Mensa Select® Games
Each year, hundreds of Mensans meet over one weekend to play and rate the year’s newest board games. The top five games earn Mensa Select distinction and may display the Mensa Select seal on their packaging.
The Mensa Select seal indicates that a game is original in concept, challenging, and well-designed. Additionally, these games are a good value for the price, easy to comprehend and play, and, above all, fun! Look for the Mensa Select seal when purchasing your next game.
If you buy something from a Mensa Mind Games link, American Mensa may earn a commission.
Akropolis
2023 Mensa Select Winner
Manufacturer:
Hachette Boardgames
Players: 2–4
Age Range: All Ages
Buy a tile and add it to your city, either expanding or stacking. Each color has different scoring rules, and earns victory points depending on their height.
boop.
2023 Mensa Select Winner
Manufacturer:
Smirk & Dagger Games
Players: 2
Age Range: All Ages
A deceptively cute, deceivingly challenging abstract strategy game about cats jumping on a bed and bouncing other cats out of it.
Gartenbau
2023 Mensa Select Winner
Manufacturer:
25th Century Games
Players: 2–4
Age Range: 13+
In Gartenbau, players select and place tiles in a tableau to meet the growing requirements of drafted flower tiles. A dual-track rondel combined with three layers of tile laying are at the core of this beautiful game.
Mille Fiori
2023 Mensa Select Winner
Manufacturer:
Devir Games
Players: 2–4
Age Range: 8 to 12
In Reiner Knizia's Mille Fiori (meaning Thousand Flowers), you take the role of glass manufacturers and traders who want to profit as much as they can from their role in the production of fine glass art. The game board features different aspects of the glass production cycle: workshops where the glass is created, houses where it's installed, people who support your work, trade shops where it's sold, and the harbor where ships take the glass to faraway locations. You want to be present in all of these areas, preferably at just the right time to maximize your earnings. The gameboard features 109 spaces, with one card in the deck for each of those spaces.
Trekking Through History
2023 Mensa Select Winner
Manufacturer:
Underdog Games LLC
Players: 2–4
Age Range: 13+
The game takes place over three rounds, each representing one day of your trip. Each day, you visit a series of historical events. Each turn, you choose to visit one event and spend a certain number of hours doing it. Doing so will yield benefits, like checking off items on your itinerary for points and earning Time Crystals so you can bend the spacetime continuum on future turns.