With summer vacations still stretching off into the distance, taking advantage of Prime Day board game deals or snagging some discounted toys could be a very smart move. The WIRED Reviews team has a gaggle of kids of all ages between us, and most of us are still big kids at heart, so we’ve tried a lot of board games and toys over the years.
Some of the best family board games are on sale for Prime Day. You can also find deals on some of the best STEM toys. I have handpicked a selection of WIRED-tested and approved board games and toys right here, and I’ll keep adding to this list throughout the Prime Days sales from July 8 to 11. It’s time to stock up on fun! If you’re looking for more Prime Day deals, we have a list of the very best, which we update throughout the event, and there’s a Prime Day liveblog, too.
WIRED Featured Deals
The Best Board Game Deals
Playing board games with family or friends is the perfect antidote to our chronically online digital lives, and many of the best family board games are on sale now. These are the best Prime Day board game deals.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Originally Settlers of Catan, this immersive strategy game is all about gathering and trading resources to build roads, settlements, and cities on a randomly generated board of hexagonal tiles. To collect enough points for a victory requires the right strategy and some luck with dice rolls. My kids love the trading and the robber mechanic, which allows you to steal cards from your opponents and block their resources (though it can cause fall outs).
Photograph: Simon Hill
This word association game for 2 to 8 players aged 10 and up only takes around 15 minutes to play. You must identify a number of secret agents based on a single-word clue with a time limit, but think carefully, because picking the wrong one could help your opponent or instantly lose you the game.
Photograph: Simon Hill
A great introduction to board games for young kids, this maze adventure encourages critical thinking skills as players try to carve a path to the treasure they need and block off opponents along the way. Pushing a tile onto the board pushes another off and creates new routes through the labyrinth.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Whether you want to play a fun game with kids or a mix of ages, this game is easy to grasp and always gets people laughing. A dice roll determines the chosen word or title from a themed card with 16 possibilities, and players must say something related. Everyone knows what it is except the Chameleon, who has to bluff their way through, then it’s time to guess and try to root them out.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Players must match beautiful tiles on their game boards to create mosaics and score maximum points in this satisfying strategy game. Each round, you select tiles from pools in the center, but there’s room for many different tactical approaches. This accessible game seems simple but has tremendous replayability and strategic depth.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Some of the best family board games are cooperative, so you can avoid those arguments that sometimes lead to board flipping and huffs and Pandemic is a solid example. There’s a worldwide pandemic and you must work together for the survival of mankind by jetting around the board and trying to halt the spread. Each player assumes a role, like a scientist or medic, with unique special powers, and you must strategize and coordinate to emerge alive.
Photograph: Simon Hill
An old WIRED favorite and one of the best family board games, Ticket to Ride features steam engine styling and easy to grasp rules. All you must do is claim railway routes across the US and Canada using your colorful plastic rail cars. Spend cards to claim routes, rack up bonus points for connecting specific destinations, and the person with the highest score at the end wins. All aboard, choo, choo!
Photograph: Adrienne So
Want your kids to learn chess? This lightweight, portable board paired with weighty pieces is an easy way to pick up the classic strategy game. Charge the Bluetooth-enabled board, connect the app, and you can play against remote players or yourself. There’s also AI-enabled assistance to help guide your moves.
The Best Toy Deals
We love toys at WIRED, whether they’re fun and frivolous or educational, like the best STEM toys. Here are our picks from Amazon’s 2025 Prime Day event.
Photograph: Amazon
Kids of all ages enjoy building stuff, and these durable, colorful, translucent panels snap together magnetically in a very satisfying way. This basic 32-piece kit offers a range of triangles and squares you can use to build houses and other structures. Magna-Tiles also offers tons of themed kits for everything from spaceships to marble runs.
Courtesy of Lego
Lego
Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer
The marriage of Lego and Star Wars was one of the greatest licensing deals of all time, spawning countless construction kits, videogames, and TV shows. There are some beautifully designed Star Wars Lego kits, and the Imperial Star Destroyer is one of our absolute favorites. This kit comes with seven minifigures, including Darth Vader, Commander Praji, and Cal Kestis. You and your kids will get hours of enjoyment out of building this and then smashing it.
Tonies
Toniebox Audio Player Disney Starter Set Bundle
Parents concerned about screen time might prefer this cute, cube-shaped audio player that I picked as the best speaker for young kids aged 3 to 7 years. Your wee ones can simply plonk the characters on top (this set comes with Woody, Lightning McQueen, Simba, Winnie-The-Pooh, and Playtime Puppy) to trigger related stories or songs.
Photograph: Clixo
A fantastic gift for kids of all ages, this clever construction kit made our best STEM toys guide. Clixo’s colorful, versatile, magnetic pieces snap together, so you can build three-dimensional shapes, from crowns to cats. The durable and washable pieces stack neatly and pack away easily, and you can play with them anywhere – you don’t need a table. Clixo kits are suitable for kids aged 4 and up.
Photograph: Amazon
Geomag
Classic Magnetic Building Set
You can build all sorts of 3D shapes from this set of glow-in-the-dark magnetic rods (crafted from recycled plastic), steel spheres, and plastic bases in different shapes. There’s a guide with some suggestions, but the real fun is mucking around, and the set comes with handy storage boxes to pack everything neatly away when you’re done.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that’s too important to ignore for just $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year. Includes unlimited digital access and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.
