2024 Board Games: The UK’s favourite board games revealed

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  • Belfast is the most board game-obsessed city in the UK, with a monthly average of 225 searches for games per 10k people.

  • Chess is the most popular board game in the UK, earning 550k searches every month.

From Monopoly to Cluedo, board games are a long-standing tradition bringing friends and families together across the UK. But which cities are the true board game capitals of the nation, and which games are the most popular?

New research from the entertainment experts at VSO reveals the UK cities home to the biggest game lovers, as well as the most popular board games according to search volume.

Belfast is the most board game-obsessed city in the UK, with a monthly average of 225 searches for games per 10k people

Topping the list is Belfast, where searches for popular games average 225 per 10k people each month. The most popular game of all in Belfast is Chess, which sees an average of 5,400 searches per month.

The second most board game-obsessed city is Manchester. Games receive a monthly average of 207 searches per 10k people in this northern city, with chess once again topping the leaderboard. This is followed by Leeds, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Rank

City

Total monthly searches per 10,000 people

1

Belfast

225

2

Manchester

207

3

Leeds

158

4

Glasgow

139

5

Birmingham

129

6

Edinburgh

125

7

London

122

8

Wolverhampton

119

9

Milton Keynes

111

10

Bristol

110

Chess is the most popular board game in the UK, with 550k searches every month

When it comes to Brits’ favourite board game, Chess takes the crown. The classic strategy game, which dates back as far as the 15th century, receives an average of 550k searches per month — which is over 480k more than the second-most popular game, Cards Against Humanity.

Despite not being around as long as many other games on the list, Cards Against Humanity (which came out in 2011) earned second place, with 60.5k searches each month on average. The fill-in-the-blanks party game is particularly popular in London, where residents search for it an average of 8,100 times per month.

Rank

Board Game

Avg. monthly

searches in the UK

1

Chess

550,000

2

Cards Against Humanity

60,500

3

Charades

18,100

4

Monopoly

6,600

Mouse Trap

6,600

Risk

6,600

5

5 Second Rule

5,400

6

Cluedo

4,400

7

Snakes and Ladders

3,600

Game of Life

3,600

8

Battleship, Guess Who & Perfection

1,900

Guess Who

1,900

Perfection

1,900

9

Articulate

1,600

Ghost Castle

1,600

10

Draughts

1,000

Checkers

1,000

Diplomacy

1,000

In third place is Charades, with 18.1k searches per month on average, followed by Monopoly, Mouse Trap and Risk with 6,600 searches.


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