Best Memory Board Games

We, humans, love to relax and play and have a nice time. What is better than being able to play and learn at the same time? Sounds exciting, right?

Best Memory Board Games have various benefits. Not only do they allow us to have a great time, but they also develop our thinking skills and help with our memory. What’s more, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy board games since they are available for all age groups and cater to everyone’s interests!

When we talk about games, we consider them as sources of entertainment. But whenever we talk about board games specifically, we know that they are fun and also give your brain a much-needed workout. This is hardly surprising since board games are being created my quite a few logical and creative minds.

When we are playing board games, the neurons in the pre-frontal cortex and the hippocampus start firing. These are the areas that help with the formation of memories and control complex thought processes. Several studies prove that playing board games helped the elderly in retaining their memories and reduced the likelihood of suffering from Alzheimer’s. 

In today’s age, games are all about lights and sounds and effects. Board games don’t have any of that, and yet they are the most mentally-stimulating and challenging and help you think logically and critically. Not only do you get a rest from the bright and noisy screens, but you also get to exercise your brain. 

Now comes the tough question: Which memory board game should one buy? There are thousands of products out there, and they have different features.

We have reviewed the top 10 best memory board games that will help you and other members of your family, kids included, in developing and maintaining memory skills.

Adults and kids can play all of the games that we picked for you. You will have great afternoons of playing, along with a little education sneaking into the bargain.

Let’s give them a look!

Our Overall #1 Rated Pick


  • Classic Look
  • Fun and exciting
  • Exercises your brain
  • Helps with long-term memory

The first product on our list is the board game Trivial Pursuit. In our day to day life, we absorb and learn loads of information about various topics and subjects. Trivial Pursuit brings this half-buried knowledge from our memories to be used in the game. There are 2,4000 trivia questions present in this game from 6 categories.

These categories are Sports and leisure, Science and Nature, Art and Literature, History, Entertainment, and Geography.

Best Memory Board Games Comparison Chart

Product Reviews

Board games are a great way of keeping your mind active and fresh. You can play them alone, with your friends, or with your family. They are intellectually stimulating and keep your brain in peak conditions. Try out some of the following games, and you will see for yourself how these memory board games improve recollection and retention in your daily life.

The first product on our list is the board game Trivial Pursuit. In our day to day life, we absorb and learn loads of information about various topics and subjects. Trivial Pursuit brings this half-buried knowledge from our memories to be used in the game. There are 2,4000 trivia questions present in this game from 6 categories.

These categories are Sports and leisure, Science and Nature, Art and Literature, History, Entertainment, and Geography. 

There are 400 cards, 6 wedge holders, 1 dice, and a game board with this product. 2-6 people can play this game and it is suitable for ages 16 and above. You earn wedges as you answer correctly, and the person who has all the 6 wedges is the winner. 

The questions are fun and challenging. The Trivial Pursuit Board is a wheel, and you roll the dice to determine the advancements. Trivial things are usually considered non-important and we bury them deep inside our minds. With the help of this game, we recollect those memories, and this has a positive effect on our long-term memory.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 16+
  • Players: 2-6

PROS

  • Classic Look
  • Fun and exciting
  • Exercises your brain
  • Helps with long-term memory

CONS

  • No box for storing cards

Ticket to Ride is an easy memory board game that you can learn to play in 15 minutes. However, it requires memory skills and strategies that keep people playing the game for hours. The game is about collecting train cards that are later used to claim US railway routes. You need memory skills when it comes to remembering the geography as you strategize which routes you need to add and which routes you can risk losing to your competitors.

The game can be played with 2-5 players and lasts for more than an hour, depending on how you play the game. It is suitable for ages 8 and above. The players have to grab the best train cards before their opponents do. These cards and routes challenge you and make you plan ahead so that you can connect two faraway cities and gain points.

The easy rules and simple design make it a fun and entertaining game. It is an award-winning game. There are 240 trains, 110 train car cards, 5 wooden scoring markers, 30 destination tickets along with a rules booklet.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 8+
  • Players: 2-5

PROS

  • Quick game
  • Challenging
  • Strategic
  • Easy rules
  • Attractive design

CONS

  • Cards might be misprinted

Those of you who are familiar with chess will find that Stratego is kind of like chess in some aspects. It has different pieces, each with a different function. You need to remember the rankings of the pieces as players make strategies on how to capture the opponent’s flag. 

It is a classic game of battlefield strategy which challenges your brain to think critically and logically so that your army will win. You have to command the army and devise plans for strategic attacks to capture the flag of the opposing army. 

It is meant for 2 players and is suitable for ages 8 and above. The pieces are of high-quality and look pretty nice. It is a great game for a parent and kid to play together.

