When I was growing up in the 1960s, computers and cable tv did not exist. Our television only had four channels, so there wasn’t much entertainment at night except for books or listening to music on the radio. But we did have an amazing collection of board games that we played with family and friends on game nights. These games lasted well into the evening, and we laughed for hours while playing.
While some games such as Chess have been around for thousands of years, board games similar to what we had in the 1960s and ’70s appeared as early as 1894 when a game called The Mansion of Happiness was played in parlors all across America. Today, some of the most popular board games were created 80-plus years ago, including Monopoly (1935), Sorry (1934), Clue (1949), Scrabble (1938), Yahtzee (1956), Checkers (1948), Candyland (1948), and Chutes & Ladders (1943).
Board games have always brought families together while educating players on a wide variety of topics such as real estate, adventures, war, the fine arts and even helping young children with hand-eye coordination. Luckily, I still have several vintage game sets in my collection that I bring out for my grandkids to enjoy. Here are the top 30 classic board games originally created in the 1960s and ’70s — with many still available today! — that I ranked from fun to play on a monthly basis.
