If you’re not familiar with lateral thinking, it’s a type of problem-solving that often involves thinking “outside the box”, so to speak. This type of creative and sometimes unconventional reasoning is an important skill, and there are even board games that require you to utilize it.
Today, we’re highlighting the 7 best lateral thinking board games available, including Hedbanz, Super Mario Labyrinth, Dominion, and several more.
To learn more about these top 7 problem-solving games, including info on their age ranges, prices, and customer ratings, keep reading. We’ll highlight the best features of these games so that you can understand them all. Let’s get into it now!
7 Best Lateral Thinking Board Games
Our pick of the top 7 games that utilize players’ lateral thinking and creative problem-solving skills include the following:
- Hedbanz
- Dominion
- Super Mario Labyrinth
- Ticket to Ride
- Dixit
- Six
- Seven
1. Hedbanz
This is one of the simplest and best lateral thinking games out there. It’s a question and answer style game that challenges players to think outside the box in order to advance.
But don’t just take our word for it; consider the more than 13,000 positive reviews and ratings from Amazon customers (average 4.7/5.0 stars). It’s also highly rated for readability, learnability, value, and giftability.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Hedbanz by The Spin Master Games Store | Adults and children ages 7 and up | Up to 6 players | $15.99 list price | Has an associated mobile app |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: both adults and children alike can practice critical thinking skills and develop deductive reasoning skills while playing this game.
2. Dominion
Dominion is a true exercise in creative problem-solving skills, but it takes critical thinking to the next level. It’s a tactical science fiction-themed game that you can add expansions to increase the difficulty and complexity for players.
With an average rating of 4.9/5.0 stars on Amazon, from more than 3,000 happy customers, it’s one of the best-rated lateral thinking games. It’s also highly rated for learnability, making it accessible to beginners.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Dominion by Rio Grande Games | Ages 13 and up | 2-4 players | $49.99 list price | Not compatible |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: Exercise players’ thinking skills without lasting too long.
3. Super Mario Labyrinth
This maze-themed board game includes the characters from your favorite Super Mario games and takes less than a half-hour to play.
Super Mario Labyrinth has an average rating on Amazon of 4.8/5.0 stars (more than 10,000 customer reviews) and good ratings for learnability and value.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Super Mario Labyrinth by Ravensburger | Adults and children ages 7 and up | 2 to 4 players | $36.99 list price | Not compatible |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: requires unique problem-solving skills to advance in the game, as the maze changes each time a player takes a turn.
4. Ticket to Ride
This railroad-themed board game requires players to use their spatial reasoning skills and problem solve to build their train routes across the map. And it takes less than an hour to complete the game, on average.
This game is rated as beginner-friendly and learnable by customers, with an average rating of 4.9/5.0 stars (more than 19,000 ratings overall).
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder | Adults and children ages 8 and up | 2-5 players | $47.99 list price | Compatible with Alexa |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: challenges players to use spatial reasoning and arrive at answers without the use of traditional logic.
5. Dixit
Dixit is a storytelling board game with clues and illustration cards. It’s an award-winning board game that the whole family can enjoy in about 30 minutes. The fun revolves around a world of fantasy.
Dixit has an average Amazon rating of 4.8/5.0 stars from over 300 customers, and it’s also well-rated for beginner-friendliness, giftability, learnability, and value.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Dixit by Libellud | Adults and children ages 8 and up | 3 to 8 players | $39.99 list price | Not compatible |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: according to players, it’s the perfect game to get you thinking outside the box. You use clues to come to conclusions that may not be accessible with traditional step-by-step logic.
6. Telestrations
Although Telestrations isn’t set up on a player board, it’s still a super creative rendition of the age-old telephone game. Players draw the clue, then pass it on to the next player to draw it again. By the end of the line, the last player has to guess what the picture was supposed to be.
With an average Amazon rating of 4.8/5.0 stars from more than 10,000 customer reviews, it is a well-loved game. It’s also easy for beginners to learn, and its price is hard to beat for the value.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Telestrations by USAopoly | Adults and children ages 8 months and up | Up to 8 players | $29.95 list price | Not compatible |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: this unique game relies on creative skills and guessing abilities – something that sits outside the box.
7. Wingspan
This competitive board game is themed around birds and building bird habitats. Players must use strategy and critical thinking to advance in the game, which uses cards as its primary piece.
The average rating for this board game on Amazon is 4.8/5.0 stars (from more than 8,000 customer ratings), and it’s also well-rated for its quality and craftsmanship.
Age Range | Players | Price | Mobile Compatibility | |
Wingspan by Stonemaier Games | Ages 14 and up | 1 to 5 players | $65.00 list price | Not compatible |
Lateral Thinking Benefits: game relies on complex strategy skills and challenges players to find unconventional solutions to presented problems.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, our guide to the 7 best lateral thinking board games has helped you to find one that suits your gaming needs!
The above 7 games are all highly rated on Amazon and will challenge players to use their think-outside-of-the-box skills and critical reasoning.
References
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/67597/games-feature-lateral-thinking
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/board-games-for-kids-2643189514