The Ten Most Common Games

By Bruce Whitehill

Bingo, Old Maid, Jack Straws (you know them as Pick Up Sticks) and Anagrams (wood sets are fun, but the paper ones are nearly worthless) are among the most common as are the other 10 listed here. A few rare ones are nice finds, but most should run under $20.

• Pit. The most common game - it was issued in 1904. Look for the 1973 version that comes with an orange bell.
• Rook. Another playable game since 1906.
• Flinch. The third in the Pit-Rook-Flinch trilogy. This one was first issued in 1902.
• Kojak. Milton Bradley really overproduced this 1975 game.
• Monopoly. Even games from the 1930s are common.
• Scrabble. Almost unchanged since Selchow &Righter introduced it in 1948, it's still the best two-player word game around - although four can also play.
• Hangman. Even with Vincent Price's photo on the box, this 1976 Milton Bradley game is too common to be valuable.
• Battleship. In 1967, Milton Bradley revised the Salvo game from the 1930s.
• Parcheesi. E.G. Selchow's 1867 set and the H.B. Chaffee version from the 1880s are valuable, otherwise your set is just one of the thousands that have been circulating since the early 1900's.
• Touring. This is the most collectible of common games because tso many versions have been issued since 1906.

The preceding material was written by Bruce Whitehill. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.