 |pmc=3758967 |pmid=23988362}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Altschul |first1=Drew M |last2=Deary |first2=Ian J |year=2020 |editor-last=Taler |editor-first=Vanessa |title=Playing Analog Games Is Associated With Reduced Declines in Cognitive Function: A 68-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study |journal=The Journals of Gerontology: Series B |language=en |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=474–482 |doi=10.1093/geronb/gbz149 |issn=1079-5014 |pmc=7021446 |pmid=31738418}}</ref> Related to this is a growing academic interest in the topic of game accessibility, culminating in the development of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of modern tabletop games<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Heron |first1=Michael James |last2=Belford |first2=Pauline Helen |last3=Reid |first3=Hayley |last4=Crabb |first4=Michael |date=27 April 2018 |title=Meeple Centred Design: A Heuristic Toolkit for Evaluating the Accessibility of Tabletop Games |journal=The Computer Games Journal |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=97–114 |doi=10.1007/s40869-018-0057-8 |issn=2052-773X |doi-access=free|hdl=10059/2886 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and the extent to which they are playable for people with disabilities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Heron |first1=Michael James |last2=Belford |first2=Pauline Helen |last3=Reid |first3=Hayley |last4=Crabb |first4=Michael |date=21 April 2018 |title=Eighteen Months of Meeple Like Us: An Exploration into the State of Board Game Accessibility |url=http://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/27828635/Heron2018_Article_EighteenMonthsOfMeepleLikeUsAn.pdf |url-status=live |journal=The Computer Games Journal |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=75–95 |doi=10.1007/s40869-018-0056-9 |issn=2052-773X |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/27828635/Heron2018_Article_EighteenMonthsOfMeepleLikeUsAn.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |s2cid=5011817}}</ref>
Additionally, board games can be therapeutic. Bruce Halpenny, a games inventor, said when interviewed about his game, ''The Great Train Robbery'':<blockquote>With crime, you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player's imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble they take in the early stage of the game, there is a build-up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society because most jobs are boring and repetitive.<ref name="TRN1976">{{Cite news |date=December 1976 |title=Stealing the show |volume=2 |page=2 |work=Toy Retailing News |issue=4}}</ref></blockquote>
Playing games has been suggested as a viable addition to the traditional educational curriculum if the content is appropriate and the gameplay informs students on the curriculum content.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Harris |first=Christopher |date=n.d. |title=Meet the New School Board: Board Games Are Back – And They're Exactly What Your Curriculum Needs |url=http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ850549 |magazine=School Library Journal |volume=55 |issue=5 |pages=24–26 |issn=0362-8930 |access-date=23 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mewborne |first1=Michael |last2=Mitchell |first2=Jerry T. |date=3 April 2019 |title=Carcassonne: Using a Tabletop Game to Teach Geographic Concepts |journal=The Geography Teacher |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=57–67 |doi=10.1080/19338341.2019.1579108 |bibcode=2019GeTea..16...57M |issn=1933-8341 |s2cid=181375208}}</ref>
==Categories==
===Historical development===
Harold Murray's ''A History of Board Games Other Than Chess'' (1952)<ref name="classical-classification_murray_1952">{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Harold James Ruthven|author-link=H. J. R. Murray|title=A History of Board Games Other Than Chess|publisher=Oxford [USA], Clarendon Press, and Hassell Street Press|year=2021|isbn=978-1-015-00305-7|edition=Reprint|orig-date=1st Pub. 1952, Clarendon Press, Oxford}}</ref> has been called the first attempt to develop a "scheme for the classification of board games", in which he separated board games into five categories: "race", "war", "hunt", "alignment" / "configuration", and "mancala" games.<ref name="game-category_murray_1952">{{Cite web|title=SFE: Board Game|website=sf-encyclopedia.com|url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/board_game|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118122450/https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/board_game|archive-date=18 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> Robert Bell's ''Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations'' (1960)<ref name="classical-classification_bell_1960">{{Cite book|last=Bell|first=Robert Charles|author-link=Robert Charles Bell|title=Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1979|isbn=978-0-671-06030-5|edition=Revised|volume=I|orig-date=1st Pub. 1960, Oxford University Press, London}}</ref> similarly espoused a classification of board games, this time divided into four categories, "race", "war", "positional", and "mancala" games.<ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> In David Parlett's ''The Oxford History of Board Games'' (1999),<ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999">{{Cite book|first=David|last=Parlett|author-link=David Parlett|title=The Oxford History of Board Games|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-192-12998-7}}</ref> based on the work of Murray and Bell,<ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> he described a "classical" categorization of board games which consisted of four primary categories: "race", "space", "chase", and "displace" games.<ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999" /><ref name="game-categories_woods_2024_p15">{{Cite book|last=Woods|first=Stewart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgmjCHxSxvoC&q=history+of+board+games&pg=PP1|title=Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games|date=16 August 2012|isbn=978-0-7864-9065-3|page=15|publisher=McFarland}} [https://ia601907.us.archive.org/9/items/woods-2012-eurogames-p-15/Woods%20%282012%29%20Eurogames%20-%20p15.pdf Alt URL]</ref>{{rp|page=17}}
Modern board games have been classified in a variety of ways, a classification that can be based on the board game's mechanics, theme, age range, player number, and promotion. The diversity of board games means that some games belong to several categories.<ref name="edwards_fv">{{Cite thesis|last=Edwards|first=Jason R.|title=Saving Families, One Game at a Time |url=http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205071220/http://visionandvalues.org/docs/familymatters/Edwards_Jason.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref>{{rp|13}}
===Mechanics===
A board game's mechanics usually involve an assessment of a player or player/s achievements while adhering to a series of pre-established {{boardgloss#rule set|rules}}, i.e. {{boardgloss|gameplay}}, such as capturing opponents' pieces, calculation of a final score, or achieving a predefined goal. Board games have a range of rule complexity but also a range of strategic depth, both of which determine the ease of mastering the game, i.e., hard-to-master games like chess possess a relatively simple rule set but have great strategic depth.<ref name="pritchard_1994">{{Cite book|last=Pritchard|first=D.B.|title=The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants|publisher=Games & Puzzles Publications|year=1994|isbn=978-0-9524142-0-9|page=84|quote=Chess itself is a simple game to learn, but its resulting strategy is profound.|author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)}}</ref> Examples of categories based on a modern categorization of a board game's mechanics include:<ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Board game categorization by mechanics |- ! width=130px | Board game categories ! Description ! Examples ! width=50px | Ref |- | Alignment | A subcategory of space board games. In an alignment game, a player is required to position their tokens in an array of a prescribed length. Like space games, these games are often abstract. | Renju; Gomoku; Connect6; Nine men's morris; Tic-tac-toe | <ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | American-style | From the North American region, usually having an emphasis on theme; randomness, usually through dice; numerous ways to win; and direct player conflict. These board games are also called Ameritrash board games; however, this term is not necessarily a negative label. | ''Betrayal at House on the Hill''; ''Zombicide''; ''Twilight Imperium''; ''Arkham Horror''; ''Talisman'' | <ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/> |- | Auction | Use bidding, a competitive assigning of value to different items, resources, privileges, or game scenarios, as a mechanism by which players attempt to obtain valuable in-game assets or establish a favorable turn order. These board games are also called bidding board games. | Examples include: ''Biblios''; ''Condottiere''; ''El Grande''; ''For Sale''; ''Hit Z Road''; ''Hoity Toity''; ''The Estates''; ''High Society''; ''Irish Gauge''; ''Isle of Skye''; ''Medici''; ''Power Grid''; ''Skull''; ''Taj Mahal''; ''Ra'' | <ref name="auction-games_bombard-games_2023">{{cite web|last1=Games |first1=Bombard |title=Board Game Mechanics – Auctions & Bidding|website=Bombard Games (www.bombardgames.com)|date=14 February 2023|language=en|url=https://bombardgames.com/board-game-mechanics-auctions-bidding|access-date=30 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401211943/https://bombardgames.com/board-game-mechanics-auctions-bidding|archive-date=1 April 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auction_dice-breaker_2020">{{cite web|title=10 best auction board games you can bet on for a good time|website=Dice Breaker (www.dicebreaker.com|date=25 May 2020|first=Thomas|last=Wells|language=en|url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/mechanics/auction/best-games/best-auction-board-games|access-date=30 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716132639/https://www.dicebreaker.com/mechanics/auction/best-games/best-auction-board-games|archive-date=16 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/> |- | Area control | Have some form of map or board defining a space that players compete to dominate, usually through adding their own pieces to regions or areas or removing their opponents' pieces. | ''Small World''; ''Risk''; ''Nanty Narking''; ''Blood Rage''; ''Spirit Island''; ''Scythe''; even arguably ''Scrabble'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Bluffing | Involve convincing opponent players on the accuracy of a claim, which includes tricking opponent players into believing something incorrect. All bluffing board games revolve around an element of hidden information. | ''Blood on the Clocktower''; ''Coup''; ''The Resistance''; ''Sheriff of Nottingham''; ''Skull''; ''Shadows Over Camelot''; ''Enigma Beyond Code''; ''Bacchus' Banquet'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="bluffing-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Bluffing|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1023/bluffing|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212093435/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1023/bluffing|archive-date=12 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Campaign | Players follow a series of connected scenarios, where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next. | ''Charterstone''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Return to Dark Tower''; ''The Ungame'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Chase | Often have an asymmetrical layout, where players start the game with different sets of pieces and objectives, usually rolling one or more dice to move a corresponding number of spaces along a looping track of spaces, or a path with a start and finish. When players land on certain spaces, it triggers specific actions or offers the player certain gameplay options. These board games are also known as roll-and-move games. | Classical: Hnefatafl; Snakes and ladders; Hyena chase{{pb}} Modern: ''Cluedo''; ''Cranium''; ''Monopoly''; ''The Game of Life''; ''Formula D'' | <ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/><ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Chess variant | Displacement games that are variations upon the general chess concept. | Traditional: Shogi; Xiangqi; Janggi{{pb}} Modern: Chess960; Grand Chess; Hexagonal chess; Alice Chess | {{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} <!-- This category appears in no current list of game categories. The question needs to be asked whether just being a variant of Chess satisfies the requirement for a game category. --> |- | City building | Involve building and managing a city via planning decisions, in a way that is efficient, powerful, or lucrative. | ''7 Wonders''; ''The Capitals''; ''Suburbia''; ''Citadels''; ''Catan''; ''Everdell''; ''Life in Reterra''; ''Lisboa''; ''On Mars''; ''Puerto Rico''; ''{{ill|Underwater Cities (board game)|lt=Underwater Cities|de|Underwater Cities}}'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="city-building-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=City Building|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1029/city-building|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250107235705/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1029/city-building|archive-date=7 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Civilization building | Involve developing and managing a society of people, often from scratch, requiring the contemplation of long-term strategy, good resource management, and sometimes even conflict with opponents. | ''7 Wonders''; ''Anno 1800''; ''Civilization''; ''Eclipse''; ''Gaia''; ''Shogun''; ''Through The Ages''; ''Terra Mystica'' franchise games; ''Twilight Imperium'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="civilisation_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Civilization|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1015/civilization|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171824/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1015/civilization|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Collectible component | Involve collecting and trading certain game elements, usually cards and miniatures. These games are built around strategy and collection building, but also luck. These board games are also often called building board games. | ''Magic: The Gathering''; ''Yu-Gi-Oh''; ''Pokémon''; ''KeyForge'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="collectible-component-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Collectible Components|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1044/collectible-components|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216215532/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1044/collectible-components|archive-date=16 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Configuration | A sub-category of space games. However, as opposed to alignment games, the objective of players is to line up their pieces to complete predetermined array targets in a particular order. Like space games, these games are often abstract. | Lines of Action; Hexade; ''Entropy'' | <ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> |- | Connection | Often an abstract strategy game, in which players attempt to complete a specific type of connection with their pieces. This could involve forming a path between two or more endpoints, completing a closed loop, or a player connecting all of their pieces so they are adjacent to each other. | TwixT; Hex; Havannah | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Cooperative | The players work together to achieve a common goal rather than competing against each other. Either the players win the game by reaching a predetermined objective, or all players lose the game, often by not reaching the objective before a certain trigger event ends the game. These board games are also called non-competitive or co-op games. | Examples include: ''Max the Cat''; ''Caves and Claws''; ''Bambino Dino''; ''Endeavor: Deep Sea''; ''Forbidden Island'' franchise games; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Horrified''; ''Mountaineering''; ''Nemesis''; ''Nurturing Game''; ''Pandemic''; ''Spirit Island''; ''There's a Growly in the Garden''; ''The Ungame''; ''Robinson Crusoe''; ''Shadows