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.
Applejack
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Indie Boards and Cards
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
A wide orchard lies in front of Applejacks cottage. Help him and his daughter plant apple trees and harvest the juicy apples. Dont forget to set up the beehives between the trees. Because at the end of this game, whoever gets the most honey wins! On their turn players choose 1 tree tile from the harvest board in the middle of the table. This tile shows a combination of types of apples and apple blossoms as well as beehives. The beehives show the cost for the tile in honey. The tree tile will be placed on the players orchard. The beehives need to be places next to other beehives on tiles already in play in order to get the players honey tiles. When the Applejack die on the harvest board comes across an apple icon this type of apple will be harvested - again gaining the players honey tokens. But only if they arranged the apples in a meaningful way. After 19 turns each players' orchard is filled and the final scoring takes place. Apples, apple blossoms and collected honey will be scored. Whoever has the highest score will win a game of Applejack.
AQUA
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
USAOPOLY
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 8 to 12
AQUA invites players to dive into the beauty and wonder of the ocean, delivering an incredible variety of game play experience for the whole family. For 1-4 players, this unique game offers solo play and optional modes along with stunning artwork that brings the diversity of the ocean to life.
Connected Clues
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Connected Clues
Players: 4-6
Age Range: 13+
Players take turns giving clues that are connected by a common word. Guess the answer first to win the round!
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Forever Home: A Game of Second Chances for Shelter Dogs
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Birdwood Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 8 to 12
You take on the role of a shelter worker. Bring dogs into your shelter, organise them into patterns to complete training cards, and match pups up with families.
Hollywood 1947
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Facade Games
Players: 6-8
Age Range: 13+
Create films with your production studio, but beware of communists slipping in propaganda. Social deduction and light strategy.
Horticulture
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Last Night Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: 13+
In this puzzly flip and write game you'll need to draw plants in your garden meeting certain requirements to score points.
Leaf
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Weird City Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 13+
In Leaf, players embody the spirit of the wind and guide leaves to the forest floor to prepare the woods for winter. Each leaf you touch will grant you actions to create a thriving forest. Attract woodland animals, grow mushrooms, lead helpful squirrels up the great tree by strategically placing leaves.
Mishy Match
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Niche Nation Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: All Ages
Based on a psychological quirk known as the "Stroop effect", watch the hilarity ensue as players struggle to say two simple words and slap the card pile at the right time. The objective is to get rid of all your cards.
Moon River
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Blue Orange Games
Players: 2-4
Age Range: All Ages
Moon River is a twist on Kingdomino and a standalone tile placement game designed by Bruno Cathala, taking place in the ruthless Wild West. Beware of bandits, thieves and drought that could keep you from developing the most fruitful land! Players build a personal landscape of tiles to score points, but instead of dominoes, the game uses half-dominoes with jigsaw puzzle-style connections. Players combine two of these half puzzle pieces to craft their own dominoes.
Overlap
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Niche Nation Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: All Ages
Like a combination of the card game Uno and the video game Tetris. The objective is to get rid of all your cards by taking turns playing onto the discard pile. The catch is that you need to draw cards equal to the number of overlapping colored rectangles between your card and the top card of the discard pile.
Philosophy
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Quality Beast
Players: 2-4
Age Range: All Ages
Philosophy is an elegant, abstract strategy game. Its easy to learn, fast to play, yet has a lot of depth. Many people describe it as Tic Tac Toe meets Chess.
Prickly Path
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
SimplyFun
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 8 to 12
Build strategy and decision-making skills as you roll dice and try to plant cacti on the most beneficial spaces while keeping an eye on your opponents moves.
Smug Owls
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
Runaway Parade Games
Players: 4-6
Age Range: All Ages
Race to craft creative answers to never-before-seen riddles formed by a magic deck. This party game encourages quick wit and thinking outside the box.
Time Jumpers
Recommended for Play 2024
Manufacturer:
SimplyFun
Players: 2-4
Age Range: 8 to 12
This 20th-century strategy and history game has players moving around the category portal collecting cards to fill their dashboards in chronological order and meet certain goals.