Familiar classics
Chess vs Computer lets you play White against an engine you can tune, with hints and opening setups if you want help. Checkers keeps to a clean 8x8 board where chained jumps and crowned kings decide the game. Backgammon mixes dice luck with planning as you race 15 checkers around the board and off it.
Four in a Row and Universal Reversi are quick to learn and good for short sessions. Dominoes uses a double-six set, and the goal is simply to empty your hand first.
Star Halma brings the hop-across-the-star game to a hexagram board, and Ludo races four tokens around a cross while dice decide how far you go. Gomoku is the pick for a quick head-to-head, since five in a row is all it takes to win. Fleet Strike hides five ships on a grid and has you trade shots with a computer that plays the odds.
Games with a long history
Some of these boards are older than most written books. The Royal Game of Ur and Senet are race games known from the ancient Near East and Egypt. Bagh-Chal, from Nepal, pits four tigers against twenty goats, so the two sides play completely different games on the same board. Fanorona, from Madagascar, captures whole lines of pieces at once by moving toward or away from them. Mancala and Konane round out the set with sowing and jumping. Playing a few of these side by side is a fun way to see how people invented strategy long before modern rules existed.
Cards for one player
Solitaire fans get several layouts. FreeCell deals every card face up and gives you four spare cells, so careful planning wins more than luck. Klondike, Spider and Pyramid each bring their own rhythm. Durak, a Russian favorite, is the pick if you want a card game with an opponent, since the whole idea is not to be the last one holding cards. Rounds swing back and forth between attacking and defending, so it rarely feels one-sided for long.
Looking for something else? Browse two-player games for one screen, see every game from A to Z, or read how we check each game before it goes live.
Common questions
Can two people play on one device?
Many of the board games, including Checkers, Backgammon, Bagh-Chal and Four in a Row, offer a two-player mode as well as a computer opponent. The solitaire games are single player.
Do board games work on tablets?
Yes. Nearly every game on this page works with taps, which suits tablets well. A few, such as Chess vs Computer, are more comfortable on a larger screen.
Which game is easiest to learn?
Snakes and Ladders and Four in a Row need almost no explanation. Fox and Geese and Bagh-Chal take a few rounds, since each side plays differently.