over Camelot'' | <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.learningforlife.org/exploring/resources/99-720/x08.pdf|title=Cooperative Games|website=Learningforlife.org|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224235936/http://www.learningforlife.org/exploring/resources/99-720/x08.pdf|archive-date=24 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="cooperative-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{Cite web|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2023/cooperative-game|title=Cooperative Game {{pipe}} Board Game Mechanic {{pipe}} BoardGameGeek|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703030659/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2023/cooperative-game|archive-date=3 July 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="cooperative-games_children-therapy_toys">{{cite web|title=Cooperative and Non-Competitive Games|website=Child Therapy Toys (www.childtherapytoys.com)|date=19 October 2017|first=Gary|last=Yorke|language=en|url=https://www.childtherapytoys.com/blogs/news/cooperative-and-non-competitive-games|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330060606/https://www.childtherapytoys.com/blogs/news/cooperative-and-non-competitive-games|archive-date=30 March 2022|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Count and capture | Players use tokens in rows of designated positions to capture their opponent's pieces. They are often also called sowing or mancala games. | Examples include: Mancala; Wari; Oware; The Glass Bead Game | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Cross and circle | Race games with a board consisting of a circle divided into four equal portions by a cross inscribed inside it, like four spokes in a wheel. | Examples Cross and circle games that are also included: Yut; Ludo; ''Aggravation'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Deck-builder | Each player starts with their own identical deck of cards but alters it during play, with more powerful cards being added to the deck and less powerful ones being removed. | ''Aeon's End''; ''Black Box''; ''Clank!'' franchise games; ''Dominion (game)''; ''Dune: Imperium''; ''{{ill|Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle|de|Harry Potter: Kampf um Hogwarts}}''; ''Hero Realms''; ''Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game''; ''Mystic Vale''; ''Star Realms''; ''Undaunted: Normandy'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Deck construction | Players use different decks of cards to play, constructed before the game from a large pool of options, according to specific rules. This type of board game is also called a trading card board game. | ''Android: Netrunner''; ''Arkham Horror: The Card Game''; ''Disney Lorcana''; ''Keyforge''; ''Magic: The Gathering''; ''Marvel Champions''; ''Pokémon''; ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |- | Deduction | Players form conclusions based on what is occurring or has transpired based on available premises, such as provided clues either by the board game itself or by fellow players. These board games are also called Investigation games. Social deduction board games are a subcategory of deduction board games. | Examples include: ''Alchemists'', ''Bureau of Investigation: Investigations in Arkham & Elsewhere'', ''Clue''; ''Cryptid'', ''Decrypto'', ''Hanabi'', ''Kryptos'', ''Love Letter'', ''Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation'', ''Mastermind'', ''Scotland Yard''; ''Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'', ''Spectator Ops'', ''Werewolf''; ''Zendo'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="deduction_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Description|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1039/deduction|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217205453/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1039/deduction|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="deduction_tabletop-family_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=10 Great Deduction Board Games|website=The TableTop Family (www.thetabletopfamily.com)|date=23 August 2019 |language=en|url=https://thetabletopfamily.com/10-great-deduction-board-games|access-date=12 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112082655/https://thetabletopfamily.com/10-great-deduction-board-games|archive-date=12 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/> |- | Dexterity | Require accurate movements of the body in response to real-time game situations. These games are a particular form of physical board game where fine motor skills are more important than physical attributes such as strength or endurance, including flicking, balancing, or even throwing objects around. Dexterity board games test motor skills, reflexes, and coordination; and reward carefulness and punish clumsiness. These board games are also known as action board games. | ''Flick 'em Up''; ''Beasts of Balance''; ''Dungeon Fighter''; ''Flip Ships''; ''{{ill|Ghost Blitz (board game)|lt=Ghost Blitz|de|Geistesblitz (Spiel)}}''; ''Jenga''; ''Jungle Speed''; ''Klask''; ''{{ill|Paku Paku|de|Paku Paku}}''; ''Pitch Car''; ''Spot It!''; ''Tumblin' Dice''; ''What Next?'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="dexterity-games_changing-minds_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Dexterity Games|website=Changing Minds (www.changingminds.org)|language=en|url=http://changingminds.org/disciplines/game_design/types_game/games_dexterity.htm|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714221944/https://changingminds.org/disciplines/game_design/types_game/games_dexterity.htm|archive-date=14 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dexerity_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Action / Dexterity|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1032/action-dexterity|access-date=8 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171826/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1032/action-dexterity|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Displacement | The main objective is to capture the opponents' pieces. These board games are also often called elimination or war board games. | Chess; Checkers; Alquerque; Fanorona; Yoté; Surakarta | <ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/> |- | Drafting | Involve a mechanism where players are presented with a set of options, usually cards, from which they must pick one, thus choosing the best options from a pool, leaving the remainder for the next player to choose from. They combine strategy, quick decision-making, and outguessing opponent players. The drafting mechanism can be a small part of a game, to select an ability for use during a round, or the entire decision space for a game. | ''7 Wonders''; ''Blood Rage''; ''{{ill|Bunny Kingdom|de|Bunny Kingdom}}''; ''Citadels''; ''Exploding Kittens''; ''Sushi Go!''; ''Ticket to Ride''; ''{{ill|It's a Wonderful World (board game)|lt=It's a Wonderful World|fr|It's a Wonderful World (jeu de société)}}'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/>| <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Dungeon-crawler | Players take the roles of characters making their way through a location, often depicted by a map with a square grid or a page in a book, defeating enemies controlled by another player, a companion app, or the game system itself. | ''Descent''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' franchise games; ''HeroQuest''; ''Mansions of Madness''; ''Star Wars: Imperial Assault''; ''Mice and Mystics'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/>| <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Economic | Players manage resources and make smart decisions about how they spend or invest money. A player's strategy usually revolves around ensuring they have enough resources to achieve a strong financial position. Economic board games usually simulate a market in some way. These games are often also called Economic simulation games. The term economic board game is often used interchangeably with resource management board game. | Examples include: ''Ark Nova''; ''Brass'' franchise games; ''The Business Game''; ''Terra Mystica'' franchise games; ''Great Western Trail''; ''Catan''; ''Food Chain Magnate''; ''The Game of Life''; ''Monopoly''; ''Power Grid''; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''Through The Ages''; ''Twilight Imperium'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="economics_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Economic|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1021/economic|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217193903/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1021/economic|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Educational | Teach new ideas, concepts, topics, or understanding while playing. The board game's learning is based on a particular theme. While educational games exist for different age groups, they are usually designed for children. | ''The Magic Labyrinth''; ''Brain Quest''; ''Cashflow''; ''Evolution'' franchise games; ''Mariposas''; ''Wingspan'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="educational-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Educational|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1094/educational|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250108222450/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1094/educational|archive-date=8 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Engine-builder | Involves building an engine, something that takes your starting resources or actions and turns them into more resources, which often eventually accumulate scored points. | ''{{ill|Res Arcana|fr|Res Arcana}}''; ''Century''; ''Everdell''; ''Imagnarium''; ''Race for the Galaxy''; ''Splendor''; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''Wingspan'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Euro-style | Have a strategy focus, prioritising limited randomness over theme. These board games usually have competitive interactions between players through passive competition, rather than aggressive conflict, in contrast to the more thematic but chance-driven American-style board games. Euro-style board games are also called Eurogames or German-style board games due to the fact that many of the early games of this style were developed in Germany. | ''Agricola''; ''Catan''; ''Carcassonne''; ''Decatur''; ''Carson City''; ''Five tribes''; ''Le Havre''; ''Lords of Waterdeep''; ''Montana''; ''Paladins of the West Kingdom''; ''Power Grid''; ''Puerto Rico''; ''Stone Age''; ''Suburbia''; ''Takenoko''; ''Ticket to Ride'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Exploration | Have an unexplored map of tiles or cards, which the game encourages players to explore by flipping them and dealing with the consequences, either beneficial or detrimental. These board games are also often called Travel or 4x games. | ''Arkham Horror: The Card Game''; ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' franchise games; ''Eclipse''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''The Lost Expedition''; ''Lost Ruins of Arnak''; ''Robinson Crusoe''; ''Twilight Imperium'' | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="exploration-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Exploration|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1020/exploration|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217202803/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1020/exploration|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Fighting | Encourage players to engage game characters in close-quarter battles and hand-to-hand combat. They differ from Wargames in that the combat in Wargames exists as one part of a large-scale military simulation, while in Fighting games the focus is on the particular combat scenarios. | ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Scythe''; ''Spirit Island''; ''War of the Ring'' | <ref name="fighting_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Fighting|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1046/fighting|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126161618/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1046/fighting|archive-date=26 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Guessing | Involve a player, or players, guessing the answer to a question based on clues from another player. | ''Battleship''; ''Mysterium''; ''Pictionary'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Hidden movement | Feature one or more players who move across the board, unseen to the other players. | ''Black Sonata''; ''Captain Sonar''; ''City of the Great Machine''; ''Fury of Dracula''; ''Letters from Whitechapel''; ''Mind MGMT''; ''Star Wars Rebellion'' | <ref name="hidden-movement-games_more-than-meeples_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Best Hidden Movement Board Games|website=More than Meeples (www.morethanmeeples.com.au)|date=12 March 2024 |language=en|url=https://morethanmeeples.com.au/best-hidden-movement-board-games|access-date=31 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421081741/https://morethanmeeples.com.au/best-hidden-movement-board-games|archive-date=21 April 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Hidden role | A player, or players, has a hidden role within the group, where the rest of the players have to identify them, avoiding any influence or tricks used to deflect any suspicions that they have those roles. Sometimes called hidden traitor board games. | ''Mafia''; ''The Resistance'' franchise games; ''Werewolf'' franchise games; ''Secret Hitler''; ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' franchise games | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/> |- | Legacy | A sub-category of campaign board games, with players following a series of connected scenarios, where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next. However, in legacy board games, a player's choices and actions cause permanent, often physical, changes to the game and its components, such as applying stickers to the board or tearing up cards, thus providing a one-time experience. | ''Betrayal Legacy''; ''Charterstone''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar''; ''Pandemic Legacy''; Ticket to Ride: Legands of the West | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Math | Explicitly require players to use mathematical knowledge and concepts to achieve game objectives, thereby testing each player's number skills. These games combine mathematical skills, such as calculations, with regular game structures, such as sources of randomness. | ''Lost Cities''; ''Sentient''; ''The Shipwreck Arcana''; ''Turning Machine''; ''Prime Club''; ''{{ill|Qwixx|de|Qwixx}}''; ''Math Fluxx'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/> |- | Maze and labyrinth | Often require players to navigate a series of complex pathways that are located on the game board. This type of board game tests a player's spatial awareness and problem-solving skills, often while adding in design elements from other types of board games. | ''Burgle Bros''; ''RoboRally''; ''Labyrinth''; ''{{ill|Magic Maze|fr|Magic Maze}}''; ''Sub Terra''; ''Ricochet Robots''; ''The Magic Labyrinth'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="maze-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Maze|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1059/maze|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032105/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1059/maze|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Memory | Concerns memorizing certain facts, figures, and other information while testing a player's ability to recall sequences, locations, or specific items. | ''Codenames''; ''Confusion''; ''Cortex + Challenge''; ''Enigma: Beyond code''; ''Hanabi''; ''The Magic Labyrinth''; ''Memory''; ''That's not a hat''; ''''The Resistance'' franchise games''; ''Sideshow Swap''; ''Simon''; ''Wandering Towers''; ''Whitehall Mystery''; ''Witness'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="memory-game_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Memory|website=Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1045/memory|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250108231432/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1045/memory|archive-date=8 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Moral and spiritual development | Prioritise player moral and spiritual development above any technical process of establishing a winner and loser. | ''Transformation Game'';<ref name="transformation-game_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=The Transformation Game|website=Transformation Game Wworldwide (www.transformationgameworldwide.com)|first=Nancy|last=Jochim|language=en|url=https://transformationgameworldwide.com|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241214112053/https://transformationgameworldwide.com|archive-date=14 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Mansion of Happiness'';<ref name="mansion-of-hapiness_nyt_2012">{{cite web|title=Streams of Consciousness|website=The New York Times (www.nytimes.com)|date=10 August 2012|first=Dani|last=Shapiro|language=en|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/books/review/the-mansion-of-happiness-by-jill-lepore.html|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511035646/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/books/review/the-mansion-of-happiness-by-jill-lepore.html|archive-date=11 May 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mansion-of-hapiness_ny-historical_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=The Mansion of Happiness|website=The New York Historical (www.wams.nyhistory.org)|language=en|url=https://wams.nyhistory.org/expansions-and-inequalities/industry-and-immigration/the-mansion-of-happiness|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104001541/https://wams.nyhistory.org/expansions-and-inequalities/industry-and-immigration/the-mansion-of-happiness|archive-date=4 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mansion-of-hapiness_henry-ford_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Mansion of Happiness Gameboard, 1845-1880|website=The Henry Ford Museum (www.thehenryford.org)|language=en|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/27801|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104002213/https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/27801|archive-date=4 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="transformation-games_spririt-of-translformation_currrent(2025)">{{cite web|title=What is the Transformation Game?