6 Board games – that are actually fun for the whole family

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the link and buy something I get a small advertising fee at no extra cost to you. We own (or have owned) all of the games I’ve linked to in this post.

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

We definitely have a bit of a board game geekery going in our house. Mr B bought me Carcassonne the Christmas before E was born and we sat and played it when I was in early labour!

Board games are brilliant for learning.  Young children gain so much from them – basic number recognition, counting, turn taking, probability, strategy just off the top of my head.   If you are looking for something for younger children – orchard games are a great place to start. Spotty Dogs is a lovely simple one and great for talking about basic number concepts without your child realising they’re learning. If You See A Crocodile was much loved by E – although drives you nuts after a while!

Lets face it though,  even  with quality games they can be mind numbingly dull for the adults. Over the past year and a half or so E.  has become much more able to play games that are interesting for us too. Games that require a bit of strategy and forward planning rather than simple luck. These are our current top 6

(At the time of writing E. is almost 8)

Games marketed at children

 

Dobble

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

This is a simple card game with various different modes of game play. It’s really easy to pick up It comes in a little tin so is great to pop in your bag and play on the train or when waiting for an appointment. It’s a short game and can easily be played without an adult.

Labyrinth

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

This has been a firm favourite since we got it just before E. turned 7. He likes the fantasy characters and treasure collecting element. The game play is really unusual – you move the board around to change the labyrinth and collect your treasure – it’s easy to understand but takes a bit of forward thinking to play.

Qwirkle

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

This is a bit like scrabble with shapes.  E finds this a bit tricky at the moment  so we do end up giving him a lot of advice. I really like the chunky solid tiles and the bright colours. (and the fact there’s no spelling involved!) I can also see us being able to adapt the play for little sister once she gets a bit bigger.

Incan Gold

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We had to watch this video to figure out how to do this! The game play is actually fairly simple once you get the hang of it and involves basic probability along with a bit of trying to figure out what your opponent is thinking. There’s a bit of an Indiana Jones feeling about it which E. likes. The game play is pretty short.

 

Games aimed at adults that children can play.

These games are both officially mine which automatically makes them appealing to E!! Both games take a fair bit longer than the previous 4 games and have more complicated rules. They’re labeled as 8 plus but we’ve played them many times with just adults which we probably wouldn’t do with any of the others.

With both of them we played them  non-competitively from when he was 4 or 5 and have gradually introduced the rules until we are pretty much able to play them properly now.

Carcassonne (AKA ‘The Castle Game’)

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

This was great for spacial awareness before he could play it properly. We used to simply take turns to lay the tiles and see who could build the biggest castle.  We gradually introduced the ways to score points and now play the full rules.

 

Ticket to ride (AKA The Train Game)

6 Board games - that are actually fun for the whole family

E really resisted playing this as an actual game rather than just making train-lines – basically you’re supposed  to make lines between given destinations. He can now play it properly, although we have to show him where his destinations are (which has the bonus that we can’t accidentally block his route)

 

For other ideas I liked this post from Morgan Price  (and there’s obviously some overlap)

 

We’re always looking out for new ones so we’d love to hear your recommendations

The Pramshed
Family Fever
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13 Responses to 6 Board games – that are actually fun for the whole family

  1. Aw thanks so much for mentioning me hun, we have Labyrinth too and the boys love playing it because they can knock each other off the board! I think Carcassonne is our favourite at the moment but LP does love Ticket to Ride. I love that you use the same tactics we did, LP can now play without help and loves it when he blocks our routes! 🙂

    • Beth at Bamm Boo says:

      Thanks for your comment, I’m glad you liked it. We don’t play as often as we’d like at the moment because of the crazy toddler – hopefully she’ll become human soon 😉

  2. This is great, we are always looking for new games. Actually I played Labyrinth today at a friends house with their 8 year old daughter. I really enjoyed it. We would love to have ticket to ride, I’ve heard good things about that and carcassone. Thanks for sharing. #fortheloveofBLOG

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  4. The Pramshed says:

    I love a board game too, and with Christmas fast approaching we are getting into board game season. There’s some great ideas here for children, but I think that my daughter is a little young at the moment. I’ll definitely check out Orchard games for future, and Dobble looks great too. Thanks for linking up at #fortheloveofblog. Claire x

    • Beth at Bamm Boo says:

      Thanks for your lovely comments. Orchard also do really high quality puzzles too – they’re definitely worth keeping in mind.

  5. We love Dobble and Carcassonne. Another favourite here is Bananagrams.

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  6. Stephanie says:

    Oh we haven’t done any of those, we have a look. We love playing board games as a family.
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  7. We love Quirkle! Although I’d say it’s more of a family game that kids can also play. My Uncle and Aunt play it really competitively and have the forward thinking down to an art! We got the Quirkle 3d at Christmas and it’s another great game!

    As for Labyrinth, I remember playing it at my Cousin’s house when we were kids!! It was a firm favourite for us!

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