Hasbro Games: Lineup, Ages and How to Pick One

What Hasbro makes

Hasbro makes board games, card games, party games, preschool games and action figures. In our data the Hasbro games side covers classic family games, preschool roll-and-move games, word games, party games, card games and a few electronic handhelds. The figure side covers posable action figures that Amazon often files under line names instead of "Hasbro".

The grid above lists Hasbro products first. Below, I go type by type: what the listings state, who each group suits, and who should skip it. Ages and player counts are quoted as the listings state them. If a listing doesn't give a number, I don't invent one.

Hasbro games by age and type

Hasbro's corporate site names Monopoly and Hasbro Games among its brands, and that's how Amazon shows them too. Some listings say "Hasbro Gaming", some say "Hasbro", and some just say "Monopoly" or "Scrabble" in the brand line. Our data merges them into one Hasbro page, because it's one company.

Preschool games: 3+ and 4+

This is the first shelf most families meet. Our data has Candy Land Kingdom of Sweet Adventures (3+), Chutes and Ladders (3+, 2–4 players), Hi Ho Cherry-O (3+, 2–4 players, counting), Cootie (ages 3–6, 2–4 players), Hungry Hungry Hippos (4+, 2–4 players) and Perfection (4+, from 1 player).

Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders list "no reading required". That's the line to look for if your youngest can't read yet. Hi Ho Cherry-O lists counting as its skill. Chutes and Ladders shows up twice in our data, so compare the two listings before you pick one.

Who should skip: a family whose youngest player is 8. These games are built for a 3-year-old's turn, and a short one. Our pages on Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O and Hungry Hungry Hippos go deeper.

Family classics: 5+ to 8+

The big middle of the Hasbro shelf. Our data has Trouble (5+, 2–4 players), The Game of Life (5+), Mouse Trap (6+, 2–4 players), Jenga (6+, from 1 player), Operation Electronic (6+, from 1 player), Battleship (7+, exactly 2 players) and Monopoly The Mega Edition (8+, 2–8 players, 90 minutes listed).

Jenga is the only thing allowed to fall over on purpose in my garage. Everything else on the shelves has a bracket.

These games split two ways. Trouble, Mouse Trap and The Game of Life are spin-or-roll-and-move games, mostly luck, good with a wide age spread. Jenga and Operation are hand-skill games where a steady hand beats a lucky roll. At the shop, a buzz when two metal parts touch means a ground fault. In Operation it means your turn is over. Same circuit, different paperwork.

Who should skip: a family looking for a game that ends in 15 minutes should skip the Mega Edition. Ninety minutes is what its listing states. Our Monopoly, Jenga, Battleship, Trouble, Mouse Trap, Operation and Game of Life pages have edition-by-edition notes.

Word games: Scrabble, Upwords and Boggle

Word games are a Hasbro specialty in our data. We list Scrabble Deluxe Edition (2–4 players, rotating board in a carrying case, wooden tiles), Scrabble Junior (5+, 2–4 players), Upwords (2–4 players), Scrabble Upwords and Scrabble Upwords 2002 Edition, and Boggle (from 2 players).

Scrabble Junior is the one with a stated age, 5+. The Deluxe Edition is the one with the longest contents list. Upwords shows up under three titles, so compare the edition names before you buy. Our Boggle page covers its editions.

Who should skip: a family with a reader who's just starting. Spelling games reward spelling, and that's a tough first game for a beginner. Scrabble Junior is the exception the listing points to.

Electronic handhelds

Three small electronic games: Yahtzee Handheld Digital, Bop It Micro Series (8+, from 1 player) and Simon Micro Series (8+, from 1 player). All three list solo play or a one-player minimum. They're the Hasbro games that work in a car or a waiting room. The Simon and Yahtzee pages cover the full versions.

Card games: Monopoly Deal, Rook and Racko

Our data lists Monopoly Deal (8+, 2–5 players, 15 minutes), Rook (8+, 2–6 players, trick-taking) and Racko 50th Anniversary (2–4 players). Monopoly Deal is the short way into Monopoly. Rook is a partnership trick-taking deck. See our Monopoly Deal page and the card games page for more.

Party games: Taboo, Pictionary, Cranium, Trivial Pursuit

The party shelf is wide. Our data has Taboo (260 cards, over 1,000 guess words listed), Taboo 2000 Edition (from 4 players), Catch Phrase (18+ on the listing, from 4 players, electronic), Pictionary, Beyond Balderdash, four Cranium listings (Cranium, Cranium with Bonus Pack, Cranium Family Edition and Cranium Wow), Trivial Pursuit Master Edition (16+, 2–6 players, 2,950 questions) and Trivial Pursuit Family Edition (8+, 1,200 questions), plus Twister Party Classic (6+).