|website=Spirit of Transformation (www.spiritoftransformation.com)|language=en|url=https://www.spiritoftransformation.com/Whatisthegame.htm|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519042130/https://www.spiritoftransformation.com/Whatisthegame.htm|archive-date=19 May 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> or ''Psyche's Key''<ref name="psyche's-key_purple-pawn_2010">{{cite web|title=Psyche's Key, A Personal Journey of Discovery|website=Purple Pawn (www.purplepawn.com)|date=21 February 2010|language=en|url=http://www.purplepawn.com/2010/02/psyches-key-a-personal-journey-of-discovery|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912091154/http://www.purplepawn.com/2010/02/psyches-key-a-personal-journey-of-discovery|archive-date=12 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="psyche's-key_craven-herald_2010">{{cite web|title=Addingham woman invents self-help board game|website=(www.cravenherald.co.uk)|date=21 February 2010|language=en|url=https://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/5013457.addingham-woman-invents-self-help-board-game|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906170645/https://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/5013457.addingham-woman-invents-self-help-board-game|archive-date=6 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> | {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} |- | Negotiation | Players must persuade fellow players to make deals and alliances or even offer bribes to get ahead in the game. The only exceptions to this are often Euro games, which have stringent resource management rules. | ''Ca$h' n Guns''; ''Cosmic Encounter''; ''Diplomacy''; ''Hegemony''; ''The Resistance'' franchise games; ''Rising Sun''; ''Sheriff of Nottingham''; ''Twilight Imperium''; ''Paydirt''; ''Pax'' franchise games | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="negociation-game_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Negotiation|website=Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1026/negotiation|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250108232240/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1026/negotiation|archive-date=8 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Number | Players are required to use or manipulate numbers to achieve the game's objectives. | {{ill|That's Pretty Clever! (board game)|lt=''That's Pretty Clever!'' franchise games|de|Ganz schön clever}}; ''Arboretum''; ''Take 5''; ''The Shipwreck Arcana'' | <ref name="number-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Number|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1098/number|access-date=17 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218124503/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1098/number|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Paper-and-pencil | Can be played solely with writing implements, usually without erasing. They may be played to pass the time, as icebreakers, or for brain training. | Dots and boxes; Hangman; MASH; Paper soccer; Spellbinder; Sprouts; Tic-tac-toe | <ref>{{cite web|title=Fun Pen and Paper Games to Cure Boredom|website=What Do We Do All Day (www.whatdowedoallday.com)|date=18 February 2020|url=https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/pen-and-paper-games|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250206021055/https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/pen-and-paper-games|archive-date=6 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Party | Encourage social interaction. They are designed for larger groups of players with the aim of fostering social interaction amongst players, thus combining humour, creativity, and social interaction. | Classic: Charades; ''Pictionary''{{pb}} Modern: ''Blood on the Clocktower''; ''Codenames''; ''Concept''; ''Dixit''; ''Decrypto''; ''Just One''; ''Mysterium''; ''The Resistance'' franchise games; ''Secret Hitler''; ''Snake Oil''; ''Telestrations''; ''Time's Up''; ''Werewolf'' franchise games | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="party-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Party Game|website=Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1030/party-game|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101232833/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1030/party-game|archive-date=1 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Physical | Involve physical challenges, and fall into two sub-categories: ;Dexterity board games : Those focusing on fine motor skills of a player's fingers, including flicking, balancing, or even throwing objects around. ;Physical skill board games : Those focusing on gross motor skills by utilising a player's whole body movement. | ''Camp Granada''; ''Flick 'em Up''; ''Beasts of Balance''; ''Dungeon Fighter''; ''Flip Ships''; ''{{ill|Ghost Blitz (board game)|lt=Ghost Blitz|de|Geistesblitz (Spiel)}}''; ''Jenga''; ''Jungle Speed''; ''Klask''; ''{{ill|Paku Paku|de|Paku Paku}}''; ''Pitch Car''; ''Spot It!''; ''Tumblin' Dice''; ''What Next?'' | <ref name="dexterity-games_changing-minds_current(2025)"/> |- | Physical skill | Involve challenges involving gross motor skills, through assigning whole body movement tasks to players. | ''Camp Granada'' | {{citation needed|date=January 2025}} |- | Position | The object is not to capture, but to win by leaving the opponent player unable to make a move. | Kōnane; Mū tōrere; L game | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Push-your-luck | Invite you to take ever bigger risks to achieve increasingly valuable rewards against the risk of significant loss. These board games are also called press-your-luck board games. | ''Biblios''; ''Formula D''; ''The Captain is Dead: Dangerous Planet''; ''King of Tokyo''; ''The Quacks of Quedlinburg''; ''Port Royale''; ''Deep Sea Adventure''; ''{{ill|Welcome to the Dungeon (board game)|lt=Welcome to the Dungeon|de|Welcome to the Dungeon}}'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Puzzle | Based on the solving of a puzzle or mystery, and are commonly single-player games. | Classic: Peg solitaire; Sudoku{{pb}} Modern: ''Azul''; ''Bärenpark''; ''Blokus''; ''Exit: The Game''; ''Patchwork''; ''Ubongo''; ''Unlock!'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="puzzle-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Puzzle|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1028/puzzle|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218081917/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1028/puzzle|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Race | Each player has the goal of being the player to finish first, either by moving all their pieces to the final destination or completing an objective, e.g., the first player to collect five gems. This also includes games where the objective is to be the first to reach a checkpoint by navigation or steering around obstacles, usually by having greater speed or control than your opponents. The basic requirement is that race mechanics be an operative mechanism; however, racing is not required to be part of the board game's theme. | Classic: Agon; Pachisi; Backgammon; Chaupar; Chinese checkers; The bottle game; Dogs and jackals; Five-field kono; Grasshopper; Halma; Hyena chase; ''Kerala''; Liubo; Ludo; Ludus duodecim scriptorum; Mehen; Nyout; Pachisi; Patolli; Royal Game of Ur; Salta; ''Saturankam''; Senet; ''T'shu-p'u''; Chowka bhara; ''Kilkenny Cats''; Game of the goose; Zohn ahl{{pb}} Modern: ''Camel Up''; ''Downforce and Rallyman: GT''; ''{{ill|Flamme Rouge (board game)|lt=Flamme Rouge|it|Flamme rouge}}''; ''Formula D''; ''Istanbul''; ''Long Shot: The Dice Game''; ''Montana''; ''Heat: Pedal to the Metal''; ''The Quest for El Dorado''; ''Snow Tails''; ''Thunder Road'' franchise games | <ref name="cyningstan_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Race Games|website=Cyningstan (www.cyningstan.com)|language=en|url=http://www.cyningstan.com/games/521/race-games|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241205151605/http://www.cyningstan.com/games/521/race-games|archive-date=5 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024">{{cite web|title=Classification of Games|website=The Big Game Hunter (www.thebiggamehunter.com)|first=Bruce|last=Whitehill|date=2 February 2011 |language=en|url=https://thebiggamehunter.com/classification-of-games|access-date=31 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207082259/https://thebiggamehunter.com/classification-of-games|archive-date=7 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="race-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Race|website=Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2876/race|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217024556/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2876/race|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="racing-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Racing|website=BoardGame Arena (www.boardgamearena.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1031/racing|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114031954/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1031/racing|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Role-playing | Players assume a fictional character identity to participate in the game and its narrative. These games combine the character development and narrative of classic role-playing games with the mechanics of a board game. | ''Arcadia Quest''; ''Dungeons & Dragons''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Mage Knight''; ''Mice and Mystics''; ''Pathfinder''; ''Shadowrun''; ''Sword and Sorcery''; ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Real-time | Have time limitations, usually playing against a timer, necessitating quick decision-making under pressure. In some real-time games, players take their turns simultaneously, creating a fast-paced, chaotic environment. | ''Captain Sonar''; ''Galaxy Trucker''; ''Pendulum''; ''Space Alert''; ''Speed chess''; ''XCOM: The Board Game'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="real-time-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Real-time|website=Bord Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1037/real-time|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105010916/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1037/real-time|archive-date=5 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Resource management | The aim is to achieve objectives and gain an advantage through players acquiring, using, and managing a set of resources, which can be anything from physical materials, currency, and points to abstract concepts like time or influence. | ''Everdell''; ''Imperial Settlers''; ''Concordia''; ''Scythe'' | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="resource-management-games_mahtgichan-games_2024">{{cite web|title=Incorporating Resource Management Mechanics|website=The Creative Workshop (www.mahtgiciangames.com)|date=19 January 2024|language=en|url=https://mahtgiciangames.com/blogs/the-creative-workshop-game-design-blueprints/incorporating-resource-management-mechanics?srsltid=AfmBOop45_zqVF8TUXRJnv6QpH3gD4vWkdMsMbjKQt7Ph8pCybRHFLJt|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113032358/https://mahtgiciangames.com/blogs/the-creative-workshop-game-design-blueprints/incorporating-resource-management-mechanics?srsltid=AfmBOop45_zqVF8TUXRJnv6QpH3gD4vWkdMsMbjKQt7Ph8pCybRHFLJt|archive-date=13 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="resource-management-games_cbr_2022">{{cite web|title=10 Best Resource Management Tabletop Games|website=Comic Book Resources (www.cbr.com)|date=20 December 2022|first=Rebekah|last=Krum|language=en|url=https://www.cbr.com/best-resource-management-tabletop-games/|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101142939/https://www.cbr.com/best-resource-management-tabletop-games|archive-date=1 January 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=17 Types of Board Games Explained!|website=Gameology (www.gameology.com.au)|date=3 October 2020|language=en|url=https://www.gameology.com.au/blogs/news/types-of-board-games-explained?srsltid=AfmBOorw2dGN5GNgBkkbj6qI3JPU3rRG-1zkcsP9HN0IYmZacrkfNRDj|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250206034019/https://www.gameology.com.au/blogs/news/types-of-board-games-explained|archive-date=6 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Roll-and-write | Players roll dice and decide how to use the outcome, writing it into a personal scoring sheet. Each decision impacts a player's options for the rest of the game, so even in games where everyone uses the same dice, slightly different choices at the start can lead to very different results. Some games replace dice rolls with card exposure or the writing with miniature-based roll-and-build. | ''Bargain Basement Bathysphere''; ''Corinth''; ''{{ill|Railroad Ink|de|Railroad Ink}}''; ''Twilight Imperium''; {{ill|That's Pretty Clever! (board game)|lt=''That's Pretty Clever!'' franchise games|de|Ganz schön clever}}; ''Yahtzee'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Running-fight | Combine the movement of race games to eliminate opponent player pieces, like in chess or checkers. | Examples of Running-fight games that are also board games include: ''Bul'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Share-buying | Players buy stakes in each other's positions. These board games are typically longer economic-management games. | ''Acquire'' or ''Panamax'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |- | Social deduction | One or more players have a secret that the rest of the players need to figure out. Often, players are secretly assigned roles known only to them and must achieve their own objectives, commonly either establishing the odd one out or hiding the fact that they are the odd one out. These board games generally involve deceit, bluffing, and accusations. | ''Blood on the Clocktower''; ''Werewolf'' franchise games; ''The Resistance''; ''Secret Hitler''; ''Unfathomable'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |- | Space | The objective is for players to line up their pieces to complete predetermined array targets. Space board games fall into one of the following sub-categories: ;Alignment board games : The goal of an alignment board game is to create a line of tokens of a prescribed length. ;Configuration board games : The goal of a configuration board game is to create a line of tokens of a prescribed length in a particular order.
