anybody a board gamer? anybody board game with kids?

[mominatrix]

howdee-do!

I'm trying to figure out what the family board game haul should be for Christmas, and I'm kind of stumped.


We play a lot of board games, and the ones we play are 'older' than my kids. They are 9 and almost-7; most of the games we play successfully are 10+ or more, but the seven year old is still stymied by inability to read a lot of text.



what we play a lot of, successfully (as a family, with the kids); it's also stuff we already have, so, no need to suggest it:
Smallworld (with a bajillion expansions)
King of New York
Catan (started with Junior, now play full-on Settlers)
Ticket to Ride
Pandemic
Castle Panic
Forbidden Island
Coup
Love Letters
Exploding Kittens
Lord of The Rings (it's pretty obscure, but it's a looong and very difficult co-op game)
Carcassone
Takenoko
lots of kid-ish but still fancypants games, like Hey That's My Fish, Concept, Dixit, Battle Sheep
etc etc etc.




I'm looking to step things up a bit in complexity, without necessarily breaking into games that will take several hours and a bajillion pieces all over the table. 


The less reading needed the better. I'd love to start in on Fluxx and Munchkin, but it's not happening yet.


I'd like stuff where the theme isn't too heavy for kids (Memoir '44 or Dead of Winter are out on that front). But, we play Pandemic and The Resistance, so death and evil aren't completely off the table.




I've already bought Five Tribes and Mice and Mystics, but they're put away. 
We haven't played Five Tribes, but my kids are good at Mancala, so I'm thinking it'll be fine.
We've played Mice and Mystics at our LGS, and it was really cool.



I'd love your thoughts on:

Sheriff of Nottingham
Patchwork (I know it's a two player game, but we need some sometimes)
Machi Koro
Pandemic: Legacy
Splendor
7 Wonders
Ultimate Warewolf (any one of the series, never played any)
Tokaido
Secret Hitler
Lanterns


or, anything else you'd suggest.




Should I pick up Smallworld Underground, just because I know it'll get played a lot, what with the Smallworld love we already have... or is that $40 better spent on another game, or even some of the Smallworld expansions we don't already have???  



I know it's a lot, but I'm kind of all over the place here... HALP!


thanks!

[snippet17]

My lo is only 6 months but some of these board games might be good.

Sushi Go
Just desserts

On your list I do have ultimate warewolf but I have only played with adults who were drunk. It is a lot of fun with a big group. Not sure how fun it would be witb only 4 people since one is the game master so that just leaves to 3 really playing and only one round.

[Dusky]

I don't have kids, but I'm familiar with a few of the games you're asking about.

Werewolf is fairly quick, simple, and gets good reactions from the younger family members. You really need 6+ people for it to be fun, though.

Secret Hilter is lots of fun, and it sounds like the kids are at a level they can handle it, but again, it's a party game so it's better 6+ people.

Splendor would be excellent - it has room for strategy but no language/reading dependency. It's one of my favorite games.

I've only ever played Tokaido with two people, which was a bit dry. It may be a bit better with more players though.

As for other suggestions, I'd look in to Tsuro or Tsuro of the Seas, Forbidden Island, Sushi Go and Hanabi.

[niki]

My kids are younger but your post is totally getting me excited about playing these sort of games when they are older! Saving this!

[mominatrix]

Oct 4, 2016 21:20:45 GMT -5 niki said:

My kids are younger but your post is totally getting me excited about playing these sort of games when they are older! Saving this!

It's really cool, because they're at an age where the options are so great.

But MY GOD, the money. And the storage.

Here's our non-card games:

[niki]

Oct 4, 2016 22:21:09 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Oct 4, 2016 21:20:45 GMT -5 niki said:

My kids are younger but your post is totally getting me excited about playing these sort of games when they are older! Saving this!

It's really cool, because they're at an age where the options are so great.

But MY GOD, the money. And the storage.

Here's our non-card games:

Holy moly!

[mominatrix]

Oct 4, 2016 22:22:32 GMT -5 niki said:

Oct 4, 2016 22:21:09 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

It's really cool, because they're at an age where the options are so great.

But MY GOD, the money. And the storage.

