20 Most Expensive Board Games in 2023
Nikole Stewart
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Board games are some of the best collectibles that you can have. Not only are there some amazing antique and vintage bard games for sale around secondary marketplaces, but you can find some amazing games to play as well when collecting them.
Whether you’re into strategy games like Monopoly or Chess, or word games like Scrabble, or maybe just chance games like Roulette, there are several out there for you to pick and try out.
But for collectors, you might want to look into the most expensive board games in the world, and the most expensive games in 2023. Read more to learn about which games you need to look for to complete your collection this year.
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10. Deluxe Outrage Has the Most Expensive Retail Price, $13,000
Outrage! is the off official Tower of London board game created in 1992 by Imperial Games. It’s up to 2-6 players with a setup time of about 5 minutes, and the play length varying between 1 to three hours.
It’s a dice rolling, strategic game that has players moving around the board, a board that depicts the Tower of London, as they attempt to steal the British Crown Jewels. It takes the history of the real attempts at those that have tried to steal the Crown Jewels and has players trying to succeed where they have failed.
The Deluxe version is hand made with the Crown Jewels being 18 karat gold, studded with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, with all the player pieces being sterling silver. That only shows why the tabletop game is one of the most expensive board games around.
9. Swarovski Scrabble Was Made for the 60th Anniversary, $20,000
When thinking of “most expensive board games”, you might not be imagining Scrabble. After all, the word game isn’t much to of a luxurious item. While invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938, Hasbro has continued on manufacturing the game since.
It fits two to four players and can last around an hour depending on the players. It has players creating words on a board with singular blocked letters, trying to mesh everything together until each person fails to create a word.
To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the popular board game, Hasbro auctioned off a one-of-a-king Scrabble: Swarovski encrusted board edition that featured 30,000 Swarovski crystals. The auction was in 2008 on eBay and had an estimated value of $20,000, with the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
8. Smart Scrabble Was Made for a Gaming Tournament, $30,000
Another Scrabble board on the list and you’re probably still confused by it. The word game can’t possibly be that exquisite to earn two spots on the most expensive board game list!
Well, this Smart Scrabble is something else. Instead of it being made with diamonds and crystals, this board is actually high-tech, making it one of the more expensive games. This Scrabble board with LED lighting was created for Scrabble Tournaments.
In 2009, the North American Scrabble Players Association, or NASPA, was created as a nonprofit organization to hold Scrabble tournaments and clubs, but in 2009, the National Scrabble Association took over. It’s said that making this high-tech board game costs about $30,000 alone, and no one has asked about purchasing one.
7. The Oldest Known Monopoly Board is Now in a Museum, $46,000
Also known as The Landlord’s Game, this was patented in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie and is a realty and taxation game intended to educate users about Georgism, or Geosim, which is also known as the single tax movement.
The Landlord’s Game is pretty much the same as the 1935 game Monopoly, or at least the inspiration behind it. It consisted of about two to four players with, what people are probably aware of, a long play time. Monopoly is one of the longer games that you can find depending on the people you play with.
Magie held the patent until 1935 where she sold it to the Parks Brothers for $500, which thus began the production of Monopoly. There is a copy of the game in the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
6. The Art of War Chess Set is a Premium Item, $750,000
Based on the novel that that dates back from the Late Spring and Autumn Period, or roughly 5th century BC, about the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu.
The Art of War chess set is a bejeweled chess set that has two-foot ebony case to keep it safe, with the pieces being gold, with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
The legs, key, hinges and even handles are carved out of gold and are decorated with rubies and diamonds, making it an exquisite chess set that will surely take anyone’s breath away.
5. Charles Hollander Collection Royal Diamond Chess Set Was the First in the Series, $500,000
Charles Hollander is known for making extraordinarily luxurious items, and the Royal Diamond Chess set is just one example of his work.
The French artist and jewelry maker Bernard Maquin designed the set for Charles Hollander, taking over 4,500 hours to design and hand create the chess board and pieces.
The pieces are 14 karat white gold, with over 9,000 white and black diamonds, making it obvious why this piece is something to behold, as it’s well worth the price for having such a stunning chess board in your collection.
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4. Charles Hollander Roulette is for High Rollers, $1M
Another piece by Charles Hollander is this brilliant Roulette game. Roulette is a common casino game that is focused solely on chance. To play, players must choose a single number to bet on, various groupings of numbers, a color, or if the number will be odd or even, and wait as the roulette table will spin with a ball inside.
Whatever number the ball lands on determines whether that person won the bet or not. While there is no real strategy to the game, it’s one of the most popular games in casinos to this day. So, it’s no wonder that Hollander had a hand at creating one of the most expensive one that you can find.
