Mensa Recommended Games
In addition to the seven Mensa Select® winners chosen each year, our Mensa judges also designate a category of games “Recommended for Play.”
By using the “Recommended by American Mensa” label, a manufacturer signals that its game, while not a top-five pick, was still identified by Mensa member judges as one they enjoyed playing and worth recommending to others. The “Recommended by American Mensa” designation was introduced at Mind Games 2013 and has been a part every year since.
If you buy something from a Mensa Mind Games link, American Mensa may earn a commission.
3 Of A Kind
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Weird City Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: All Ages
3 of a Kind is a competitive party game of thinking alike, where players try to write matching answers to wild questions. Each round, players select a Category and 3 different Adjectives. Each player writes one answer for each Adjective in the selected Category. The more players who write the same answer as you, the more points you get!
Alpine Trails
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Last Night Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
This simple, yet strategic game will have you designing a trail system through the mountains. You'll build trails that wander through meadows, forests, marshes, rocks and waterfalls. You'll develop campsites and leave other areas as pristine habitats for the alpine wildlife. Find balance among the various scoring methods as you add tiles to your own map in an effort to earn the most points.
Before After
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Niche Nation Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: 13+
A unique team word game. Quick! Think of words that come Before or After SKATE! iceSKATE! SKATEboard! rollerSKATE! In Before After, the challenge is to quickly think of words that fit before or after a given word. Snap up the starting letter cards for your team's words, and collect 3 before the other team to win the round.
Biomos
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
North Star Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
Biomos is a 1-4 player cozy and addictive puzzle game about developing new planets. As your planet reaches its first billion years, you will take on the universe's greatest challenge: creating life. Choose and place terrain tokens on your planet to create stunning landscapes. Combine terrain like oceans, forests, and mountains to match specific biome conditions and foster new life on its surface. Including three ways to play, Biomos features a Family mode for newer players and a Solo mode for an individual challenge. Whatever mode you choose, you will always work towards the same goal: Developing the most biodiverse planet!
Bug Bash
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Niche Nation Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 11 to 12
A Quick-Counting Bug-Slapping Game for Kids 7-12: Fast, fun, and frenetic--get ready for Bug Bash! Flip cards, count the bugs, and be the first to slap any card with a number matching the total bug count. Stay alert, new cards mean new opportunities to slap and score!
ByPass
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
SimplyFun
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 4 to 10
Embark on a thrilling race to construct a smooth, continuous road from opposite ends of the gameboard. Prepare for twists and turns, stay adaptable, and strategize your path.
Can of Worms
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
FoxMind Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 4 to 10
In Can of Worms, players use their memory, dexterity and math skills to complete challenges! These friendly worms like to play tricks and might get away before you can make the right combination. Put your hands in this "Can of Worms", the spinning can full of fun for the entire family.
Chicken!
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Keymaster Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: 13+
Roll your dice each turn -- pressing your luck to score more Chickens while avoiding those foxes. Rolling eggs may hatch more Chickens, and attract the foxes!
Combo
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Happy Camper
Players: 4-6
Age Range: 11 to 12
The competition is ripe! Play apples, bananas, cherries, and more to make a shared fruit feast. Low numbers are worth more but you score only if your card is part of the winning combo! Can you lure others to follow your juicy offer, or will they be tempted by the fruit of another? Win the most points and victory is yours for the picking!
Donut Shop
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
25th Century Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: All Ages
In Donut Shop, players will be taking turns placing Donut Tiles in the Display Case, earning points based on how many donuts of the same type are connected. Players then have the opportunity to box groupings of donuts in the Display Case in order to fulfill customer requests from their Order Cards and earn extra money. Bonuses can also be earned from special orders for coffee donuts with sprinkles. At the end of the game, the player that has earned the most money from their donut placement and order fulfillment wins!
Fishing
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Rio Grande Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
In Fishing, score points for your caught cards, but you must continue to play with them. If you do not catch enough cards, fill up your hand with fresh cards. You win with the most points, but how many fresh cards do you need to succeed?
FOROS 3D Four-in-a-Row
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Doren Toy Company
Players: 2
Age Range: All Ages
Strategy Game - Win by placing 4 of your pieces in a straight row - up, across or diagonally, in any direction. That's it, you're ready to play. The rules are simple but they allow for complex strategies. As the game grows on the 16-space grid, so do your opportunities to win, but your opponent has plans of their own. Set traps to "checkmate" your opponent. Typical games take less than 10 minutes but serious battles of the brains can go longer. Test your three dimensional thinking skills. FOROS can also be played as a speed version.
Fuego
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Keymaster Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
The trick-taking game you've always loved, since right now. High cards win you tricks. Low cards gain you points. Match your opponent's cards to win the trick.
Lego® Monkey Palace
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Dotted Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 11 to 12
Compete against each other while you help the Monkey rebuild the LEGO® Monkey Palace. Cleverly build your way upwards, creating longer and taller staircases to get bricks and Banana Points in this innovative and strategic building board game. With no single route to victory, you'll always want to play again!
Yamma
Recommended for Play 2025
Manufacturer:
Very Special Games
Players: 2
Age Range: 13+
Yamma is an abstract strategy game inspired one of the classics - Connect Four. The goal still the same; make a line of four-in-a-row of your color and win. The twist here is that the rotating board of Yamma contains triangular slots that stand the cube up on its corner - revealing three sides, each of which can be seen from a different point of view. And it is in one of these three point-of-views in which you must try to form your line of four-in-a-row.