| ''Connect6''; ''Entropy''; Gomoku; Hexade; Lines of Action; Nine men's morris; Noughts and crosses; Renju; Tic-tac-toe | <ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/> |- | Storytelling | There is a focus on narrative and description that is directed or fully created by the players. This can be an overarching story lasting the whole game, or across a campaign of multiple sessions, read from pre-written passages, or a sequence of vignettes tasking players with inventing and describing something. Story-telling board games often test a player's creativity, improvisation, and sometimes acting skills. | Examples of story-telling games that are also board games include: ''Betrayal at House on the Hill''; ''Dixit''; ''Fog of Love''; ''The King's Dilemma''; ''Once Upon a Time''; ''Tales of the Arabian Nights'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |- | Stacking | Players physically stacking and balancing game pieces. | Examples of stacking games that are also board games include: ''Boom Blast Stix''; ''Bamboleo''; ''{{ill|Paku Paku|de|Paku Paku}}''; ''Animal Upon Animal''; ''Junk Art''; ''Jenga''; ''Beasts of Balance''; Lasca; ''Meeple Circus''; ''Riff Raff''; ''Rhino Hero''; ''DVONN'' | <ref name="stacking_board-game-quest_2018">{{cite web|title=Top 10 Stacking Board Games|website=Board Game Quest (www.boardgamequest.com)|date=19 October 2018|first=Tony|last=Mastrangeli|language=en|url=https://www.boardgamequest.com/top-10-stacking-board-games|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415193726/https://www.boardgamequest.com/top-10-stacking-board-games|archive-date=15 April 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Territory building | Players establish or gain control over a specific area. These games often use area majority mechanics, also known as influence or enclosure mechanics, where areas are created as the game progresses. | ''The Castles of Burgundy''; ''Faust''; ''Terra Mystica'' franchise games; Go; Reversi; ''Risk''; ''Scythe''; ''Spirit Island''; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''War of the Ring'' | <ref name="territory-building-games-bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Territory building|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1086/territory-building|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171822/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1086/territory-building|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Trivia | Test a player's ability to recall trivia facts. Many are based on a simple design that revolves around a deck of cards with questions. | ''Articulate!''; ''Blockbuster: The Game''; ''Fuana''; ''Hipster''; ''Half-Truth''; ''Linkee!''; ''{{ill|Smart10|fi|Smart10}}''; ''''Timeline'' franchise games''; ''Trivial Pursuit''; ''Wits and Wagers'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Types of Board Games|website=Hero Time University|date=18 June 2023 |language=en|url=https://herotime1.com/design/types-of-board-games|access-date=30 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230064713/https://herotime1.com/design/types-of-board-games|archive-date=30 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="trivia-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Trivia|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1027/trivia|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216222203/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1027/trivia|archive-date=16 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Unequal forces | Any game whose core mechanics involve one player who is playing against all the other players right from the start, or at least changes their allegiance, usually pledging it to the dark side. These board games are also known as hunt or one vs many board games. | ''Betrayal at House on the Hill''; ''fox and geese''; ''Fury of Dracula''; ''Not Alone''; ''Shadows Over Camelot''; Tablut | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |- | Word | Involve the competitive use of language, testing each player's vocabulary, creative thinking skills, spelling, or ability to quickly come up with words, phrases, or sentences. | ''Anagrams''; ''Boggle''; ''So Clover!''; ''Codenames''; ''Decrypto''; ''Bananagrams''; ''Just One''; ''Paperback''; ''Scrabble'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="word-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Word Game|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1025/word-game|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217214756/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1025/word-game|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |- | Worker-placement | Actions are taken by assigning worker tokens, from a player's allocated allotment, on designated game board spaces, which trigger specific actions, like collecting resources or completing tasks. Such board games are more commonly Euro-style board games, which concentrate on player interaction. Actions one player has taken often can not be taken by or come with a cost for other players. | ''Agricola''; ''Charterstone''; ''Caverna''; ''Caylus''; ''Dune: Imperium''; ''Everdell''; ''A Feast for Odin''; ''Keyflower''; ''Lords of Waterdeep''; ''Ora et Labora''; ''Stone Age''; ''Tōkaidō''; ''Village'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |- | Wargame | Strategy-based board games with a war theme. Their mechanics are also closely tied to simulate battles, either fictional or historical, within differing settings, e.g., Napoleonic Wars, World War II, or even Mars. Players pit armies against each other, represented by collections of miniatures or tokens on a map, with a grid or actual measured distances for movement. Players are required to eliminate the opponent's figures or achieve objectives to win, with combat usually dictated by dice rolls or card play. This type of game has three subcategories: ;Tactical : Tactical wargame board games depict a skirmish, battle, or series of battles, using smaller-scale units and maps that depict a battleground that is a few miles or less in size. ;Operational : Operational wargame board games cover a broader scope of military actions, greater than single battles. These may cover an entire smaller war, or a series of operations, or even a campaign within a greater war. ;Strategic : Strategic wargame board games usually recreate a major war on a large scale. Typically, units in such a game will be corps or army level; however, in the monster wargame, divisions and even smaller units can be depicted.
