Looking for the best board games you’re sure to love? Whether you’re in search of the best family board games, the best 2 player board games, or even the best solo board games, this guide has you covered! We are huge board game lovers in our family and these are some of our very favorites that we have played over and over again for years!
And, even better, they’re all under $30 to help you stick to your budget! (Be sure to check out all the latest Board Game Deals we’ve posted!)
This list of the best board games was thoughtfully put together by Sarah on the MoneySavingMom team — who is a lifelong strategy-board-game player and is always on the hunt for the latest and greatest board games.
These are some of our favorite board games in 2026 to enjoy with family and friends! You’ll find options that are perfect for a cozy screen-free day inside, an exciting family night, or even a gift for someone you love. These games are all sure to be a hit and will provide you with years of entertainment.
Note: Most of these games are usually less than $30, but prices do fluctuate quite a bit on board games. If one is slightly over $30, be sure to check the price history on CamelCamelCamel.com and wait for a better price! If it’s on this list, then it’s usually under $30!
Top Strategy Board Games
1. Pandemic
This is such a fun, cooperative game! You work as a team, utilizing each characters’ strengths — win as a team or lose as a team.
2. Forbidden Island
This cooperative game is a little less complex than Pandemic, yet still so much fun! It’s one that our family goes back to again and again.
3. Carcassonne
This is a fun little tile placing game that has quick game play. You can usually play an entire game in about 30 minutes. This was one of our first strategy games after Catan and we love it!
4. Splendor
This is another really fun and quick strategy game that plays in under 30 minutes. This is one we take while camping since it doesn’t take up a lot of space and doesn’t take hours to play.
5. Othello
“A minute to learn…a lifetime to master!” The tagline describes it perfectly. It takes just a second to teach someone the basic premise of this game, but there’s a lot more to this game than meets the eye. If you know someone who loves strategy games like Chess where you need to be thinking rounds ahead of time, this is perfect for them.
6. Azul
This is beautiful and unique game! It’s our go-to game when we have a weekend away since it plays well with two people. It is one of our favorites!
7. Labyrinth
This is a great strategy game to play with kids or as a family. It’s super simple to learn and involves pretty basic strategy. It’s one of my kids’ favorites and one they play together even with their nine-year age spread.
Favorite Party Board Games
8. LRC Left Right Center Dice Game
This is a fast paced dice game is perfect for a variety of ages. The rules are so simple and you can add a bit of fun by passing candy instead of chips! This is one of our best family game night ideas!
9. Code Names
This is a unique game, because it’s definitely a really social game but also requires a lot of thought and word creativity. It’s great to play with just 4 people, but you can play with up to 8-10 people! (You can technically play with more than that, but it gets kind of crazy.)
10. Farkle
This is another fun one that can pretty much be player with as many people as you have. If you have more than 10 people, you can play in teams! It’s kind of like Yahtzee with a twist (but WAY more fun).
11. Doomlings
Love card games with strategy mixed in? It’s quick to play with a great mix of strategy and chaos. The rules are constantly changing, making it fun every time you play! And the illustrations are so vibrant and colorful!
12. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
This is a fun, quick card game to bring out with family and friends and always involves SO MUCH laughter!
13. The Chameleon
This is our go-to game when we want to get our teenagers to join us during game night! Hidden codes, a secret word, and trying to track down the chameleon in the bunch!
14. Pass the Pandas
This is a fun, unique dice game! One thing I love the most is that it was easily playable for my daughter with special needs and a group of friends with various abilities. Add multiple sets together to play with even more friends!
Best Smaller Games
15. Catan Card Game
This card game is perfect for Catan lovers, because unlike regular Catan, it can be played as a two-player game!
16. Dutch Blitz
This is SUCH a fun card game! It’s fast-paced, competitive, and sure to get just about anyone who loves games hooked immediately.
17. Collapsible Board Game Bowls
This is an unique gift for board game lovers and will make your own game nights so much more enjoyable! I can’t tell you how often I pull little bowls out of the kitchen cabinet to use for game pieces when playing complex strategy games! These would be so convenient to have, and they’re easy to store since they’re collapsible!
18. Bananagrams
Know someone who loves Scrabble? This is a fun, fast-paced twist! And it travels well. I take this on a lot of vacations to play with friends and family!
19. Sleeping Queens
A card game that is fun for a variety of ages and even builds in math skills. Plus, the illustrations are so fun!
20. Qwixx
A fun, fast-paced, easy-to-learn dice game with a mix of strategy and chance.
21. Coup
A fast-paced card game for 2-6 players. This is another one that my teens love and bring to play with friends. Add the Reformation expansion to play with up to 10 players.
Bonus Ideas (Over $30)
Have a little extra wiggle room in your budget and willing to spend a bit more? Try one of these favorite board games:
22. Catan
No board game list could ever be complete without the classic Catan. If you’re just getting into strategy games, this is a great place to start! And if you already love Catan, be sure to check out its many expansions like Cities & Knights!
23. The Isle of Cats
I bought this game on a whim and it soon moved to the top of our favorite strategy board games. We love that you can plan it with standard rules, family rules (makes it shorter and easier for kids), or solo. The solo version is such a fun wintertime alternative to puzzles. The art is beautiful! A perfect option for a board game, Tetris, and cat lover!
24. Trekking The National Parks
This is a fun game that combines two things that I love: National Parks and strategy games. It’s a great one with older kids for family game night.
25. Wingspan
This game for bird enthusiasts is SO cool and unique. It also features beautiful artwork and facts for each bird!
