Monopoly
Monopoly is the world’s best selling board game. It is sold in 103 countries and each country’s version varies naming different street and railroad lines.
Monopoly was created by Charles Darrow in New York. Darrow created the game in 1935 when he was unemployed during America’s Great Depression. Parker Bros passed on Monopoly so Darrow had a local printer turn out 5,000 copies that flew off the shelves. Parker Bros reconsidered and the rest is history.
Popular versions of Monopoly:
Buy the Classic Version Now, Buy Monopoly City Edition, Buy Monopoly Disney Edition, Buy Monopoly Here & Now World Edition, Buy Monopoly Championship Edition, Buy Arsenal Football Monopoly Edition, Buy Manchester United Football Monopoly Edition, Buy Monopoly Nostalgia Edition
Browse through almost 150 Monopoly editions now
Cluedo – Buy Now!
Cludeo is the classic detective game that was first developed in 1945, but didn’t make it into circulation until 4 years later in 1949. Cluedo has spanned generations in Britain and has travelled far and wide across the globe. For example it is called Clue in America and remains one of the States best selling board games of all time.
Trivial Pursuit – Buy Now!
There are dozens of trivia board games on the market today, but the big daddy of them all is still Trivial Pursuit created almost 40 years ago by two friends in Montreal, Canada. Test your knowledge on different subject to move about the board collecting slices of your intellectual pie. First team or person to complete their pie is the hands down winner! Trivial Pursuit has expanded to include Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture DVDs, Trivial Pursuit for Kids, Trivial Pursuit on your iPhone, iPad, computer, Wii, Playstation and XBOX, Trivial Pursuit Totally 80s, Trivial Pursuit Family and the Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know It Edition.
The Settlers of Catan – Buy Now!
Haven’t heard of this one? You will! The Settlers of Catan hails from Germany where it has been the country’s best selling board game since it caught on in 1995. In the past 15 years it has been translated into 30 different languages and more recently it has become the US’s best selling board game since Risk. The object of the game is to colonise an island developing roads, towns and rolling the dice to gain more resources to make the colony more successful.
Twister – Buy Now!
Since 1966 Twister, perhaps not ‘technically’ a board game, has been giving kids (and us big kids) of all ages a good excuse to climb all over one another, stick feet in faces, arms through legs and just general get giggly together. Word of advice: stretch before you spin.
Dungeons & Dragons – Buy Now!
Created in 1974 Dungeons & Dragons not only swept the Western World, but it spawned a cult society that lived and breathed the game and it led to a whole new subset of sci-fi, fantasy gaming. Today dozens upon dozens of fantasy games can be found online.
Risk – Buy Now!
Risk is a game that was developed in France in 1957 by French film director, Albert Lamorisse. The game is all about strategy, the strategy of warfare. Position your troops, get them supplies, mount an attack and then declare victory, regroup or surrender. Ironically, Germany nearly banned the game in the 1980s for “promoting -gulp- militaristic and imperialist attitudes in the nation's youth.”
Scrabble – Buy Now!
Scrabble had a bumpy childhood beginning in 1931 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Alfred Butts developed the game, then called Criss-Crossword, but couldn’t market it himself. Many, many years later he sold it on to the Brunot family who in 1948 changed its name to Scrabble and after years of losses, the game finally caught on like a house on fire. In 1953 it became popular in the UK and Australia and today the rest is history as Scrabble holds the title for bestselling word game.
Snakes & Ladders – Buy Now!
A much loved classic, Snakes and Ladders sees two players scrambling to climb ladders to reach the top of the board, but beware that you do not land on a snake because you will slide back down the board giving your opponent quite the advantage.
Snakes & Ladders has quite a history. Its origins and exact time of conception is not known, but its earliest version can be traced back to India in the 16th Century where it was a game of morality that encouraged Hindi children to follow the path to salvation, in fact on of its earlier names can is translated as The Ladder to Salvation. The game caught on in England in 1892 and eventually Milton Bradley brought it over to America in 1943 where is has been called Chutes and Ladders ever since.
Chess – Buy Now!
Last but certainly not least, Chess is the world’s longest surviving board game. It dates back some 1500 years to India. This game of strategy has been played in royal courts, among the aristocracy and it is also played far and wide by the average person. There are hundreds of websites devoted to it, volumes of books dedicated to it and even world championship tournaments of Chess and movies on the game.
