Board games, with their colorful packaging, enticing game boards and iconic playing pieces, are popular with just about everyone. No matter what your taste, there’s a game out there for you. Besides testing your knowledge (Go To The Head Of The Class), or skill (Operation), or luck (Trouble), they are fun to play and a great way to interact socially with others. Milton Bradley has been by far the leading producer of board games, followed by Parker Brothers. Ideal Toys was the main producer of action games during the 1960s and 1970s.
The following is a list of 70+ classic board and action games that have been favorites of ours from early childhood (Candyland) to adult years (Trivial Pursuit). Some are associated strictly with the baby boom generation (Rock’ Em Sock ‘Em Robots), while others are playtime mainstays that have been around for decades (Monopoly).
Hopefully this will bring back happy memories of the games you played, in which you chanced it all at the spin of a wheel or a toss of the dice. After each game’s listing are the manufacturer and the year it debuted. These games run the gamut – ranging from the from Milton Bradley’s 1916 classic, Uncle Wiggly, all the way through Cranium, released in 1992. See how many of these you remember 🙂
Most Popular Board & Action Games of All Time
- Aggravation (CO-5 Company) – 1962
- Ants In The Pants (Schaper) – 1968
- Axis & Allies (Milton Bradley) – 1984
- Barrel of Monkees (Lakeside) – 1969
- Balderdash (Robinson & Toyne)
- Battleship (Milton Bradley) – 1967
- Battling Tops (Ideal) – 1968
- Bonkers! (Parker Brothers)
- Booby Trap (Parker Brothers) – 1965
- Candy Land (Milton Bradley) – 1955
- Careers (Parker Brothers) – 1955
- Chutes & Ladders (Milton Bradley) – 1943
- Clue (Parker Brothers) – 1949
- Connect Four (Milton Bradley) – 1979
- Cootie (Schaper) – 1948
- Cranium (Alexander & Tait) – 1992
- Don’t Break The Ice (Schaper) – 1967
- Don’t Spill The Beans (Schaper) – 1967
- Easy Money (Milton Bradley) – 1936
- Finance (Parker Brothers) – 1932
- Game Of Life (Milton Bradley) – 1960
- Game Of The States (Milton Bradley)
- Gnip Gnop (Parker Brothers) – 1971
- Go To The Head Of The Class (Milton Bradley) – 1938
- Green Ghost (Transogram) – 1965
- Hands Down (Ideal) – 1964
- Headache (Kohner) – 1968
- HeroQuest (Milton Bradley) – 1989
- Hi-Ho Cherry-O (Whitman) – 1960
- Hungry Hungry Hippos (Milton Bradley) – 1980
- Jenga (Milton Bradley)
- Kaboom! (Ideal) – 1966
- KerPlunk (Ideal) – 1967
- The Last Straw (Schaper) – 1966
- Lie Detector (Mattel) – 1960
- Mad Magazine Game (Parker Brothers) – 1979
- Mall Madness (Milton Bradley) – 1988
- Mastermind (Invicta) – 1972
- Miss Popularity (Transogram) – 1961
- Monopoly (Parker Brothers) – 1935
- Mouse Trap (Ideal) – 1963
- Mystery Date (Milton Bradley) – 1965
- Operation (Milton Bradley) – 1965
- Outburst (Hersch & Company) – 1986
- Park & Shop (Milton Bradley)
- Password (Milton Bradley) – 1962
- Pay Day (Parker Brothers) – 1975
- Perfection (Lakeside) – 1973
- Pictionary (Western Publishing) – 1985
- Probe (Parker Brothers) – 1960s
- Qubic (Parker Brothers) – 1968
- Rebound (Ideal) – 1971
- Risk (Parker Brothers) – 1959
- Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots (Marx) – 1966
- Scattergories (Hasbro) – 1988
- Scrabble (Selchow & Righter) – 1953
- Skittle-Bowl (Aurora) – 1969
- Sorry (Parker Brothers) – 1950
- Stay Alive (Milton Bradley) – 1971
- Stratego (Milton Bradley) – 1961
- Taboo (Hasbro)
- Time Bomb (Milton Bradley) – 1964
- Tip-It (Ideal) – 1965
- Toss Across (Ideal) – 1969
- Trivial Pursuit (Selchow & Righter) – 1981
- Trouble (Kohner) – 1965
- Twister (Milton Bradley) – 1966
- Uncle Wiggly (Milton Bradley) – 1916
Uncle Wiggly Game - circa 1916
- Which Witch (Milton Bradley) – 1970
- Yahtzee (E. S. Lowe) – 1956
Trivial Pursuit
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Not to be left off this list — A nod has to be given to the ancient and ever 
popular games of backgammon, chess and checkers which have stood the test of time (as well as passed down from generation to generation) and are still very popular to this day. 
Also — Games involving traditional playing cards (such as Poker, Black Jack, Gin 
Rummy, Solitaire, Hearts, Crazy 8’s, etc.) or specialty playing cards (Uno, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, etc.) were left off this particular list even though their popularity — WAS — and — STILL IS — HUGE!
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Here’s another post that may be of interest to toy nostalgia enthusiasts from within this same website
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Original "Candy Land" Game - circa 1949
Chutes & Ladders
Filed under: childhood memories, Fun Stuff, Nostalgia, Toys & Games | Tagged: 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, action games, Aggravation, all time best games, all time greatest games, Axis & Allies, Battleship, board games, Candy Land, childhood games, childhood memories, Chutes & Ladders, Clue, family games, favorite games, Game of Life, games we used to play, Go To The Head Of The Class, greatest games ever, Hands Down, Hasbro, Hungry Hippos, Ideal, Kaboom, kids games, Mastermind, Mattel, Milton Bradley, Monopoly, most popular board games, most popular games, Mouse Trap, Operation, Outburst, Parker Brothers, Password, Pay Day, Risk, Scrabble, Sorry, Stratego, toys and games, Trivial Pursuit, Trouble, Twister, Uncle Wiggly, Yahtzee |
Reflections of Pop Culture & Life's Challenges 
Howdy i have been lingering this website lots of times Wanted to say hi to everyone!
[…] (Candyland Photo credit) (“Candy for Children” Photo credit) (Box of Candy Photo Credit) […]
I’m really sure lot’s of you are like jokes.
Why not share here your favorite jokes so others can know about it 🙂
Below is my favorite joke which is Needles Are Not Nice
Bill and Bob, two children, were sitting outside a clinic. Bill happened to be crying very loudly.
“Why are you crying?” Bob asked.
“I came here for a blood test,” sobbed Bill.
“So? Are you afraid?”
“No. For the blood test, they cut my finger.
As Bob heard this, he immediately began crying profusely.
Astonished, Bill stopped his tears and asked Bob, “Why are you crying now?”
To which Bob replied, “I came for a urine test!”
I go a 1965 go for broke Selchow & Righter co game and the little man on the cover and in the game has a mustash on his face can you tall me more about it?
Thanks so much! This blog helped me with my history homework! thanks!!!!!!!!