A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a pre-marked surface, usually specific to that game). Simple board games often make ideal "family entertainment" since they are often appropriate for all ages. Some board games help players learn about history, geography, or science, while others teach children the value or working hard and behaving well.

Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations.

Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the twentieth century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War , a period from which many classic board games date.

The earliest commercial board games date back to the Victorian era. In 1843, The Mansion of Happiness, the first board game sold in the United States, was developed by S.B. Ives in Salem, MA.

Errand Boy was a popular board game in the 1800s. This game attempted to show children the value of hard work and good deeds. Using a teetotum to determine how far to move on the board, players followed the career of an errand boy as he was promoted in the banking business. Players who landed on squares describing hard work and good behavior could move ahead. Players who landed on squares that described dishonest acts or laziness had to move back or go to jail. The winner of the game was the first player to become the president of the bank!

Board games like ‘Ludo’ and ‘Snakes and Ladders’ were also well-liked Victorian era board games.

Monopoly , America ’s most popular board game, first came on the market during the Great Depression.

Many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. The rise of computers has led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games, as computers require less space, and the games don't have to be set up and cleared away. Many computer games include the option to have the computer act as an opponent. With the Internet , many board games can now be played online against a computer or other players (like the classic board games available on Yahoo , Lycos and other big Internet sites). Some web sites allow play in real time and immediately show the opponent's moves, while most use e-mail to notify the players after each move.

There are many different types of board games. Many games simulate aspects of real life. Popular games of this type include:

• Monopoly , which simulates the real estate market
• Cluedo / Clue ,which simulates a murder mystery
• Risk , which simulates warfare

Other games only loosely, or do not at all, attempt to imitate reality. These include:

• abstract strategy games like chess , checkers or arimaa
• word games , like Scrabble
• trivia games, like Trivial Pursuit .

One way of defining board games are between those based upon luck and strategy , although most board games have both luck and strategy. Dice, generally six sided, can determine everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, how their forces fare in battle, such as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, such as in Settlers of Catan . Sorry! uses a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble does something similar with randomly picked letters. Children's games such as Sorry! , Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders have virtually no decisions to be made. Trivia games have a great deal of randomness based on which question a person gets. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. During the Victorian era, a teetotum or a number disk was spun to determine how many moves could be made; most people did not use dice because dice were associated with gambling.

German-style board games are notable for often having less luck factor than in many North American board games. While some purists consider luck to not be a desirable component of a game, others counter that elements of luck can make for far more complex and multi-faceted strategies as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered. Still most adult game players prefer to make some decisions during play, and find purely luck based games such as Top Trumps quite boring.

Some games require diplomacy , or players making deals with each other. A game of solitaire , for obvious reasons, has no player interaction. Two player games usually do not have diplomacy, as the two players compete rather than cooperate. Diplomacy occurs in games played with three or more people. An important facet of Settlers of Catan , for example, is convincing people to trade with you rather than with other players. In Risk , one example of diplomacy's effectiveness is when two or more players team up against others. Easy diplomacy consists of convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Difficult diplomacy (such as in the aptly named game Diplomacy ) consists of making elaborate plans together, with possibility of betrayal.

Some require a steady hand or quick wit to win. Some board games, such as Chess , Go (Weiqi), Xiangqi (Chinese Chess), Shogi, or Oware, have intense strategic value and have become lasting classics.

Children’s Games (Games of Chance with Easy to Learn Rules)

• Ab Die Post!
• Candy Land
• Chicken Cha Cha Cha
• Hallo Dachs!
• Hey Pa! There's a Goat on the Roof
• Hi Ho! Cherry-O
• Hungry Hungry Hippos
• Husch Husch kleine Hexe
• Loopin' Louie
• Ludo
• Mouse Trap
• Piepmatz
• Die Ritter von der Haselnuß
• Snakes and ladders (aka Chutes and Ladders) Verflixt Gemixt

Multi-Player Games Without Elimination (Suited for Mixed Play with Adults and Children)

