Top 38 Board games in Japan
This curated ranking covers the 38 largest board games in Japan, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Ludo (board game), Hanabi (card game) and Monopoly (game) lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 1,691,877 people. Across all 38 entries the average audience size is 117,601, and the largest, Ludo (board game), reaches around 599,533 people in Japan. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in Japan who actively engage with each board game, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across Japan and are refreshed weekly.
Ranking
| Rank | Name | Audience size | Country share | Subtype | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ludo (board game) |
599,533 | 7.3% | Board game | Games |
| 2 |  Hanabi (card game) |
550,504 | 41.5% | Board game | Games |
| 3 |  Monopoly (game) |
541,840 | 3.3% | Board game | Games |
| 4 |  Hive (game) |
377,176 | 16.8% | Board game | Games |
| 5 |  Mastermind (board game) |
290,503 | 12.4% | Board game | Games |
| 6 |  Stone Age (board game) |
243,368 | 13.9% | Board game | Games |
| 7 |  Pandemic (board game) |
210,589 | 6.5% | Board game | Games |
| 8 |  Xiangqi |
173,412 | 23.7% | Board game | Games |
| 9 |  Carcassonne (board game) |
168,249 | 6.4% | Board game | Games |
| 10 |  Shogi |
168,145 | 31.3% | Board game | Games |
| 11 |  Ticket to Ride (board game) |
146,690 | 6.6% | Board game | Games |
| 12 |  7 Wonders (board game) |
137,009 | 7.2% | Board game | Games |
| 13 |  Small World (board game) |
127,333 | 12.1% | Board game | Games |
| 14 |  Agricola (board game) |
102,463 | 5.0% | Board game | Games |
| 15 |  Spot the difference |
100,827 | 7.7% | Board game | Games |
| 16 |  Sea of clouds |
86,306 | 45.1% | Board game | Games |
| 17 |  Tables (board game) |
75,061 | 2.1% | Board game | Games |
| 18 |  Yahtzee |
73,414 | 3.4% | Board game | Games |
| 19 |  Risk |
45,293 | 0.9% | Board game | Games |
| 20 |  The Game of Life |
40,219 | 3.2% | Board game | Games |
| 21 |  Fantasy baseball |
35,768 | 7.2% | Board game | Sports |
| 22 |  Beer pong |
28,707 | 1.4% | Board game | Games |
| 23 |  Scrabble |
25,361 | 8.5% | Board game | Games |
| 24 |  Quiz bowl |
22,619 | 2.3% | Board game | Games |
| 25 |  Cards Against Humanity |
19,367 | 1.2% | Board game | Games |
| 26 |  Star Wars Trading Card Game |
18,638 | 19.8% | Board game | Games |
| 27 |  Diamant (board game) |
16,777 | 0.5% | Board game | Games |
| 28 |  The Settlers of Catan |
13,557 | 2.0% | Board game | Games |
| 29 |  The Settlers Online |
7,437 | 1.7% | Board game | Games |
| 30 |  Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game |
5,916 | 0.9% | Board game | Games |
| 31 |  Surakarta |
5,726 | 0.5% | Board game | Games |
| 32 |  Duel Masters Trading Card Game |
3,423 | 15.3% | Board game | Games |
| 33 |  Space Hulk |
2,491 | 0.9% | Board game | Games |
| 34 |  Three player mahjong |
2,486 | 2.4% | Board game | Games |
| 35 |  Lycèe Trading Card Game |
1,296 | 4.1% | Board game | Games |
| 36 |  Pachisi |
887 | 0.2% | Board game | Games |
| 37 |  Buzzword bingo |
282 | 0.1% | Board game | Business & Career |
| 38 |  WARS Trading Card Game |
188 | 2.4% | Board game | Games |
Frequently asked questions
How is this Top 38 list compiled?
Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across Japan and ranks each board game by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.
How often is the list updated?
The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.
What is the largest board game in Japan?
Ludo (board game) currently leads with an estimated audience of 599,533 people in Japan.
Methodology
Audience sizes are estimated from anonymized search-behavior signals across Japan. Lists below 5 entries are not published. See methodology for full details.