| Examples include: ''Axis & Allies''; ''Cry Havoc''; ''Dune: Imperium''; ''Inis'', ''Kings of War''; ''Memoir '44''; ''Risk''; ''Root''; ''Star Wars: Armada''; ''Scythe''; ''Twilight Imperium''; ''Undaunted: Normandy''; ''Warhammer'' | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021"/><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="war_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Wargame|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1019/wargame|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217204338/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1019/wargame|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="resource-management-games_gameology_current(2025)"/> |}
===Theme===
Parlett also distinguishes between abstract and thematic games, the latter having a specific genre or frame narrative, for example, regular chess versus Star Wars-themed chess.<ref name="game-category_murray_1952"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> The board games often have themes that emulate concepts in real-life situations or fictional scenarios, but can also have no evident theme.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campi |first=Assunta |chapter=Late Antiquity and Middle Ages in Calore River Middle Valley |date=2015-09-03 |title=Proceedings of the 4th Electronic International Interdisciplinary Conference |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.18638/eiic.2015.4.1.484 |publisher=Publishing Society |volume=4 |pages=163–167 |doi=10.18638/eiic.2015.4.1.484|isbn=978-80-554-1090-6 }}</ref>
Such games have come under criticism, usually when trending thematic concepts, such as those based on popular television show licenses, have been used to supplement deficiencies in the game mechanics. When discussing this practice, Edwards wrote, "A bad game, however, remains a bad game even if it has been themed to a favorite television show."<ref name="edwards_fv"/>{{rp|11}} Parlett went so far as to describe these promotional and television spin-off games as being "of an essentially trivial, ephemeral, mind-numbing, and ultimately soul-destroying degree of worthlessness".<ref name="classical-classification_parlett_1999"/>{{rp|7}}
The prominent themes found in board games of the Golden Era included: travel, sports, courtship, racism, city life, war, education and capitalist enterprise".<ref name="golden-era_hofer_2003">{{cite book|title=The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board and Table Games|via=Google Books|date=1 March 2003|first=Margaret|last=Hofer|language=en|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icYtGRUZrZUC|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114024717/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Games_we_Played/icYtGRUZrZUC?hl=en|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-56898-397-4}}</ref> Common modern thematic game categories include:
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Thematic categorization of board games |- ! Board game genres ! Description ! Examples ! Ref |-
| Adventure | An adventure-themed board game has themes of heroism, exploration, and puzzle-solving, often involving the game characters in quests. The storylines for these types of games often make them fantasy board games. | ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Nemesis''; ''Clank!'' franchise games; ''Arkham Horror: The Card Game'' | <ref name="adventure_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Adventure|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1022/adventure|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217185529/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1013/farming|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Abstract strategy | An abstract strategy game is a game where player decisions, rather than random elements, determine the outcome. These games are combinatorial, meaning they provide perfect information rather than hidden or imperfect information, and rely on neither physical dexterity nor non-deterministic elements like shuffled cards or dice rolls during gameplay. Nearly all abstract strategy games are designed for two players or teams taking a finite number of alternating turns. Most games in this category are themeless or have minimal themes and typically lack narrative elements. | Examples of abstract strategy games that are also board games include:<ul>Classical: Chess; Checkers; Go; Reversi; Tafl games{{pb}} Modern: ''Abalone''; ''Arimaa''; ''Blokus''; ''Dameo''; All games in the ''GIPF Project'' series; ''Hive''; ''Onitama''; ''Pylos''; ''Quarto''; ''Quoridor''; ''Santorini''; ''Stratego''; ''Tak''; ''Tigris and Euphrates''; ''YINSH'' </ul> | <ref name="gamy-types_dice-breaker_2021">{{cite web|title=Board game types explained: a beginner's guide to tabletop gaming terms|website=Dice Breaker (www.dicebreaker.com)|date=25 June 2021|first=Simon|last=Castle|language=en|url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/board-game/how-to/board-game-types-explained|access-date=30 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230140816/https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/board-game/how-to/board-game-types-explained|archive-date=30 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_games-radar_2024">{{cite web|title=Types of board games, explained|website=Games Radar (www.gamesradar.com)|date=21 September 2024|first=Benjamin|last=Abbott|language=en|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/tabletop-gaming/types-of-board-games|access-date=21 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230064243/https://www.gamesradar.com/tabletop-gaming/types-of-board-games|archive-date=30 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024">{{cite web|title=Different types of board games|website=Board Games Land (www.boardgamesland.com)|date=22 October 2024|language=en|url=https://boardgamesland.com/different-types-of-board-games|access-date=31 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910213932/https://boardgamesland.com/different-types-of-board-games|archive-date=10 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="abstract-strategy-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Abstract Strategy|website=Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1009/abstract-strategy|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218114312/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1009/abstract-strategy|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Animal | Animal-themed games involve animals as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to attend to their management or control. Players can even be required to take on the role of animals in the game. | ''Ark Nova''; ''Great Western Trail''; ''Root''; ''Wingspan''; ''Everdell'' | <ref name="animal-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Animals|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1089/animals|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114031906/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1089/animals|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Arabian | Arabian-themed board games are generally fantasy or adventure games that are set in, or inspired by, locations on the Arabian Peninsula of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, or North/East Africa, including themes and imagery such as deserts, palaces, camels, jewels, and oases, etc. | ''Five Tribes''; ''Targui''; ''Camel Up''; ''Wayfarers of the South Tigris''; ''Through the Desert'' | <ref name="arbian_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Arabian|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1052/arabian|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171825/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1052/arabian|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Environmental | Environmental-themed games have themes and storylines regarding environmental conservation and management. | ''Pandemic Legacy''; ''Ark Nova''; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''Spirit Island''; ''Barrage''; ''Cascadia''; ''Endeavor: Deep Sea'' | <ref name="environmental_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Environmental|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1084/environmental|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217195924/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1084/environmental|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Civil War | Civil war-themed board games have storylines concerning a violent battle for government control between two more groups from the same country. The majority of Civil War games are also categorized as wargame board games. | ''Star Wars: Rebellion''; ''Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan''; ''Fire in the Lake''; ''Pax'' franchise games; ''Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!''; ''Resist!'' | <ref name="civil-war-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Civil War|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1102/civil-war|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217203548/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1102/civil-war|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Climbing | A climbing-themed board game is one thematically related to mountaineering or scaling a similarly steep surface, including a wall. | ''K2''; ''Mountaineering''; ''Climb!''; ''Summit''; ''Mountaineers'' | <ref name="climbing-games_climbing_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=5 Climbing Board Games|website=Climbing (www.climbing.com)|date=March 2021 |language=en|url=https://www.climbing.com/news/5-climbing-board-games|access-date=22 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522202906/https://www.climbing.com/news/5-climbing-board-games|archive-date=22 May 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Fantasy | A fantasy-themed board game is one whose themes and scenarios exist in a fictional world, where magic and other supernatural forms are a primary element of the plot, theme, or setting. | Fantasy games include: ''Clank!'' franchise games; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Shadows Over Camelot''; ''Spirit Island''; ''War of the Ring'' | <ref name="fantasy-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Fantasy|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1010/fantasy|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217193611/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1010/fantasy|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Farming | A farming-themed game, usually a turn-based game revolving around building farms, growing crops, and raising livestock. | ''Agricola''; ''Caverna''; ''A Feast for Odin''; ''Puerto Rico''; ''Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar''; ''Viticulture'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="farming_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Farming|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1013/farming|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217185529/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1013/farming|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Flight | Flight-themed board games have themes concerned with mechanical flight, including planes, helicopters, and gliders, etc. | ''Sky Team''; ''Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game''; ''Pan Am''; ''The Manhattan Project''; ''Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition''; ''Airlines Europe'' | <ref name="flight-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Aviation / Flight|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2650/aviation-flight|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032031/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2650/aviation-flight|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Industry and manufacturing | Industry / manufacturing-themed games encourage players to build, manage, or operate tools and machinery to manufacture raw materials into goods and products. Many industry / manufacturing-themed games are economic games. | ''Brass'' franchise games; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''A Feast for Odin''; ''Barrage''; ''Food Chain Magnate'' | <ref name="Industry-Manufacturing-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Industry-Manufacturing|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1088/industry-manufacturing|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032046/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1088/industry-manufacturing|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Historical simulation | A historical simulation board game is a game that attempts to create a realistic model of a historical event, battle, or encounter. The game uses rules and other ludic elements to construct meaning about the event, and players can use these elements to interpret the game in specific ways. Common periods of history which have provided themes for board games include:<ul> <li>General<ref name="history-simulation_play-the-past_2012">{{cite web|title=Historical Simulations as Problem Spaces: Some Guidelines for Criticism|website=Play the Past (www.playthepast.org)|date=21 March 2012|first=Jeremiah|last=McCall|language=en|url=https://www.playthepast.org/?p=2594|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130155610/http://www.playthepast.org/?p=2594|archive-date=30 January 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>Before 4000 BC Prehistoric<ref name="prehistoric-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Prehistoric|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1036/prehistoric|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114125431/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1036/prehistoric|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>3000 BC–476 Ancient<ref name="ancient-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Ancient|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1050/ancient|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114094140/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1050/ancient|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>476–1492 Medieval<ref name="medieval-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Medieval|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1035/medieval|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032057/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1035/medieval|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1380–1590 Renaissance<ref name="renaissance-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Renaissance|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1070/renaissance|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114094058/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1070/renaissance|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1500–1690 Pike and Shot<ref name="16-17th-century-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Pike and Shot|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2725/pike-and-shot|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114094204/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2725/pike-and-shot|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1690–1789 Age of Reason<ref name="age-of-reason-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Age of Reason|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2726/age-of-reason|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171824/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2726/age-of-reason|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1600–1800 American Indian Wars<ref name="us-indian-wars_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=American Indian Wars|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1108/american-indian-wars|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032054/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1108/american-indian-wars|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1775–1783 American Revolutionary War<ref name="us-revolutionary-war_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=American Revolutionary War|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1075/american-revolutionary-war|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171823/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1075/american-revolutionary-war|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1789–1815 Napoleonic<ref name="napoleonic-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Napoleonic|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1051/napoleonic|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114115000/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1051/napoleonic|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1815–1914 Post-Napoleonic<ref name="post-napoleonic-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Post-Napoleonic|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2710/post-napoleonic|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114094044/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2710/post-napoleonic|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1861–1865 American Civil War<ref name="us-civil-war_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title= American Civil War|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1075/american-revolutionary-war|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171823/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1075/american-revolutionary-war|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1850–1900 American Old West<ref name="us-west_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=American