Some time ago, I experienced playing Survive: Escape from Atlantis for the first time, and we had a blast playing it. The game made me feel the race against the clock as the island slowly sank. We also played Taboo and Scattergories since we are a fan of word games that make us laugh.
However, I never really knew how old these games were. The thought did not come to me, but later on, I was shocked to know that they were made in the 1980s.
It was a testament that a game from that period can still be fun, thrilling, and exciting today. So, I started to wonder how many of them there are, and to my surprise, there were a lot.
Some of these games, like Civilization and Balderdash, were so influential, they shaped how modern games came to be. I was also happy learning new games that can be fun in our group, like Labyrinth and Scotland Yard.
We tried them out, and we had a great time. Labyrinth was the perfect chaotic mess while Scotland Yard made us feel like either genius detectives or fumbling fools. This guide showcases the best 1980s board games that will make you wanting for more.
My Top Picks at a Glance
My Top Pick for 80s Adventure Board Game: Survive: Escape from Atlantis (1982)
Every game in this category is great, but Survive: Escape from Atlantis is the perfect mix for every group. It has elements of betrayal like Labyrin0th but it also relies on cooperation like HeroQuest.
It is not as short as Labyrinth, but also not as long as HeroQuest. You have to strategically plan on which pieces to move because saving many meeples does not automatically mean victory.
My Top Pick for 80s Strategy Board Game: Axis & Allies (19801)
If you love heavy strategy games, Axis & Allies is the game for you. It is like a more complex version of Risk. It also does not take as long as Civilization, an equally heavy strategy game.
The theme is easy to follow, which makes gameplay easy to comprehend. However, if you prefer something easier, I suggest playing Abalone for two players or Can’t Stop for multiple people.
My Top Pick f0or 80s Bluffing and Deduction Board Game: Scotland Yard (1983)
Scotland Yard is a game of one player against the other players, and it is a thrill for bo0th sides. As the fugitive, you need to be elusive and not appear too obvious, and the detectives must put on their thinking hats to deduce the fugitive’s movement.
It is about reading the minds of the other players, and I love these types of games. If the fugitive is a bad liar, they are in trouble!
My Top Pick for 80s Party Board Game: Balderdash (1984)
I love playing games like Balderdash and Fibbage because it always makes everyone laugh at how stupid the answers can be.
A good party game is one that keeps everyone involved, and Balderdash is pretty good at it. It does not make anyone wait, and you do not need to be knowledgeable about the words; you need to be convincing. It keeps everyone talking, which is an excellent element for parties.
Selection Criteria
Hundreds and thousands of board games debuted in the 80s, but not every game is fun by today’s standards. Meanwhile, some games that have faded over time still work in modern tables. For this guide, I came up with three traits that the best 80s board games should have.
Engaging
A great game is one that keeps everyone engaged and entertained, no matter the year it is released. Some of them have bested the test of time due to the level of entertainment they provide.
Accessible
Many games from the 80s can be hard to come by due to their antiquity. Thankfully, there are some that get a reprint or new edition to keep it alive. Meanwhile, you can replicate some games using a bit of ingenuity and creativity.
Timeless Themes
The 80s were a different time, and some games have themes that would only make sense during that period. Themes are an important factor in games because they make understanding the game easier.
The Best 80s Adventure Board Games
Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
Release date: 1982
of players: 2 to 4 players
Average play duration: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Age recommendation: 8 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
When I played this game with my friends, I felt the thrill and excitement of escaping a sinking island full of hazardous obstacles. Your goal in this game is to have the most points, and you do so by successfully evacuating your meeple.
To start, place the hexagonal island tiles on the board to form the island. Next, every player places their meeple on the tiles. When you evacuate your meeple to the outer lands, you score their individual point.
Thus, it is crucial that you remember which of your meeples has the highest points so that you can prioritize evacuating them.
As the game progresses, players remove a tile based on the terrain. So, you can use your ships to evacuate the meeples to safety. The owner of the meeple in front of the boats will determine how the raft moves. You can even sacrifice the raft if you are sure the other passengers have high scores.
In Survive: Escape from Atlantis, expect whales, sharks, and sea serpents that can sink boats or eat meeples. Avoid them at all costs!
Labyrinth
Release date: 1986
of players: 2 to 4 players
Average play duration: 15 to 30 minutes
Age recommendation: 6 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
True to its name, Labyrinth will make you scratch your head as the map shifts around you. It is a race to the finish line; you can expect betrayal and clever maneuvering.
To start, place the maze tiles randomly on the game board. There will be an extra tile; keep it nearby. Then, choose a token and position it on the map corners according to its color. Shuffle the treasure cards and evenly deal them among the players.
