Free board games online, with no download

Board games are better than ever, and most of the friction is gone when you play them in a browser. Nobody has to set up the board, count out pieces, or remember the scoring rules at the end. You open a link, sit down and play. Here is what playing board games online looks like here, and the games worth starting with.

What playing in the browser gives you

• No download and no install: every game runs in the browser on a phone, a computer or a tablet.
• Setup and scoring done for you, with the rules one tap away inside each game.
• Computer players at Easy, Normal or Hard in any open seat. Learn a game alone before teaching it to friends, or play a four-player game with two people.
• Play live, or a turn a day: many board games let everyone move when they can, with an alert when it's their turn.
• Play on a TV with everyone's hand on their own phone. See Party games on the TV with phones as controllers.

Where to start: gateway games

If your group is new to modern board games, start here. Each teaches in a couple of minutes and plays in under 45.

• 
  Tile Towns2-5 players
• 
  Riverboat Routes2-5 players
• 
  Tumbletown2-5 players
• 
  Mosaic2-4 players

• Tile Towns: draw a tile, grow the countryside, and drop builders on roads, towns and chapels before anyone else claims them. Two to five players.
• Riverboat Routes: collect cargo, claim river lanes from town to town and fill your secret cargo orders before the boats run out.
• Tumbletown: roll the dice, and every shop, farm and cafe whose number comes up pays out. Buy more businesses and build four landmarks first.
• Mosaic: draft colored tiles, fill your rows and set them into the wall for points. Don't drop any; the floor costs you.

Strategy games for a longer evening

When your group wants something meatier, these reward planning and give every game a different shape.

• 
  Bogmoor2-6 players
• 
  Landmarks2-7 players
• 
  Barons2-4 players
• 
  Rise and Ruin2-5 players

• Bogmoor: build, trade and race to the points target with two to six players, with expansions, house rules and computer players. Our full beginner guide: Bogmoor beginner strategy guide.
• Landmarks: three ages of card drafting for two to seven. Everyone picks at once, so a seven-player game moves as fast as a three-player one.
• Barons: start with a pocketful of coins and buy cards that make your deck stronger, then own the most land when the Baronies run out.
• Rise and Ruin: a map that is always a size too small. Conquer regions, cash in coins, then let your empire fade and rise again with a new people.
• Birdsong, Wildlands, Market Day and Tessera are more favorites: a forest of over 100 birds whose powers chain together, habitat tiles and animal patterns, a market that makes every deal cheaper, and small-map tribes built for one hand on a phone.

Co-op board games

In a co-op, the table plays against the game. Everyone wins or loses together, which makes them great for mixed groups and for teaching.

• Outbreak: two to four players against a spreading virus. Treat the hot spots, pool your cards and research four cures before the map is overrun.
• Ember Ascent: a co-op deckbuilder for one to four. Climb three acts up the Ember Peak, build your deck card by card, play at the same time against enemies that show their next move, and beat a boss at the top of each act.
• Heist: a co-op break-in where each player runs a different job on their own phone and nobody sees the whole plan.

Family board games

Easy to learn, quick turns and a bit of luck so younger players can win too.

• 
  Race Home2-6 players
• 
  Life Lanes2-6 players
• 
  Land Grab2-6 players
• 
  Motive2-6 players

• Race Home: race your four pawns home and bump anyone you land on back to the start.
• Life Lanes: college or career, tiny house or mansion. Spin through a whole life and retire richest.
• Land Grab: buy up the city, build on your sets and collect rent. It has round limits for a quick game, which every family needs.
• Motive: a mystery at a country manor. Walk the halls, make suggestions, keep your notepad and name the who, the what and the where first.
• Payback, Snakes & Ladders and Party Isles are more good picks for a family table.

Classics

The games that have been around for centuries are all here too, playable against a friend or the computer: Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Go, Mancala, Dominoes, Mahjong (four seats, with computer players filling any empty ones), Nine Men's Morris and more. For the best of the two-player ones, see The best 2-player games to play online.

Learning a game without a rulebook

The biggest barrier to a new board game is usually the rules explanation. In the browser you can skip most of it. Start a game against computer players, keep the rules open beside the board for the first few turns, and let the game tell you what is legal: you cannot make a move the rules do not allow, and scoring happens on its own. After one practice game you will know enough to teach your friends while you play.

Tips for playing board games online

• Play your first game against the computer at Easy. You will learn the flow without holding anyone up.
• Use chat for table talk. Every table has it, and a well-timed message is half the fun of a trading game.
• For long games, use A turn a day. Three days a move suits groups across time zones; 12 hours keeps things lively.
• Put it on a TV when you are in the same room, so the board is big and hands stay private.
• If someone has to leave, a computer player can take their seat and the game goes on.

Which one tonight?

• Two of you: Quilt, Dojo or Bazaar.
• Three to five, new to board games: Tile Towns or Tumbletown.
• Four to six who like to trade and plot: Bogmoor.
• Seven: Landmarks.
• Everyone on the same side: Outbreak.

All of these are free to play in your browser right now. For a whole evening plan around them, see Game night ideas for groups of every size.