The 90s were full of all types of board games and tabletop games. Most of these games, while in newer versions, can still be found today.
Read on to learn more about which popular board games from the 90s are still available today. Also, which tabletop 90s games are available, and if the vintage games are still on the market.
Many of the board games that were popular in the 90s are still around. Many of the games have been revamped with newer characters or different-looking designs. However, the gameplay is still the same and, if you look hard enough, you can occasionally find the retro board games as well.
Splat! is a game for 2-4 players. Each player gets two bug pieces made with dough similar to Play-Doh. The game includes a bug maker and a plastic foot to splat the bugs with. The object of the game is to get both of your bug pieces to the finish line first.
The game also comes with dice to roll and Splat! cards.
Pretty Pretty Princess is a game for 2-4 players. This board game comes with:
To play:
Monopoly Junior is a smaller version of Monopoly for children ages five and up. This board game only has Chance spaces and cards. This version of Monopoly does still have Park Place and Boardwalk, but the property amounts are only $5.00 each, making it easier to count. Properties on the board are different as well. Instead of having:
The areas on the board only have two properties each and are places that are recognizable to kids. Examples include the Ice Cream Parlor and the Candy Store. Nowadays, Monopoly Junior also comes in different varieties of the same game:
Mall Madness is a game for 2-4 players. This board game comes designed as a mall with two levels. There are four purchase lists and four ATM cards. Purchase lists include store names, items, and prices. For example:
Deep Shoe Sea Store with the item running shoes and the following prices: Regular - $80, Sale Price - $50, Clearance Price - $20
Nice Pad Store with the item bonzai tree and the following prices: Regular - $200, Sale Price - $100, Clearance Price - $30
The electronic unit included tells you how many spaces to move and when stores are having Clarence Sales. There is also a slot to swipe your ATM card. The object of the game is to make your six purchases and get to the parking lot of the mall first to win.
The Mall Madness sold by Milton Bradley can still be purchased as well. However, this version of the game is considered collectible and, therefore, the price will be higher.
Mouse Trap is a game for 2-4 players. This game is about having your mouse get around the board without getting caught in the trap. You have to collect six wedges of cheese to win this game. There are 24 pieces to the mousetrap that act as a domino effect when the trap is set up. This can be an excellent game for younger children because of the building aspect of this game.
SORRY! can be played with 2-4 players. The object of the game is to get all four of your pawns around the board from your Start to your Home. Each player takes turns drawing a card, and the card chosen tells you how many spaces to move. There are four SORRY! cards included in the deck of cards. If the SORRY! card is chosen, you take a pawn from your Start and place it on any opponent's spot. Your opponent's pawn then goes back to their Start.
Some cards have more than one option when moving, for example:
In the event you only have two players for this game and want to make it a little more interesting, each person can play as two colors. This way, you will have eight pawns to move around the board to their own Home spaces instead of just four.
Don't Wake Daddy is a 2-4 player game. The object of the game is to get your character from his/her bed to the refrigerator without waking up Daddy. There is a spinner that is spun to determine where on the board your character moves to. If the spinner stops on the star space, you get to share the space with whoever is in first place at the time.
Some of the spaces on the board are blank, and some of the spaces have numbers on them. If you land on a space with a number, that is the number of times the button on the alarm clock has to be pressed. If Daddy does not wake up after the button on the alarm clock is pressed, you are safe. If Daddy does wake up and snaps into a sitting position on the bed, you have to go back to the beginning and start over.
Don't Wake Daddy by Parker Brothers can also be purchased. This version of the game is considered collectible, so the price may be higher, and the condition of the game itself can vary.
The Game of Life is similar to the 90s version but with some key differences. Winning the game is still the same: everyone playing gets to retirement and pays their debts. The player with the most money afterward is the winner.
Hasbro Gaming's version is for 2-4 players. There are more career choices available, including being an Engineer or a Vlogger. Action cards have also been added to this game to add to the fun. For example:
Milton Bradley's version of The Game of Life has the original nine career choices, and gameplay is for 2-6 players. This version of the game is also considered collectible and can be more challenging to find.
Candy Land is a 2-4 player game for ages 3 and up. This is an excellent game for younger children because the cards picked show what color space to move to. The first person to King Kandy's Castle wins. The unique cards for specific spots on the board are still available but have been changed. There is an ice cream cone for Ice Cream Slopes and a gummy star for Gummy Hills.
CHUTES AND LADDERS is another excellent 2-4 player game for younger children. Spaces on the board are numbered 1-100. Players spin the spinner and move the numbered amount of spaces. If the space landed on is a ladder, you climb to the top and move up the board before your turn ends. If the space landed on is a chute, you slide down to the bottom and move down the board before your turn ends.
