Board Games for Teen Boys

Board games and teenagers don't always seem to go together very well, especially with competition with tablets and games consoles. However, there are actually some fantastic board games for teenagers. They are great to play around Christmas time, family gatherings or on a family board game night.

The list below has tons of ideas including strategy and puzzle games to co-operative and more lighthearted and fun board games. 

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Throw Throw Burrito

Throw Throw Burrito combines the thrill of dodgeball with the strategy of a card game. It's the perfect choice when you're on the hunt for a game that'll captivate teen boys – it's a favorite of my own teenage sons.

What makes this game stand out is the hilarious twist: you get to throw burritos at each other. The burritos are soft so no need to fret about anyone getting hurt.
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The goal of the game is simple yet fun – collect matching sets of cards faster than your opponents, all while engaging in epic bouts of ducking, dodging, and, of course, tossing those squishy burritos.

Would You Rather

Young teens love a would your rather question and this game makes it super fun to ask and answer all the questions. 

Read the questions and let the conversation and laughter rip. Discuss and debate the mind-boggling stories and win the group consensus to move your piece. 

Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is a fun award winning card game where you select a card from your hand that you think is best described by a card played by the judge. 

The game is straighforward and funny. 

Full of wacky comparisons!

Say Anything

Every player answers a fun question like

“What’s the worst thing to say to a cop after getting pulled over?” or “Who’s the most annoying celebrity in show business?”

Then players try to choose which answer the judge will like best.

Codenames

Codenames is a game aimed at ages 14 plus. 

It's a word game which requires some thought and consideration. 

The rules are easy to grasp, although skill and critical thought is required to be successful.  

Each game lasts about 15 minutes and 2 to 8 players are required.

Strategy Games

What is a strategic board game? 
Strategic board games require to plan ahead in your game play. They generally require you to take tactical decisions in order to win the game but this will need to be judged carefully as there is often some element of risk involved. Make the wrong kinds of decisions and you could lose the game too. A strategic board game will require some thought and may be challenging. That's not to say they can't be fun but you will need to use your brain. 

Ticket to Ride

This game is a classic and popular that has lots of great reviews. 
It's great for kids (from around age 10, teens and adults). 
The object of the game is to create train routes across North America. The longer the routes the more points you earn. If you connect cities you get more points, and extra points are awarded to whoever has the longest train route at the end of the game. 
There are strategic elements to this game. You can block opponents train routes and in turn they can block yours too. 
The game is for 2 to 5 players and takes around 30 to 60 minutes to play. 

Dominion

Dominion is a card game which doesn't require a board but some strategic and tactical thinking is required. 
In this game you are a monarch who wants to increase his kingdom and gain as much land as possible. But your opponents are also doing the same thing. So you have to defend yourself by hiring minions, building castles and other buildings.
To have a chance of winning you want to build up your deck of cards and build a collection of victory points. 
It's a fun game with each round being fairly short (typically 30 to 40 minutes). 
It's aimed at the 12 plus age group and each game has 2 to 4 players. 

Catan

Catan is an award winning strategy game where players collect resources and use them to build roads, settlements and cities on their way to victory.

​The board itself is variable, making each game a little different from the next.

Each game of around 3 or 4 players will last for approximately to 90 minutes.

If you love Catan you can even purchase additional add ons to the game to add even more game play. 

Star Wars Imperial Assault

This game is for serious board gamers and / or Star Wars fans. 

A strategy board game of tactical combat and missions, offering two distinct games of battle and adventure in the Star Wars™ galaxy

The games are 1 to 2 hours of game play from ages 14 plus. It is for 1 to 5 players. 

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is another popular strategy board game. 
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Players lay tiles to develop the area around the town of Carcassonne. 

Completely redesigned rulebook to make learning the game easier.

Game and expansions have sold over 10 million copies worldwide

Risk

Risk is a really classic, it's a longer game that can go on for hours but is really fun, you can leave it and play it over a few days if you prefer. 

The goal is simple: players aim to conquer their enemies’ territories by building an army, moving their troops in, and engaging in battle. Depending on the roll of the dice, a player will either defeat the enemy or be defeated. This exciting game is filled with betrayal, alliances, and surprise attacks. ​

Game of Thrones - The Board Game

Another idea is the Games of Thrones board game.