On your turn, you push and insert the extra maze tile into one of the map’s rows or columns; doing so will push away another tile.
Then, you move your token to any other tile as long as the token has an open path leading to it. In other words, you cannot pass through walls. You collect a treasure by moving your token to a tile that has the value marked on it.
When you collect a treasure, you show it to everyone and pick a new one to collect from your pile. The first person to collect all of their treasure wins!
HeroQuest
Release date: 1989
of players: 2 to 5 players
Average play duration: 1 to 2 hours
Age recommendation: 10 and above
Difficulty rating: 4/10
Many veteran dungeoneers fell in love with Dungeons & Dragons thanks to this more fast-paced board game called HeroQuest. If you know how to play D&D, playing this game will be a cakewalk.
In HeroQuest, one person must play as Zargon, the evil sorcerer, and the others can be the heroes consisting of a barbarian, wizard, elf, and dwarf. Each hero has a character card indicating their attack and defense dice, and body and mind points.
Players take turns, and during a hero’s turn, they can move and perform one of six actions (or vice versa). These actions consist of attacking, casting spells, searching for treasure and secret doors, or searching and disarming traps.
Meanwhile, during Zargon’s turn, they make the monsters move and perform one of two actions; each monster can either attack or cast a dread spell.
A game session, i.e., the quest, ends when the players meet their goal. Each quest has a different objective. For example, some quests will have you defeat a specific monster.
The Best 80s Strategy Board Games
Can’t Stop
Release date: 1980
of players: 2 to 4 players
Average play duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Age recommendation: 8 and above
Difficulty rating: 2/10
Can’t Stop is a game of luck, strategy, and risk calculation. You race with other players to reach the top, but during your run, you either settle or risk your progress.
The game board consists of 11 columns numbered 2 to 12. Players take turns, and you roll four six-sided dice during your turn. You group these dice in pairs and add them to get two sums. You place a white tracker on the column of your sum.
If you have no existing cones on the column, place the white tracker on the bottom space. Otherwise, position it one area above your existing cone. Cones of different colors can overlap, indicating that they occupy the same area.
Then, you either stop or continue rolling. You have up to four white trackers to place on the board. If you have no more white trackers to lay down and you have to, you lose all your progress. The first player to reach the top of three columns wins!
Abalone
Release date: 1987
of players: 2 players
Average play duration: 15 to 30 minutes
Age recommendation: 8 and above
Difficulty rating: 4/10
Abalone is a competitive and strategic game where you must carefully position yourself or get pushed off by the enemy. It is like a sumo wrestling match where the marbles represent the wrestlers and the board represents the arena.
During your turn, you can move your marbles to an adjacent space. You can move a marble in any direction, but if you move two or three marbles at the same time, they must be horizontally adjacent to each other.
You can move them together to the side or an adjacent free space. When you do the latter (i.e., a sidestep), you must move all marbles in the same direction. You cannot push marbles using the sidestep, but you can push enemy marbles if you move yours horizontally.
You can only push enemy marbles to the side if the targets have fewer numbers than yours. For example, a row of three white marbles can push a row of two marbles. You cannot push enemy marbles if there are three or more of them.
You can push enemy marbles out of the board, and you win by pushing six.
Axis & Allies
Release date: 1981
of players: 2 to 5 players
Average play duration: 2 to 3 hours
Age recommendation: 12 and above
Difficulty rating: 6/10
If you and your friends are ready for a long board game session where you duke it out for the territory, Axis & Allies is the perfect fit for you.
This game reimagines World War II as a board game where players can play as the Axis (Germany and Japan) or Allied (USA, United Kingdom, and USSR) powers.
First, set up the game board by marking everyone’s starting territories. Each country has a specific setup as indicated in its setup cards.
To win, one team must have control over nine victory cities through conquest. Some areas on the map are neutral territories, and you cannot capture or pass through them.
During a round, you must observe the turn order; USSR goes first, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the USA. During a player’s turn, they must follow a sequence of phases.
First, you can buy units using your IPCs, the game’s currency. You can utilize units for wars, but you can only deploy these units next turn. Next, you can move your units to other territories, although some restrictions are implemented depending on the unit. Finally, you collect income based on your national production level.
Civilization
Release date: 1980
of players: 2 to 7 players
Average play duration: 5 to 6 hours
Age recommendation: 12 and above
Difficulty rating: 7/10
Sid Meier’s Civilization games have garnered a lot of fans who love strategy and history (including me). However, did you know that Sid Meier drew inspiration from a 1980 board game called Civilization?
Much like the modern video game series, this game lets you control a civilization, e.g., Italy, Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt. Civilization focuses on the Fertile Crescent and is limited to the ancient era. Your civilization must be the most advanced by buying technology using goods to win the game.