Over 4,800 hours have been spent creating this masterpiece, with 1.5kg of 14 karat gold and 3kg of silver, with 200 karats of colorful diamonds all around, making for such an exquisite piece to behold.
3. A Gold Monopoly Set by Sidney Mobell is a Smithsonian Item, $2M
For something that can really be a showstopper for your home and collection is the Gold Monopoly set. Like the title suggests, this Gold Monopoly board is made of entirely 19 karat gold, containing 165 rubies and sapphires, as well as luxury cards and 42 full-cut diamonds.
The dice are work $10,000 alone. One would wonder why they would need something as luxurious as this, but for collectors, I’m sure it’s worth the price.
2. Charles Hollander Backgammon is the Most Expensive in the Collection, $5M
Sitting at around $5 million is the Backgammon set created by Charles Hollander, another amazing piece by him. Backgammon is a two-player board game with counters and dice on tables boards. It takes only 5 to an hour long to play depending on playstyle and opponent. It’s a strategy, tactics and probability game.
It uses 61,082 black, white and yellow diamonds, taking over 10,000 hours to complete the game, weighing at 2071.48 karats. The checkers were set with 2960 white diamonds. It has 6.77kg of yellow gold and 150 grams of silver, making it one of the most expensive board games in the world.
1. Jewel Royal Chess Set is the Most Lavish Board Game Ever, $9.8M
Finally, our most expensive board game is none other than the Bejeweled Chess Set sitting at $9.8 million. The chess set is made of gold and platinum and includes diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls and sapphires.
The king piece weighs in at 165.2 grams of 18 karat yellow gold, costing $59.742 alone. Created by jewelry design house, Boodles, founded in 1762, as well as working with Jewel Royale to make this amazing and luxurious piece.
There were some sources that mentioned that you could get this piece commissioned from Boodles, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The likelihood of any collectors managing to get their hands on one of these fine items might be slim to null.
10 Most Expensive Games You Can Buy in 2023
Now that we’ve seen all of the most expensive boards game in the world, what about the board games that you can find today that you’ll want to snatch up? Here are some of the most expensive boards games that you can buy in 2023.
10. Android – Netrunner, The Card Game (2nd Edition), $199.99
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, this strategy card game with more than 240 cards that is made for two players. Set in a cyberpunk future of Android and Infiltration where players take turns using their time and credits to earn sufficient wealth and resources, purchase the necessary hardware, and develop suitable powerful ice-breaking programs to hack corporate.
The goal is to reach seven points, however, there is a chance that your character will suffer some setbacks before achieving the goal. It’s a wonderful sci-fi fantasy game that all collectors should check out.
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9. Cthulhu Wars Core Game Fourth Printing, $199.99
This bundle includes the core game of the Cthulhu Wars strategy board game that takes players as the part of alien races and gods taken from Cthulhu mythos created by the gothic king, H.P. Lovecraft.
Including 64 figurines of cultists, monsters, aliens and the Great Old Ones, the game is a large set that takes place on the map of Earth. The game supports two to four players, but with some expansions you can play with eight if you want. The end goal is for a player to reach 30 and unlock six spell books.
8. Catacombs, $225
Catacombs was published by Games Workshop and is a Warhammer Fantasy game that features the battle between the Scions of the Flame and the Khainite Shadowstalkers.
Warhammer is a popular tabletop wargame as well as a video game that has players competing with each other armies or 25 mm to 250 mm tall heroic miniatures. With a board, terrain and 17-unit models in total, you and your friends can begin a new chapter in the Warcry.
7. Scrabble Luxury Edition, $269.99
We’ve mentioned Scrabble a few times so far, and surprisingly, this Luxurious Scrabble set is one of the most expensive board games that you can find today.
With a rotating wooden game board and magnificently crafted cabinet base with burled wood veneer panels, this is the idea piece to have in your collection, whether you’re a fan of the game or not. You’ll surely feel like a pro playing on this set.
6. Catan – 3D Edition, $300
one of the most well-known board games is Catan, previously known as The Settlers of Catan, or simply Settlers. It’s a multiplayer board game, the first publication being 1995 in Germany.
Each player takes the role as a settler, each attempting to build and develop their holdings while trading and acquiring resources. With each growth, players will receive a victory point, and usually the first to ten wins, however, each group can have different rules.
This edition features 3D terrain hex tiles, 6 hand-painted sea frames, 9 hand-painted harbor markers, 10 translucent number tokens, 4 sets of antiqued 3D player pieces in four colors, 1 antique robber figure, and so much more, letting you enjoy a great game with a more immersive and unique experience.
