Parenthood, or as we like to call it… growing your own board gaming group!
There are so many good reasons to get your kids into tabletop gaming. Increased social skills, the understanding that winning isn’t everything, flexing their imagination, giving their brains a workout, hand/eye coordination… The list goes on and on.
But the best reason? Quality time with those you love and seeing their faces light up with joy… when they thrash you for the first time without you pulling any punches, that is!
We’re going to leave the classics behind and hopefully show you something a bit different for all age groups. Do bear in mind that it’s tricky suggesting ages for games as every child is an individual and will have different tendencies and abilities… but what we have here are tried and tested modern games that we find go down well at our cafes. So without further ado, let’s get a game on!
The younger audience: Fast and Frantic!
Let’s start with Dexterity games. These games are normally short and either based around balance or speedy reactions… Both of these being great skills for young hands and minds to practise.
Rhino Hero
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It’s a rhino?!
Where superheroes meet cute animals and all are welcome to play. The heroic (yet regrettably heavy) Super Rhino is here to save the day. Leaping onto newly constructed buildings, always on the lookout for crime. Let’s hope that the building doesn’t collapse under their weight!
We find this game goes down well with all age groups from the very youngest to the oldest, yet still young at heart. You will be placing folded wall cards onto roof cards and building a tall wobbly tower block. It’s all about getting rid of your cards first and some cards have special rules, the most fun one being when you have to place the cute Rhino Hero character on the building without everything coming tumbling down. If you knock over the tower then the game is over, the winner being the one with the fewest cards left! This is a great game in a small box and once you’ve mastered it then it’s time to upgrade to Rhino Hero: Super Battle (pictured)! Where Giraffe Boy, Big E. and Batguin join in too… and those pesky and mean spider monkeys.
If you lose, shrug it off…. You should be more thick skinned, like the protagonist in this game!
Cobra Paw
‘The Cobra Paw technique can not be taught, only discovered.’
Wise words from Master Meow. Bring to the table the ancient game of Clawfuku and master the art of the Cobra Paw. Honor Master Meow’s memory and who knows, maybe he will rise again?
With a wonderful backstory (trust me, read it out, it will only add to the experience) and simple game play, kids and adults will be entranced by this speedy game of quick reactions. All you do is throw the Catnippon dice and then be first to claim the matching Clawfuku stone from either the central pool or from an opponent’s area.
Really, it’s that simple. What is outstanding is the 6 point code of conduct to promote honourable play practices, else you will be cast into the litter box of shame and banned from future tournaments.
Also, cats dressed as Ninjas.
I should have just led with cats dressed as Ninjas *facepalm*. The purr-fect game. (Sorry, not sorry). I’ve got so many more cat puns but I’ll end there, to do more would be cat-astrophic.
The intermediate audience: Skilled, physically and mentally!
As children get older they can handle a more challenging style of game, here are two ways to meet that! This time we have a skill game and also a light strategy game that hides a nice bit of maths in it.
Ice Cool
Penguins.
There, I learned from the previous recommendation. This has penguins. Done. Sold. Play this.
What, you need more? Well, this is not only cute but addictive. The story is shown in the rulebook as a comic but the idea is… It’s almost lunchtime for the penguins and some cheeky scamps want to get some fish early… but they forgot about the Hall Monitor! Each round a different player is the catcher and plays a game of tag with the other players whilst flicking wibbly wobbly penguins around the beautifully detailed rooms.
With a bit of practice you can get your penguin to go straight, curve through doors and even jump the walls too! It’s a great entry point to other skill games like Crokinole and Carrom but with a cutesy and easily understandable premise. There is a 2nd set too that can increase the player count or be blended with the first game to create racetracks.
Yeah, Ice Cool. It’s where the penguins go to learn… Say it out loud… Hear the pun… Now you get it? I’m wondering when they will make the musical version… was that a groan? You deserved that.
Kingdomino
Knocking the spots off of dominoes…
Expand your Kingdom over the lands… the competition is hot to get the best locations before the other Lords and Ladies, gather large areas and make sure they are rich in resources to be the best Kingdom around!
With a wonderful spin on dominoes, this is truly an award-winning modern classic. We’ve taught this to so many ages and gamers and non-gamers alike… They all love the decision space in this wonderful, yet quick game.
You’re going to be placing domino-like tiles to create your own little kingdom. As long as one of the types of land on your domino matches a bordering one when you place it then your kingdom spreads. There is a lovely decision to make at the start of each round, you get to see a bunch of dominoes between all the players and choose the one you want. If it’s a high scorer then you are likely going later in the turn order next turn but if it’s got more common lands on it and less resources then you will get an earlier pick next round. A great lesson for young and old minds alike.
At the end of the game you multiply the size of each matching area of land by the number of resources (crowns) in it and add it all up for your score, yeah… maths skills!
Like Kingdomino? Well there are expansions, a further game with new rules called Queendomino and other spin-offs too in Kingdomino: Origins and Kingdomino: Duel. The fun keeps on growing (exponentially?).
So, who ever said that maths isn’t needed in real life? Board Games are real life, yeah? They are. Don’t say otherwise. This is the real ‘product’. That’s a nerdy maths joke. Multiplication…product… always better when it’s explained. Always.
The older audience… Communication and Miscommunication
Social skills, imagination, bluffing. Teaching kids how to consider how others think is very much key to their social growth. It’s pretty fun for adults too. Please note: we take no responsibility if your offspring uses their new found skills for evil and nefarious purposes…
Are we sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…
Dixit
Imagination and communication, how we think about and interact with the outside world is so important. Learning, practising and enhancing these skills are truly useful talents at any age. One of the best places to start in a gaming way is Dixit.
These beautiful dream-like illustrated cards are the centrepiece of this wonderful game. Each round there will be a storyteller: they’ll choose one of their cards and form a short sentence describing it and place it face down on the table. All others will place a card that they feel captures the essence of the same story and then once revealed all non-storyteller players vote on which card they think is the original. There is always a twist, describe too badly and everyone else gets points, but not you. Do too good a job and again, everyone else gets points, but not you. If any other card is chosen as well as yours, that player gets points and you, along with the correct guessers get points too.
So, getting that sweet spot of description, ‘good enough’ but not too good… is a wonderful yet simple thought process, just as good as trying to pick a picture from your hand that matches the story given…
They have done so many expansions and more recently a beautifully illustrated Disney version was created too (pictured!). They even have spin-off games with slightly differing rules sets like Stella and Odyssey.
So tell a tale or two… you’ll be voting for this game over and over again…
The Chameleon
Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma….
Yeah… you know where this one is going. Blend in. Like a chameleon. In The Chameleon.
This is a quick and simple deception and deduction game. One of you is the eponymous chameleon and the others need to find them. A grid of words (or pictures, like the version pictured here) is placed out and everyone but the chameleon knows which of these is the secret word… everybody says a word related to the secret, the chameleon tries to blend in, and then everyone votes on who the chameleon is. Caught the chameleon? They can still win, if they can figure out the secret word from the clues given! Didn’t catch the chameleon, crafty chameleon, have some points!
Be too obvious and the chameleon wins, be too obtuse and risk being named as the chameleon. Bluffing and deduction wrapped up in a simple yet fun package. Who doesn’t love the thrill of the chase or the excitement of being able to hide?
So, a chameleon walks into a bar, sits down with a sigh, turns to the barkeep and says, ‘‘if my partner calls…’
‘Got it’, says the barkeep, ‘I didn’t see you.’
*rolls eyes* Heh! Rolls eyes! So worth it.
__
There are so many more great games for families out there… so much so that we’ll probably do a few more of these blogs recommending more (like this one!).