Trouble is for 2-4 players. Players move from Home Base to Finish to win the game. Players will need the exact number to get into the Finish spaces. This game uses a dice roller inside of a plastic dome, also called the Pop-O-Matic. If your opponent lands on the same space as you, your opponent will take your spot, and your pawn goes back to your Home Base.
Trouble can also be played the same as SORRY! if there are only two players. Each player can play two of the four colors available to have eight pawns being moved at once and add to the fun and length of the game.
There are many popular tabletop games from the 90s available as well. Tabletop games will be considered games that still can have a head-to-head competition between players, but there is no actual board that players are moving pieces along.
Guess Who? is a two-player game played with players facing each other so that neither player can see their opponent's person. Players ask each other yes or no questions to find out who their opponent's character is. Simple questions can be asked describing the characters being looked at, for example:
If the answer to the question is yes, then any character standing that does not meet the question requirements gets knocked down. The first person to figure out who their opponent's character is wins the game.
Operation is a skill game where having steady hands can help you win. Any number of players can play at one time. Players take turns drawing from the Doctor card pile and pulling the designated piece out of the body on the operating table.
If the piece is successfully taken out, the player receives the amount of money on the doctor card. However, if the tweezers being used to remove the object touch the sides, a buzzer will go off, and the nose will light up. The player then has to put the piece back, if it was not dropped back in already, and it becomes the next player's turn.
Hungry Hungry Hippos is for 2-4 players, with each hippo having a lever on its back that, when pressed, the hippo opens its mouth. The marbles are divided up between players and released at the same time. Once all the marbles are released, the player whose hippo gobbles up the most marbles wins.
Crossfire is another classic game from the 90s. Crossfire is a two-player game where each person gets a blaster filled with steel marbles. The object of the game is to shoot the pucks into your opponent's goal first. Any missed steel marbles can be scooped up from both sides to be used again as ammo to keep the game going.
Additional steel marbles can be purchased in packages of 40 each in the event any get lost.
Thin Ice is a two-tiered game involving marbles, tweezers, and water. The lower ring of the game is filled with water, and the marbles are placed in the water. The game's top tier is the "ice," which is a tissue-type material that is stretched. Players take turns grabbing one of the wet marbles and placing it on the top. Eventually, the water and weight from the marbles will break the "ice," causing the marbles to crash to the bottom.
This game is for 2-4 players, and the quicker you place your marble on top and hand off the tweezers, the easier it will be to win the game. The person holding the tweezers when the "ice" breaks will lose the game. The person who lost will get a letter, and the first person to spell ice loses.
Each time the tissue breaks, it will need to be replaced. Other materials that can work in place of the original material would be paper towels or Kleenex.
Kerplunk is for 2-4 players. Sticks are put through the tower from one side to the other. You want to make sure the sticks cross over each other enough, so the marbles do not fall through. Once all the sticks are placed, the marbles are then dumped on top.
Players take turns removing one stick at a time. Some sticks will be removed with no marbles falling, and some sticks will be removed with marbles falling. Any marbles that fall during your turn, you keep. At the end of the game, each player counts their collected marbles: whoever has the least amount of marbles wins the game.
Kerplunk Star Wars is a newer version of Kerplunk created for the Star Wars fans out there. The gameplay is still the same, but instead of placing the sticks through a tower, the sticks are placed through R2-D2.
Crocodile Dentist is another game for 2-4 players ages four and up. The object of this game is to not get chomped by the crocodile. Players take turns putting their hands inside the crocodile's mouth and pressing down one of his teeth. If the tooth chosen is not the sore tooth, nothing will happen, but if the tooth chosen is the sore tooth, the crocodile will close his jaw and the game will be over.
The game itself is set randomly. In some games, only two teeth are needed to be pressed down before the game is over, while in others, almost all the teeth are pressed down before the game is over. If the tooth chosen is not the sore tooth, the tooth will stay down, so players know to pick another tooth.
Battleship is another two-player game that is played head-to-head. Players on each side place their battleships where they want them on their maps. The top map is then used to help track where your opponent's battleships are or are not based on the color pegs. White pegs are misses, and red pegs are hits.
Players take turns calling out coordinates, trying to find where their opponent's battleships are placed. The first player to sink all of their opponent's battleships first wins the game.
Connect 4 is a two-player game that is played by dropping your colored discs into the grid. The object of the game is to get four of your colored discs in a row. Four in a row can be:
The grid has circles in it, so each player can see exactly where their opponent has placed their disc. This is helpful so you can attempt to block your opponent from getting four in a row.
The 90s were full of popular board games, with the majority of these games still around today. The main difference between the games available then and the games available now is that the newer versions have been updated with new board styles and new characters. Gameplay is still the same, and remember, if you look hard enough, you might still be able to snag that vintage 90s board game you played when you were a kid.
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