Ultimately, it’s a risk, which is why I hope to mitigate some of that risk by telling you what OUR favorite educational board games are (we own upwards of 40 games). I know there are formal rules for this game. The words you find are scored according to length, with longer words earning more points. Players cross off words that other players also found, scoring only their unique finds. Mainstays like Monopoly, Sorry!, and Life have stood the test of time, while new ones for virtually every niche are created every year. Now is the perfect time to revisit your old collection of classic board games, or perhaps to introduce new ones into your rotation.

The Best Educational Board Games in 2023 (that we play ALL The Best Educational Board Games in 2023 (that we play ALL

You need to chose carefully because once you cross off a number, you can no longer cross off numbers to the left of your furthest right “X” in that color row. That also means you can no longer earn points from those numbers. Ever wanted to call your friends and family a bunch of fascists? When playing Secret Hitler, that’s totally socially acceptable. Set in 1930s Germany, Secret Hitler is a beautifully presented hidden roles game in which fascists and liberals outvote each other to secure a majority in parliament. Failing that, they can try to kill each other off.

Fancy a change from Monopoly? Try something new with our roundup of the best games for any occasion

When the play card pile is used up, the game ends, and the player with the most states in their “win” pile wins! Sure, its theme hits closer to home nowadays. But there's something cathartic about giving a pandemic the boot… even if it's only in this tabletop world of tokens and cards. I mean, if you want to look at these games primarily through the lens of “school”, these particular ones are “educational” because they develop and practice skills that schools highly value.

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Monopoly isn't far behind, though. Over the course of its lifetime (some 80-odd years), it's managed to sell well over 200 million copies. That's impressive by any standard.Your kids hate math: Because you have to understand basic math to work through Sushi Go, it won't be a good fit for very young children or those who are practically allergic to sums. Known as a "game of strategic conquest," Risk is perhaps the most famous strategy war game, and one of the most famous board games of all time. Invented by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse, Risk has two to six players taking turns and attempting to capture territories on a world map board, with results determined by dice rolls. This game depends not just on conquest but diplomacy, and has inspired several other games including Axis & Allies and Settlers of Catan. Splendor is the quintessential modern family game. Players take on the role of Renaissance gem merchants trying to collect various precious stones. But that’s not important. What you’re really doing is buying cards that help you buy even more cards, eventually grabbing ones worth a large number of points. It’s a simple game of either buying the card you want or reserving one that you can’t yet afford to keep someone else from grabbing it. All of this is supported brilliantly with a simple yet warm physical production of chunky plastic chips and well-illustrated cards. You gain points through any combination of settlements, cities, roads and development cards. Longest road and biggest army offer additional bonus points.