{"id":4021,"date":"2023-08-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natixis.ezine.intercountry.com\/?p=4021"},"modified":"2023-08-16T11:12:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T09:12:28","slug":"move-over-monopoly-here-are-americas-most-popular-board-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natixis.ezine.intercountry.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/17\/move-over-monopoly-here-are-americas-most-popular-board-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Move Over, Monopoly! Here Are America\u2019s Most Popular Board Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read time : 3 mins <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level : Intermediate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Jake Valentine | Wealth<\/span> of Geeks<\/p>\n

Nearly 5,000 new board<\/span> games were released<\/span> in 2022 alone. The hobby has exploded in popularity over the years. Despite the emergence of new games, a timeless<\/span> classic remains<\/span> America’s most popular board<\/span> game: Chess.<\/p>\n

A recent study reveals the top 20 board<\/span> games in the United States. The list is filled with classics like Monopoly, Clue, and Sorry! But Chess tops them all.<\/p>\n

“Chess is a cultural touchstone, with terms such as checkmate being a staple of the English language,” said a spokesperson for World of Card Games, who performed the study. “It has been studied for centuries, and skill at the game is considered shorthand for a person’s intelligence. It has even seen a new wave of popularity in recent years as more people learn of its intricacies. It is fitting, then, that Chess is America’s most popular board<\/span> game.<\/p>\n

“It will be interesting to see if chess continues to grow in popularity in the coming years and how that might impact how people play the game online and offline, both professionally and at the amateur level.”<\/p>\n

The study examined Google searches for 605 board<\/span> games. Each game was combined with search terms including “board<\/span> game,” “how to play,” and “rules.”<\/p>\n

The Top Five Board<\/span> Games In America<\/p>\n

With nearly 500,000 monthly searches, Chess easily tops the list. As mentioned in the above quote, Chess has enjoyed increased popularity as an eSport within the past few years. A younger audience is learning the classic game, opening it up to a new demographic of Americans.<\/p>\n

In second place is Checkers, with 261,683 monthly searches, placing it well behind Chess. While the game lacks Chess’s mainstream<\/span> appeal and complexity, Checkers can still capture a broad<\/span> audience thanks to its accessibility.<\/p>\n

Monopoly is in third place, with 186,591 monthly searches. Unlike Chess and Checkers, the game of Monopoly is a relatively recent creation. Designed by Lizzie Magie and Charles Darrow, the board<\/span> game was first published in 1935 by Parker Brothers. It focuses on buying, selling, and trading real estate properties.<\/p>\n

Clue, also known as Cluedo, is in fourth place with 135,150 searches. Like Monopoly, Clue is a newer game, first published in 1949 by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom as Cluedo. Players are tasked with investigating a murder and trying to deduce the killer, the murder weapon, and where the crime was committed. The game’s popularity led to the release of a 1985 film starring Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, and Eileen Brennan. The film exercised a unique structure that mirrored the game by having three alternate endings.<\/p>\n

In fifth place is Mancala, with a total of 72,716 monthly searches. Like Checkers and Chess, Mancala’s origins date back hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

The Rest Of The List<\/p>\n

Moving further down the list, a mix of old classics and modern board<\/span> games continues. Rummikub, which combines elements of the tile game Mahjong with the card game Rummy, is in sixth place, thanks to its 33,440 monthly searches. Pictionary, a popular party game where teams must guess the picture being drawn, is in seventh place at 24,658 monthly searches. Chinese Checkers is America’s eighth most popular board<\/span> game, with 14,414 monthly searches. This is the last board<\/span> game on the list to crack 10,000 Google searches.<\/p>\n

The strategy game Go comes in ninth with 8,121 searches. The game was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago and is believed to be the oldest board<\/span> game continuously played to the present day. It also has an electronic connection \u2013 the video game brand Atari comes from the Japanese term in Go for capturing the other player’s stones.<\/p>\n

Right behind it is Settlers of Catan, often called a gateway board<\/span> game to more complex offerings, with 8,116 searches. Shogi is in 11th with 6,365 Google searches. In 12th is Chutes and Ladders, based on the ancient Indian game Moksha Patam. Next is Love Letter, the most recent game on the list, first released<\/span> in 2012. It has 5,510 monthly searches. Two more modern games follow it up: HeroQuest (5,336) and Mall Madness (3,760).<\/p>\n

The top twenty of America’s most popular board<\/span> games ends as follows: Obsession, with 2,917 searches. Sorry! has 2,785 searches. Pok\u00e9mon Master Trainer, based on the popular Nintendo video game franchise, has 2,645 searches. Upwords has 2,253 searches, just ahead of Otrio (2,250).<\/p>\n

This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth<\/span> of Geeks.<\/p>