Award-winning board game designer Casey Grove says many classic board games help to sharpen your mind. The following is a look at five of the best ones that he recommends in alphabetical order.

Chinese Checkers

Casey Grove says Chinese Checkers is an exciting board game that can bring plenty of fun, challenge, and joy to any game night. It requires concentration, planning, and strategy to move your pieces and form a triangle with the opposite pieces. The object of the game is to be the first player to move all of your pieces to the opposite side of the board, giving way to a rewarding challenge for those that take it on.

Chinese Checkers sharpens your mind and helps to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. As you play, you must find ways to create pathways and block your opponent’s moves. This strategic game encourages strategizing and planning ahead, giving way to a more polished skill set over time.

Aside from developing your mental faculties, this game is an excellent way to bond with family and friends, as well as bring out rivalries.

Clue

The murder mystery game has been around since 1943 and brings out your sleuthing abilities while you try to solve a murder mystery. You have to determine who committed the murder, the murder weapon used, and in which room to win the game. The game is terrific fun and requires excellent deduction and logic skills to win consistently.

Risk

Risk is another popular strategy game that Casey Grove says helps players to better understand the globe and its many continents, regions, and nations. Two or more players vie for global domination, with the last one standing being the winner.

Risk enables you to create alliances and use strategy to outmaneuver your opponents and win territories. You grow your armies and conquer territories until one player remains.

Scrabble

You can flex your vocabulary while having fun adding words to the playing board. Casey Grove says Scrabble came about in 1931 as a fun variation on popular crossword puzzles. A revision of the fun game created the formal Scrabble board game in 1948.

Like crossword puzzles, you need to have a good vocabulary and excellent spelling to add words to the board and rack up your score. You start with seven randomly drawn tiles that contain a single letter on each. Each letter has a designated value.

The Game of Life

The Game of Life is a classic board game that Casey Grove especially enjoys. The game is full of surprises and teaches important skills such as planning and budgeting.

It can be an enjoyable game to play with friends and family and make some lasting memories.

Players move around the board, making decisions based on the cards they draw. The cards tell you to get a job, get married, have children, buy a house, go to college, pay taxes, and, as you progress, you can accumulate wealth.

Different paths you can take also determine the number of spaces you move. Spaces can be either positive, such as a good career, or negative, such as being sent to jail.

Choose Your Game and Sharpen Your Mind

Board games are terrific for entertaining and interacting with one or more other players. They also can be a great way to sharpen your mind while having fun.