Read the age line here more than anywhere. Catch Phrase lists 18+ on its listing and Trivial Pursuit Master Edition lists 16+. Trivial Pursuit Family Edition lists 8+. Same family of games, very different tables.

Who should skip: a group of two. Taboo 2000 Edition and Catch Phrase both list 4 players as the minimum. Our Taboo, Pictionary, Cranium, Trivial Pursuit, Twister and Catch Phrase pages go deeper.

Strategy: Stratego Nostalgia

One strategy listing in this batch: Stratego Nostalgia, exactly 2 players, listed as a retro or vintage-style reissue. It's a new box made to look old, not a used copy. Our Stratego page covers the other editions.

Hasbro games list by player count

People search for a Hasbro board games list, and the grid gives you one. Here's the same shelf sorted the way a host needs it, by how many people the listing says can play. Games without a stated player count are left out of this list.

• Solo or more: Jenga, Operation Electronic, Perfection, Bop It Micro Series, Simon Micro Series
• Exactly 2: Battleship, Stratego Nostalgia
• 2–4: Chutes and Ladders, Cootie, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap, Trouble, Upwords, Scrabble Junior, Scrabble Deluxe Edition, Racko 50th Anniversary
• 2–5: Monopoly Deal
• 2–6: Rook, Trivial Pursuit Master Edition
• 2–8: Monopoly The Mega Edition
• 4 and up: Taboo 2000 Edition, Catch Phrase

Two things jump out. Most of the shelf tops out at 4, the size of a lot of kitchen tables. And the party games start at 4, so a couple on a quiet night should look at the 2-player and solo lines first. My garage has seats for three and a stool with a wobble. I count the stool as a half.

Editions and versions

Hasbro keeps old titles going in new boxes, and our data shows it. Taboo appears as Taboo and as Taboo 2000 Edition. Trivial Pursuit appears as Master Edition and Family Edition. Cranium appears four ways. Scrabble appears as Deluxe, Junior and two Upwords titles. When two listings share a name, compare the edition word, the stated age and the contents line before you pick. The first listing you see isn't always the game you meant.

Hasbro action figures

Hasbro's figure listings on Amazon US often carry a line name in the brand field instead of the company name. Our research merged several of those into this page. If you collect 6-inch figures, our Marvel Legends list covers one Hasbro figure line on its own, with height and scale read from each title. The rest of the figure listings are in the grid above.

Hasbro vs Mattel

Both companies make family card and board games, and shoppers compare them by the games they already know. Here's what our data shows.

	Hasbro	Mattel
Best-known titles in our data	Monopoly, Scrabble, Candy Land, Jenga, Trivial Pursuit	UNO, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, Blokus, Apples to Apples
Preschool games	Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O (3+)	UNO Junior (3+)
Biggest groups in our data	Board games and party games	Card games and dexterity games
Age range in our listings	3+ to 18+	3+ to 13+

Pictionary and Balderdash titles show up under both names in our data, depending on the edition. Read the maker line on the specific box. The Mattel page has its own lineup notes.

How to pick a Hasbro game

Here's the order I'd use, and the order Theo would sign off on:

1. Youngest player's age. Read it off the listing. That's the floor.
2. Usual player count. Battleship is exactly 2. Taboo 2000 starts at 4. Monopoly The Mega Edition goes up to 8.
3. Play time, where listed. Monopoly Deal lists 15 minutes. The Mega Edition lists 90.
4. Reading. "No reading required" is printed on Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders.
5. Edition name. Junior, Family, Master, Deluxe, Nostalgia or a year in the title changes the box.

My one opinion for this page: for a family's first game from this shelf, match the box to the youngest regular player, not the oldest. The age on the listing is the one number every player at the table has to clear. Theo put it his own way when I showed him the list: "Ninety minutes for eight players is a game night. Fifteen minutes for five is a game night you'll actually finish." He teaches math. He timed both in his head.

Entry-level picks

Most of the preschool games and many of the family classics sit in the lowest price tier of our data, along with Monopoly Deal and Rook. Upwords, Scrabble Upwords and Stratego Nostalgia sit higher. If you're building a game closet from nothing, a 3+ game, a 6+ game and a deck of cards cover a lot of ground.

Small parts

Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. Marble games, letter tiles, pegs and dice count, so keep loose pieces in the box and off the floor when little ones are around.

Hasbro facts we could confirm

Hasbro's corporate site describes Hasbro as a games, IP and toy company and lists Monopoly, Hasbro Games, Nerf, Transformers and Play-Doh among its brands. Its investor pages wouldn't open for us, so details like headquarters and ownership stay off this page.

Read the age on the side of the box first. Then pick the one your table will actually finish.