Ludo

Half the world grew up with this one. Everybody has four tokens sitting in a corner, a six lets one out, and the first player to walk all four round the board and up their own home column wins. There is nothing else to learn, which is why it works for a family of mixed ages. It is a simplified pachisi, the cross-shaped race game India has played for centuries, and India is still where it is played most.

It is not purely a race, and the reason is the two rules people forget. Landing on a single opposing token sends it all the way back to its corner. And two of your own tokens on one square make a block that nobody else can land on or pass through. That is why leaving a token four squares in front of an opponent is a mistake, and why holding a block near your own home column is not.

Three computer opponents, at one of three strengths. Easy moves at random and will leave a capture on the table. Medium takes the capture, brings tokens home, and stays off the squares where it can be taken. Hard does all that and keeps its blocks together, which is the habit that separates a good Ludo player from a lucky one. Online a table seats four, and empty chairs fill with computer players after fifteen seconds.