Family Board Games, by Who Is Playing

60,915 ratings at 4.8, more than the other four combined. Owners describe it working equally for children and adults, praise how quickly a young child picks it up, and mention the metal tin as the reason this version survives.

The other repeated note is portability: it goes camping, it goes on planes, it comes out in a hotel room. If one game has to cover every situation, this is it.

34,553 ratings at 4.8. Owners call it easy to learn, good for elementary-age children and adults together, and repeatedly describe it as a blast from the past. That nostalgia is most of what is being bought.

Durability is the split, and it is oddly specific: the pawns are solid, and the board starts to tear after a few uses. If it lives on a shelf and comes out at Christmas, that never matters. If it lives on the table, it will.

19,371 ratings at 4.8. The reports single out something the age rating of 6 undersells: owners describe first-graders and preschoolers playing it properly, not being humoured through it.

It teaches sequence and blocking, which is real strategy in a game with no reading. Its limit is the obvious one: two players, so it supplements a family game rather than replacing one.

16,659 ratings at 4.8. Owners describe a genuine balance of strategy and luck, beautiful tiles, and a game that ends in 30 to 45 minutes rather than sprawling across an evening.

Some report the rules as confusing on a first read. Watch a run-through before the first game and that complaint largely disappears, which is worth knowing before it puts someone off on Boxing Day.

3,244 ratings at 4.8, the thinnest record here by a wide margin. What its owners describe is the thing most games fail at: it works with 5 to 7 people and still finishes in about half an hour, because everyone plays at once.

The learning curve draws the mixed notes. For a full house at Christmas where the alternative is nobody playing anything, that first explanation is worth sitting through.