45 Best Board Games for Kids That the Whole Family Will Enjoy

This one encourages kids to get as fanciful as they like: Players use magnetic pieces to dress up their bananas, and then vote to give them superlatives like "Most Creative" or "Silliest" until everyone has a certificate. "We’ve played it every day for a week now,” one parent tester said. “My son even started making up his own rules. We love that anyone can be a winner.” Ages 4+

Throughout this game, players feed Charlie acorns in colors indicated by their roll of a picture die, and they can watch his facial expression change as he gets too full. Eventually he can’t hold any more, and the acorns spill out from a tree stump! Parents liked that it taught kids turn-taking and color recognition. Kids loved when the acorns tumbled out, and they raced to fill their stashes. Ages 4+

Kid testers loved "feeding" these dinos, which they do by pushing down on the dinosaur's tail as quickly as possible to get it to chomp on some marbles. They'll be so wrapped up in the action, they won't even realize they're working on their hand-eye coordination at the same time. Ages 4+

In this game, players work together, not against each other — the timer is the real enemy. They have to move around the maze together, avoiding walls and collecting treasures, before time runs out. Magnets are the secret to the unique, vertically oriented game board. Ages 6+

This is played like your typical four-in-a-row game, but it also comes with more of a challenge: Stacking pieces vertically gives you another axis to connect four pieces. Players can play head-to-head or solo against a computer — but testers say the computer is hard to beat! Either way, they'll have to sharpen their strategic thinking skills. Ages 6+

This game is best for preschoolers who like a little chaos (and a big mess) in their games. Players take turns hanging fruit and animals on the vine, using their fine motor coordination. Eventually, though, the vine gets too heavy, the "twang" happens, and the vine springs up and sends the pieces flying! Ages 4+

In this game, players work cooperatively to make five-card sequences that move their pups around a board and (hopefully) dig up bones. Does it sound like pre-coding skills? It is, and without the use of screens. “I’ve done some coding and can definitely see the parallels,” one parent tester said. Ages 6+

It's a game of nerves, reflexes and find motor coordination. Players have to take turns stealing gold nuggets from Rattlesnake Jake, who is coiled around them. Little by little, he rattles, his rattle gets more intense and he strikes! Families who tested this one said that the suspense of the game, plus the way everyone jumped at every strike, made it really fun to play. Ages 4+

You and your team are inside a castle, and hordes of monsters are invading — what do you do? Work as a team and put those thinking brains together, that's what! Testers loved that this was a cooperative game that encouraged them to use their strategic thinking skills to win or lose as a team. Up to 6 people can play. Ages 8+

Players set up the A – Z tiles and pick a card with a category like "a country in Asia," then think of relevant words to spell out. It's a good game to get them practicing their vocabulary and sounding out words. For a twist, try pairing up the older and younger kids onto teams to work together to come up with answers. Ages 7+

For anyone who's ever wanted to learn how to play Mahjong, this will give players the basics to learn how to play. It has the American rules, the Chinese rules and also advanced rules for those who think they can deal with a greater challenge. "As a parent, I loved that he was so into learning this popular game from another culture,” one tester said. Ages 8+

Players step into the role of detective, solving the case of a chewed-up homework or a purloined cake. The suspects? All dogs. Players must use critical thinking skills and powers of deduction to use clues on the challenge cards to eliminate suspects and determine the culprit. The game is designed for one player, but kids can always work together. There's also Cat Crimes for people who prefer felines. Ages 8+

Testers told us this was an inter-generational hit — even groups with a huge spread in players' ages reported that everyone had fun. Which is good, because it goes fast, since players have to think of an answer quickly when a baton is passed to them. The timer is automatically reset when the baton is passed on. Ages 8+

Conceal the bear under one of six nesting boxes and have kids guess where he is. For little ones, it can be as easy as pointing or describing the box ("the one with a slide"). Older kids can play along, too, by finding hidden images on each block. Ages 2+

It doesn't matter if you're a Cranium pro from back in the day or if you've never played before — 800 new questions and 18 different activities mean it's a whole new game for everyone. Testers loved trying out the different challenges, even if they didn't exactly know all the references. Ages 12+

Rubbery pig figurines act like dice as players shake them up, roll them and tabulate points based on the positions in which they land. First player to 100 points wins! It comes with its own “sty” storage. Parents appreciated how easy the pigs were to transport, making this a great go-to travel game. Ages 7+

A great option for playing on the go, Guess in 10 Junior has kids pick an animal card that other players have to try to figure out. A guide uses pictures to give kids hints about questions to ask, such as where the animal lives and what it eats, so reading isn’t required. Beyond animals, other available themes include Inside My House and Food We Eat. Kids loved learning about a the different animals, and parents reported that older siblings had fun with these too. Ages 3+

This game is for Pokémon fans who are interested in learning how to play the trading card game. It comes with three decks (Pikachu, Eevee and Cinderace), and a game board shows kid how to lay out the cards, while a strategy book breaks down what they can and can't do on each turn. By the end, they'll be masters of strategy. Ages 6+

This Uno-like card game was developed by teachers, but kids will have so much fun with it that they may not realize they’re learning. One player puts down a word card and the next has to try to match letters in that word with their own cards. With each turn, kids hone their understanding of letters and sounds. This one was a hit even with reluctant readers. “I like these cards better than workbooks,” one said. Ages 5+

You want to find the head and body cards that match to make one animal. But the real thrill starts when you don’t get a pair: Flip a dog’s head to go with a horse’s body, and everyone has to bark as they gallop around. This is another game where it’s more fun not to win. Ages 3+