Cooperative Board Games for Kids

[lovebeingmama]

Our family likes to play board games and card games, but my nearly-8 year old just can not handle losing. He loves playing the games, but immediately cries if he begins to sense that he might possibly lose - sometimes even before his first turn.

His absolute favorite game is still Hoot Owl Hoot, because it’s a cooperative game and everyone wins or loses together. But it’s really a game for much younger kids. Does anyone have any suggestions for cooperative board games for older kids? He CAN play more complicated games, so I’d like to find something more age-appropriate.

[shananagins]

Mole Rats in Space is cooperative like Hoot Owl hoot but a little more complex.

[InBetweenDays]

We have Now Boarding which is a fun cooperative board game. May be slightly complex for an 8 year old (depending on the child)? But our 10.5 and 13 year old love it.

[madpax]

My kids love 5 Minute Dungeon. I actually enjoy it too.

[indifferentstars]

My 6.5 year old loves Forbidden Island. There are a few variations of it (I think Forbidden Desert is one of the others?) but I'm not sure if they're all equally easy enough for kids.

[lovebeingmama]

Thank you for the suggestions! Looking into them now. Hoping we can continue game nights with fewer tears, and hopefully he outgrows this soon!!

[katfco]

My 7 year old loves Pandemic. Five Minute Dungeon is also fun. You can even get the timer on your iPad to make it more fun, because it makes comments.

[namasteak]

I believe the company who makes hoot owl hoot makes all cooperative games

[booked]

Peaceable Kingdom has some that I got for my library. My students really needed some games they had to work as a team to win.

We have Catch!, Blue Plate Scramble, and Gnomes at Night - I like Catch! best but mostly because it's easy to explain 300 times a day.


www.amazon.com/s?k=peaceable+kingdom+games&crid=32JT62NF0USSL&sprefix=peaceable%2Caps%2C186&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_9

[IndiaInk]

My 5 year old who has not been known for her good sportsmanship just started playing Catan Jr with us and she’s been great about it even when she loses. I think she enjoys the more drawn out building process that lets her have ownership in a lot of small decisions so it feels like lots of small wins. Moving the Ghost Pirate to block other players happens frequently so that also feels like good, competitive play for her that lets her “beat” other players in small ways.
Bonus is that it’s a fun game for grownups too, especially if you enjoy Settlers of Catan!

[IndiaInk]

My 5 year old who has not been known for her good sportsmanship just started playing Catan Jr with us and she’s been great about it even when she loses. I think she enjoys the more drawn out building process that lets her have ownership in a lot of small decisions so it feels like lots of small wins. Moving the Ghost Pirate to block other players happens frequently so that also feels like good, competitive play for her that lets her “beat” other players in small ways.
Bonus is that it’s a fun game for grownups too, especially if you enjoy Settlers of Catan!

[tennisgal]

I don't go here, but my son is the same as OP so I'm going to look into some of these games! He always wants to play Kids Monopoly, but freaks out if he loses.

[countthestars]

Outfoxed! We love it.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

My kiddo is eight and he loves Roll for Adventure, Forbidden Island (or Desert or Sky), and Stuffed Fables. He also plays along with us on Mansions of Madness, but it's still a little above him so we help him out.

[qcinoct]

Outfoxed and Dinosaur Escape are hits with my 9 and 7 year old boys. They didn't like Memory Palace as much. They also quite like Engineering Ants but I find it to be annoying!

[pumpkincat]

Castle Panic is another good one.

[nicolewi]

We have Mole Rats, too! It is a great game. My 10 year old hates it, for some reason, but DH and I think it's fun! Note that you want to follow the directions carefully...something about dealing cards in a certain order so you can see your fellow players' hands in advance. We weren't doing it the right way at first and the game was basically un-winnable. Now we get it!

Outfoxed is also fantastic, and much less complex than Mole Rats. I don't really know if a group of kids could play Mole Rats on their own, but they could play Outfoxed.