West|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1055/american-west|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114121414/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1055/american-west|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1914–1918 World War I<ref name="ww1-bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=World War I|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1065/world-war-i|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114121517/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1065/world-war-i|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1939–1945 World War II<ref name="ww2_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=World War II|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1049/world-war-ii|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217221414/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1049/world-war-ii|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1945–present Modern warfare<ref name="modern-warfare_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Modern Warfare|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1069/modern-warfare|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115023010/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1069/modern-warfare|archive-date=15 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><li> 1945–1975 Vietnam Wars<ref name="vietnam-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Vietnam War|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1109/vietnam-war|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114122328/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1109/vietnam-war|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>1950–1953 Korean War<ref name="korean-war-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Korean War|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1091/korean-war|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114094213/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1091/korean-war|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> </ul> | General: ''Through The Ages'' or ''History of the World''{{pb}} Before 4000 BC Prehistoric: ''Dominant Species''; ''Stone Age''; ''Paleo''; ''Endless Winter: Paleoamericans''; ''Evolution'' franchise games, or ''Oceans''{{pb}} 3000 BC–476 Ancient: ''7 Wonders Duel''; ''''Concordia'' franchise games''; ''Lost Ruins of Arnak''; ''Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar''; ''Teotihuacan: City of Gods''{{pb}} 476–1492 Medieval: ''The Castles of Burgundy''; ''A Feast for Odin''; ''Orléans''; ''The Quacks of Quedlinburg''; ''Paladins of the West Kingdom''; ''El Grande''{{pb}} 1380–1590 Renaissance: ''Azul''; ''El Grande''; ''Splendor''; ''Keyflower''; ''Lorenzo il Magnifico''; ''Rajas of the Ganges''{{pb}} 1500–1690 Pike and Shot: ''Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan''; ''Merchants & Marauders''; ''Here I Stand''; ''Pax Renaissance''; ''Wallenstein''{{pb}} 1690–1789 Age of Reason: ''Brass'' franchise games; ''Rococo''; ''Maria''; ''Newton''; ''Saint Petersburg''; ''Imperial Struggle''{{pb}} 1600–1800 American Indian Wars: ''A Few Acres of Snow''; ''Wilderness War''; ''Wendake''; ''{{ill|1812: The Invasion of Canada|de|1812: Der zweite amerikanische Unabhängigkeitskrieg}}''; ''Navajo Wars''; ''Wooden Ships and Iron Men''{{pb}} 1775–1783 American Revolutionary War: ''Imperial Struggle''; ''1775: Rebellion''; ''Washington's War''; ''Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection''; ''Wooden Ships and Iron Men''; ''{{ill|Sails of Glory|it|Sails of Glory}}''{{pb}} 1789–1815 Napoleonic: ''Commands & Colors: Napoleonics''; ''Napoleon's Triumph''; ''{{ill|1812: The Invasion of Canada|de|1812: Der zweite amerikanische Unabhängigkeitskrieg}}'', or ''Manoeuvre''{{pb}} 1815–1914 Post-Napoleonic: ''Brass'' franchise games; ''Pax Pamir''; ''Obsession''; ''Trickerion: Legends of Illusion''; ''Carnegie''{{pb}} 1861–1865 American Civil War: ''Freedom: The Underground Railroad''; ''Battle Cry''; ''For the People''; ''The Civil War 1861-1865''; ''A House Divided''{{pb}} 1850–1900 American Old West: ''Great Western Trail''; ''Western Legends''; ''Lewis & Clark: The Expedition''; ''Boonlake''; ''Colt Express''{{pb}} 1914–1918 World War I: ''Memoir '44''; ''Paths of Glory''; ''The Grizzled''; ''Wings of War: Famous Aces''; ''Quartermaster General: 1914''; ''Wings of War: First World War Series''{{pb}} 1939–1945 World War II: ''Axis & Allies''; ''Undaunted: Normandy''; ''Memoir '44''; ''Combat Commander: Europe''; ''Air, Land, & Sea''; ''Blitzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 Minutes''; ''Black Orchestra''{{pb}} Modern Warfare: ''Twilight Struggle''; ''This War of Mine: The Board Game''; ''Captain Sonar''; ''Fire in the Lake''; ''Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001–?''; ''COIN'' franchise games{{pb}} 1945–1975 Vietnam Wars: ''Downtown: Air War Over Hanoi, 1965-1972''; ''Fields of Fire'' franchise games; ''Fire in the Lake''; ''Phantom Leader''; ''Vietnam 1965-1975''{{pb}} 1950–1953 Korean War: ''Fields of Fire'' franchise games; ''The Korean War: June 1950-May 1951''; ''Korea: The Forgotten War''; ''Flight Leader''; ''The Speed of Heat'' |-
| Horror | A horror-themed game contains themes and imagery depicting morbid topics that are associated with fear, terror, or dread, often also including supernatural elements. | Examples of horror games that are also board game include: ''Arkham Horror''; ''AuZtralia''; ''Betrayal at House on the Hill''; ''Cthulhu: Death May Die''; ''Dead Man's Cabal''; ''Dead of Winter''; ''Eldritch Horror''; ''Horrified''; ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Slaughterhouse''; ''Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game''; ''Mansions of Madness''; ''Mysterium''; ''Nyctophobia''; ''Shadow Hunters''; ''''The Thing'' franchise games''; ''Werewolf'' franchise games; ''Unmatched: Cobble and Fog''; ''Unfathomable''; ''Zombicide'' | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Arkham Horror's 3rd Edition Gives the Game a Dramatic and Awesome Overhaul - Gen Con 2018|date=3 August 2018|website=IGN (www.ign.com)|language=en|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/08/03/arkham-horrors-3rd-edition-gives-the-game-a-dramatic-and-awesome-overhaul-gen-con-2018|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121013402/https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/08/03/arkham-horrors-3rd-edition-gives-the-game-a-dramatic-and-awesome-overhaul-gen-con-2018|archive-date=21 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=20 December 2019|title=The Best Horror and Zombie Board Games|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-best-horror-and-zombie-board-games|website=IGN (www.ign.com)|language=en|access-date=28 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228062342/https://www.ign.com/articles/best-horror-board-games|archive-date=28 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="horror_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Horror|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1024/horror|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171820/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1024/horror|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="horror_meehan(dice-breaker)_2023">{{Cite news|title=Best horror board games|first=Alex|last=Meehan|date=26 October 2023|language=en|page=|website=Dice Breaker (www.dicebreaker.com)|url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/themes/horror/best-games/best-horror-board-games|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240721092451/https://www.dicebreaker.com/themes/horror/best-games/best-horror-board-games|archive-date=21 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Mafia | Mafia-themed board games have themes, narratives, or scenarios related to organized criminal groups. | ''The Godfather: Corleone's Empire''; ''Ca$h 'n Guns''; ''Scarface''; ''Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem''; ''La Cosa Nostra'' | <ref name="mafia-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Mafia|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1033/mafia|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032055/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1033/mafia|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Medical | Medical-themed board games often can have elements of surgery, cures, recovery/recuperation/physical therapy, psychiatry, pharmaceutical prescription, and other medicine-related matters. | ''Pandemic'' franchise games or ''Unconscious Mind'' | <ref name="medical-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Medical|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2145/medical|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114031900/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2145/medical|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Murder mystery | Murder mystery-themed board games are board games that often involve deduction or social deduction board games, where players investigate an unsolved murder, or murders, determining the criminal details or perpetrators. | ''Mansions of Madness''; ''Blood on the Clocktower''; ''Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective''; ''Deception: Murder in Hong Kong'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="murder-myster-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Murder / Mystery|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1040/murder-mystery|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218031609/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1040/murder-mystery|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Musical | Musical board games are thematically linked to music, bands or the music industry. | ''Battle of the Bands''; ''Cranium Pop 5''; ''DropMix''; ''Game that Song''; ''{{ill|Hitster (board game)|de|lt=Hitster|Hitster}}''; ''Humm Bug''; ''Encore''; ''Lacrimosa''; ''Melody Infidelody''; ''On Tour''; ''Spontuneous''; ''Schrille Stille'' ; ''Timeline: Music & Cinema'' | <ref name="musical-gmaes_gamer_2024">{{cite web|title=Best Musical Board Games In 2024|website=The Gamer (www.thegamer.com)|date=24 April 2024|first=Davis|last=Collins|language=en|url=https://www.thegamer.com/best-music-board-games|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514220831/https://www.thegamer.com/best-music-board-games|archive-date=14 May 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="musical-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Music|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1054/music|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920145157/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1054/music|archive-date=20 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Mythology | Mythology-themed board games are those that incorporate a thematic narrative that defines how the game world or characters came into existence, especially those related or based on narratives of ancient civilizations. The storylines usually include supernatural elements, e.g., gods, goddesses, and demigods, and are sometimes even set in a fabled or primordial time, which usually corresponds to a general corpus of folk stories (myths) that used to have some form of religious or sacred nature for the cultures focused on in the game. | ''Spirit Island''; ''The Crew: Mission Deep Sea''; ''Blood Rage''; ''Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood''; ''Mansions of Madness''; ''Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar'' | <ref name="mythology-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Mythology|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1082/mythology|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217023226/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1082/mythology|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Nautical | Nautical-themed board games involve sailors, ships, or maritime navigation as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to effectively control ships as an objective. | ''Concordia''; ''The Crew: Mission Deep Sea''; ''Underwater Cities''; ''Sleeping Gods''; ''Maracaibo''; ''Le Havre'' | <ref name="nautical_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Nautical|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1008/nautical|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032056/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1008/nautical|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Other media | These are board games thematically linked, derived, or inspired by works or franchises in other media sources, including: <ul><li>Comic book / Strips<ref name="comics_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Comic Book / Strip|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1116/comic-book-strip|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032154/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1116/comic-book-strip|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><li>Novels<ref name="novels_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Novel-based|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1093/novel-based|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171820/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1093/novel-based|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><li>Video games<ref name="video-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Video Game Theme|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1101/video-game-theme|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116043845/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1101/video-game-theme|archive-date=16 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><li>Movies / Television / Radio<ref name="movies-tv-radio_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Movies / TV / Radio theme|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1064/movies-tv-radio-theme|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116053709/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1064/movies-tv-radio-theme|archive-date=16 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref></ul> | Comic books:<ul><li>''Marvel Champions: The Card Game'';<li>''Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game'';<li>''Marvel United'';<li>''Splendor: Marvel'' (all based on the Marvel Universe); <li>''Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game"'' (based on ''MIND MGMT'');</ul>Novels: <ul><li>''Dune: Imperium'' (based on the ''''Dune'' novels'');<li>''War of the Ring'';<li>''The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth'' (both based on ''The Lord of the Rings'' novels);<li>''Arkham Horror: The Card Game'';<li>''Cthulhu: Death May Die'' (both based on the Cthulhu mythos created in the novels by H. P. Lovecraft);</ul>Video games: <ul><li>''Mechs vs. Minions'' (based on ''League of Legends'');<li>''Slay the Spire: The Board Game'' (based on ''Slay the Spire'');<li>''This War of Mine: The Board Game'' (based on ''This War of Mine'');<li>''Railways of the World'' (based on ''Railroad Tycoon'');<li>''{{ill|Hanamikoji|de|Hanamikoji}}'';<li>''Anno 1800'' (based on ''Anno 1800'')</ul> |-
| Pirate | A pirate-themed game has characters, themes, or storylines of nautical robbery or criminal violence, including treasure hunting, sea robbery, swords and cannons, swashbuckling, and ship racing, etc. Pirate board games are usually thematically set between the 14th and 20th centuries. | ''Maracaibo''; ''Skull King''; ''Forgotten Waters''; ''Merchants & Marauders''; ''Dead Reckoning''; ''Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest'' | <ref name="pirate_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Pirate|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1090/pirates|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032013/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1090/pirates|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Political | Political-themed board games encourage players to use their character's authority to manipulate societal activities and policy. | ''Twilight Imperium''; ''Dune: Imperium''; ''Twilight Struggle''; ''Pax'' franchise games; ''Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory'' | <ref name="political-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Political|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1001/political|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032033/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1016/science-fiction|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Religion | Religious-themed games feature elements of their narrative, setting, or characters that relate to current belief systems or religions of the world, either in their historical aspect and development through time, or their actual objects of faith, like sacred scriptures and articles of doctrine. | ''Here I Stand''; ''Biblios''; ''Orléans''; ''Ora et Labora''; ''Pax Renaissance''; ''The Pillars of the Earth'' | <ref name="religious-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Religious|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1115/religious|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124115650/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1001/political|archive-date=24 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Science fiction | Science fiction-themed board games often have themes relating to imagined possibilities in the sciences. Such games need not be futuristic, or they can be based on an alternative past. | ''Twilight Imperium''; ''Dune: Imperium''; ''Terraforming Mars''; ''Star Wars: Rebellion''; ''Gaia Project'' | <ref name="sci-fi-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Science Fiction|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1016/science-fiction|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032033/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1016/science-fiction|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Space