INDIANA – Online game website World of Card Games analyzed the number of Google searches for 605 board games to determine which one is America’s favorite. Each game’s name was combined with terms such as ‘board game,’ ‘how to play,’ and ‘rules’ to determine the interest in each game.
1. Chess
Chess tops the list for America’s favorite board game, with an average of 490,983 monthly searches.
Chess is played on an 8×8 grid of alternating dark and light-colored squares, with each side having eight pawns and eight special pieces to checkmate their opponent. Traditionally, chess sets have one set of white or light-colored pieces and one set of black or dark-colored pieces.
New York is the state most interested in chess by number of searches, with an average of 192.9 monthly searches per 100,000 residents. This narrowly beats Massachusetts with 192.8 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents. New Jersey is third most interested at 187 searches per 100,000 residents, and Florida and Nevada are fourth and fifth with 175.9 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents and 169.1 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
2. Checkers
Checkers is America’s second favorite board game, with an average of 261,683 monthly searches.
Checkers is also played on an 8×8 grid of alternating dark and light-colored squares like chess; however, each side starts with 12 pieces placed only on the dark-colored squares in the first three rows of the board. Usually, the pieces are colored black for dark pieces and red or white for light-colored pieces.
As for the states most interested in checkers: Nebraska tops the list with 161.1 average monthly searches for checkers per 100,000 residents. Kansas is second with 130.5 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, while Wyoming is third with 111.5 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents. New York and Delaware are fourth and fifth, with 96.3 and 89.1 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
3. Monopoly
Monopoly is third for America’s favorite board game, with an average of 186,591 monthly searches.
Monopoly is played on a square board with numerous sets of properties for players to acquire and develop. Each player takes turns to roll two dice and either purchase the property that is landed on or pay rent to the landlord of the property upon which they have landed. The goal of Monopoly is to acquire and develop as much property as possible to force other players to pay rent and go bankrupt.
Nebraska is most interested in Monopoly, with 136.8 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Kansas is the second most interested, with 103.3 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Wyoming, New York, and Texas are third, fourth, and fifth, with 95.2, 70.8, and 65.8 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
4. Clue (Cluedo)
With 135,150 average monthly searches, Clue is fourth for America’s favorite board game.
Also referred to as Cluedo outside of North America, Clue is a murder mystery game where players try to solve the murder of the game’s victim. Players will try to determine who committed the murder, where it was committed, and what was the murder weapon.
Nebraska is also the state most interested in Clue, with an average of 124.7 monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Kansas and Wyoming are second and third, with 100.2 and 86 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
5. Mancala
Fifth America’s favorite board game is Mancala, with an average of 72,716 monthly searches.
Another ancient game, mancala is played on a board marked with holes or pits and is played with small counters or stones referred to as seeds. A common variant of a mancala board consists of two rows of six pits with two large pits or mancalas at either end. At the start of the game, all of the small pits are filled with the same number of seeds. The aim of mancala is for a player to have more seeds in their mancala at the end of the game than their opponent.
Vermont searches the most for mancala, with an average of 39.2 monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Maine is second most interested, with 32.5 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, while New Hampshire is third, with an average of 30.9 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents.
6. Rummikub
Rummikub comes sixth for America’s favorite board game, with an average of 33,440 monthly searches.
Rummikub is a tile-based game where players take turns placing down tiles to make runs or sets. It takes elements of games such as the card game rummy and mahjong. A Rummikub set comprises 106 tiles: two copies of four differently colored sets of 13 tiles numbered one to 13, and two jokers. At the start of the game, players are dealt 14 random tiles, and the game finishes once one player has used all of their tiles when they will say “Rummikub” and be the winner, or until no more moves can be made.
The top three states interested in Rummikub are Vermont, Idaho, and Utah, with an average of 19.8, 18.8, and 16.6 monthly searches per 100,000 residents.
7. Pictionary
Pictionary is seventh for America’s favorite board game, with an average of 24,658 monthly searches.