PROS

  • Age: 8+
  • Players: 2

PROS

  • High-quality build
  • A logical and strategic game
  • Helps with cognitive functions
  • Affordable

CONS

  • Differs from the old version as the numbers are printed backward

The Active Minds animal bingo board game is an award-winning game that is meant for seniors who have Alzheimer’s or Dementia. The specialist design of this board game makes it perfect for them. The audio bingo with its authentic images and sounds are easy to recognize and then match as compared to numbers for someone who is suffering from dementia. It is a multi-player game 8 people can play that. 

The material of the laminated cards, as well as the wooden counters, are sturdy and can be easily cleaned. People who have mild-stage dementia can play this game and it helps in maintaining their cognitive abilities. 

Keeping the mind active will help those who are living with cognitive issues. With the help of this game, they stay connected with the people around them and their environment.

Features and Specs

  • Age: For Seniors
  • Players: 8

PROS

  • Award-winning
  • Specialist Design
  • Durable
  • Great for dementia patients

CONS

  • Audio is not programmable

Connect 4 is a classic strategy game that both adults and kids have loved for generations. It has a blue disc that opens the door to new strategies and possibilities. You have to slide 4 similar colored discs in a row to win the game. Connect 4 is the hidden gem when it comes to in-depth cognitive development for people of all ages. 

All you need is the right strategy to win this game. It is simple, fun, and fast. Connect four uses simple logic, abstract strategy, and deduction. The slide trigger at the bottom of the board releases the pieces when you want to start over. 

Each player chooses a color, and the second player places one colored disc down the column grid which was chosen. According to the opponent’s move now, the first player has to make offensive or defensive moves. You can block and hold your opponent while trying to win yourself.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 6+
  • Players: 2

PROS

  • Fun
  • Intuitive
  • Strategic
  • Logical
  • Nice design

CONS

  • Not a sturdy build

Classic Scrabble is also a great memory board game. Not only do you get to increase your vocabulary, but you also have to use memory recollection to remember the words. In this game, there are 100 wooden letter tiles, a game guide, 4 tile racks along with a scrabble board. There is a drawstring bag as well that you can use to store the tiles. 

It is a fun-filled game that you can play with your friends and family. As soon as you start to rack up the letters, you can feel the excitement in the air. You have to choose a good word and then hope that you land on the triple-word score. You take your opponents head-on head, which makes the whole game even more exciting.

In scrabble, every letter counts and you get a score for it. There are bonus scores for placing the letters on premium scores. There are many ways to play the game. You can play it with two people or more, and you can play it on your own as well.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 8+
  • Players: 2-4

PROS

  • Increases Vocabulary
  • Help in Memory Retention
  • Durable build
  • Comes with a drawstring bag for storing letters

CONS

  • No way to keep the tiles contained in their spot

Backgammon is an age-old memory board game that exercises your brain as you spend your time in a fun and challenging activity. People of all ages, cultures and backgrounds love this board game. It is a two-player and 15-piece game. 

This backgammon set is medium in size and beautifully made. It also has a stitched leather case to carry the set around in and has brass colored buckles. This makes it perfect for taking along your travels. Backgammon board, playing dice, playing chips, and a few other things are included with the product.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 6+
  • Players: 2

PROS

  • Stylish
  • Leather carrying case
  • Perfect for Travel
  • Exercises the brain

CONS

  • The white stripes on the case don’t line up

We all love chess. Setting in front of the board, devising strategies and plans on how to defeat your opponent, is a thrilling process that we have all been through. This wooden chess set is beautiful and is foldable. It is inlaid with walnut, which adds to its quality. For easy storage of the pieces, this chess et ahs a felted interior with straps that keep the pieces in place. The pieces are hand-crafted in Staunton style.

If you want to keep your mind sharp and active, enhance your critical thinking, then chess is a great way of doing all that.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 8+
  • Players: 2

PROS

  • Hand-crafted chess pieces
  • Felted Interior
  • Inlaid walnut

CONS

  • The board doesn’t lay flat

VATOS Memory board game is perfect for your kids and family. It is a detective board game that helps to increase the interaction between parents and their children. You have to keep your eyes open as you search for clues and similar patterns that range from letters and figures to characters and animals. If you collect the most pairs, you get to win. 

You can play with it 2 or more players and is perfect for kids of ages 3 and above. It helps in improving the fine motor skills, observation ability, hand to eye co-ordination, and cultivates memory retention in your kid. 

There is one game board, 60 clue cards, 1 hourglass, and a few other accessories. The board game products are safe to be used by your kids. The 180 different cartoon patterns on the cards and the board exercise the child’s concentration and help build their short-term memory.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 3+
  • Players: 2 or more players

PROS

  • Parent-Child interactive
  • Increases attention span
  • Helps with fine motor skills
  • Colorful

CONS

  • Instructions are hard to understand

The last product on our list is the Stone Soup Memory Board Game for kids. It is an award-winning memory matching board game. Players have to work together and match the ingredients so that they can cook soup. The best thing about this game is that it teaches the importance of teamwork and co-operation while being a fun game as well. 

