Comments on: Board games for little kids and their parents

By: Chuk

Chuk — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:49:00 +0000

I have stacked the deck against myself in Candyland a few times.

By: esme

esme — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Lots of good recommendations already -- the ones I'd add are: Rat-A-Tat Cat and Sleeping Queens, both by the excellent Gamewright. I'd take their age recommendations with a grain of salt, though. My 4yo is very good at Sleeping Queens (and will play it as many times as you let him), but can't quite handle the math involved in Rat-A-Tat Cat.

By: chips

chips — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:26:00 +0000

My daughter is not old enough to play board games yet (she’s 2), but when she’s ready (say 4 or 5) we’ll definitely be getting Zooleretto. Fun for adults and kids alike!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27588/zooloretto

By: hakko504

hakko504 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:14:00 +0000

BoardgameGeek have an excellent gift guide posted here: http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_2011

By: havocjr

havocjr — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:17:00 +0000

Den letzten beissen die Goblins, which translates to something like “the goblin takes the hindmost”. Disclaimer: a friend of mine developed it. But nonetheless my children love it.
A fantasy dungeon explorer, where the one with the most loot who can leave the dungeon wins.
http://shop.flyinggames.de/product_info.php?products_id=91&osCsid=5712e2a5c5529b4e86a78fff269cc5f4

By: BeautifulMonster

BeautifulMonster — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:52:00 +0000

I recommend China Topf, by Haba. Lovely game pieces, simple mechanics, great for fine motor skills and fun.
Another one is Little Bear: Berries, Cherries, Apples and Pears. You only need to count to 2, and even though you roll dice, you have to decide which direction to go, which mixes chance and strategy. It also throws in a little cooperative element when you pick someone else’s fruit for their basket. It has a lovely wooden board and pieces.
And I support the aMAZEing Labyrinth suggestion. You can muck with those rules like to make the game harder or easier, and we STILL play it here, even though The Beastie is 14.

By: mtskeptic

mtskeptic — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I loved this game as a kid:

http://www.amazon.com/Ravensburger-Labyrinth-Anniversary-Family-Game/dp/B004G8QNO4

As you can guess by the link, it’s a Ravensburger game called Labyrinth. It says 8-12 years but I think I started playing it younger than that. The concept is simple you place tiles on the board kind of like Settlers of Catan and they make a maze. Each player then gets extra tiles and they use them to shift an entire column on the board so they can move their piece closer to the treasure chest.

It was fun because I was pretty much on a level playing field with the adults and each game is different because the layout changes.

By: David Yoon

David Yoon — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:14:00 +0000

You named your daughter Poesy? Damn that’s a pretty name!

By: Pallas

Pallas — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:03:00 +0000

I scanned through the previous comments, and I don’t *think* anyone has suggested:

Sumoku: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/66695/sumoku The math is basic enough for young children, but there’s a layer of strategy that keeps it interesting for adults and makes it possible to lose on purpose without being totally obvious.

Tier auf Tier, also called Animal Upon Animal: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17329/animal-upon-animal No need to take a dive on this one — there’s a good chance that your four-year-old will hand you your ass without any help whatsoever.

Although I posted online sources for explanatory purposes, I concur with the PP who recommended going to your local game shop for suggestions. Our favorite one holds a monthly game night, when people bring their own or try out the shop’s. We’ve bought and enjoyed many games that never would have crossed our path otherwise!

By: Raq Winchester

Raq Winchester — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Post bookmarked!

My 6yo loves Pirateer; we started playing when he was 5 as there’s no reading, just counting.

Everybody recommended Sorry! Sliders, but the game board couldn’t physically hold up to a 5yo boy, and lasted exactly 2 games. Sorry! Sliders on the game console (part of Hasbro Family Game Night) is a hit though.

He also regularly kicks my butt at checkers.

By: Mister44

Mister44 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:31:00 +0000

My little one loves games (awesome, hope this is true in the future). She has mostly your standard affair. I did make one D&D Adventure for her that we played and she liked.

I’ve heard Legos Minotaur Labrinth is fun, and I’d like to try it.

Someone mentioned SET – and yes – that is a great game.

I was seriously thinking of making a dungeon themed board game for 3-6 year olds.

By: onibaloney

onibaloney — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:05:00 +0000

My 5-year-old loves Blokus and Gobblet currently.

By: Tom Bruno

Tom Bruno — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:52:00 +0000

Gamewright Games has some excellent offerings for kids ages 3 and up. Others have mentioned Go Away Monster, Slamwich, and Forbidden Island- when our daughter was very young we also enjoyed:

Feed the Kitty (a very easy to play dice game with little wooden mice)
Hisss (a card-matching game where everyone tries to collect the longest multicolored snake)
Hang Four (a simple resource management game about surfing)

Our daughter is 8 now and Forbidden Island is our current fave. It’s a cooperative game that even non-gamers can pick up quickly and enjoy. We also play Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and the classic island escape game Survive!

By: GrueHunter

GrueHunter — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:26:00 +0000

Our four-about-to-turn-five year old loves retro and Euro games. Current favourites: ‘The Goblin Game’ (HeroQuest!), 1976 edition of Battleship, Forbidden Island (with his older cousin, mum, dad and aunt), and Castle Panic.