During a player’s turn, they must pay tokens for their cities. If they have insufficient tokens, revolts happen, and when it does, other players can take control of the affected player’s cities.
After paying tokens, the population increases. Then, a census happens to determine the order of player movement. Players can wage wars against others to expand their territory.
The downside of playing Civilization is the time it takes to play it; you might spend five to six hours (or even more). Nevertheless, it is a fun experience.
The Best 80s Bluffing and Deduction Board Games
Wizard
Release date: 1984
of players: 3 to 6 players
Average play duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Age recommendation: 10 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
Wizard is a card game where players skilled in probability and risk calculation get rewarded. You can still win using luck if you do not have these traits. The players assume the role of apprentices, and whoever wins the game becomes promoted to wizard.
The number of players determines the number of rounds played in Wizard. At the start of the round, the dealer deals out a number of cards equal to the round number. For example, if it is the second round, the dealer deals two cards to each player.
Each round consists of “tricks” depending on the number of dealt cards. A trick refers to a round where players take turns discarding a card. Before doing these tricks, everyone must predict how many “tricks” they will win this round.
You score or lose points whether or not you predicted correctly, and the player with the most points by the end wins.
Scotland Yard
Release date: 1983
of players: 2 to 6 players
Average play duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Age recommendation: 8 and above
Difficulty rating: 4/10
In Scotland Yard, there is a fugitive among the players known as Mr. X, and it is up to the others to put on their detective hats and catch them. If you are Mr. X the fugitive, you need to be cunning and elusive, but if you are the detective, you need to be clever and analytical.
Players take turns, and during your turn, you must move your pawn on the board from one location to another. Locations are numbered and connected by three main routes: bus, taxi, and underground. If you want to move someplace else, you must pay for a ticket corresponding to the connected route.
However, Mr. X does not have a pawn on the board. Instead, he writes down the location he moves to on his logbook and covers it up with the ticket he must use. The detectives pay their tickets to Mr. X, so he has an unlimited supply of them.
The detectives win if one of their pawns occupies the same location as Mr. X before the end of the final turn. Otherwise, Mr. X wins.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases
Release date: 1982
of players: 1 to 8 players
Average play duration: 1 to 2 hours
Age recommendation: 14 and above
Difficulty rating: 5/10
Growing up, I remember watching detective movies and wanting to be one myself. I find it thrilling to investigate cases and solve mysteries, and if you feel the same, then I suggest you play the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective games, specifically the Thames Murders edition made in 1982.
The game comes in ten different cases, and each case has a ton of leads to follow. To start, you or your team choose a case to investigate. Players take turns picking a lead; when you select one, you look for it in the case book. If the lead is not there, it means your lead is a dead end.
Some leads will give you clues and more info about the case, while some don’t. When you are confident that you have solved the case, you end the game by answering the questions related to the case, and these answers will determine your score.
You can play as a team to beat Sherlock Holmes’ score or play competitively to have the highest score.
The Best 80s Party Board Games
Sequence
Release date: 1982
of players: 2 to 12 players
Average play duration: 15 to 30 minutes
Age recommendation: 6 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
Sequence is a straightforward yet challenging approach that even children can participate in. While you can apply strategy in the game, it favors luck and teamwork more.
Players are divided into an even number of two or three teams. Then, alternate the seats wherein no players of the same team are seated beside each other.
To start the game, the players receive a number of cards depending on the number of players. Then, during your turn, you play a card on your hand and place your team chips on the board corresponding to your card.
Every team’s goal is to get a sequence, and a sequence is an arrangement of connected chips either diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. If there are two teams, you aim to have two sequences, but if there are three, you only need one.
If you play a Jack card, one of two things happens; if the card has both eyes visible, you can place your chip anywhere. Otherwise, you remove a chip on the board that is not part of a sequence.
Phase 10
Release date: 1982
of players: 2 to 6 players
Average play duration: 30 to 45 minutes
Age recommendation: 8 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
Phase 10 shares many similarities with Uno, with luck being an integral part of the challenge. Both games are a race among your friends and the number and color of the cards matter.
The game spans in rounds, and in each round, every player has a phase to complete. Phases refer to sets of cards you must lay down on your side, and there are ten phases.
Each player receives ten cards at the start, and everyone starts on phase one. When someone completes a phase, only that player moves to the next phase, and a new round begins.
Everyone takes turns, and to start your turn, draw a card from either the draw or discard pile. Then, you can build your phase (or not, if it is not yet possible). You can place unnecessary cards on others’ phases if your card fits theirs.
Some phases require you to build a set, run, or color, and they all involve multiple cards. A set refers to cards with the same number, a run refers to cards with connected values, and color refers to cards with the same color. The first to complete phase ten wins!
