Here is our list of popular strategy board games.
Table of Contents
Chess
Chess is a two-player strategy board game that traces its origins back more than a thousand years.
It has become one of the world’s most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, chess always offers something new to learn and is a fun game to play.
Go
Go, known as “Weiqi” in China and “Baduk” in Korea, is an ancient board game that traces its origins over 2,500 years ago to China.
Despite its simple rules, Go offers an immense depth of strategy, making it one of the most nuanced board games in existence.
Go is typically played on a 19×19 grid board, although 9×9 and 13×13 boards are also used, especially for beginners or quicker games.
The primary goal is to control a larger portion of the board than your opponent by the end of the game. This is done by placing stones on the board and capturing opponent’s stones.
Risk
Risk is the classic board game of global domination.
The Risk board depicts a political map of the world, divided into 42 territories spread over six continents, and the primary goal is to occupy every territory on the board and eliminate all other players, thus achieving world domination.
The Settlers of Catan
The Settlers of Catan, commonly referred to as just Catan, is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as “Die Siedler von Catan”.
Catan’s board is composed of hexagonal tiles representing different types of terrains: forest, pasture, fields, hills, mountains, and desert. These tiles are randomly arranged at the beginning of each game, ensuring a unique layout every time. The tiles produce resources: brick, wool, grain, lumber, and ore, respectively—with the desert producing nothing.
Players aim to be the first to reach a set number of victory points, typically 10 in the base game. Points are earned by building settlements and cities, having the longest road, the largest army, or through special cards called “Development Cards”.
The game’s success in Germany soon led to its popularity worldwide, and it is often credited with sparking a renaissance in modern board gaming.
Stratego
Stratego is a classic strategy board game that combines elements of tactics, memory, and bluffing.
Originating from France and introduced to the world by the Dutch company Jumbo (and later by Milton Bradley for the U.S. market), the game draws its inspiration from traditional battlefield strategies.
The game board is a 10×10 grid, resembling a battlefield, and each player’s side contains two lakes in the middle rows that act as barriers, restricting movement.
The main goal is to capture your opponent’s flag while protecting your own.