There were some wonderful comments to my recent post about board games that were
insightful and absolutely correct and that have inspired me to throw open
my own game cabinet for all of you and share what my kids have loved
over the years. (Hint: we're not talking Candyland here, although we own it).
Toddler/Preschool:
The Ravensburger
games we own are perfect for this age. Snail's
Pace Race (where you race, uh, snails, and you root for all the snails so there are no
big tears for the loser if it's you) and Picture Perfect (guess the
shape in the bag! and match the shape to the cards!) are
wonderful first games, and Mystery Garden, a kind of twenty questions
game, is great for slightly older kids. (Note: Ravensburger
also makes some wonderful games for older kids as well as a huge
variety of stunning jigsaw puzzles)
Preschool: We have some great games by Haba that fit this category: Chubby Cheeks and Bauer, Schnell!
(the Farmer Game) are both cooperative games where everyone works
together to complete a task (gathering food for hungry hamsters;
feeding all the animals at the farm) before a deadline.
Ages
5 and Up: Both my 7-year old and my 11-year old love all the
games by Family Pastimes, a maker of really unusual cooperative
games. The hands-down favorite has got to be Caves and Claws,
where the game is different every time because you set up the board
differently every time. Funny Face is a miming game a little like Charades; Round-Up and The Adventures Of Harley will have you rounding up horses or searching for a dog's favorite things; Harvest Time pits you against nature as you struggle to plant and harvest a crop before winter, and The Secret Door has you strategizing together to solve a mystery. We also own Maze,
which is vaguely chess-like but again requires you to set up the board
beforehand in some configuration (different every time) while working
together to strategize.
Another
great game we owned but haven't actually played yet (still being
squirreled away for future presentation) is Carcassonne, a wildly
popular strategy game found along with a lot of other great games at
Funagain Games. I could go on and on. Chess, Go, Risk, Backgammon... What games does your
family love that are somewhat "out of the box"?