Here's our non-card games:

Holy moly!

So. Many. Kid. Games. Half the games in the picture, easily, are games they'll age out of.

Also, a BUNCH are from thrift stores, so there's that.

[Pibs]

I love Tokaido. It's a super pretty game, simple enough to pick up quickly but requires some planning, and pretty fast. There's really not any reading to speak of -- it's mostly picture based. But it's just husband and I, no kids so I don't know how they'd feel about it. From your gif, I assume you've watched TableTop to see how some of these are played and to figure out if they'd be a good kid game?

[froggy76]

Hanabi is a fun card game. I also love Quirkle, which I don't think you mentioned.

You could also get back to basics with things like Clue, Othello, Scrabble, etc.

ETA: Tsuro is super simple (a little lame, IMO), but Tsuro of the Seas is a little more interesting yet still simple enough for your kids. I can't speak to the other games you asked about because I have way fewer games than you!

[tacokick]

Target has an Oregon Trail card game.

[greenlight]

If you liked Forbidden Island, try out Forbidden Desert. It's a little more involved but just as fun and family friendly. We really enjoy it.

[chedifuen]

Lego Creationary is our all-time favorite family game. It's like Pictionary but you build lego figurines instead of drawing.

[Nonny]

Telestrations is a hilarious combo of telephone and Pictionary. It's more fun if you have at least six players, but you can play with four people. I got this for my BFF and her family a couple of years ago and they loved it (it's also a fabulous party game for drunken adults). Age here is 6+, and all the drawing/guessing suggestions are simple words/phrases.

If you like Clue, Kill Dr. Lucky is a fun flip version of that genre - instead of trying to figure out who the murder is, you chase Dr. Lucky around a house and try to kill him using the weapons in your hand and your attempts are more effective if you are using a room appropriate weapon. I think they have alternate versions of this too, where you try to save him from the Titanic or something. Age is 13+

[GilliC]

We picked up The Downfall of Pompeii at GenCon last year, and my godson did okay with it. He was 6 at the time and was in the transition from Catan Jr to full Settlers.

If you like Puerto Rico, San Juan is quite similar but with much simpler logistics. Unfortunately there's a bit of reading to explain the building advantages, but there aren't so many that it's hard to remember without re-reading every time.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

We like Labyrinth and Enchanted Forest with DS (5).

It's single player, but I had a lot of fun with Friday.

[spa]

So many good games the only one on the top of my head is kittens in a blender it's a card game. There is also a walking dead strategy game.

[raynes]

Can you adopt me? That game shelf is amazing.

You've already mentioned anything that I would have suggested. Though one card game our family likes (though not the kids yet, they're only 2 and 4) is Bohnanza.

Pandemic: Contagion is also fun and fairly quick. I've heard good things about Legacy, and if the kids already play the original I can't see why not with that one. I really like the idea of the legacy game.

I think I might save your post as an inspiration for Christmas gifts.

[niki]

Oct 4, 2016 22:21:09 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Oct 4, 2016 21:20:45 GMT -5 niki said:

My kids are younger but your post is totally getting me excited about playing these sort of games when they are older! Saving this!

It's really cool, because they're at an age where the options are so great.

But MY GOD, the money. And the storage.

Here's our non-card games:

I saw this today and thought if you.


m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=72077

[mominatrix]

Just because I'm sick and wrong, let me fill you in on the Christmas game list.

NOW you need to know that board games are the biggest thing we do for Christmas, we aren't complete crackpots.



Here's what we've gotten so far:

Mice and Mystics (which we had last posting, but decided it's def. for Christmas)

Mechs vs. Minions (OOOH, if you haven't heard of this you MUST check it out!!! It's based on League of Legends, which I pretty much know nothing about, but this game, THIS GAME looks fantastic:
na.leagueoflegends.com/en/featured/mechs-vs-minions )



we hit the Target buy-two-get-one-free sale (still ongoing!) and got:

Evolution: The Beginning

Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City

Sheriff of Nottingham

Smash Up: Science Fiction Double Feature (we don't have the base game yet, but it's on the list)

7 Wonders

Dominion (base set)

The last three are probably more for H and me than for the kids, we've tried Smash Up with them, but the younger one especially has problems with all the card reading)

[L From The D]

Definitely try Forbidden Desert if you have mastered Forbidden Island. You should also add Kingsburg and Splendor to your collection, ASAP!

