Sales of board games for adults rise more than 20% in Germany

[Katie95]

Board games are booming among grown ups in Germany. BoardGameWire reports that games aimed at adults rose more than 20 percent in the first nine months of 2026, according to a survey by the Spieleverlage publishers' association and Circana

Games and puzzles overall rose 8 percent, compared with 3 percent for toys. Hitster, the music guessing game, is the likely driver, having sold over a million copies in Germany by early 2025

Some 90 percent of publishers expect revenue to be stable or growing, and 86 percent expect Christmas to match or beat last year. The share of people playing board or card games weekly has risen from 6 to 8 percent in the mid 2010s to 13 to 14 percent since 2020

Chairman Hermann Hutter said the trend remains unbroken. Germany has long been one of the world's strongest markets for board games, and it hosts the huge Spiel Essen fair

It is great to see more adults choosing games that bring people together around a table. Party games like Hitster make it easy for non gamers to join in. Germany's love of board games keeps producing new hits that spread worldwide

Do you play board games regularly? And which game would you recommend to adults who have never tried the hobby?

Board games targeting adult players see 20% sales surge in Germany, publisher optimism grows - survey -boardgamewire.com