Balderdash
Release date: 1984
of players: 2 to 6 players
Average play duration: 35 minutes to 1 hour
Age recommendation: 12 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
If you have played Fibbage before from the Jackbox Party Pack game series, Balderdash will be easy to understand. This game will test your general knowledge and ability to discern or generate fake facts.
Everyone places their tokens on the start space, and the first to reach the finish line wins. To start, one player is the dasher. They must pick a card from the pile and roll the die; the result will determine which word is in play.
The dasher reads the chosen word aloud, and every other player must write down what they think the word means on their sheets. Meanwhile, the dasher writes the actual definition on theirs. The dasher collects all sheets and reads them aloud.
The other players must vote on which they think is the actual definition. If someone votes on a fake answer, the person who wrote it receives a point. If someone votes for the real answer, they receive two points. If no one got it right, the dasher receives three points.
Players can also receive three points if their answer is similar to the real one. Players then move their tokens based on their received score this round.
Scattergories
Release date: 1988
of players: 2 to 6 players
Average play duration: 15 to 30 minutes
Age recommendation: 10 and above
Difficulty rating: 3/10
Scattergories is a test of general knowledge, but with clever minds, they can also be a test of everyone’s power of convincing.
Each player has the same set of six double-sided lists and an empty answer sheet. The game spans three rounds, and during each round, everyone votes on which list to play with. Then, someone rolls the die with letters on its sides; the result will be the key letter.
Start the timer to start the round. Every player must write their answers based on the category in the list. The answer’s first letter must be the key letter rolled earlier.
For example, if the key letter is “A,” and no. 1 on the list is “Fictional Character,” you must write the name of a fictional character that starts with the letter “A,” e.g., “Aang.”
When the timer runs out, everyone compares answers. Cross out all your answers similar to other players’ answers. For every unique answer you have, score a point. Do this procedure for rounds two and three, and the player with the most points wins.
Taboo
Release date: 1989
of players: 4 to 10 players
Average play duration: 15 to 30 minutes
Age recommendation: 10 and above
Difficulty rating: 2/10
Taboo challenges your vocabulary skills and cleverness because you have to deliver hints but avoid saying certain words.
The players are grouped into two teams, and each player has one minute to score points for their respective team. You take a card from the draw pile during your turn and keep it visible to only you. Each card has a keyword followed by multiple words below it.
You must let your team guess the keyword by saying other words that relate to it. However, you must not speak the phrases below the keyword (i.e., the Taboo words). The other team will monitor you to check if you uttered the Taboo words.
When you do, you must discard it. When the team succeeds in guessing, you take another card. For every successful guess, score a point, and for every discarded card, the other team scores a point. You can also pass, but they do not score points.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Is Guess Who an 80s board game?
Answer: No, it is technically not, because Guess Who was released in 1979. However, the game arrived in the UK and USA in 1982. For many veteran players, Guess Who can be classified as an 80s board game because it was the period that the game blew up.
Question: Which 80s board games have marbles?
Answer: Abalone is one of the many 80s board games with marbles in the gameplay. In Abalone, players push one to three connected marbles to adjacent spaces. Players can also push off the enemy’s marbles if they have the number advantage.
Question: What are the most popular 80s board games?
Answer: The most popular 80s board games include Guess Who, Survive: Escape from Atlantis, Taboo, and Scattergories. All these games are incredibly fun, which is how they achieved their fame. Many of them are also easy to replicate, like Taboo and Scattergories. Civilization is also a good contender because of how influential it is for 4x games.
What is your favorite 80s board game?
The 80s introduced a lot of timeless board games that people still enjoy. Some people dislike playing them because of how vintage they are, but I highly encourage you to play them. All the entries in this list are incredibly fun. You can generate hilarious and extraordinary moments playing these games.
I would consider Survive: Escape from Atlantis as my favorite on this list. I have many memories of it with my friends.
The most memorable one would be the time I intentionally sank the boat I was driving because I thought my friend’s meeple in the same raft was a high-value one. However, by the end, we realized that my meeple’s value was actually six while my friend’s meeple’s value was only two.
I also enjoyed playing Labyrinth because of the chaos, and I love chaotic games. For large groups, especially with people who are not into board games that much, I usually play Taboo, Scattergories, or Balderdash with them. These games are easy to play and understand.
What is your favorite 80s board game? If you do not have one yet, play the games on this list and discover them for yourself.
Arthur loves playing board and card games with his close friends. He remembers his passion for tabletop games awakened when he first went to a board game café. He played lots of games such as Forbidden Island, Cards Against Humanity, and more. Ever since then, we have been looking for more games to play.
