The 20 best board games to choose for Christmas gifts this year

Forget Monopoly. Expand beyond Settlers of Catan.

by Jason Bailey and Sarah Pulliam Bailey

Want to learn about someone? Challenge them to a game. You can learn so much about how they think and play and compete. Imagine if board games were incorporated into marriage counseling and job interviews.

Board games are a smart investment of time and money because you actually engage with people while challenging your own ability to plan ahead and evaluate options. (Check out this relevant interview in the Harvard Business Review.) Or you can simply have a night of fun.

Because board games have exploded in popularity in recent years, it can be difficult to navigate what feels like an endless sea of options. Here are some new games we’ve enjoyed this year, along with other games we have previously endorsed and still play regularly with friends. Please expand your horizons beyond Monopoly and even Settlers of Catan!

Game of the Year

Codenames: This has been a consistent hit, a party game for even the hard-core gamer. A leader devises simple clues to connect assigned words from a 25-word grid. Teammates then try to decode the pattern, either to satisfyingly correct or hilariously misguided results.

$20, 4–8 players, 15 minutes, ages 10+

Colt Express, 2015 Game of the Year: Assign actions to rob a train. And expect it to go haywire.

[25 board recommendations from our 2015 list]

7 Wonders, 2013 Game of the Year: Select cards that will escalate in power as your city grows.

[30 board game recommendations from 2013]

Party Games

Sushi Go Party: Select the best card from your hand before passing it along, although what you value may change often. This expanded version of Sushi Go allows up to eight players and introduces several new cards, which can be mixed and matched to make every game different.

$20, 2–8 players, 20 minutes, ages 8+

Avalon: Deduce the identity of “evil” players in your midst through logic and social interaction.

Dixit: Pick from your hand of fantastical cards to match a chosen word, phrase, title, lyric, etc.

Cooperative Games

Pandemic Legacy: Like in the original Pandemic, coordinate to find cures for diseases that are spreading across the world. But here, many of these decisions (along with some surprises) will permanently alter your game for future playthroughs. Form a consistent group with your best gaming friends!

$70, 2–4 players, 60 minutes, ages 12+ (Note: There are different red and blue box covers but the game inside is identical.)

Hanabi: You can’t see your cards. Your teammates can. Work together to line them up in order.

Flash Point: Spend actions wisely to save people from a burning house before the fire spreads.

Two-player Games

Targi: Collect salt, pepper, and dates — and, yes, turn them into victory points — by coordinating two pieces alongside an evolving board of cards. In this satisfying worker placement game, you can stymie your opponent without ruining your relationship.

$40, 2 players, 60 minutes, ages 10+

7 Wonders Duel: Develop viable strategies of military advancement, science diversification, or economic development. There are always enticing options among the pyramid of cards, but choose wisely because each selection directly opens up new possibilities for your opponent.

$30, 2 players, 30 minutes, ages 10+

Lost Cities: Build piles of cards, but with care. You can’t progress backward on an expedition.

Light Strategy Games

Imhotep: Construct pyramids, obelisks, temples, and more while calculating how to place your stones in the most valuable locations. This is a cutthroat game in which you must decide whether it’s optimal to ruin an opponent’s best-laid plans or invest more of your own resources.

$30, 2–4 players, 40 minutes, ages 10+

Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King: Expand your kingdom by obtaining tiles through an interesting bidding mechanic: Assign values to your drawn tiles, buy a tile from someone else, and buy your own if nobody pays. This builds upon Carcassonne by changing the criteria for victory points each game.

$35, 2–5 players, 40 minutes, ages 8+

Biblios: Collect sets by selecting which card to keep, which cards to give opponents and which card to save for the auction that follows. Because of the amount of hidden information, nobody else is quite sure what sets you are collecting, and the value of each is manipulated throughout.

$20, 2–4 players, 30 minutes, ages 8+

Dominion: Turn your personal deck into a point-scoring engine. The variable setup is a big plus. (Note: There are several expansions available. We prefer Prosperity, Seaside, and Intrigue.)

Heavy Strategy Games

Mombasa: Purchase stock in four companies expanding into colonial Africa, and earn bonuses by collecting the most of a given resource. This is a weighty game, and the smorgasbord of area control, card management and stock manipulation rewards preparing a few turns ahead.

$45, 2–4 players, 120 minutes, ages 12+

The Castles of Burgundy: Roll dice and navigate your limited options to build the best kingdom.

Elysium: Collect cards that may provide you with powers or victory points, but not both at once.

Classic Games (At least 10 years old)

Ra: Each player can win only nine auctions, which creates a press-your-luck element as you build sets of tiles. As auctions are won, everyone will begin valuing the tiles differently, which makes it a challenge to predict what others will think the pharaohs and civilizations are worth.

$60, 2–5 players, 60 minutes, ages 10+

Puerto Rico: Select among roles to most efficiently purchase buildings and sell and ship crops