Board game sales boomed at the beginning of the pandemic. According to Euromonitor, the global games and puzzles market increased almost $1 billion in value in 2020, reaching a total of $11.3 billion. Even before the pandemic, though, the market was growing. In an increasingly digital age, many consumers prefer the in-person interactions afforded by tabletop games. (If you’re not one of them, you might consider the best-selling Nintendo games of all time.) 

To compile a list of the best-selling board games of all time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a report by the gift and toy site Fun.com. The site based its ranking on sales records collected over the years, including estimates, where possible, of the number of units of each board game that has sold since the game was first introduced. (These are the best-selling board games in America.) 

Click here to see the most popular board games of all time

Some of the most popular games on the list are also the oldest. Ancient games including checkers, chess, mancala, and backgammon have been around for more than 1,000 years and are widely played in various parts of the world, often using makeshift boards and pieces. The oldest modern games on the list are Othello, Battleship, Scrabble, and Monopoly, while newer games include Cranium, Blokus, and Catan.