Image: MomJunction Design Team
Work commitments, the weather – whatever your reasons are for not venturing outdoors, we completely understand. That is why we bring you the best 4-player board games so you can spend quality time right at home with your family and friends. These time-tested board games help strengthen interaction and relationships and also help you manage stress levels by providing an outlet for your emotions. Board games provide early learning spaces for kids, helping them develop their focus, language skills, and more. Here is a list of the best four-player board games to help you choose one so you can have endless fun with your family.
Top Picks
13 Best 4 Player Board Games
1. Best Family Fun:Hasbro Gaming Pop-O-Matic Trouble Board Game
The Trouble game is suitable for children aged five and above. Its unique game board brings out all the fun on your game night as you trade, build, and settle. You need two to four players, making the modern classic game suitable for an only child and an adult to play together. The first player to put all four pegs in the finish zone wins the game. You might even get bumped out of the race and sent back to the start. To learn more about this tried-and-tested party game, check out a tester’s experience in this video review.
Did you know?2. Best Strategic Adventure:Catan Studio Catan Board Game
Suitable for ages ten and above, the Catan board game revolves around the island of Catan, full of resources and adventures to settle down and build a civilization. It brings out all the fun on your game night as you trade, build, and settle. This tried-and-trusted strategic and fantasy board game requires around three to four players to start. Players need to roll the dice, make a strategic settlement, collect the resources, trade, and make developments to win. You can also buy the extension pack of this dice board game to add more players or make the game more challenging and interesting. If you are an absolute beginner, this review and testing video might be useful.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
The product has earned its stripes, with over 30,676 reviews on Amazon.
3. Best Role-Playing Experience:Z-Man Games Pandemic Board Game
The Pandemic board game is a cooperative game where players win or lose together against four deadly diseases. At every turn, the players must treat the disease by containing its spread and finding the cure. Each player plays a different role in the team, and the game involves research stations and disease cards to make it more realistic. This board game supports two to four players and offers a 45-minute playtime. For a detailed understanding of the product, check out this testing cum review video.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
The whopping 12,415 positive reviews on Amazon reflect the superior quality of this product.
4. Best Renaissance Experience:Space Cowboys Splendor Board Game
Based on the European Renaissance, this board game allows you to have fun and experience the riches of this era. Each player is a gemstone merchant and tries to acquire most of the business in the jewelry market to become more influential than the others. The economic game involves collecting the gem tokens, making strategies to control gem mines and trade routes, and attracting the nobles to become the most prestigious and powerful merchant. This card-based board game with simple rules and interesting cards is suitable for a family game night and requires two to four players.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
The tried-and-true product has earned over 9,566 good reviews on Amazon.
5. Best Educational Value:Quokka 3X Set Bible Board Bingo Game
Meant for children aged four and above, the board game by Quokka has large fonts and simple instructions to make family nights fun and easy for all. The board game comprises Bible bingo, Noah’s Ark game, and Bible trivia and can be played by two to twelve players. This trivia board game includes 12 bingo cards, 245 chips, and 24 cards that can be used to ask over 300 questions, enhance memory, and learn about the concepts of the Bible. The set comes in a sturdy bag that doubles as a storage bag, making it a suitable gift for occasions such as Easter and Christmas.
6. Best Dynamic Gameplay:Bluey Shadowlands Board Game
Bluey, the lovable heeler dog, and her sister Bingo, and friends Coco and Snickers are on a race to reach the picnic first by collecting all the yummy cupcakes. Each player takes up a character and then spins the wheel to move forward. All the shadowy grassy fields are considered land, while the other bits in the sun are the sea. The game becomes more challenging and interesting as you change the shadowy bits by turning the palm tree in the center. This classic board game is suitable for children aged three and up, and it needs two or four players.
7. Best Railway Adventure:Days Of Wonder Ticket To Ride First Journey Board Game
A favorite among board game geeks, Ticket to Ride is a cross-country travel game designed to introduce young players to travel board games. This North American railway adventure involves a board map with train routes, 80 plastic trains, train cards, and ticket cards to embark on the delightful journey. Players collect the train cards and claim the routes to connect the cities. You can win the game if you complete six tickets, allowing you to win the golden ticket. The bonus ticket cards add extra fun to the game. This adventure board game is suitable for two to four players aged six and above.
8. Best Math Skill Enhancer:WE Games Shut The Box Dice Game
Shut The Box was originally a board game enjoyed by fishermen off of Normandy and is still enjoyed by many across North American and European pubs. This simple version is made of wood with ten numbered tiles. It has four dice in different colors, and the felt board in the center is suitable for rolling the dice. Each player rolls the dice and adds up the combination to shut the tile of that sum value. This tile-based board game helps brush up your child’s math skills and is ideal for family nights.