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventure: All the Loot Bundle, $349
Who knew the popular TV show and movie had their own video game?
This bundle set includes the TMNT Adventures of Change is Constant and City Fall, two amazing games, along with an Enemy pack, Character packs, exapansions and more. It has one to five players included and can last up to an hour or two, making it a great game to play for fans.
4. Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary, $395
The 10th Anniversary edition of Ticket to Ride includes the base game along with the USA 1910 expansion.
Ticket to Ride has players collecting cards of various types of train cars that they can use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. The goal is build the longest continuous route.
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3. Kingdom Death: Monster, $420
This nightmare horror game is chalk full of amazing products to get your gaming night ready. The Kingdom Death: Monster game is a tabletop hobby game that unites players to survive by hunting monsters and collectively guiding the development of yoru settlement through a 25 year, self-running campaing.
Each choice that you make can have lasting effects on your future, so make sure you don’t do something just on a whim. The campaign can include 4 friends, and each cycle of a hunt is a year, making it only a 25-turn game. It’s an amazing choice for those that want to embark on a spooky game night with friends.
2. Secrets of the Lost Station + Miniatures, $500
This limited-edition package includes both the core game and the miniature box set that includes 108 resin fully assembled miniatures in their own foam case. While it’s a pricey package, it’s a worthwhile piece to grab for collectors and fans alike.
It’s a cooperative game of sci-fi, action-adventure and exploration that is highly detailed and unique and it’s a sequel to Secrets of the Lost Tomb, set thousands of years into the future.
1. Small World Designer Edition, $3,650
For our final most expensive board game selection is the Small World Designer Edition, which can reach up to $3,600, however, there are some that sit at around $1,800, depending on seller. This game is a spare-no-expense verion of Small World the board game.
This edition, however, features 307 deluxe wooden tokens covering all races from the base game and it’s Cursed!, Grand Dames, and Be Not Afraid expansions. each Race comes with its own individual, lavishly illustrated box, with banners, special powers and markers that compliment them.
What Is the Rarest Board Game in the World?
While it might be obvious from the first list that the rarest, most valuable board set that you can find is the Jewel Royale, however, if we’re thinking rarest as in, average board games that are just plain hard to find for collectors, this is probably the main one.
There are several games that could fit this section, but one that seems to give several collectors trouble is Dark Tower (1981). The estimated value is between $450-$500, which is a bit pricey, but it’s mostly due to how infrequent you can find them.
What Is the Oldest Board Game in the World?
Senet is most likely the oldest board game in the world, as it was played in Ancient Egypt. They have been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, around 3500 BC and 3100 BC.
What Is the Largest Board Game in the World?
According to the Guinness World Records, the largest board game was found in November 2019 in Austria, with the size of 1006.495 square meters.
It was achieved by Wirtscharftskammer Steiermark, with a game DKT, the Austrain equivalent for Monopoly, in an attempt to conduct a fundraiser for a charity.
What Is the Most Famous Board Game in the World?
The most famous and most popular board game is Monopoly, which holds the Guinness World Record for being played by the most people, around 500 million worldwide.
The strategy board game where players take turns buying, selling and trading properties while trying to bankrupt one another started as an educational game and turned into what could make or break a friendship.
What Is the Most Expensive Monopoly Board Game?
The most expensive Monopoly board was the Gold Monopoly board by Sidney Mobell in 1988 and costs around $2 million.
The 23-karat gold, rubies and sapphire board with gold hotels and pieces really brings the passion and love for the game, bringing the luxurious out of such a strategic and wonderful game.
What Makes a Board Game Expensive?
There can be several reasons why a board game is expensive, but the four main factors include how frequent they are published, the materials that are used, the cost for shipping and of course the marketing costs.
If a board game has less publications, then there’s a good chance that they will cost a bit more as it’s not easy to come by them. And if a certain game is created by expensive materials, as you’ve seen like gold and silver, then their production costs need to be rewarded with high retail price.
And of course, for shipping and marketing costs, they need to ensure they make a profit, so if it costs a lot to ship them around or to market their product, then they will need to up the retail price.
However, for these examples above, you will see that the more frequent reason that a board game is expensive is due to the limited production and their material cost.
In Conclusion
There are several board games that would make a stunning addition to any collection, whether you’re just a hobbiest or you’re a dedicated collector, but some board games a bit pricier than others.
While there are some stunning pieces of work when it comes to the most expensive boards games in the world, you might want to check out the most expensive games that are available right now to add to your collection, as they are still worth a great deal but are a bit easier to get ahold of.
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