The Best Classic Family Board Games for All Ages in 2024

September 5, 2023
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The Best Classic Family Board Games for All Ages in 2024

The classic board game serves not only as a fun way to spend some quality time together but as a training ground for learning the arts of fair play, grace in defeat, and winning without gloating!

So much family time today is dominated by screens; whether that’s televisions, iPads, or games consoles. And yet there is a great deal to be gained by switching them all off, gathering together and embarking on simple fun with a classic family board game.

Memories are rarely made by scooping up virtual points or watching clips on You Tube, however; being together, talking – getting cross! – and sharing the experience of a board game can all be reminisced about

The nostalgia of board games cannot be underestimated – invariably they represent a more innocent time, often associated with childhood and no doubt sibling squabbles!

Banned by The Queen

It has been reported that the late Queen Elizabeth II banned the playing of Monopoly at Christmas because it led to too many arguments and became too “vicious”. Hilarious that one of the richest families in the land also enjoyed getting richer by each other charging rents and spending time residing at “Her Majesty’s pleasure”!

Firm Favourites

The board game market is a hotbed of innovation, with new and ever-more creative games being launched all the time. There are however some great family classics that have stood the test of time, earning a place in games cupboards throughout the country.

More than just a board game

For truly successful games, their brands have even led to decorative merchandise – think about scrabble tiles as coasters, and monopoly parts as jewellery. Similarly, special editions of board games can command many hundreds of pounds for collectors.

Classic Board Games

Connect 4
Monopoly
Scrabble
Trouble
Guess Who

Here is a list of our top five family board games:

Connect Four

Connect Four remains one of the easiest and yet most frustrating games on the market! Although not entirely new – there’s evidence of alignment games being played in ancient Egypt – the classic version was launched in 1974 by Milton Bradley (who were eventually bought by Hasbro), and created by toy inventor, Howard Wexlar.

Two players compete by trying to be the first to line up either their red or yellow tokens in either a horizontal line, a vertical line, or a diagonal line; taking turns to win a spot or block their opponents. The iconic rack that holds the tokens is a piece of design genius: easy to assemble and then flip open the bottom to release the tokens and begin again.

So simple, the game is ideal for children and has been adapted for easy use when travelling.

Monopoly

As the Royal Family have shown, no family is immune from the challenges of this complex game which can turn players into big business moguls or poor bankrupts.

Monopoly was launched in 1935 by American toy manufacturer, the Parker Brothers. It has its roots in something called The Landlords Game which was created in 1903 as a way to illustrate different economic theories and ideas. The game’s final name is a reference to the economic concept of a monopoly whereby a market is dominated by a single entity.

Starting with $1,500 in “money” handed out by the Banker, players secure businesses and infrastructure while travelling around the board and trying to avoid jail. They can charge other players rent for landing on squares they own (having bought deed cards from the Banker) and can even mortgage properties in order to increase their investments.

A “monopoly” is declared when one player acquires a complete set of deed cards in one colour.

The beauty of Monopoly is the way that it has been adapted to reflect different cities and places, therefore, increasing its appeal.

Scrabble

Slightly more serious, Scrabble is a fantastic game for those who love crosswords, word play or simply have a wide vocabulary and great spelling skills.

Invented in 1938 in the US by architect Alfred Mosher Butts, the game has achieved world-wide appeal and is available in more than 30 languages. It has even given rise to Scrabble Clubs and tournaments.

Each player keeps seven tiles on their rack, replacing letters every time they place a word on the grid. All words have to integrate, and they carry a value according to the number on the tile as well as any bonus squares on the board that they might cover.

Designed for between two and four players, if it’s not possible to create a new word on the grid there is the option of:

Taking a pass which means no points.
Exchanging one or more tiles for an equal number from the bag – this means no points but a chance of creating a better word next time
Playing just one tile on the board adds the value of all words formed to the player’s cumulative score.

Find out some of the benefits of Scrabble here.

Trouble

Pretty much the only thing that has changed about this game over the decades is its name. Launched in 1965, it has been called “Frustration” in the UK, and “Kimble” in Finland. Now it seems universally known as Trouble.

Dice are contained in the middle of its iconic “Pop-o-Matic” plastic container which is placed over a flexible sheet so that when pressed, the container pops the dice.

Up to four players chose a set of four coloured pieces racing them around the board using the “Pop-o-Matic” to determine how many places they can move.

Should one player land on another’s piece; then that one needs to go back to the start – increasing the time it will take to get all four “home”.

As well as a Star Wars version, there is one based on the Disney movie, Frozen, and even a Minions game!

Read More: The Best Board Games for Teens

Guess Who?

Little detectives can start their careers early by asking pertinent questions in order to eliminate “characters” and discover who is on their opponent’s card.

Created by Israeli game inventors Ora and Theo Coster, Guess Who was first manufactured by Milton Bradley in 1979. Hasbro later bought the game.

The cartoon images that are all standing up at the start of the game have been updated over the years to be more inclusive. In 2012, a young player wrote to Hasbro – owners of the game – to ask why there were so few female characters versus male ones. Later editions addressed this by introducing more women, and they have also become more racially diverse.

Play and gift

Next time, rather than reaching for the television remote control or spending hours scrolling through social media, open up the games cupboard and bring out an old favourite.

Or, when shopping for a gift, head to the board games and watch as a lucky recipient opens a box that takes them right back to their childhood. Better still, have a hunt about and see if there’s a special edition.

Final Thoughts

These top five classic board games show us how simple, fun, and social gaming can be. They prove that despite the digital world’s growth, there’s still a place for good old-fashioned games that can be played around a table.

These games teach us strategy, patience, and how to have fun with others. They remind us of the magic that happens when we put away our screens, gather with our loved ones, and simply play. No matter how many new games come out, these classics will always have a special place in our hearts and homes.