9. Best Environmental Game:Blue Orange Photosynthesis Board Game
Photosynthesis is an environmental board game based on the life cycle of trees. This two to four-player game helps you build a forest using light points that you gain based on the sun rays falling on the trees. It involves different tree stages, growing from a seed to its full bloom and again rebirth. As the sun revolves, the trees that receive sunlight will gain you light points, and the shaded ones will not gain any. The landscape changes as the game moves, and the player with more mature trees and light points wins the game. The award-winning board game is suitable for ages eight and up and works for two to four players.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
With over 3,284 reviews on Amazon, this product is a winner.
10. Best Game For Luck And Skill:Partners Board Game
The strategy board game requires four players to play in two teams. Use the cards wisely and strategically to move your pawns quickly and reach the end first to win. At the beginning of each round, partners swap their cards to either help each other or sabotage the opponent. It has 56 game cards to make a strategy, and with a bit of luck on your side, you can win. The game board is very colorful, and the instructions and game rules are easy to learn, making the game suitable for ages eight and above.
Quick fact11. Best Multiplayer Experience:Kiditos Sling Puck Game Air Hockey Table
If you are looking for a tabletop game that you can enjoy with the whole family, the Table Sling Hockey board game is a must-try. It is made of wood and has three swappable center gates to make the all-time classic game more interesting at all levels. You can make it more challenging or simple by choosing the right center gate. It includes twenty ice hockey pucks in four colors that allow a maximum of four players. The 22-inch long board is suitable for children and adults to play together.
12. Best Quick Gameplay:Ice Makes Age Of Civilization Strategy Card Game
Age of Civilization is an interesting board game that allows the whole family to enjoy together while making strategies to build and develop their empires. The one to four-player game has multiple rounds, and in each round, the player chooses a civilization card to gain workers and abilities to raise and develop an empire. With three civilizations to choose from, the worker placement game provides various outcomes, and players have to tackle different challenges to win. This family board game requires one to four players and offers a 30-minute playtime.
13. Best Geography Learning Game:Byrons’s Games Continent Race Geography Learning Educational Game
Continent Race by Byron’s Games is designed to help children learn geography in a fun and creative way. The award-winning set includes over 205 vibrant country-themed cards and requires players to race around the world on the map, gather the highest number of nations, and mark countries to come out as the winner. Suitable for ages seven and up, this critical thinking and skill-building board game can also be used as a home-schooling aid.
How To Choose The Right 4-Player Board Games?
Here are a few factors you should consider when buying a four-player board game.
- Number of players: Most board games are designed for four players, but sometimes you need a game that can accommodate more players or less. Look for games with extensions or those that support a few players.
- Age: Consider the age of the players in the group, especially if you have children to play with you. Choose a game considering their age and capabilities to make the game more interesting for them.
- Type: While some are competitive games, others are cooperative board games where you win or lose together. Some games have transactions and deep strategies, and others are simple bluffing games with easy-to-understand rules that are fun to play. Choose a game keeping in mind your group’s interest.
- Game time: Check out the game time before picking one to fit your players’ needs. While some can last over an hour, some quick games may end in 30 minutes or less.
- Level of complexity: If you have children in the group, choose less complex games for easy playing. Choose a more strategic and complex game if you are playing with board game geeks or advanced players.
- Replayability: Choose a game with good replayability so that you don’t have to toss it aside after a few games.
Why Trust MomJunction?
Priti Bose is a writer experienced in writing articles about toys and gifts. In this article on 4-player board games, she has curated a list after going through several user reviews and suggestions. These popular games are both informative and entertaining to cater to the needs of everyone in the family. A buying guide has also been included to help you choose the right board game.
A board game is guaranteed to keep you occupied while being indoors. Whether it is the weekends, the holidays, or some other reason, we are sure that at some point, you might have thought about buying a board game to keep yourself occupied. Since there are a lot of tried-and-tested board games, you should consider the theme, the age category, and the number of players required for the game. Make sure the game includes all the components and is easy to understand to help all the players feel included
Infographic: Tips For Choosing A 4-Player Board Game For Children
Board games have always been popular among children due to their interesting gameplay and instructions. They also offer a wide variety of genres and concepts to choose from. While two-player board games are available, the multiplayer game offers more fun for big groups and families. Explore the following infographic for some pointers you should consider when choosing a multiplayer board game.
Illustration: Momjunction Design Team
References
- Shota Noda et al.;(2019); The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6802304/ - Benefits of Playing Board Games.
https://buckslib.org/benefits-of-playing-board-games/
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