Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game. Players represent the settlers who set up a colony in the island of Catan. Resources are granted to players according to the roll of two dices. The resources are used to build or upgrade roads or settlements or they can be used for trade. These actions earn the players 'victory points'. The first player to collect 10 victory points wins the game. Klaus Teuber designed the game and was first published in Germany in 1995. Over 11 million game boards of the Catan series have been sold and it is available in 25 languages. The standard game allows 3 or 4 players while the expanded versions can accommodate 5 or 6 players.

Monopoly is the best selling board game of all time and the most played commercial board game in the world. Patented by Charles Darrow in 1935, the game is available today in many versions. The objective of the game is to bankrupt the other players by using play money to collect wealth through buying, renting and trading properties. Monopoly can accommodate a maximum of 20 players. A game can last from 90 minutes up to 10 hours.

The Game of Life has been a favourite for more than 40 years. Created by Milton Bradley in 1861, the initial version of the game was named 'The Checkered Game of Life'. In 1960 when this game celebrated its 100th anniversary, Reuben Kalmer designed 'The Game of Life'. Since then pieces and rules of the game have changed during re-publishing. The game is played on a board with a track on which the players will move. The objective of the game is to amass as much wealth as possible before reaching the end of the track. During the journey players get married, have children, buy stocks, buy insurance policies and other activities similar to those in real life. Two to six players can be accommodated in a game and a typical game will last an hour.

Scrabble is a word game for 2 or 4 players. Lettered tiles are placed on a 15-by-15 grid either across or down to form words in crossword style. Points are awarded according to the letters used and where the word is placed on the board. When no more words can be added to the board, the game will be considered over and the player with the highest point total wins. The original version of the game called 'Criss-Crosswords' was created by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938. Scrabble is available in 29 different languages across 121 countries.

Clue is a detective game where players must solve a mystery in a mansion to decide who committed the crime. Cards are dealt to each player and a separate confidential file will contain another set of cards. Players will move from room to room in the mansion and make charges against the character who committed the crime. Using deductive analysis the players must find out who did it, with what, and where. The game was created by Anthony E. Pratt and first published in 1949. Any number of players between 3 and 6 can be included in a game.

Summary

Deciding on the best board games of all time is a difficult task as individual likes and dislikes vary. Except for Catan series of games, all other games mentioned have been around for a long time, proving they have been favorites throughout the generations.