I constantly see people going to Walmart, or any other big-box stores, and buying the most popular games just because they are well known; but some of them just aren’t that fun! So I thought I’d compile a list of what I think are the most overrated board games that Walmart sells and some others that Walmart sells that are much better!
The 5 overrated games at Walmart
- Monopoly
- Chess
- Uno
- The Game of Life
- Yahtzee
The 5 games to buy instead are
- Bananagrams
- Codenames
- Blokus
- Big Money
- Wits and Wagers
An important thing to note is that I like most of the games on the “overrated games” list. Most are fun to play; but there are others that are more fun, that are overlooked because they haven’t been around forever. Nobody knows them, so nobody tries them.
Overrated Games
1) Monopoly
How It Plays
Most of us have played Monopoly before; or we have at least started a game of Monopoly. Players take turns marching around the outside of a large game board that is split into many real estate properties and other spaces. Players have the ability to purchase and upgrade properties throughout the game, collecting income from the other players that land on their properties.
Eventually, players will land on another’s property at an inopportune time—when they don’t have enough liquidity to pay for their obligations. They then have to find a way to pay, which is usually through selling or downgrading properties. If they have no money and no properties left to pay, they are eliminated from the game. This process repeats until only one player remains and is crowned as the winner.
Why it’s overrated
There are so many reasons why Monopoly is one of the most overrated games ever invented. The first of which is that it’s a game that usually takes forever to play! I have played several times where the games lasted for hours and hours, with no end in sight. Many more games have ended because everyone gave up on the hope that it would end, and not because it actually ended. Most people want to sit down and play a game that has not only a beginning, but a clear end as well. Just as important, though, is that a game takes a relatively short amount of time—which should be an hour or less for most people.
The second reason Monopoly is an overrated game is that it is almost complete luck. Players only land on spots purely based on how the dice fall. So someone could hit all of the valuable properties early in the game, while another player misses every single one.
Admittedly, strategy enters most games in one way or another, which allows players to win based partly on their own merit. Monopoly is no exception, but there is only so much luck that a game can contain without giving up most of the fun. Monopoly is quite a bit too far on the luck side without adding fun to compensate, and that’s no good for me.
2) Chess
How It Plays
On the opposite end of the luck-skill spectrum is Chess. Chess is a two-player strategy game that has no luck whatsoever. Players compete on top of a game board, each with 16 pieces that move around the board in unique ways. Players attempt to capture the other player’s pieces one by one until he or she is able to corner the king piece, disallowing it to make another move. Once that happens the losing player tips his king piece on its side forfeiting the match.
Why it’s overrated
As someone that enjoys strategic games, Chess is one that I actually can enjoy. But in my experience, most people prefer games that aren’t so far on the skill side of the spectrum. They like more luck and more variation when playing games. And that’s just something Chess doesn’t offer. Chess is a game that is purely skill based. Every move either further exposes a player’s inability or shows the player’s superior strategic ability; there is no in between. For some of us that’s fine, but for others, they look elsewhere for what they would call fun. Those of us that like games which require skill, such as chess, can also thoroughly enjoy less skill-based games.
3) Uno
How It Plays
Uno is a game most families have tried playing at some point. In this game, each player is dealt 7 cards comprised of numbers (of specific colors), skip cards, draw cards, wild cards, etc. Each player’s goal is to get rid of his or her hand first, to win the game. Other players, however, play cards from their hand to stop that from happening. If a player is close to getting rid of all of his or her cards, other players may play a skip card to prevent that player’s turn; or they may play a “draw two cards” card to prolong the game. At some point, despite other players’ attempts to prevent it, someone will play the last card and finish the game.
Why it’s overrated
First, it’s important to mention that I somewhat enjoy Uno as a fun, light-hearted party game to play with friends and family; however, so many people know it, and so many people play it all the time—even though there are some really awesome games they could be playing instead.
So I guess my point is that Uno is a fun game, but there are other games that are just as light-hearted and simple and more fun to play. It’s a game I am willing to play when others want to play it, but I never turn to it when I am choosing. There are many others that would be a more fun choice for everyone.
4) The Game of Life
How It Plays
If you’re like me, this is the game you played a bunch with your siblings growing up. In the game of life, players move from the beginning of the board to the end of the board experiencing life events. At the beginning, they must choose to go to college, or go right into a career. Then they advance toward other major life events like getting married and eventually reaching retirement. All along the way life happens; as you can imagine, some things are negative like losing a job or losing a turn due to a flat tire or other unexpected events. Other times, good things happen like having children or earning lots of money. The whole point of the game is to have the most money at the end and the player to do that wins…at life.
