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Maybe you grew up on the same standard set of games I did. Things like Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit. Maybe you’ve ventured into things like The Settlers of Catan in recent years. But did you know there are dozens of creative, family friendly games out there to choose from?
If you’re like us, you are always looking for fun things that the whole family can participate in. Especially as kids hit the teenage years, it can be difficult to engage.
Welcome to the Next Wave of Family Board Games!
When our kids were little, we played Candyland and Hungry Hungry Hippos like most parents, because that’s what you do.
The next “tier” of games is traditionally Monopoly or Sorry! territory. We played these as well, but were soon looking for something more.
That’s when we discovered Ticket to Ride. Or, ‘The Gateway Game’ as we’ve called it. Ticket to Ride was the first family game that we all played in which everyone actually enjoyed the game itself. It’s simple enough for elementary aged kids, but strategic enough for adults.
At first, we played “Cards Up“, so we could help the boys with matching and strategy. But they soon caught on and we had a new favorite.
Ever since then, we’ve found lots of interesting, fun games that engage us all..and we still play Ticket to Ride sometimes!
Board Gaming Guys
My husband has been into strategy and role play board games his whole life, which I have affectionately dubbed his, “Dork Games”. These are games with orcs and elves and epic battles.
Now that our boys are teenagers, they game with my husband and have a group of guys that they get together with regularly.
So our dilemma has been to find games that both my gaming family and I can enjoy.
Just so you know… in order to make my list, a game had to meet these simple requirements:
- The instructions can’t take as long to give as the game does to play.
- While creatures may appear in the game, I do not have to be or act like one. And the less orcs the better.
- They are not games in which players target other players as a large component of the game. I call this the “Will I cry?” requirement. (When we first got married, my husband convinced me to play Risk with him. After building up my army successfully, he completely wiped me out. I cried. We haven’t played Risk since.)
Here are a few that the gamers and non-gamers among us enjoy:
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7 Wonders Each player is given one of the 7 great cities of the ancient world. You gather resources, build up your military, and construct your ‘wonder’. It’s pseudo-educational as well, since you’re dealing with things like The Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
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Castles of Mad King Ludwig Our newest favorite! This is a tile-laying game in which each player is building their own castle, one room at at time. An interesting note: The game is based on King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built Neuschwanstein (the castle that inspired the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle).
The last game I want to share with you is actually a series called, “Mystery Rummy.” These are straight up card games that my husband and I tend to play together – just the two of us – although you can play with more. They are not deeply strategic. There are several in the series, but the two that we like best are Jack the Ripper and Al Capone. (We’ve tried others in the series and not enjoyed them as much). They follow basic rummy rules of making melds, but add in some extra features that make them a little more engaging.
More games we love:
Two New Games We’re Loving (hint: I’m making Butter Beer for one of them!)
The Tradition of a Family Game for Christmas (and our latest time travelling find)
You can find lots more games we love here.
Most days there is at least one out on some table in the house. And yes, there have been nights we’ve eaten dinner in front of the TV because there was a massive game spread out on our dining room table.
I’d love to know which games your family enjoys. We’re always looking to add to our game closet!
Lisa/Syncopated Mama says
August 17, 2016 at 6:15 amI love games and these sound like some really fun ideas. Pinned so I can check them out when our daughter gets older!
Susan says
August 17, 2016 at 7:55 amThanks, Lisa! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. My husband and I just played Mystery Rummy last night!
Ima says
October 10, 2016 at 6:22 amThey look like so much fun
Thanks for sharing!
Susan says
October 10, 2016 at 8:56 amI’m glad you stopped by, Ima. Hope you found something you’d like to try. Have a great day!
Shopgirl Anonymous says
December 11, 2016 at 11:03 pmGame night is all business in our household! I’m a puzzle person so I love Quirkle and Rummikub, but my husband prefers games like every variation of Risk and card games such as Magic. 🙂 And sometimes we throw it back with The Game of Life!
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Susan says
December 12, 2016 at 12:27 amI have some Magic players at my house, too. I hope you give some of these a try, you might find them to be a good middle ground.
Kristi Goldsberry says
December 28, 2016 at 12:43 amMy kids enjoy Ice Cool, Exploding Kittens. I like Paperback–fun word game (my husband did the art for that one so maybe I’m biased!).
Susan says
December 28, 2016 at 3:57 pmI love hearing about new games! Checking out the ones you mentioned now. Paperback looks impressive… a mix of deck building and word game…LOVE! Kudos to your husband, too, the artwork is fantastic!
Robin says
December 29, 2016 at 4:27 pmWe LOVE “Ticket to Ride”. Some others we have and love are, Sleuth, Catan, Castle Panic, Apples to Apples, Carcassonne, Tokaido, and Takenoko. A new game we just got is “S’quarrels”. It’s a LOT of fun!
Susan says
January 2, 2017 at 3:32 pmLove Catan and Apples to Apples. I haven’t heard of the others…will definitely be checking them out tonight! Thanks.
Susan Evans says
September 26, 2017 at 10:19 amMy kids love Ticket to Ride.
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John Notgrass says
January 31, 2018 at 3:14 pmThis made me chuckle, as it sounds like my wife and I are similar to you and your husband in our gaming preferences. 🙂
Susan says
January 31, 2018 at 9:39 pmI knew we weren’t alone!! Tell your wife I feel her pain. hahaha
Kimberly says
March 6, 2018 at 5:17 pmFluxx is a card game with several variants, our favorite is Zombie Fluxx.
Our youngest is fond of Robot Turtles.
We also all enjoy Machi Koro.
We have found several games our family loves at Board Game Geek:
https://boardgamegeek.com
They have lots of reviews, so we’ve been able to find games that we can all enjoy.
Also, we have a fantastic “FLGS” (Friendly Local Game Store) that has a knowledgeable staff and lots of demo games available – a double win!
Susan says
March 6, 2018 at 5:36 pmFluxx and Machi Koro are great suggestions! (Haven’t played Robot Turtles). Valeria is another game that is kind of like Machi Koro in game play, but has the addition that every player gets something on every turn, which we like. And Board Game Geek is an OUTSTANDING resource! Thanks for sharing!
Jenelle Schmidt says
December 11, 2018 at 8:22 amOooh, we haven’t played Castles or Smash Up… those sound fun! We love board games (our kids range from 1 – 10 right now, so 7 Wonders is a bit beyond them… though I love playing it).
Some of our favorites include:
Through the Desert
Dragonwood (whole family favorite)
Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters (great for the 3-6 year olds but also fun for adults)
Forbidden Island
Dungeon! (takes a bit longer to play/explain, but the kids love it)
Clue (the new card game version)
For the slightly older kids:
Star Realms
Sentinels
I look forward to the days when the kids can play Shadows Over Camelot and Avalon with us 🙂 🙂
Susan says
December 11, 2018 at 11:19 amTHANK YOU for all of these suggestions!! <3 <3 We really liked the card game version of Clue a lot when our boys were younger, too.