Vintage Board Games That Are Worth Considerably More Now

Board games have been around for a long time, longer than many might expect. For example, the ancient Egyptian game Senet; archaeologists have found evidence of this game dating back as far as 3100 BC. The basic construction of most modern board games, meanwhile, dates back to the 15th century, per Barnabys Magazine. Board games are an excuse for colorful and intricate artwork on the board itself, detailed sculpture for the pieces, and expansions and tie-ins to other media. They're also a great way to pass time with friends and family — in person, without the need for headsets, sturdy wi-fi, and the stamina to withstand the glare of hours in front of a screen.

For collectors, board games can also be quite valuable. The odd specialty, one-of-a-kind game set made with exotic materials, makes for a great novelty and a hefty price tag, but that's not the kind of game most collectors can get their hands on. They'll be looking instead to buy issued sets that went on the market and made it into homes, yours possibly included. As always with collectibles, the right combination of age, condition, nostalgic appeal, and a completely intact game-piece collection can make a game worth a lot of money.

The odds of having a board game in your closet worth nearly as much as the $2 million Sidney Mobell golden Monopoly board are, frankly, slim. But there are some vintage games that can fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the market. Here are a few of them.

Board games are assessed in the same basic way as any other collectible, though it can be a more involved process. Unlike, say, a single Pokémon card that may be worth a ton today, board games have multiple pieces, and if any of them are missing or damaged, the value of the whole game goes down. Wear and tear from use will also take some dollars off. The age of the game can put dollars on, however, but just how old a board game should be to fetch a high price varies depending on who you ask. Appraise It Now, for example, puts the 1970s as the cut-off for when board game value really starts to go up, while The Spruce Crafts goes with the 1950s.

Something as old as an Egyptian Senet board or a 16th-century edition of commercial board-game godfather "Game of the Goose" would be old enough to satisfy anyone's definition, but at those ages, you're dealing with antiquities and archeological artifacts, not collectibles. But board games dating to the Victorian era have been sought by collectors. Such games, if old and rare enough, can fetch a good price even if they're incomplete or damaged. An 1822 set of The Majestic Game of the Asiatic Ostrich, an educational game about British society, sold at auction for £3,100 in 2018 (~$4,070 in 2024).

If age proves a somewhat nebulous criterion for assessing the value of any vintage board game, nostalgia is another variable factor. Older editions of well-known and long-lived games can have a strong sentimental appeal to collectors, but they can also be more common, and scarcity drives up prices in collecting. Sellers might have better luck with short-lived games tied into niche trends.

A few people putting up old games for sale know the potential value in such games, and they may hold out for a better deal. The Spruce Crafts reported on one eBay seller who, in 1999, refused to part with a Creature From the Black Lagoon board game for $700, arguing that the same game had gone for $1,500 in the past. Whether the seller was right about that or not, comparable games have gone for three or four figures. The Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" had a spin-off board game, and a complete set sold on eBay for $130. And a complete (though slightly worn) 1941 edition of The Shadow Board Game fetched $1,800 from a Heritage Auctions auction (in June 2022).

Age and novelty can be powerful drivers in increasing the value of a vintage board game, just as commonality can be a driver downward. Even some of the oldest Monopoly boards, for instance, can't sell for above $100. Sometimes, though, the well-worn brands win out. Nostalgia should never be underestimated when it comes to the collectors' market, as the price tags on several editions of enduring, beloved board games can attest.

Sometimes, it's a special edition, one released for a limited time with unique art and pieces, that makes a well-known game worth some money. For example, a 1983 Gay Monopoly game, advertised as "a celebration of gay life," may or may not hold up on those grounds in today's climate, but the rarity of this Monopoly edition helped the otherwise ubiquitous game sell for $600 on eBay. As of this writing, sets are available at the online marketplace for $350 up to $1,000 for a complete set.

Sometimes age and nostalgia can work together; the earliest editions of Clue (Cluedo outside the U.S.), which debuted in 1949, can sell for around $200 if you find the right buyer. And sometimes everything can work in a board game's favor. Going back to Monopoly, a set from 1933, the oldest surviving edition and the only known one with a circular board, turned up in Malcom Forbes' toy collection, as reported by the Antiques Trade Gazette. Initially valued between $60,000 and 80,000, the game sold at auction in December 2010 for $120,000. (On that note, check out the value of a $100,000 bill today.)