Some of these were instruments before they were games.
Connect with
the history of board games.
From the oldest known to the more modern classics. Perfect way to spend time with someone far away, or right next to you.
What shall we play?
Start with one you know, or one you do notEvery game here plays at this table; the rest are in the library.
Browse every board gameHow to play a board game online here
Pick a board, then choose how to play it. Make a private room and send the link to a friend, take turns on one screen, or play against the computer. Every game here is free to play, runs in your browser with nothing to install, and neither of you needs an account.
What is on these shelves
Every board here is in the public domain, rebuilt one at a time. Some of them are the oldest games whose rules have actually survived. Others are classic boards you have played before. We are not stocking every board game ever printed. We are taking the ones that belong to everybody and making them playable again.
Chess, checkers and backgammon are here because you already know them. Surakarta, hnefatafl, gomoku and the Royal Game of Ur are here because most people do not, and none of them is hard to learn. Reversi and Four in a Row are the classic ones your family owned, and they sit on the same shelf as a board that came out of a grave. If you are looking for a new game to try, set out one whose pieces you have never touched and go from there. You will find the rules on every game page.
When the other seat is empty
Every board here also plays against the computer, which is the part most places to play board games online leave out. A game you want to learn does not have to wait for a second player to be free. Play it alone tonight, and send the link to your friends once you know the rules. Checkers, chess and the rest are free either way, and playing alone is one way to meet a board you have never seen.
How a board reaches somebody who is not in the room
These boards travelled trade routes to reach people who were not there to be handed one. Boards cut to a plan similar to the Royal Game of Ur turn up far beyond Mesopotamia, which is how a game from one city came to be played along the length of the ancient world. Board games have always travelled. Now they travel by link.