Pictionary is a game where players form teams and try to guess a word that is being attempted to be represented by a drawing drawn by other players. Successful guesses advance players on the board, and games are won once players land on and guess correctly at the finish. The words to be represented are determined by the squares players land on and the Pictionary cards that players draw. Players that are drawing cannot give hints as to what the picture is supposed to represent, nor can they use words or numbers in their drawing.
Washington searches most for Pictionary, with an average of 11.3 searches per 100,000 residents. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are second and third most interested, with 9.7 and 9.6 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
8. Chinese Checkers (Sternhalma)
With an average of 14,414 monthly searches, Chinese Checkers is eighth for America’s favorite board game.
Chinese Checkers is played with six people on a six-pointed star-shaped board marked with holes for pieces. Each player has ten pieces in their section of the board, and the goal is to move all of these pieces to the opposite side of the board by moving one space at a time or jumping over an opponent’s piece.
Vermont, Wyoming, and Alaska are the states that are the first, second, and third most interested in Chinese checkers, with an average of 9.5, 9, and 8.5 monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
9. Go
Go is ninth for America’s favorite board game, with an average of 8,121 monthly searches.
Go is a deceptively deep game of strategy where two players take turns to place stones, with the goal of surrounding more territory than their opponent by the end of the game. It is usually played on a board consisting of a 19×19 grid of black lines, with stones being placed on the empty intersections (known as points) of these lines. The playing pieces are called stones, with one player using white stones and the other black.
The game ends once both players choose to pass and not make a move or if one player resigns. The winner is determined by counting the number of unoccupied points surrounded by their pieces, as well as ‘prisoners’ (pieces surrounded by the opponent’s pieces) and any handicaps or komi awarded to the white player for going second.
New Jersey is the state most interested in Go, with an average of 8.3 monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Washington and California are second and third, with 5.3 and 5 average monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
10. Settlers of Catan
Settlers of Catan wraps up the top 10 of America’s favorite board games in tenth, with an average of 8,116 monthly searches.
Settlers of Catan, now known simply as Catan, is a game where players build settlements and trade for resources on the fictional island of Catan. The game is won when a player gains enough victory points by building and growing their settlements.
Vermont searches for Settlers of Catan the most, with an average of 7.9 monthly searches per 100,000 residents. Utah is second, while Wyoming is third, with an average of 6.8 and 6.5 monthly searches per 100,000 residents.
| Rank | Game | Monthly Average Searches |
| 1 | Chess | 490,983 |
| 2 | Checkers | 261,683 |
| 3 | Monopoly | 186,591 |
| 4 | Cluedo (Clue) | 135,150 |
| 5 | Mancala | 72,716 |
| 6 | Rummikub | 33,440 |
| 7 | Pictionary | 24,658 |
| 8 | Chinese Checkers | 14,414 |
| 9 | Go | 8,121 |
| 10 | Settlers of Catan | 8,116 |
| 11 | Shogi | 6,365 |
| 12 | Chutes and Ladders | 6,311 |
| 13 | Love Letter | 5,510 |
| 14 | HeroQuest | 5,336 |
| 15 | Mall Madness | 3,760 |
| 16 | Obsession | 2,917 |
| 17 | Sorry! | 2,785 |
| 18 | Pokémon Master Trainer | 2,645 |
| 19 | Upwords | 2,253 |
| 20 | Otrio | 2,250 |
A spokesperson speaking on behalf of the World of Card Games commented on the findings:
“Chess is a cultural touchstone, with terms such as checkmate being a staple of the English language. 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 game.
“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.”
Methodology: As many board games as possible were gathered. Then, using search volume data for the US, the games were combined with the terms ‘game,’ ‘online,’ ‘board game,’ ‘how to play,’ and ‘rules’ and run through Google Keyword Planner to see which game generates the most searches for those topics. 605 games were selected in total.
Source: Google Keyword Planner. Information: https://worldofcardgames.com/