Why it’s overrated
There is one simple reason that Life is overrated; it’s the same as a few others on this list, luck. Everything is determined by what happens with the spinner on the board. Players can alter the gameplay in minor ways but everything else happens with luck. Even when choosing a career a player draws from a pile of cards, with no real way to choose for himself/herself. And, from my experience, most people want to play games with a balance between lucky events and skillful maneuvering. They want a lucky windfall if they are losing in the game, but they also want to be able to figure out a way to beat everyone else with their own creativity and not just because the spinner landed on the right number.
5) Yahtzee
How It Plays
Yahtzee is a very simple game. It is a dice game where players take turns rolling a set of 5 dice looking for specific outcomes. Each turn, a player has 3 attempts to gain the desired outcome, which they then write down on their score card. On the card, there is a specific set of dice combinations each player must obtain at some point during the game. Sometimes players roll exactly what they want, while other times they must cross one of the combinations off their list and lose those potential points. The player that obtains the most combinations—and therefore the highest score—wins.
Why it’s overrated
Yahtzee might be the game on the “overrated games” list that I like playing the most. But like all the others, I would still consider it overrated. Almost everyone knows and has played Yahtzee at some point in their lives. You can find it on the shelf at almost every big-box store in the United States. And yet, it’s a “vanilla” luck-based dice game that doesn’t have much happening.
Players can alter their luck by choosing which combinations to go for and when; and they can choose when to alter their objective in the middle of a turn—but that’s about it. Players are relying mostly on luck to get the highest score and win the game. There are other fun and light-hearted games out there that have a little more going on, but are much more fun.
Games To Buy Instead
1) Bananagrams
Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty | Game Type |
| 1-8+ | 15-20 minutes | 8+ | Very easy | Word, Tile Laying |
How It Plays
Bananagrams is a word game, with individual letters that are engraved on small tiles. Players take a specific amount of tiles (25 for example) to start the game; they then try to create their own web of connected words with the letters they drew. The first player to accomplish this yells “peel!” which makes everyone take another tile from those left in the collective pile in the middle. Once that tile—and all others—are connected to the web of words, the process repeats. Players do this until there are not enough tiles for each player to take one. At that point, the first to work the last letter into his or her web of words wins.
Why It’s Fun
If you’re like me, this game does not initially sound appealing! I avoided playing this game for years; my family constantly tried to convince me to play. Finally, one Christmas vacation, I broke down and played. It ended up being my favorite game for the rest of the Christmas season.
This game is so fun because it’s not just a word game; it’s also a race. Players are competing to be the first to work all letters into their web of words in front of them. If they can move quickly, they can bury their opponents in extra letters—forcing them to fall behind. Sometimes though, those extra letters give you the ability to create just the right combinations to put the right words together, to gain ground. I love the thinking aspect of this game paired with the race element. You have to think, but you have to think quickly.
One thing I really enjoy about this game is that there really is an unlimited number of players. It calls for no more than 8 but there is nothing stopping a group from combining several Bananagram sets together to allow for more players. Doing that could accommodate a fairly large party, as long as there is enough space for all the players.
2) Codenames
Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty | Game Type |
| 2-8+ | 15-20 minutes | 14+ | Easy | Party, Card, Word |
How It Plays
Codenames is a great party game, where players are split into two teams. 25 cards are laid on the table in a 5×5 grid. Each team has a lead player that is given a key to which words are assigned to each team, which words are assigned to neither team and which word is the “automatic lose” card. Each lead player attempts to give one-word clues to his or her team so that they are the first to guess all of their assigned words—the trick is to give a clue that connects several assigned words together to finish faster. But giving clues that are too vague could mean the team chooses the wrong word. Choosing the wrong card would ultimately result in your team losing. Your team could accidentally pick the automatic lose card, the other team’s word (and therefore helping them finish faster) or simply a word that isn’t assigned to either team and wastes a turn. The first team to correctly guess all assigned words first, wins.
Why It’s Fun
Adding another word game on the list wouldn’t have been my initial desire, but these two games deserve to be on the list. Codenames is fun for the same reason that Bananagrams is fun. It’s a simple game; there just aren’t many rules to it—but it also requires thought and effort. People who think critically while playing have the potential to do better; but it can also just be a relaxed, fun game where competition is low.
Another great thing about Codenames is that pretty much as many people as you want to play, can play. The game calls for only up to 8 players, but groups could easily get far larger than that. The only constraint would be getting everyone around the game and still be close enough to see it. Other than that, large groups could play easily.