Not only do the kids develop social skills, but they also learn how to solve problems and memorize things. The game is suitable for kids who of ages 5 and above and can be played by 2 to 6 people. It comes with a game board, 24 soup cards, story, instructions, and a few other accessories.

Features and Specs

  • Age: 5+
  • Players: 2-6

PROS

  • Teaches Co-operation
  • Comes with various accessories
  • Great Memory game for kids
  • Can be used as an educational tool in class

CONS

  • Not all the ingredient cards can fit within the soup outline

Buying Guide

It’s not only your physical health that you should be worried about. You need to take care of your mental health as well if you want to live a long, happy, successful life. To keep your mind active, you have to do memory exercises that help in building your mental muscles. Let’s take a look at this buying guide and earn more about memory board games.

History of Board Games

Board Games have been around for a very long time, probably since 3500 BC, and are found in every culture around the globe. Archaeologists have found board games buried in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs. There are ancient Chinese and Persian books that contain rules and descriptions of various board games. Chess, a game that is enjoyed by millions all around the world, originated in India. Backgammon, a game many enjoy to play even today, had been played in Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago.

Technology has provided us with many exciting, new, and visually appealing games, but nothing can beat the simple pleasure of a board game. 

Board games are not just for the bored. They play an important role in keeping your brain healthy and active. Chess is Armenia’s national sport. In Nigeria, you will see that everyone plays scrabble and enjoys doing so.

Strategy

The rules and strategy of every board game differ. If you are buying one for your kids, make sure that the board game is not very hard and tough so that your child will come to hate playing. If you are looking for one that will help dementia patients, make sure that you buy a memory board game that will not be very complex yet will help improve cognitive functions over time.

Number of players

Keep the number of players in your mind when choosing a board game. Some games are meant to be played with multiple players, while others can be played by only two people or individually. Choose the board game that can be played according to your requirements.

Humor

Most board games incorporate factors of wit and humor. Some situations will make you laugh while you play the board game. Look for games that are funny and exciting and teach you new things as well.

Benefits of Memory Board Games

Playtime is important no matter which phase of life you are. Sand, if that playtime turns into something that is both fun and educational, well, what else do you want! Playing adds joy and excitement in a person’s life. But board games add something more than simple joy. 

They improve your mental health. They are not something you should whip out when you are bored and have got nothing to do; rather, you should play memory board games regularly to help you achieve a sound mental state.

Let’s look at a few benefits of playing memory board games.

Increases IQ

When you think of professional chess players, you automatically imagine super-intelligent individuals. This correlation that you form isn’t a coincidence. If you regularly play chess, your IQ increases. Not only that, it helps to prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s. Memory Board games such as chess and checkers encourage the brain to create patterns for the strategic moves. These help in fostering memory growth.

Logical Thinking

Along with memory retention and analytical growth, board games such as checkers, chess, and backgammon increase creativity. These games exercise both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, by requiring the brain to make fast decisions regarding the chess positions and your competitor’s moves. Planning the moves in these games require your concentration and help in building your problem-solving skills over time.

Social Interaction

These board games may not be able to prevent a brain from aging, but they definitely help in keeping the brain alert, healthy, and fine-tuned. Seniors who have mobility issues can play the board games not only exercise their brains but to interact socially as well.

Alleviating Depression

Depression and boredom are reasons for cognitive decline. If you indulge in board games, you will be involved in activities with your family and friends, and that will help to alleviate depression.

Reduces the risk of mental disorders

Playing memory board games protects you from cognitive decline. It even provides a much-needed boost to the cognitive functions of seniors. Even if you are not suffering from any kind of brain disorder, or you don’t see any changes in your mental sharpness, it is better that you take preventive measures. 

If you intervene early on, it can reduce the risk and chances of developing Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc. For what are we without our brains, right?

Enhancing Cognitive skills

Board games are a wonderful activity for the brain. Playing board games stimulates the areas of the brain that are responsible for memory formation and complex thoughts in both adults and kids.  They also help in developing and enhancing cognitive skills such as decision making and problem-solving.

Strengthens familial bonds

When you play memory board games with your family and friends, you form bonds with each other. You are co-operating, working as a team, or having fun trying to win. It brings friends, strangers, co-workers together. Board games are the perfect way of spending some nice, quiet quality time with people and learn more about them.

Screen-free time

Nowadays, we are surrounded by screens. Everywhere that you look, you see smartphones, laptops, tablets, video consoles, and whatnot. Board games provide a much-needed break from the digital world and bring us back to the real world. Our brain gets to rest and is not being constantly being bombarded by lights and noises.

