June 26, 2012

Board games that I play with my kids that don't require heavy drinking to get through.


Kill me now.
Although I have managed to get in one RPG session with my girls, by and large, we mainly play board games.  If you're like me and have had enough of Candyland and Monopoly Jr., give these a try.  These games are simple enough for younger players, but enjoyable for adults as well. In other words, I can play these with my kids without falling asleep.  At the time of this posting, my oldest daughter (Chaos) is 8 and my youngest daughter (Mayhem) is 4.



(Full Disclosure: These links include Noble Knight Games affiliate codes.)

Seven Dragons: A domino-like, color matching card game with Larry Elmore art. Link seven dragons of your color and you win. The instructions include several variations of play, including a pre-school rule set (although, after a few games of that, your kids will likely be ready for the full rule set). The advanced game includes use of cards for messing with other players.

Labyrinth: Players shift the tiles of the maze on their turn, trying to create paths to treasure designated by a deck of cards.  Simple to understand, lots of fun to play.
Castle Keep: Each player tries to construct his own keep with tiles that connect based on color or shape. Instead of building your own keep, you can also destroy part of an opponent's keep by playing a corresponding tile on it.



Forbidden Island: A bit trickier than the others, but it is a cooperative game so it is easy to help the kids. After a game or two, they'll have it down.  Players work together to swipe artifacts from the island before it sinks.  You can also scale the difficulty if it gets too easy.

Cave Troll: Each player commands a small band of adventurers trying to gain control of a dungeon. The mechanic is very simple: each room is worth a particular gold value and the person with the most pieces in the room owns the room when it is counted. (Note: I actually own the 2nd Edition which, apparently is hard to find going by the price.  Funny enough, I got it on the cheap during a Fantasy Flight holiday sale).
Tsuro: Each player plays tiles trying to keep their token on a path that keeps it on the board, while trying to steer others off.  Teaches ruthlessness. You got to love it.



Oshi: A chess/checkers kind of game in which you must push all your opponents pieces off the board.  The more tiers a piece has, the more spaces it came move and the more pieces if can push. E.g., a 3 tier piece can move 3 spaces and push up to 3 pieces. Really fun game.
 


Fireball Island: (Amazon link there).  You must grab the gem and get off the island first!  Use of cards to screw over the other players and boost your own play keeps this from being a simple "roll and move" game. I've had this since I was a kid.  A bit pricey nowadays.





Heroica: Probably the best way to relate the whole dungeon-exploration concept to kids.  Lots of fun little parts and sort of includes campaign play.  I have to admit, though, the bloom is coming off the rose on this one for me because it is more or less a roll and move game. However, there is a rule that allows a player to control the monsters... that might kick it up a notch.


The Classic Dungeon: Actually, although I used to love this game as a kid, I no longer care for it much. "I move 5 spaces.  I attack the monster. Rinse. Repeat." Still, nostalgia gets this one some points and if you are going to play a roll and move game, might as well play one with purple worms, liches, and ghouls. It will be interesting to see if Wizards of the Coast improves it all when they re-release it.



Battleground: Crossbows and Catapults: Toys R Us sold these sets dirt cheap a few Christmases back. Now they cost a fortune on eBay, etc.  This version is a revamped take on the classic, with Orcs and Knights instead of Barbarians and Vikings. I haven't tried to use the actual Battleground rules for it yet which are suppose to be pretty decent and more like a war game.  Right now, we just set 'em up and see who can knock down the most figures.

6 comments:

  1. I also like Carcasonne, Settlers of Catan, Zombie Fluxx, and Munchkin for kid's games

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  2. Just seen a good review for a game called Four Taverns which looked like it would appeal to kids too. Not that I have any of my own, but I have friends that do, and I'm always looking for games they can buy to play with the family, that I can have a crack at too without feeling like I'm playing a kid's game.

    Forbidden island is a totally killer game too, more people should pick it up. Oh, and 'Hey, that's my fish' is another awesome game that works for kids and grown ups alike. Never fun having your arse handed to you by a nine year old though...

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  3. If you like Catan, but your kids a a bit to young (say 5ish) there is now Kids of Catan and Catan Jr. Catan Jr. is a bit on the fun side and pirate themed.

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  4. Your four-year-old might not be up for it yet -- at least not without some serious hand-holding -- but you might also want to try Castle Panic. It's a cooperative game, and there are alternate rules (including the "Less Panic" setting) that tone down the difficulty and lethality. Our 9- and 7-year-olds love it.

    Also popular with ours: Ninja vs. Ninja -- two player, but quick. Incan Gold. Kids of Carcassonne (the "grown-up" version is a bit too complicated for them).

    They also love the card game Kinder Bunnies (which has an alternate rules set that your 4-year-old can probably follow), but a few games of that may make you want to drink heavily.

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  5. I have an 8y, 6y, 4y and 2y old. The older two play lots of games but I started them off simple with Snakes and Ladders and then Dungeon (which we played my original copy form 1982! similar to you it seems). My goal was to get them into D&D before they could play D&D. Ended up playing Heroes of Hesoid with them and a revamped 4e "Heroes of Hesoid" version of the Red Box dungeon from the early 80s. But I realised it was way more work then I can invest so have gone back to boardgames for a D&Dish experience. I can highly recommend the D&D adventure games as a D&D lite game:
    • Ravenloft I have but have not played with my kids. My eldest daughter hates zombies and undead of all sorts.
    • Played Drizzt straight out of the box and that was a ton of fun. My wife made up the 4th player.
    • Moved on to Ashardalon and turned that into an actual campaign loosely based on Gates of Firestorm peak with leveling and other campaign rules. My kids LOVED it. My daughter even kept a journal. I have a log at BGG.

    My next target game to play with them that I feel gives that RPG experience without investing tons in time as a DM will be Descent 2. Descent 1 is too heavy for me and my kids to play as a campaign but Descent2 sounds perfect.

    I also expect Dungeon Command will be playable with my kids. My son loves Attacktix and both my son and daughter (eldest) love Heroscape. We turned each boxed set into a campaign.

    Dungeon is being remade? I own every version :)

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  6. That was one catchy title. You sound like the responsible father that you are. :) Making time to bond with your girls is very likable of you, do you know that? I’m glad you’ve found a common thing between you and your daughters in board games. Some activity you would totally enjoy doing while sharpening their way of thinking.

    Esmeralda Tabarez

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