Board Games are a great way to spend time with family and friends or even provide a little entertainment at parties. Not everyone likes games, but there are several different types so hopefully you can agree on playing one. These are the five best games according to me, but they are really popular.

1. Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride has won the "German Game of the Year in 2004" and was rated the "Best Family Game 2004." Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train game available in several different versions including Europe, Germany, Switzerland, and U.S.  In this game players are given train routes and they must complete those routes if they don't want to lose points. The game is easy to understand and play but it does require some strategy and luck.

2. Settlers of Cataan

Another "German Game of the Year 1995" and "1st Place – Deutscher Spiele Preis 1995." In this game settlers must become the dominant group on the remote island by building settlements and cities across the wilderness. Trading and building are the way to win this game but you have to combine luck and strategy in order to become the settler with the most assets and ultimately the victor of the game.

3. Small World

Known as a light-hearted civilization board game this game won "GAMES Magazine Game of the Year 2010" and "2009 International Gamers Award Winner." In this game the object is to control the world. In it players use characters which include dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs, and even humans. The groups must use their troops to not only occupy territory but also conquer adjacent lands in order to push other races from the world. It requires strategy, knowledge, creativity, and interaction plus its pretty complex.

4. Pandemic

As one of the best cooperative games out there Pandemic has won the "GAMES Magazine Best Family Game 2008." Four diseases have broken out in the world and it's the player's responsibility to work together in order to control the disease and save the earth. By using individual characters strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the disease overtakes the world. All the players either win or lose depending on if they can control the outbreak before time runs out.

5. Lost Cities

This game also won "German Game of the Year 2008)", and "Games Magazine 1st Runner-Up Family Game 2010." Each player has a five member group including a researcher and four explorers that must search for the lost cities. To reach the cities, a player must lay down a colored card of low value in order to make the nine steps into the city. Because if he wants to continue finding the city he has to place a card of equal or higher value in order to move his man.

There are many great games that provide some entertainment for yourself along with family and friends. These are the five best games to purchase and play. These games differ and everyone is sure to enjoy at least one of them. Plus they provide a cheap form of entertainment that can last for years to come. Although there are always new games coming out these are fun and extremely popular among gamers.

The best places to watch a college game are those that have enough space for everyone who wants to attend, yet at the same time are crowded enough to provide all the jostling, cheering elbow-to-elbow excitement fans expect.

They should also have a surplus of mouth-watering, cholesterol-spiking edibles like hotdogs, nachos, popcorn, pretzels, etc. And don’t forget the drinks. Beer on tap is the best way to go, especially if the venue lets you double-fist it.

The Palestra

I recently have rediscovered the old-school board games I used to play when I was young, and I remembered how much I enjoyed playing them. Lately, on weekends I just want to play Life or Scrabble or Clue. These games may seem juvenile but they always produce a great time when playing them with friends. In fact, my friends and I have been having “retro game parties” where we all get together and play the games from our childhoods.

I have noticed that the game changes as you get older also. Strategies become more intense and there is a different level of play. When we were young we put three letter words on the scrabble board, and now, were trying for the seven-letter word bonus! If you haven’t played these games for a while, I highly recommend giving them a try; they may even be more fun now than how you remembered them.