Board games for dads

Last checked 3 November 2026

Quick answer: Heat: Pedal to the Metal is the one for a dad who loves motor racing, and Brass: Birmingham suits one who likes history and a proper think. CATAN and Ticket to Ride: Europe are safe picks the family can join in, Sky Team is a two-player co-op for the two of you, and MicroMacro: Crime City is a detective puzzle he can do on his own.

Buying a board game for your dad is easier if you start with what he's into, not what's top of a chart. So these are picked by the kind of dad. There's one for the dad who watches every race, one for the dad who reads history books, a couple he can play with the whole family on Boxing Day and one he can sit with on his own. They're all grown-up games, but they range from easy to properly heavy, and each card says how easy it is to teach. If he's already got a shelf full of games, our gifts for board game lovers page goes deeper.

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Heat: Pedal to the Metal box: a green vintage racing car numbered 3 speeding past a chequered flag

1. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Motor racing with cards. Push hard into corners and you pick up Heat cards that clog your hand. Legends robot drivers let you play solo.

Players: 1 to 6 players
Age: 10+
Play time: about 60 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes a little explaining

Why it suits this: For the dad who never misses a race. Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen's Heat is motor racing with cards. Push hard into the corners and you pick up Heat cards that clog your hand, so it's all about when to take the risk. The Legends robot drivers mean he can race solo too. It's 1 to 6 players, 10 and up, about 60 minutes, and it takes a little explaining.

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Details last checked 19 October 2026.

Brass: Birmingham box: a grey cobbled street with the word Brass in large letters and Birmingham underneath

2. Brass: Birmingham

Build cotton mills, coal mines, potteries and breweries across the West Midlands between 1770 and 1870. Canals come first, then railways, and you'll lean on other players' coal and beer to get going.

Players: 2 to 4 players
Age: 14+
Play time: 60 to 120 minutes
Our teaching rating: Hard to teach, so set aside time

Why it suits this: For the dad who likes a proper think, and a good shout for anyone from the Midlands. Build cotton mills, coal mines, potteries and breweries across the West Midlands between 1770 and 1870, canals first and then railways, leaning on other players' coal and beer to get going. Matt Tolman, Martin Wallace and Gavan Brown's game is heavy and hard to teach, so it suits a dad who already likes strategy games. It's 2 to 4 players, 14 and up, 1 to 2 hours.

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Details last checked 19 October 2026.

CATAN box: a sun setting over golden fields and green hills, with a settler walking a path towards a village

3. CATAN

Build roads, settlements and cities on an island of hexagon tiles. Trade brick, lumber, wool, grain and ore with the table to reach 10 points first.

Players: 3 to 4 players
Age: 10+
Play time: 60 to 90 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes a little explaining

Why it suits this: The safe pick for a dad who's never played much beyond Monopoly. Build roads, settlements and cities on an island of hexagon tiles, and trade brick, lumber, wool, grain and ore with the table to reach 10 points first. The trading is where the arguments start, in a good way. It's 3 to 4 players, 10 and up, 60 to 90 minutes, and it takes a little explaining.

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Details last checked 19 October 2026.

Ticket to Ride Europe box: travellers in period dress on a station platform beside a steam train

4. Ticket to Ride: Europe

Alan R. Moon's Europe map for Ticket to Ride. The same card collecting and route claiming, plus tunnels, ferries and train stations, and far more short routes than the USA map.

Players: 2 to 5 players
Age: 8+
Play time: 30 to 60 minutes
Our teaching rating: Easy to teach

Why it suits this: For the dad who likes trains, maps or both. Alan R. Moon's Europe version has you collect coloured train cards and claim routes to join up the cities on your tickets, with tunnels, ferries and train stations on top. It's easy to teach, so the kids can play with him. It's 2 to 5 players, 8 and up, 30 to 60 minutes.

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Details last checked 21 October 2026.

Sky Team box: a pilot and co-pilot in headsets with a passenger plane flying overhead

5. Sky Team

Pilot and co-pilot quietly place dice in the cockpit to land a passenger plane, and you're not allowed to talk about your rolls.

Players: 2 players only
Age: 14+
Play time: about 20 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes a little explaining

Why it suits this: One for you and your dad, because it's for exactly two players. You're pilot and co-pilot landing a passenger plane, quietly putting dice in the cockpit to keep the plane level, control your speed and get the flaps and landing gear down, and you can't talk about your rolls. It's a co-op (you win or lose together), with 11 airports and 21 scenarios from Le Scorpion Masqué. It's 14 and up, about 20 minutes.

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Details last checked 9 November 2026.

Terraforming Mars box: a lone astronaut on a red Martian landscape under an orange sky

6. Terraforming Mars

Run a corporation turning Mars into somewhere people can live. Play project cards, build up production and race for the milestones before the planet's done.

Players: 1 to 5 players
Age: 12+
Play time: about 120 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes some explaining

Why it suits this: For the dad who's into space and doesn't mind a long game. In Jacob Fryxelius' Terraforming Mars you run a corporation turning Mars into somewhere people can live, playing project cards, building up production and racing for the milestones before the planet's done. It takes some explaining. It's 1 to 5 players, so he can play it solo, 12 and up, about 2 hours.

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Details last checked 19 October 2026.

Lost Ruins of Arnak box: explorers in a green jungle in front of a ruined stone temple

7. Lost Ruins of Arnak

Deck building meets worker placement on an uncharted island. Explore jungle sites, find artefacts, face guardians and race up the research track. Plays solo too.

Players: 1 to 4 players
Age: 12+
Play time: 30 to 120 minutes
Our teaching rating: Takes some explaining

Why it suits this: For the dad who loves an adventure film. Mín and Elwen's game mixes deck building (you add better cards to your deck as you go) with worker placement (you send your pieces to spots on the board to take actions) on an uncharted island. Explore jungle sites, find artefacts, face guardians and race up the research track. It plays solo too. It's 1 to 4 players, 12 and up, about 30 minutes per player, and it takes some explaining.

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Details last checked 21 October 2026.

8. MicroMacro: Crime City

One huge black-and-white city map, a magnifying glass and 16 cases. You follow suspects across the drawing to work out who did it and why. It won the Spiel des Jahres in 2021.

Players: 1 to 4 players
Age: 12+
Play time: 15 to 45 minutes
Our teaching rating: Very easy to teach

Why it suits this: For the dad who likes a crime drama or a Sunday puzzle. It's one huge black-and-white city map, 75 by 110 centimetres, with a magnifying glass and 16 cases. You follow suspects across the drawing to work out who did it and why. Johannes Sich's game won the Spiel des Jahres (Germany's big game of the year award) in 2021. It's 1 to 4 players, 12 and up, 15 to 45 minutes, and very easy to teach.

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Details last checked 22 October 2026.

If he already plays a lot, see board game gifts for board game lovers. Does he still talk about playing Risk? Try games like Risk. For a present the whole family can play on the day, see our best board games for Christmas, and for small extras, our stocking filler games. If it’s mostly you and him playing, see two-player board games. Buying for her too? See board games for mums.

How we choose and check

We pick games for the situation, and ignore hobby rankings and hype. Player counts, ages and play times come from the publisher's own page or the box. If we can't confirm a detail there, we leave it off the card. The teaching rating is our own view from reading the rules, not a publisher figure. Nobody pays us to include a game. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. See how we make money.