exploration | Space exploration-themed board games have storylines relating to travel and adventure in outer space. Often, players must seek and gather resources and territories as objectives of the game. These board games are also simply called Space games. | ''Alien: The Role Playing Game''; ''Black Angel''; ''The Crew (card game)''; ''Ganymede''; {{ill|High Frontier 4 All (board game)|lt=''High Frontier'' franchise game|es|High frontier}}; ''Kepler-3042''; ''Pulsar 2849''; ''Race for the Galaxy''; ''Space Base''; ''Star Wars: Outer Rim''; ''Starship Samurai''; ''Terraforming Mar'' | <ref name="outspace_space_2022">{{cite web|title=Best space board games 2024|website=Space (www.space.com)|date=22 February 2022|first=Jeff|last=Spry|language=en|url=https://www.space.com/best-space-board-games|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250102020100/https://www.space.com/best-space-board-games|archive-date=2 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="outer-space_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Space exploration|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1113/space-exploration|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218115013/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1113/space-exploration|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Spies / secret agents | A spies / secret agents-themed board games often have themes or storylines relating to espionage. A common premise is that players must identify another player who has taken the role of spy or secret agent, in an attempt to reveal that player's allotted information. Since many Spies / Secret Agents-themed board games have an element of hidden information, they are often also categorized as bluffing or deduction board games. | ''Pax'' franchise game; ''Pandemic Legacy''; ''Decrypto''; ''Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game''; ''Codenames''; ''Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective'' | <ref name="spy_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Spy / Secret Agents|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1081/spies-secret-agents|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218120251/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1081/spies-secret-agents|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Sports | Sports-themed board games have themes or storylines related to the physical activity of sports, including football and racing (whether car, boat, bicycle, or horse), etc. | ''Heat: Pedal to the Metal''; ''{{ill|Flamme Rouge (board game)|lt=Flamme Rouge|it|Flamme rouge}}''; ''Long Shot: The Dice Game''; ''Blood Bowl''; ''Downforce''; ''Ready Set Bet'' | <ref name="sports-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Sports|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1038/sports|access-date=15 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032129/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1038/sports|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Train | Train board games are those concerned with building and managing railway routes. They often combine elements from many other game types, requiring the use of strategy, planning, and economic skills to gain an advantage over other players. | ''Ticket to Ride'' franchise games; ''18xx''; ''Railways of the World''; ''Colt Express''; ''Age of Steam''; ''TransAmerica'' | <ref name="trains_bgg_current(2025_)">{{cite web|title=Trains|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1034/trains|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171824/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1034/trains|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Travel | Travel-themed board games are travel-themed board games where the objective is to move to and from different geographic locations. Travel games usually employ a map as the main feature of the game board. | ''Lost Ruins of Arnak''; ''Orléans''; ''Lost Ruins of Arnak''; ''The Voyages of Marco Polo''; ''Darwin's Journey''; ''Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon''; ''Eldritch Horror'' | <ref name="travel-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Travel|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1097/travel|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217215923/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1097/travel|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Transportation | Transportation-themed board games are those that have gameplay involving the movement of goods or people from one place to another. | ''Brass'' franchise games; ''Keyflower''; ''Age of Steam''; ''Xia: Legends of a Drift System''; ''Railways of the World'' | <ref name="transportation_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Transportation|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1011/transportation|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032125/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1011/transportation|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Zombie | Zombie-themed board games often contain themes and imagery concerning the animated dead, including common storylines, themes of an apocalypse, horror, and fighting. These games are a thematic sub-category of Horror-themed board games. | ''Dead of Winter''; ''Dawn of the Zeds''; ''Zombicide''; ''{{ill|Zombie Kidz Evolution|de|Zombie Kidz Evolution}}'' | <ref name="zombies-game_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Zombies|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2481/zombies|access-date=14 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032140/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2481/zombies|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |}
===Components===
Board games can also be categorized by their components, including:<ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Board game categorization by components |- ! Board game audience ! Description ! Examples ! Ref |-
| Dice | Dice board games are those that use dice as their sole or principal component. | Example of ''dice'' games that are also board games, include: ''The Castles of Burgundy''; ''King of Tokyo'' franchise games; ''Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood''; ''Sky Team''; ''Too Many Bones''; ''Troyes''; ''The Voyages of Marco Polo''; ''Roll for the Galaxy'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="dice-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Dice|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1017/dice|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217195833/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1017/dice|archive-date=17 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Book | Book board games are those where a book is a major operative component, and can be separated into two types:<ul>'''Supplement''' : A book is used as a repository for game designs and rules, which are applied to common gaming equipment, i.e., a checkered board, paper and pencil, cards, dominoes, dice, etc. {{pb}}'''Narrative''' : A book is a board game's operative mechanism, involving storytelling, dice rolling, or a "multiple-choice paragraph system". </ul> | ''Gaslands''; ''Four Against Darkness''; ''Frostgrave''; ''Spire's End''; ''''Ace of Aces'' franchise games'' | <ref name="book_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Book|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1117/book|access-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114032112/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1117/book|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Card | Card board games are those where cards are the sole or central mechanism of the game. There are two types:<ul>'''Stand-alone''' : In stand-alone card board games, all the cards necessary for gameplay are purchased at once. {{pb}}'''Collectible''' : In collectible card board games, players purchase either "starter" or "booster" card packs to compile an increasingly more powerful deck with which to compete. </ul> | ''7 Wonders Duel''; ''Anno 1800''; ''Arkham Horror: The Card Game''; ''Citadels''; ''''The Crew'' franchise games''; ''Everdell''; ''Splendor''; ''Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization''; ''Wingspan'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="card_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Card Game|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1002/card-game|access-date=9 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250109143809/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1002/card-game|archive-date=9 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Electronic | Electronic board games are those that have an electronic apparatus as the central component of the game, such as circuitry or sometimes simple computers. Electronic board games differ from both; electrified games, such as ''Operation'', which contain no circuitry, and those games requiring a website or app to be played. | ''Return to Dark Tower''; ''Space Alert''; ''Escape: The Curse of the Temple''; ''Loopin' Louie''; ''Escape Room: The Game''; ''{{ill|La Boca (board game)|it|lt=La Boca|La Boca (gioco da tavolo)}}'' | <ref name="electornic-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Electronic|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1072/electronic|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229233540/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1072/electronic|archive-date=29 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Game system | Game system board games are ones based around an item whose components are not a game of themselves, but are used to play games. | a piecepack; a decktet;<ref name="decktet_decktet_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Decktet|website=Decktet (www.decktet.com)|language=en|url=https://www.decktet.com|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250110041225/https://www.decktet.com|archive-date=10 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="decktet_father-geek_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Decktet Game System Review|website=Father Geek (www.fathergeek.com)|date=11 October 2012 |language=en|url=https://fathergeek.com/decktet-game-system|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919171639/https://fathergeek.com/decktet-game-system|archive-date=19 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="decktet_gaming-stuff_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=The Decktet|website=Gaming Stuff (www.fecundity.com)|first=P.D.|last=Magnus|language=en|url=https://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/decktet/index.php|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908125945/https://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/decktet|archive-date=8 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> GEMJI tiles;<ref name="gemji_gemji_current(2025)">{{Cite news|title=Grow with games. Be a better parent, leader & human with GEMJI!|language=en|website=Gemji (www.gemji.com)|url=https://gemji.com|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124214218/https://gemji.com|archive-date=24 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gemji_bgg_2020">{{Cite news|title=GEMJI (2020)|language=en|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/320963/gemji|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207223000/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/320963/gemji|archive-date=7 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> a chestego set;<ref name="chestigo_bgg_current(2025)">{{Cite news|title=Chestego (2018)|language=en|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/265071/chestego|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207223550/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/265071/chestego|archive-date=7 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> a shibumi object;<ref name="shibumi_chesstris_2012">{{Cite news|title=Chesstris|author=Martin|date=28 January 2012|language=en|page=|website=Chresstris (www.chesstris.com)|url=http://chesstris.com/2012/01/28/shibumi-game-design|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207220553/http://chesstris.com/2012/01/28/shibumi-game-design|archive-date=7 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="shibumi_browne-andrés(campolbri)_2012">{{Cite news|title=Shibumi│Rule book|first1=Cameron|last1=Browne|first2=Néstor Romeral|last2=Andrés|date=2012|language=en|pages=7–8|website=Cambolbro (www.cambolbro.com)|url=http://cambolbro.com/games/shibumi/shibumi-rule-book-v1.1.pdf|access-date=8 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207221114/http://cambolbro.com/games/shibumi/shibumi-rule-book-v1.1.pdf|archive-date=7 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="shimbumi_brown_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Shibumi Game System|website=(www.cambolbro.com/games/shibumi)|first=Cameron|last=Browne|language=en|url=https://cambolbro.com/games/shibumi|access-date=21 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241105033735/http://www.cambolbro.com/games/shibumi|archive-date=5 November 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=" shibumi_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Shibumi (2011)|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/135270/shibumi|access-date=21 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250404193653/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/135270/shibumi|archive-date=4 April 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Mü & More'''s unique card deck; a traditional deck of cards; ''Unmatched's'' unique card deck; a ''Hanafuda''; ''Unsettled'''s unique card deck; a rainbow deck<ref name="game-system-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Number|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1098/number|access-date=17 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117124123/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1098/number|archive-date=17 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> | {{citation needed|date=April 2025}} |-
| Miniatures | Miniatures board games are board games that use detailed miniature models to represent characters or units. Games of this type use miniatures as part of their game mechanics, combining tactics and strategy with collecting and artistry. Of all board game types, miniature games can be some of the most complex to produce, and time-consuming for players, who often are required to paint the models. | ''BattleTech''; ''Blood Rage''; ''Dead of Winter''; ''Fury of Dracula''; ''Gloomhaven'' franchise games; ''Mansions of Madness''; ''Memoir '44''; ''Nemesis''; ''Rising Sun''; ''''Star Wars'' franchise miniature games''; ''Santorini''; ''War of the Ring''; ''Warhammer 40,000'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="miniatures-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Miniatures|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1047/miniatures|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171820/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1047/miniatures|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Tile-based | A tile-based board game uses small tiles as playing pieces or to create the board. These board games are also called "tile placement" or "tile-laying" board games. | Examples of tile-based games that are also board games include: ''Carcassonne''; ''Scrabble''; ''Tigris and Euphrates''; ''Evo''; ''Takenoko''; ''Cacao''; ''The Castles of Burgundy''; ''Quadropolis''; ''Between Two Cities'' | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |}
===Age range===
The recommended age range of a board game's target player market impacts the categorization of that board game:
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Board game categorization by age range |- ! Board game audience ! Description ! Examples ! Ref |-
| Adult / mature | Adult and mature board games are those designed exclusively for grown-up players. Compared to family or children's games, adult / mature board games usually involve mature subject matter, including violence, mystery, or sexual humour, etc. | ''Cards Against Humanity''; ''Dead of Winter: The Long Night''; ''Escape Tales: The Awakening''; ''Kingdom Death: Monster''; ''''Tainted Grail'' franchise games''; ''Monikers''; ''Codenames: Deep Undercover'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/><ref name="adult-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Mature / Adult|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1118/mature-adult|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171823/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1118/mature-adult|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Children's | Children's board games are designed for kids and are usually straightforward enough for very young children to learn in a short period of time, having bright colors and fun and engaging settings. | ''Mouse Trap''; ''Animal Upon Animal''; ''My First Stone Age''; ''Dinosaur Escape and Candy Land''; ''My Little Scythe''; ''Perudo''; ''PitchCar''; ''Rhino Hero''; ''{{ill|Zombie Kidz Evolution|de|Zombie Kidz Evolution}}'' | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/><ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/><ref name="cildren's-games_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Children's Game|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1041/childrens-game|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218120316/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1041/childrens-game|archive-date=18 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Family | Family board games are those suitable for the entire family, including adults who play together with younger children. | ''Artriculate''; ''Birds on a Wire''; ''For Sale''; ''Herd Mentality''; ''Photosynthesis''; ''Roll Through the Ages''; ''Sushi Go''; ''Ticket to Ride''; or ''Wingspan'' | <ref name="game-categories_big-game-hunter_2024"/><ref name="family-games_games-radar_2024">{{cite web|title=Must-have family board games for 2024|website=Games Radar (www.gamesradar.com)|date=21 December 2024|first=Benjamin|last=Abbott|language=en|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/board-games-for-families|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230064215/https://www.gamesradar.com/board-games-for-families|archive-date=30 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |}
