10 Days in Africa, Out of the Box Publishing (www.otb-games.com) – Players plan a 10-day trip through Africa using destination and transportation tiles. The first player to make the right connections wins.

Basari, Out of the Box Publishing (www.otb-games.com) – Players act as merchants who compete in a lucrative gem marketplace. Each round, players earn valuable points by haggling and bartering for precious gemstones. The player with the most points after three rounds wins.

The Bridges of Shangri-La, Uberplay Entertainment (www.uberplay.com) – A competitive strategy game that takes two minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. Be the one with the most Masters in Shangri-La to become the winner.

Rumis, Educational Insights (www.educationalinsights.com) – Players outwit opponents while reconstructing historical Inca monuments. Players construct buildings one stone at a time, strategically placing stones to prevent opponents from having the most visible stones.

Yinsh, Rio Grande Games (www.riograndegames.com) – Sometimes there appears to be only chaos on the board. You line up some pieces and then they change colors. But, if you plan well and stay calm, you will win.

Mensa Select winners are chosen annually at the Mensa Mind Games® competition. Members of the high IQ society spend a weekend playing and rating new board and card games. The five games that rate the highest are named Mensa Select and may display the Mensa Select seal on their packaging.

“You don’t have to be a genius to enjoy the games that win this competition,” said Pam Donahoo, executive director of American Mensa. “The Mensa Select seal lets consumers know that smart people enjoy playing the game. We rate the games on originality, aesthetics, value, and playability, so the Mensa Select seal indicates games that are fresh, challenging, and well-designed.”

This year’s Mind Games competition was held April 16-18 in Chicago. More than 180 players from every corner of United States were challenged by the 60 game entries. During the event, Mensa members also filled out more than 5,000 comment cards, which will be returned to the manufacturers. Suggestions from the comment cards are often used to improve the games.

Based in Arlington, Texas, American Mensa is an organization open to anyone who scores in the top two percent on an accepted, standardized intelligence test. More information about the organization may be found at us.mensa.org. More information about Mind Games may be found at mindgames.us.mensa.org.