This is another lengthy game which can take quite a few hours to play. 

Muster your armies, negotiate with your enemies and claim the iron throne. 

Chess

My eldest son who's now 16 loves playing chess. 

​He mainly plays it online but we do get the physical chess set out now and again. 

The trouble is, he's so good now he beats everybody that plays him. 

Puzzle Games

What are puzzle games?
Puzzle games are literally what they say they are, there a game in which you have to solve a puzzle to win the game. Normally they can be played with a single player on in small groups. If you play it in a small groups, players will need to work co-operatively together in order to solve the puzzle. 

Gravity Maze

One of the most popular puzzle games is the Gravity Maze puzzle game.
​This is a marble run puzzle game where you have to build a marble run so the marble ends up on a target piece. 

Comes with multi-level challenges - Gravity Maze comes with 60 beginner to expert challenges that become increasingly difficult as you play through them.

Laser Maze Logic Game - this is a similar game to both cool circuits and gravity maze. The object of the game is to get the lazer beam to light up the target by arranging the tokens on the board in the right way. There are 60 challenge cards from beginner to expert.

Co-operative Games

What are co-operative board games?
The definition take from wikipedia is as follows "In a cooperative board game, players work together in order to achieve a goal, either winning or losing as a group. As the name suggests, cooperative games stress co-operatiion over competition. The puzzle games featured are all examples of co-operative games if played with a small group. 

There are other board games that are also co-operative. One very popular one at the moment is Pandemic featured below. 

Pandemic

In Pandemic players work together to cure four rampanet diseases before they take over health systems of the world.  It's a race against time. Do you spend your time curing a disease or helping a city that's already infected? 
It's a 2 to 4 player game and it takes around 60 to 90 minutes. 
Each player chooses a special role with abilities that will help you in your fight. You can also choose the level of difficulty of the game by deciding how many epidemic cards will be in your game pack. On their turn each player can take four actions. 
You are working against the clock and as time passes your aims may change. You will win and lose as a team. 

Forbidden Island

Another examples of co-operative games is Forbidden Island

Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. 

Playing time is around 30 minutes. 

Fun and Party Board Games

 There are lots of lighthearted and funny games that are fun to play as a group either with friends, family, on special occasions, on a night in or as part of a party. These are games that require you to shout out, laugh and not take things so seriously. They are generally very simple and easy to learn and to play. Not too much intense thought is required although you may need to use your brain. 
The 5 second rule game featured below is very popular this year and Is a great example of this type of game. 

5 Second Rule

5 second rule sounds may not be as easy as it first sounds.
Just pick up a card with a category and name 3 things in 5 seconds. The short time frame means that all kinds of hilarious answers come out of people's mouths for seemingly simple categories. 
It need 3 or more players and is designed for ages 10 and up. 
It's a fun game in which you've got to think fast. 

So in 5 seconds, can you name three.....
breeds of dog, Jacksons, types yellow food, US astronauts, beach boy songs, things you do alone. ​

Loaded Questions

Fun questions which invite fun and sometimes silly answers.

It features 880 new and classic loaded questions

​The questions include: What is something you only need one of? / What word would people never use to describe you? / What is your most useless talent?

Scattegories

Work in teams for this game.

Teams come up with answers that fit the categories listed on their card.

Sounds easy, but the answers need to start with the letter rolled on the die.

​Come up with as many answers as you can before time runs out, but be creative – your team only gets points if no other team has the same answer

Balderdash

Balderdash features interesting, unbelievably true content and categories about people, words, initials, and movies.

​Players make up phony definitions to read along with the real ones as the other players decide which is true.

Smart Ass

Smart Ass is a fast paced game in which it's ok to shout out the correct answer even when it's not your turn. 

Be the first to answer the Who, What, and Where Am I questions, and move closer to being the ultimate Smart Ass
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A fast-paced party game for 2 - 6 players

Exploding Kittens

This is a funny family friendly game that is still fun for teen boys. Some of the humour will most likely appeal to them. 

It's a card game which is the most backed project in kickstarter history. 

Great for all ages who can play on the same level. 

Quelf

A hilarious game. 

Simple but fun to play. 

Obey the cards to win! Each card will ask the player to do something terribly silly!

​Take the challenge and advance or forfeit and move back!