Brain Training

Aside from providing entertainment, board games to train, and enhance the brain. Even though some board games require luck and have simple rules, many memory board games require mental skills.

This where brain training happens. When you play the game again and again, you get to learn and acquire the skills needed to win that game. Clue and Chess are great games when it comes to problem-solving and training logic. Scrabble and Boggle help you improve your vocabulary and memory skills.

Brain skills that you learn from Memory Board games

When you analyze information that will help you in making a judgment or decision, you are actually thinking critically.

Interpretation

The first skill that you acquire from the board game is interpretation. This is the ability first to recognize information and then understand it enough to classify it categories that provide a structure to analyzed information.

Analysis

The second skill you get is Analysis. With this skill, you can examine the interpreted information and think about the various courses of action available to you.

Evaluation

Once you have thought about several courses of action, you evaluate them. You weigh their pros and cons and figure out which one will help you achieve your goal.

Inference

Memory Board games help you acquire the ability to infer. With the help inference, you can draw connections between abstract elements and get to a reasonable hypothesis and then a conclusion.

Self-Regulation

When you play a board game, you are constantly monitoring yourself, looking for signs that show either progress or digress. You try to obtain better results and work harder.

How to train your brain using board games

Like every other thing in this world, if you need to be prepared to play board games. You must be thinking that it is just a game, why should I be prepared for it? You are right, it is just a game, but if you properly play board games, your creativity will increase along with memory retention and various other benefits. So, let’s get started!

You have to be patient with yourself. Practice and repetition are the keys to success, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t see any progress in the beginning. Keep going steadily, and you will get there.

Learning the rules

The first step is to learn the rules of the game. You don’t have to worry about your speed or whether you win or not. Just focus on following the rules if the game. Play the memory board game as many times as you need to learn the rules. Learning the rules will not only help you in playing the game better but will also improve your memory and learning skills.

Set your goals

If you are playing on your own, you should set objectives and goals like improving your score, increasing your speed, or your efficiency. Depending on the board game, you should set a score limit and try to achieve more than your last try. Set a timer and try to finish the game before the timer ends. Set a move limit and see if you can finish the game within the set number of moves. Give yourself challenges, engage your brain, and become better every time!

Devising a gameplay

When you are playing with others, you need to figure out a strategy and gameplay that will help you in winning the game. But you shouldn’t focus solely on winning. Rather, you should keep your focus on planning and discovering new and better strategies. Learning and acquiring problem-solving skills is the purpose of playing memory board games, not victory.

Pay attention to your opponent

Now that you have learned the rules, set your goals, and devised a strategy, you need to look at the way your opponent is playing. Observe the player very closely and pay attention to the moves they make. Try to figure out the reasoning behind their move, and once you figure out the logic, predict their next move. Counter their strategy with the gameplay of your own. Doing this will help you build your critical thinking and analytical skills.

Enjoy the game

Lastly, learn to enjoy and relax. Your brain will benefit more from the board game if you are relaxed and in a great mood.

FAQs

Is it okay to change the rules of the board game?

Yes, you can change the rules of board games if you think that it will be more beneficial. Most players have “house rules,” which they think make the game more fun and better. However, you need to keep in mind that memory board games are built, keeping the purpose of enhancing cognitive skills in mind. 

So, if you want to change the rules, make sure that you don’t deviate from the basic purpose of a memory board game. Moreover, don’t make frequent changes as most players like consistency in the game.

Should I let my child win?

Playing memory board games with children is an art that requires lots of patience. If you let your child win all the time, it will create a false sense of confidence and impression of their abilities. If you don’t let them win, they will be disappointed and will lose faith in themselves. 

The best thing to do is to play like your kid would play. Match your child and make the game challenging as per his abilities. Win sometimes, and lose graciously. Try to make the game a close shot. There are times when your child will play based on his capabilities, and you will have to play to your full capability as well. Flow with the situation.

Should I buy the most expensive game?

No. Expensive games and higher price tags don’t mean that you will get high-quality as well. Take out a paper and pen, write down the features that you are looking for in your memory board game. Then, write down your budget. 

Once you have done that, search for those products that fulfill both criteria. Don’t go over-budget just because something is fancier.

Final Words

Board games are not only children, nor are they only meant for fun. With the help of board games, you can not only have a great time but provide your brain the exercise is needed to help you retain memory and function better.

It is really nice to get out of the digital world, and spend some time in the real world, connect with your family and build your cognitive functions at the same time. 

We have reviewed the top 10 best memory board games that will help you increase your creative skills and logical thinking. The buying guide will provide you information regarding the benefits of board games and how to go about board games.

Happy Playing, Folks!