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Best Board Games: 10 Best Board Games Of 2014

September 26, 2014

Discover the best board games of 2014 based on sales and customer reviews. Not just the top 10 most popular board games, but the top 10 rated board games of 2014.

Board Games Messiah Top Rated

Our best board games based on customer reviews

1. Jax Jumbo Sequence Tube Board Game

Sequence is a game using two decks of cards, where players try to match a card in their hand to the card on the playing board. Get five in a row, a sequence, and you freeze them in place. Do this twice to win. Like all very good games, the rules are simple but play can be complex. Do you build your own sequence or do you block another player? Jacks are wild and can be used to remove a played card or on place of a card. This becomes a game of luck, drawing the right cards. Skill, playing with the right mix of building and blocking and strategy. Easy to learn, it will keep you busy considering the possibilities for hours.

2. ThinkFun Rush Hour Board Game

Honk! Honk! It’s gridlock and the little red car can’t move. The player is a traffic cop in the Rush Hour Traffic Jam Puzzle where the objective is to get the red car off the road. To play, pick one of 40 challenge cards; solutions are printed on the back of each card. Then set up the cars and buses in a specified pattern on the 6-inch-square road grid. Move the vehicles one by one (obey those traffic laws!) until the red car can escape the traffic jam.

3. Sleeping Queens Board Game

This game is a lot of fun and is a frequent choice for our family game night. Gamewright is very, very good at designing games that are enjoyable for a wide age-range. Sleeping Queens is mostly luck, but with just the right amount of skill/strategy for younger players (our 6 yr. old loves to consider each move carefully). The cards are attractive and the ‘hook’ is appealing. The instructions are clear, if slightly more complex than the average kiddy game.

4. Ticket To Ride Board Game – Europe Edition

Ticket to Ride Europe is perhaps the best game of its kind. And part of what makes this easy to say is Ticket is really quite innovative and in a class of its own.

5. ThinkFun Rush Hour Board Game – Junior Edition

For children who likes puzzles and mazes, this is a great find. To get the ice cream truck out of the traffic jam, the child must think on more than one level and more than one move ahead. Any wrong moves can be easily reversed and there is no penalty for wrong moves, only the thrill of solving the puzzle. Its great for solo play or for two to work together.

6. Telestrations 8 Player Board Game – The Original Edition

This game combines the best of Pictionery and the old game of Telephone. You pick a card that has various items listed on the card, i.e. dog, vacuum cleaner, ski slope etc. Each item is numbered, and everyone is given the item number they will have to draw on the first page of Telestration.

The Telestration booklet is made up of 8 pages of a material that is easily erasable using the provided marker and cloth eraser. After doing your drawing you pass the booklet to the person to your right. On the page following your drawing, they have to write down what you have drawn; then they pass the book to the right and that person has to draw what you have written down. When the booklets have made the rounds of everyone in the game it’s time to reveal the sequence of words and drawings.

7. Carcassonne Basic Board Game

Carcassonne is a classic tile laying game that has been around for about 12 years now. Recently, the US publisher/distributor has been switched from Rio Grande Games to Z-Man games. The BIG DIFFERENCE between this version and the Rio Grande version is that this one includes the River tile expansion in the base game. Bottom line, regardless of who makes this game in the US, EVERYONE should have it in their board game collection.

8. Sequence Board Game

Sequence is one of those rare games that can be played by many people of widely different ages at the same time. A little skill and a lot of luck make this an easy game to learn, but sometimes very tough to win. It’s more of a card game than a board game and its a lot of fun.

9. ThinkFun Zingo

This preschooler variation of the old favorite Bingo is a real winner.

Zingo cards have a 3 by 3 grid that shows pictures and words. Cards have a yellow side (easier, for younger kids) and a red side for the odler ones. The plastic game piece dispenser is well-designed and fun to use. Players shout out to claim a piece, which is then placed over the appropriate square on the player’s card. There are several play variations.

Excellent game for the younger set, and fun for older children and adults as well.

10. Ravensburger Labyrinth

This is a fabulous game! First of all, the game mechanic is so simple, anyone can learn how to play it in less than a minute.

At the beginning of the game, you deal out treasure cards. The aim of the players is to reach the tile on which the treasure is printed. You do this by pushing tiles. As the players push the tiles the layout of the labyrinth changes. You can play this game with two to four players. With two players, it’s more strategic since you have to worry about getting your treasures and preventing the other player from getting his. With larger number of players, the game becomes more chaotic and exciting because the labyrinth will be completely different by the time you get your turn again.