26. Ticket to Ride
This is such a fun strategy game without being overly complex and it works great for families! It’s one that even non-strategy game players seem to enjoy.
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What are your family’s favorite board games? Let us know in the comments!
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Poshmark is a great place to buy board games. I bought Taboo for $5.
We’re also a board game family. We love the classics: Sorry, Clue, Life, Trouble, Candy Land (when our kids were younger). We also like Jenga, Yeti in My Spaghetti, Five Alive, Life the card game, Hues and Clues. We just bought the Pac Man board game and are excited to try that one. Trekking the National Parks is also one of our favorites.
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Great list! I love most of these.
I do love a lot of these games on this list!! Our family especially has been loving Catan lately. I will say I have been watching for a good price for Scythe for awhile, because my husband loves it but have never seen it for close to $30… I checked Camelcamel and it didn’t look like it was ever around $30. However maybe I missed something..
We played Pandemic the first week of the lockdown. and periodically since. It’s not at all like reality and a lot of fun to BEAT THE VIRUS! Plus memories
Pandemic is a really fun game! I think it is really unique and a great game for the family since everyone is on the same team! -Jordan, MSM Team
We love Forbidden Island and the sequels (Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Skies)! It’s a great introduction to cooperative games, and if both sides have it, it’s easy to play over video call. We’ve given it a handful of times as a gift and it’s been very well received.
That’s such a great idea to play it over video chat! My fiancée and I have been trying to come up with fun games to play with friends over video. Thanks so much for the suggestion! -Jordan, MSM Team
These are great suggestions! We love Ticket to Ride but have not played any of the others. (Although, as a side note, I’m not sure I want to play Pandemic. Seems too much of a “reality game” right now. Ha!)
HAHAHAHA!! Pandemic is a really fun Co-Op game for the whole family or group of friends. It’s fun because it is the whole group playing against the board to win! -Jordan, MSM Team
Hi Meg, we are a gaming family (just getting into the teen years with our 5 kids) and we own and LOVE Ticket to Ride, Dominion, Catan, Azul, Dutch Blitz, Carcasonne, 7 Wonders and others on your lists.
However, can you tell me more about Charterstone? Is it the kind of game that you KNOW you’re losing/winning throughout the game (think Catan) or more like a game where you can think you’re winning throughout the game and then find out that you lost. (Think: Dominion, Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders)
We’ve found that the fun in the game is much higher if we *think* we’re doing really well, have a great time playing, and then, well, kinda who cares if we ended up losing. Rather than a game like Catan where you can tell with one glance at the board if you’re getting slaughtered. ( :
So … is Charterstone like that? Would I know for the whole game (or days or weeks …) that I’m losing? Or is it more of a surprise at the “end”?
Thanks for your advice!!
Hi Rebekah, so Charterstone is a “legacy game.” This means that rules and mechanics will be introduced and changed throughout the course of the game. It is very dependent on the choices players make while playing. So Charterstone is a series of 12 “rounds or games” to determine who wins, and you can easily think you are doing really well or very poorly and things can change in the course of a round. It’s really unique because at the end of the game you have a unique board that is one of a kind based on the decisions you’ve made as you’ve played each round. This board is then replayable as a standalone worker placement game. Or you can flip the board over and order the recharge pack and play a whole new legacy version. -Jordan, MSM Team
Wow, Meg! Thank you so much! We love playing board games as a family and with friends, but have admittedly gotten away from it as the kids have gotten older and their responsibilities have increased. I love your quick write-ups about each game – so helpful! I will definitely be looking into some of these games as Christmas gifts for my kids this year. Oh – a fun one we have enjoyed as a family is Qwirkle. It’s easy for kids to play. Thank you again for such a helpful post!
I love Qwerkle too. Good for slightly younger kids and for not so die hard gamers. Thanks for this list-we own or have played quite a number of these. My daughter isn’t a huge gamer but my son and hubby are so thanks for saying which are family friendly!
Yay! We are so glad you found this useful. Meg has a great taste in games and has introduced me to quite a few of these! They are all really wonderful! And thanks for the suggestion. -Jordan, MSM Team
Thank you for this super helpful list! As a non-strategy gaming mom with a son who’s starting to love them, I wanted to learn some new options for our home beyond Risk. Perfect timing – thank you!
I love this list! Thank you. Favorites here include Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, 7 Wonders and Azul. I’m considering purchasing Wingspan since I’ve heard so many good things about it.
I got wingspan and our family loves playing it . You have to strategically use the resources like habitat, food tokens, eggs to build an effective wildlife preserve for the birds. I have reviewed about wingspan at http://myworldtheirway.com/2019/11/wingspan-best-board-game-2019/
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ticket to Ride. It was worth every penny! We also like Blokus, which is another strategy game for 2-4 people. Even my 5 year old can play it.
I second Bockus!!!
As part of a gaming family, I really enjoyed this list. Great suggestions, too! I few that I would add: Love Letter, Hanabi (cooperative) – should get card holders to make life easier, and Sushi Go. If you enjoy deck-building “legacy” games, then the Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle is really fun! (I don’t really like Dominion a ton, but we love Harry Potter as a family. And, there is an expansion that has been very challenging as well.) I would also just double-down with Splendor. It’s possibly my favorite game ever – so clever, easy to learn, and just very fun every time to you play!
I’m putting a bunch of these on hold at my library! My kids also like Castle Panic and Stone Age.
We absolutely love playing Sushi Go!