• 18XX
• 221B Baker Street
• À la carte
• Acquire
• Adel Verpflichtet
• Afrikan tähti
• Aladdin's Dragons
• Alhambra
• Das Amulett
• Amun Re
• Atlantis
• Attribute
• Attika
• Auf Achse
• Australia
• Barbarossa
• Basari
• Bauernschlau
• Billabong
• Bohnanza
• (This Game Is) Bonkers!
• Break the Safe
• The Bridges of Shangri-La
• Buccaneer
• Buzzle
• Café International
• Campanile
• Can't Stop
• Canyon
• Capitol
• Carcassonne
• Careers
• Carolus Magnus
• Cartagena
• Casablanca
• Chameleon
• Chinatown
• Chopper Never Plead Guilty
• Chrononauts
• Civilization
• Clans
• Cluedo (also known as Clue)
• Coloretto
• Columbus
• Crayon Rails
• Crosstrack
• Cosmic Encounter
• Debate This
• Dicke Kartoffeln
• Domaine
• Don't Quote Me
• Drunter und Drüber
• Dschunke
• Duftende Spuren
• Ein Solches Ding...
• El Grande
• Elfenland
• Enchanted Forest
• Entdecker
• Evo
• Extrablatt
• Favoriten
• Fearsome Floors
• Fireball Island
• Fische Fluppen Frikadellen
• Flying Dutchman
• Flusspiraten
• Fluxx
• Forus
• Freebooter
• The Game of Life
• Get the Goods
• Giganten
• Girl Talk
• Goa
• Gold Rush
• Goldland
• Die Händler
• Hansa
• Hattrick
• High Society
• Highlanders
• History of the World
• Holiday AG
• Ingenious
• Intrige [ sic ]
• Jagd der Vampire
• Java
• Journey through Europe
• Junta
• Kill Doctor Lucky
• Kingdoms
• Knock Out
• La Cittá
• Landslide — the ultimate game of presidential politics
• Lost Cities
• Löwenherz
• Die Macher
• Maharaja
• Manhattan
• Manitou
• Marracash
• Master Labyrinth
• Medici
• Medieval Merchant
• Medina
• Merchant of Venus
• Merchants of Amsterdam
• Mexica
• Mine a million — Dig for minerals, transport to town and get rich...
• Minos
• The Mob
• Modern Art
• Mole in the Hole
• Nautilus
• Neolithibum
• New England
• Paris Paris
• parcheesi
• Pay Day
• Personal Preference
• Pfusch
• Pirate's Cove
• Pizarro & Co.
• Prendi e porta a casa
• Primordial Soup
• Princes of Florence
• Pueblo
• Puerto Rico
• Quo Vadis?
• RA
• Rail Baron
• Ramses II
• Razzia
• Rette Sich wer Kann
• Rheinlander
• Rivers, Roads & Rails
• Robo Rally
• Römer
• Rummikub
• Rummoli
• Saint Petersburg
• Samurai
• San Marco
• Settlers of Catan
• Schraumeln
• Schweinsgalopp
• Scotland Yard
• Scattergories
• Scrabble
• Serenissima
• Seven Deadly Sins
• Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
• Showmanager
• Skirrid
• Sorry!
• Spiel der Türme
• Sternen Himmel
• Sticheln
• Stock Ticker
• Super Quiz
• Taj Mahal
• Tal der Könige
• Take it Easy
• Terra X
• Through the Desert
• Ticket to Ride
• Tigris & Euphrates
• Tikal
• Timberland
• Top Secret Spies
• Torres
• Totopoly
• Tracks to Telluride
• Traders of Genoa
• TransAmerica
• Trivial Pursuit
• Tutankhamen
• Tycoon (board game)
• Union Pacific
• Vernissage
• Verräter
• Vinci
• Was Sticht?
• Web of Power
• Wind & Wetter
• Zombies!!!

Multi-Player Elimination Games

• Anti-Monopoly
• Axis & Allies
• Bang!
• Blokus
• Blue Max
• Crash! The bankrupt game
• Diplomacy
• Family Business
• King Oil
• Monopoly
• Poleconomy
• Risk
• TEG - Plan Táctico y Estratégico de la Guerra
• Titan
• Solarquest
• Summit
• Viktory
• Explorium: a Gold Rush game

Two-Player Games Involving Chance or Hidden Information

• Backgammon
• Battleship
• Cross and Circle games like Ludo and Parcheesi
• Daldøs
• Liu po
• Mastermind
• Mozaic
• Obsession
• Sáhkku
• Senet
• Space Hulk
• Stratego
• Sugoroku
• Tâb
• Tantrix

Games of Physical Skill (Dexterity)

• Carabande
• Carrom
• Chapayev
• Crokinole
• Jenga
• Twister
• Operation
• Polarity
• Subbuteo
• Villa Paletti

European Race Games

• Circle of Knowledge
• Detroit-Cleveland Grand Prix
• Formula Dé
• Galopp Royal
• Game of the Goose
• Game of Japan
• Great Balloon Race
• Hare and Tortoise
• Jeu du Grand-Homme
• Mississippi Queen
• Peter Rabbit's Race Game
• Round the World with Nellie Bly
• Streetcar
• The Sun of Brunswick
• Tour of Europe
• Um Reifenbreite
• Warhamster Rally
• Yucata'

Generic Game Sets (Used to Play Various Board Games)

• Icehouse pieces
• Piecepack
• You've Been Sentenced!