Releases ranging from the 1930's to the late 2010's, these games have been very common to be in rotation on family game night. (Jaxon Riste, CMRU.ca)

Family game night is a tradition held by many families around the world. While many of the most successful games today are stylistically modern, some of the most consistently popular games have been around for decades. Here are some of the best-selling and most popular board and card games playable today, ranging from oldest to newest.

Dutch Blitz

In this competitive, fast-paced card game, players race to complete colour-coded number sequences in order to score as many points as possible. Dutch Blitz was created in 1937 by Werner Ernst George Muller, a German optometrist who initially created the game for his children. The game involves two to four players who must reach 75 points to win. Each player has a stack of cards known as their Blitz pile, and each round ends once a player depletes their Blitz pile. “A vonderful goot game” indeed.

The Settlers of Catan

Released in 1995 and known also as just Catan, this game is one of the most well-known board games to date. Involving immense levels of strategy and planning, players must choose where they wish to build and expand their empires. Players build roads, settlements, cities, and purchase development cards all leading towards more points. Collecting resources and trading with other players are options to provide strategic advantages. The game was created by a German board game designer by the name of Klaus Teuber, who was best known for the creation of Catan.

Ticket to Ride

One of the highest rated games available today and released in 2004, Ticket to Ride offers a fun take on the traveling salesman problem. With a board that displays a topographical map of the U.S. and southern ends of Canada, players must complete train routes connecting from city to city in the most efficient way possible. Each player is given a set of randomly drawn train routes and throughout the game, draw colour-coded train cards that match the board to complete their routes. The longer the route, the more points they are worth. The game ends when a player runs out of train pieces to place on the board, and the points are tallied.

Monopoly Deal

Everyone knows about Monopoly, but not everyone knows about Monopoly Deal. Developed in 2008, the game functions as regular monopoly, but strictly as a card game. Players draw cards which may be classic property cards, wild cards, or action cards. The action cards allow players to charge rent and make tricky deals. The game is won by collecting three complete sets of properties. Monopoly Deal is a fun and compact version of the classic Monopoly loved by millions.

Exploding Kittens

The box cover of this silly game says it all. Exploding Kittens: “a card game for people who are into kittens, and explosions, and laser beams, and sometimes goats.” Starting out as a Kickstarter game in 2015, this game made history when it hit its target goal of 10,000 dollars in eight minutes and reached over 103,000 backers on the crowdfunding site. Exploding Kittens is a simple deck card game, but with its ridiculous concepts and hilarious artwork, it is no wonder this game gained such instant popularity.