3) Blokus
Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty | Game Type |
| 2-4 | 20-30 minutes | 5+ | Easy | Tile Laying |
How It Plays
Blokus is a strategic tile-laying game, that is ideal for four players. Each player is assigned a color with tiles of various shapes—though all colors have the same shapes . Players take turns laying one of their tiles (whichever they choose) on the “game board”, each from a different corner.
They can connect other tiles by the corner of current tiles already on the board. As the game progresses, the players meet in the middle; they then use the empty spaces between other players’ tiles to keep getting their own tiles on the board. Which means, each player can place a tile touching another player’s tile in any manner. So leaving the smallest spaces possible between your own tiles is important. The player to have the fewest tiles left off the board, when no more moves exist, wins.
Why It’s Fun
Blokus is another game that I avoided like the plague when I first saw it! It looked like an ultra nerdy, weird game that I would never like. But the time came when a few friends needed a fourth player and couldn’t find anybody else; so they guilted me into it. And, like so many other games, I realized it was awesome! I have played it many times since then and obviously own it now.
Blokus is great because it is simple, but so strategic. It is a great alternative (or addition to) a game like Chess. Players can get really into it and analyze which move would be the best on every turn; or they can simply take quick turns with little analysis and see where it falls. It is great for those that like games with very little luck and a lot resting on each player’s shoulders to play well.
4) Big Money
Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty | Game Type |
| 2-5 | 30 minutes | 8+ | Easy | Dice, Set Collection |
How It Plays
Want to be a Zillionaire? Then Big money is the right game to play! Big Money is all about everyone getting rich. Each player takes turns rolling dice looking for favorable outcomes similar to Yahtzee. Once rolled, players collect money and use it to buy businesses, stocks and other investments in order to create more income later in the game. But look out because one of dice might roll a “biz news” outcome which can cause all sorts of problems for players. They can lose businesses, stock holdings and most importantly Zillions of dollars. The end of the game is triggered when all the money in the bank has been earned. Whoever has the most Zillions wins.
Why It’s Fun
Big Money is a great alternative to Monopoly. It sounds very complicated and technical but it is actually very simple and really fun! It takes all the fun parts of Monopoly and gets rid of the boring ones; the most important of which is that it takes about 30 minutes to play instead of 3+ hours to play. It doesn’t play at all like Monopoly, but the concept is related.
Big Money is a much more luck-based game than the others on this list. I harped on a few luck-based games in the “overrated games” category, so I wanted to make sure to include one that I really enjoy. Though there are certainly strategic elements to Big Money, there is a lot of dice rolling and luck. My family isn’t always into the more strategic, intense games and this is one that I knew would be perfect for them as soon as I played it. It’s enjoyable, light-hearted and really fun to count all your Zillions. If that describes you, this is the game to buy.
5) Wits and Wagers
Specs
| Players | Duration | Age | Difficulty | Game Type |
| 3-7 | 20-30 minutes | 10+ | Very Easy | Betting, Trivia, Party |
How It Plays
Wits and Wagers is an extremely fun trivia game. Through seven rounds, players read random quantitative questions that no one knows the answer to; players then write guesses on small dry-erase boards and put them in the middle. The boards are then lined up from smallest to largest. Then the betting begins. Players choose which guess they think is closest without going over by laying betting chips on that spot.
The earnings payouts are higher the further out from the center of the group that the bet lies. Once the bets are placed, the answer is revealed, and players either lose money or collect their earnings. The player with the most money at the end of the seven rounds is the winner.
Why It’s Fun
Wits and Wagers is fun because it takes the ordinary trivia-game format and injects excitement into it. Instead of players sitting around attempting to answer random questions to move forward on some arbitrary, made up game board, they are making guesses and then going all in on those guesses with their chips. Every single time I’ve played, everyone gets so into the game that you’d think they were betting real money. They take way too long choosing which guess they want to bet on, and find themselves putting way too much money on a guess they had no confidence on seconds earlier. It is awesome!
Wits and Wagers is one of my favorite party games because it accommodates a lot of players and there is no learning curve. Players are up to speed on how the game plays after hearing a 30-second explanation of how it works. There is absolutely nothing complicated to how the game operates. Most of the time, we just start a question and teach as we go. It is the perfect game for groups looking for a fun, easy game for a game night with friends.
Conclusion
These are just a few games that would be great alternatives to some of the most common ones we hear about all the time. All of these games are sold at stores like Walmart, Target and even online on Amazon. There are so many more that are worth looking into. Check out our other articles in the blog section of our website to see our favorite games!