===Player number===
Board games can be characterised by the number of players they are designed for. Board games can be; solitaire puzzle games, where a player's performance is assessed against a specified target; or multiplayer games such as competitive games, where a comparison is made between two or more players' achievements, or Cooperative board game where players all players win or lose as a team:{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Board game categorization by player number |- ! Board Game Audience ! Examples ! Ref |-
| Large multiplayer | ''Take It Easy''; ''Swat'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |-
| Multiplayer | ''Risk''; ''Monopoly''; Four-player chess | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |-
| Two-player | ''En Garde''; ''Dos de Mayo'' | {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} |}
===Promotion type===
The following categories of board games are not board game types but rather paths board game creators take to promote their game:<ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" |+ Board game categorization by promotion |- ! Promotional Approach ! Description ! Examples ! Ref |-
| Collectable | A collectible board game is a special edition of a board game that has limited copies, such as anniversaries or deluxe versions. | <ul> <li>''Dune: Imperium – Deluxe upgrade pack''<!-- The Wikipedia article doesn't yet mention the deluxe edition; therefore, an inline citation is included. -->;<ref name="dune-imperium-ugrade_bgg_current(2020)">{{cite web|title=Dune: Imperium – Deluxe Upgrade Pack (2020)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameaccessory/324114/dune-imperium-deluxe-upgrade-pack|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208110030/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameaccessory/324114/dune-imperium-deluxe-upgrade-pack|archive-date=8 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Dungeon Lords – Happy Anniversary''<!-- The Wikipedia article doesn't yet mention the deluxe edition; therefore, an inline citation is included. -->;<ref name="duneon-lords_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Dungeon Lords: Happy Anniversary (2014)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161617/dungeon-lords-happy-anniversary|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109091046/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161617/dungeon-lords-happy-anniversary|archive-date=9 January 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Pandemic – 10th Anniversary Edition'';</li> <li> ''Magic the gathering – 4th edition''<!-- The Wikipedia article doesn't yet mention the deluxe edition; therefore, an inline citation is included. -->;<ref name="magic-the-gathering_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Magic: The Gathering – Fourth Edition Core Set (1995)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/221378/magic-the-gathering-fourth-edition-core-set|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208105611/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/221378/magic-the-gathering-fourth-edition-core-set|archive-date=8 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Ticket to Ride: Anniversary Editions''</li> </ul> | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/> |-
| Expansion | An expansion of the base board game is a set of additional components and rules for expanding on an original base game. An "expansion" requires the base game to play. | <ul> <li>''Living Rulebook'' (expansion of ''Blood Bowl''); <li>''Boss Monster 2: The Next Level''<ref name="boss-level-2_brotherwise_current(2019)">{{cite web|title=Boss Monster 2: The Next Level|website=Brotherwise Games (www.brotherwisegames.com)|language=en|url=http://www.brotherwisegames.com/2015/04/16/boss-monster-2-the-next-level|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710060641/http://www.brotherwisegames.com/2015/04/16/boss-monster-2-the-next-level|archive-date=10 July 2019}}</ref> (expansion of ''Boss Monster'');<ref name="boss-monster_brotherwise-games_current(2013)">{{cite web|title=Boss Monster|website=Brotherwise Games (www.bossmonstergame.wordpress.com)|date=13 June 2013|language=en|url=http://bossmonstergame.wordpress.com|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703093806/http://bossmonstergame.wordpress.com|archive-date=3 July 2013}}</ref><!--No Wikipedia page exists for either game, therefore inline citations are needed.--> <li>''Wrath of the Righteous'' (expansion of ''Pathfinder Adventure Card Game'' based on ''Pathfinder'');</li> <li>Pixel Tactics 5<ref name="pixel-tactics-5_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Pixel Tactics 5 (2015)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172969/pixel-tactics-5|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130094911/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172969/pixel-tactics-5|archive-date=30 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> (expansion of ''Pixel Tactics'');<ref name="pixel-tactics_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Pixel Tactics (2012) |website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/125548/pixel-tactics|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229183137/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/125548/pixel-tactics|archive-date=29 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>{{ill|Rumis+|de|Rumis#Veröffentlichung}} (expansion of ''Rumis''); <li>Booster Packs (expansion of ''Star Wars: Destiny'');<ref name="star-wars-2-player_ffg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Star Wars: Destiny Two-Player Game|website=Fantasy Flight Games (www.fantasyflightgames.com)|language=en|url=https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/8/31/star-wars-destiny-two-player-game|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121060129/https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/8/31/star-wars-destiny-two-player-game|archive-date=21 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref><!--No Wikipedia page exists for either game, therefore inline citations have been included.--> <li>Map expansions of ''Ticket to Ride''</li> </ul> | <ref name="expansion_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Expansion for Base-game|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1042/expansion-for-base-game|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114041001/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1042/expansion-for-base-game|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Fan expansion | Fan expansion board games are non-commercial enhancements made by people other than a base game's designers or publishers. These are also called "unofficial" board games. | <ul> <li>''System Gateway'' (fan expansion for ''Android: Netrunner'');<ref name="system-gateway_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=System Gateway (fan expansion for Android: Netrunner) (2021)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/345976/system-gateway-fan-expansion-for-android-netrunner|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118035027/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/345976/system-gateway-fan-expansion-for-android-netrunner|archive-date=18 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Crabs Adjust Humidity: Volume One'' (fan expansion for ''Cards Against Humanity'');<ref name="crabs-against-humanity_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Crabs Adjust Humidity: Volume One (fan expansion for Cards Against Humanity) (2013) |website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/145418/crabs-adjust-humidity-volume-one-fan-expansion-for|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114034849/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/145418/crabs-adjust-humidity-volume-one-fan-expansion-for|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Switching Gears'' (fan expansion for ''T.I.M.E Stories'');<ref name="sitching-gears_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Switching Gears (fan expansion for T.I.M.E Stories) (2016)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/200443/switching-gears-fan-expansion-for-time-stories|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209054529/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/200443/switching-gears-fan-expansion-for-time-stories|archive-date=9 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''The Crimson Scales'' (fan expansion of ''Gloomhaven'');<ref name="crimson-scale_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title= The Crimson Scales (2021)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/365186/the-crimson-scales|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209051306/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/365186/the-crimson-scales|archive-date=9 February 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Atolla Modulis'' (fan expansion for ''Power Grid'');<ref name="atolla-modulis_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title= Atolla Modulis (fan expansion for Funkenschlag) (2006)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/22355/atolla-modulis-fan-expansion-for-funkenschlag|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122144202/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/22355/atolla-modulis-fan-expansion-for-funkenschlag|archive-date=22 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> <li>''Lost Wonders'' (fan expansion for ''7 Wonders'')<ref name="lost-wonders_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title= Lost Wonders (fan expansion for 7 Wonders) (2012)|website=BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/134849/lost-wonders-fan-expansion-for-7-wonders|access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114034940/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/134849/lost-wonders-fan-expansion-for-7-wonders|archive-date=14 January 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> </ul> | <ref name="fan-expansion_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Fan Expansion|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2687/fan-expansion|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171756/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/2687/fan-expansion|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| {{ill|Print-and-play|de|Print & Play|fr|Print and play}} | Print-and-play board games are those not published in a physical form but are those that require the players to download, print, and construct the game. Often, these games are downloaded electronically as a PDF file. | ''Air, Land, & Sea''; ''Corinth''; ''Evolution: Climate''; ''Monikers''; ''The Resistance''; ''Rolling Realms''; ''Root''; ''Secret Hitler''; ''Tiny Epic Galazies'' | <ref name="game-types_board-games-land_2024"/><ref name="printplay"/><ref name="print-and-play_bgg_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Print and Play|website=Board Game Geek (www.boardgamegeek.com)|language=en|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1120/print-and-play|access-date=10 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225171820/https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamecategory/1120/print-and-play|archive-date=25 December 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> |-
| Travel | Travel versions of board games that are more amenable to packing and carrying while traveling have smaller game components to make them more compact, and simplified rules to make them quicker to play. | Compact versions of chess, or checkers | <ref name="game-types_hero-time_current(2025)"/> |}
==Glossary <span class="anchor" id="Common terms"></span>== {{further|Glossary of board games}} Although many board games have a jargon all their own, there is terminology that is recognized and widely shared by gamers and the gaming industry.
==See also== * Board game awards * BoardGameGeek – a website for board game enthusiasts * ''Going Cardboard'' – a documentary movie * History of games * Interactive movie – DVD games * List of board games * List of game manufacturers * Mind sport
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin|30em}} * {{Cite journal|last=Austin|first=Roland G.|title=Greek Board Games|journal=Antiquity|date=14 September 1940|volume=14|issue=55|pages=257–271|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00015258 }} * {{Cite book|last=Bell|first=Robert Charles|author-link=Robert Charles Bell|title=Board and Table Games From Many Civilizations|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1979|isbn=978-0-671-06030-5|edition=Revised|volume=I|orig-date=1st Pub. 1960, Oxford University Press, London}} * {{Cite book|first=Robert Charles|last=Bell|author-link=Robert Charles Bell|title=The Boardgame Book|publisher=Exeter Books|year=1983|isbn=978-0-671-06030-5}} * {{Cite book|first=Edward|last=Falkener|title=Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them|publisher=Dover Publications Inc|year=2020|orig-date=1892|isbn=978-93-5415-754-7|author-link=Edward Falkener|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI5UugEACAAJ|access-date=21 July 2017}} [https://archive.org/details/gamesancientorie00falkuoft/page/10/mode/2up Alt URL] * {{Cite book|first=Willard|last=Fiske|author-link=Willard Fiske|title=''Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature—with historical notes on other table-games''|url=https://archive.org/details/chessinicelandin00fiskuoft/page/172/mode/2up|publisher=Florentine Typographical Society|year=1905}} * {{Cite book|first1=Fernand|last1=Gobet|author-link=Fernand Gobet|first2=Alex|last2=de Voogt|author-link2=Alexander de Voogt|first3=Jean|last3=Retschitzki|title=Moves in mind: The psychology of board games|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2004|isbn=978-1-84169-336-1|name-list-style=amp}} * {{Cite thesis|first=Sonja Musser|last=Golladay|title=Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games|url=http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file%3A%2F%2F%2Fdata1%2Fpdf%2Fetd%2Fazu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&type=application%2Fpdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717133812/http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file%3A%2F%2F%2Fdata1%2Fpdf%2Fetd%2Fazu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&type=application%2Fpdf|archive-date=2011-07-17|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Arizona|year=2007}} * {{Cite magazine|first=Stewart|last=Gordon|date=July–August 2009|title=Saudi Aramco World: The Game of Kings |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200904/the.game.of.kings.htm|magazine=Saudi Aramco World |location=Houston|publisher=Aramco Services Company|volume=60|issue=4|pages=18–23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720035407/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200904/the.game.of.kings.htm|archive-date=20 July 2009}} * {{Cite book|first=Frederic V.|last=Grunfeld|url=https://archive.org/details/gamesofworldhowt0000unse|title=Games of the World |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|year=1975|isbn=978-0-03-015261-0|url-access=registration}} * {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/waytoplayillustr00diag|title=The Way to Play|publisher=Paddington Press Ltd |year=1975|isbn=978-0-8467-0060-9|editor-first=Ruth|editor-last=Midgley}} * {{Cite book|first=Merilyn Simonds|last=Mohr|url=https://archive.org/details/newgamestreasury0000mohr|title=The New Games Treasury|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=1997|isbn=978-1-57630-058-9|url-access=registration}} * {{Cite book|first=Harold James Ruthven|last=Murray|author-link=H. J. R. Murray|title=A History of Chess|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|orig-date=1913|isbn=978-0-19-827403-2|edition=Reissued}} * {{Cite book|first=D. B.|last=Pritchard|title=Brain Games|publisher=Penguin Books Ltd|year=1982|isbn=978-0-14-005682-2 |author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)}} * {{Cite book|first=David|last=Pritchard|title=The Family Book of Games|publisher=Brockhampton Press|year=1994|isbn=978-1-86019-021-6|author-link=David Pritchard (chess player)}} * {{Cite journal|first=Gary O.|last=Rollefson|author-link=Gary O. Rollefson|title=A Neolithic Game Board from Ain Ghazal, Jordan|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=286|number=1|date=May 1992|pages=1–5|doi=10.2307/1357113 |jstor=1357113 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271790491}} * {{Cite book|first=Sid|last=Sackson|title=A Gamut of Games|year=1983|isbn=978-0-09-153340-3|author-link=Sid Sackson|orig-date=1969|publisher=Random House|publication-place=New York}} * {{Cite book|first=R. Wayne|last=Schmittberger|title=New Rules for Classic Games|url=https://archive.org/details/newrulesforclass00rway|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc|year=1992|isbn=978-0-471-53621-5}} {{refend}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Board games}}
{{Tabletop games by type}} {{Portal bar|Games|Chess|Dungeons & Dragons}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Board games Category:History of board games Category:Egyptian inventions