I really recommend Halli Galli, a simple fruit card game that’s interesting for adults and kids.

By: roseannew

roseannew — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:08:00 +0000

A really great first game for kids is Cranium Cariboo. Very simple game where you look for letters or numbers, and try to find colored balls hidden under the board. Every time I’ve played it with young (2 -3 ish) kids, they’ve loved it.

By: MrEricSir

MrEricSir — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:37:00 +0000

Labyrinth is one of the few games I liked as a kid and still enjoy. It’s good for kids who like mazes, puzzles, and fantasy.

By: Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:22:00 +0000

The current garish-primary-color Enchanted Forest board is a travesty. See if you can find a vintage original!

Also, I second “Orchard”. Oh, and let’s not forget Kids of Catan!

By: Larry Tuxbury

Larry Tuxbury — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:18:00 +0000

My little ones enjoy these…
Gulo Gulo: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6351/gulo-gulo
Chicken Cha Cha Cha: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3570/chicken-cha-cha-cha
Loopin’ Louie: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/327/loopin-louie

By: Melinda9

Melinda9 — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:51:00 +0000

My kids liked Set as well.
Another game my daughters liked was Magic Labyrinth, although it’s not a 4 year old’s game.

By: Ann Sheppard

Ann Sheppard — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:50:00 +0000

Haba makes a lot of great games that we enjoy, some of our favorites are Orchard [it's cooperative], a little Snow White dice game in a tin, and a big, elaborate game called A World of Adventure that is really 4 games in one which can be played separately or consecutively.

By: avicia

avicia — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:24:00 +0000

on the other blog I commented to agree about Looney Lab’s card games – my kids especially enjoy Aquarius and 7 Dragons. Now they can read they’re trying out some of their other games. My favorite first board game to give is Haba’s Orchard because the beautiful wooden fruit is so much fun to hold and use. The regular size game is great. It comes bigger and smaller, and a simplified version for toddlers, but the fruit in the regular size is so lovely I stick with that version. http://www.amazon.com/Haba-My-very-first-games/dp/B000ELORPY It’s also a cooperative game which some kids need a little more than others to keep them engaged in games. All of you play against the raven who wants all the fruit. Raven rarely wins, though…

By: knoxblox

knoxblox — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:57:00 +0000

One game my brother taught me as a child was 52-pickup. That one I learned fast, and never played it again.

By: aeon

aeon — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:28:00 +0000

We enjoyed Zapp Zerapp http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/988/zapp-zerapp with our son when he was 5-7 -ish . He’s kind of outgrown it now, but it will be broken out of storage now his sister is getting old enough. We mostly play Catan now, with Niagara, Powergrid, Pandemic and Saboteur coming out when there are more players.

Sorry is a brilliant game for teaching good sportsmanship in losing. You can slightly increase its longevity and complexity by dealing each player a hand of 2 or 3 cards and ‘draw one, play or discard one’ at each turn.

By: Emma Jones

Emma Jones — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Not exactly a board game, but still fun: Munchkins. It’s a very simple rpg-style game, in which you draw cards for your race, armor, weapons, other items, and enemies. It’s best if played with 4+ people, as you can choose to help a fellow player beat a monster in exchange for something.

You might need to wait until your kid’s a bit older to play it (it requires a lot of adding up points from your armor and weapons and your level to see whether you beat the monster, as well as strategy, and frequent rule-bending), but it’s very fun to play as an adult. When I go over to my brother’s place we usually play it after smoking some pot, which makes it quite hilarious. What’s really fun is that they have several different types of decks, like Star Munchkins (space-themed), and Munchkin Cthulu (obvious). They also seem to have added Axe Cop to their collection… hm.

They also seem to have an actual board game style of play, but I’ve never tried that.

http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/game/

By: tw1515tw

tw1515tw — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:27:00 +0000

+1 for Uno
Bohnanza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohnanza) was another favourite.

By: Freddie Freelance

Freddie Freelance — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:12:00 +0000

Not to rain on your parade, but you WILL be expected to play Candyland, and you WILL be expected to lose often.

By: retepslluerb

retepslluerb — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:43:00 +0000

It seems to be available (new) from quite a a few sellers: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0006443P8/

By: NiceBloke

NiceBloke — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:38:00 +0000

My four year old loves Pikomino (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15818/pickomino), Hey That’s My Fish (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8203/hey-thats-my-fish) and the new LEGO D&D type game Heroica (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/94731/heroica-fortaan)

By: John MacDougall

John MacDougall — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:44:00 +0000

I would like to take this opportunity to remind people that most towns and cities have independent toy store/game stores. The people working there know games and what game is right for what family. All these links to Amazon and BGG are great for taking some stranger on the internet’s advice, but they can’t match the experts at a real toy store. Sure Rory’s Story Cubes are fun, but so are Thinkets and Tell-A-Story and Tell Tale and several others. Depends on the kid, the family, the situation.

By: crankypage

crankypage — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Speaking of Ravensburger: Rivers Roads and Rails. Simple play, beautiful art. It’s like a combination of dominoes and a baby version of Carcassone and (I can attest) can lead to your slightly older child wanting to play Carcassone with the family. Which is a very good thing.

American amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Ravensburger-Rivers-Roads-Rails-ChildrenS/dp/B004KZCF0O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321723061&sr=8-1