My kids like Survive and Blokus. We also really enjoy Cartagena and Rivers Roads & Rails (very fun family games).

Games I don't have but am considering this Christmas:
- Camel Up
- Flashpoint
- Puerto Rico
- Agricola

[estrellita]

Sorry if it's been mentioned, I didn't see it. Have you tried The Resistance and/or Avalon? Coup is an offshoot of that as well. We play those games pretty often in the groups we play with! We really like Bang! but that's fairly time consuming and a bit complicated. I forget the rules half the time (and doesn't help each group interprets things differently..). Fluxx can be fun, but confusing since the rules are always changing! I'm glad you got Sheriff of Nottingham, that's another favorite with our group!

[GilliC]

Nov 4, 2016 22:09:30 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Sorry if it's been mentioned, I didn't see it. Have you tried The Resistance and/or Avalon? Coup is an offshoot of that as well. We play those games pretty often in the groups we play with! We really like Bang! but that's fairly time consuming and a bit complicated. I forget the rules half the time (and doesn't help each group interprets things differently..). Fluxx can be fun, but confusing since the rules are always changing! I'm glad you got Sheriff of Nottingham, that's another favorite with our group!

True story: We can never play Bang! A group of our colleagues got together one night and were considering Bang! But when the guy who owns the game (and who happens to be a bit of a womanizer) opened the box, a whole ton of condoms fell out! Gives the game name a whole new meaning, and now whenever it comes up, those who have heard the story fall apart in fits of suppressed laughter.

[estrellita]

GilliC lol! We do tend to say "I'm banging you" and other things like that when we play but that is hilarious!

[itsme]

Nov 4, 2016 9:37:00 GMT -5 L From The D said:

Definitely try Forbidden Desert if you have mastered Forbidden Island. You should also add Kingsburg and Splendor to your collection, ASAP!

My kids like Survive and Blokus. We also really enjoy Cartagena and Rivers Roads & Rails (very fun family games).

Games I don't have but am considering this Christmas:
- Camel Up
- Flashpoint
- Puerto Rico
- Agricola

I just bought and played Flashpoint with my 4 year old.  It's a fun game but can get confusing once the explosions and all that happen.  I only played it on the family mode so far.

Agricola keeps popping up on a FB page I like and I am quite intrigued.  

[itsme]

What about Stone Age or My First Stone Age (depending on age/skill). I haven't played either yet but they were highly regarded in FB recs I've seen.

[Marmee]

I have a 3, 7, 9 & 12 yr old and we have mainly the same games you already have. We are big into board & card games but I have no input on the ones you mentioned being interested it (we don't have those yet). We have some I didn't see in your stash... Wits & Wagers, Descents: Journey in the Dark, Zooloretto, Scattergories, Taboo, Telestrations, Dungeon, Apples to Apples. The kids LOVE Zooloretto, and it doesn't require reading...I would recommend that. My DH reads this blog, which gives him a lot of ideas of stuff to buy.

www.theboardgamefamily.com/

[punisher]

I got a Kickstarter game called Not a Problem and we.love.it.  

It comes with mini dryerase boards, dryerase markers, a timer, and these cards. One person is the investor in each round, and using the 2 decks of cards they give the innovators (the other players) a problem they have to draw a solution to on their boards. 

We get zany but also really creative with ours. The kids would play this for two hours if we let them.

[themandapanda]

Very late to this, but we are in the same boat of needing more advancing games for playing with our 6yo. Also, our game closet looks similar to yours. Well, yours is far more organized - ours is in the "open the door slowly or something might fall out and kill you stage". Anyway, we got Battle Sheep for Christmas and the kiddo loves it. Also maybe Zombie Dice would be a good quick one for your kids? I would recommend War and Pieces, but it was a kickstarter and I don't think you can get it anymore. :-(

[Deleted]

Monopoly City?

[pamelasaur]

Some kids nowadays prefer to play in their tablets rather than board games. I used to love Monopoly.