Introduction to Board Games
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed from being a part of social media gaming groups, it’s that most adult board gamers who have a family want their children to be as excited and into gaming as they are, and I’m one of them. I wanted to introduce my children to the world of board games as soon as possible; I lost track of how old my son was when I first started playing games with him, but I do know he was 5 years old when I bought him his first “grown-up” board game, Catan Junior, and from there things quickly progressed away from the basic kids games like picture lotto and onto “proper” board games. So here’s my top pick of some family favourites that are sure to keep your children of all ages entertained over the summer holidays without you having to sit through another round of snap.
Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens is a fairly new addition to our collection of games but it’s been played so many times I know it’s a favourite for everyone in my family. We have played Exploding Kittens with friends, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and everyone has had great fun with it. The rules are fairly simple with one key rule: Don’t explode. Players take it in turns to play cards from their hand which allows the player to do things like take a look at the top cards in the draw pile, shuffle the draw pile, take a card from another player, or force another player to take an extra turn, all the time avoiding the exploding kitten cards in the deck. At the end of each player’s turn, they draw a card, and if they draw an exploding kitten, you diffuse it or you lose.
What we love about Exploding Kittens – It’s easy to learn, quick to play, fun for everyone, cute (and funny) artwork, totally replayable over and over again, and you can buy expansion sets to change up the fun.
Does Exploding Kittens have any cons? – Younger gamers need to be able to read, at least a bit, to play this game.
Minecraft: Builders and Biomes
Whilst I haven’t played this all that much, it’s a great take on the video game and a lovely way to get your video game mad children off their screens and playing a game they’ll love whilst having fun yourself. It’s a great introduction into board gaming for all school-aged children and something that my son particularly enjoys playing when we get an afternoon for family time. In Minecraft Builders and Biomes, players move around a table of tiles revealing biomes (desert, forest etc), weapons, and monsters, mining cubes from the stack, and constructing their very own farms, bridges, and other buildings. Points are scored at intervals with players being able to get points for having multiple tiles of the same biome, same construction material (wood, obsidian etc), and same type of building, with additional points and other bonuses scored throughout the game from defeating the monsters on your travels.
What we love about Minecraft Builders and Biomes – Features all the familiar aspects of the video game, encourages decision making and logical thinking without being too complex.
Does Minecraft Builders and Biomes have any cons? – Younger children will probably need help with keeping track of their points.
King of Tokyo / King of Tokyo Duel
We don’t actually own King of Tokyo or King of Tokyo Duel but it’s a firm favourite for our boys and we frequently borrow one or the other from our friends whose teenage daughters both enjoy these too. King of Tokyo is for 2-6 players (although best with at least 3) and King of Tokyo Duel is 2 players only. Both games involve the players taking control of their very own monsters and battling it out using dice and power-up cards to be the ultimate monster in Tokyo. King of Tokyo involves dealing damage to your opponents and scoring victory points, whereas the Duel version switches out the victory point system for fame and destruction markers, and both games are equally fun for all ages to play. My personal recommendation would be that if there’s regularly going to be 3 or more players, go for the original King of Tokyo, and if there’s only two of you who would play most of the time, go for King of Tokyo Duel, unless of course you fancy them both!
What we love about King of Tokyo and King of Tokyo Duel – Whilst there is reading involved players don’t need to keep any cards secret so they don’t need to be able to read to play, easy to learn, and quick to set up.
Do King of Tokyo and King of Tokyo Duel have any cons? – I don’t think so! Or not in my opinion anyway.
Sky Team
The newest game in our collection, Sky team is a brilliant two player co-operative game where players take on the roles of pilot and co-pilot to try and safely land a plane. You roll dice and place them on the player board which have different outcomes depending on their placement and value. The aim here is to have to keep the plane moving at the right speed to reach the airport on time, navigate around other aircrafts in the sky, and keep the plane balanced, all whilst turning on the relevant landing gear and powering up the breaks. There are a lot of scenarios to play through with varying difficulty levels which introduce other elements like fuel control and wind to give you a real experience from a pilot’s perspective. Whilst it’s not a game that’s aimed at children, my own children enjoy playing and I know other children who have fun playing this with their parents too.
What we love about Sky Team – It’s co-op so there’s lots of team work and no arguments, there are so many scenarios to play the replayability is fantastic.
Does Sky Team have any cons? – This is definitely a game for the older kids, I wouldn’t recommend it for under 8s, and 8-12s will probably need an adult to play with.
Azul
Azul has quite a few variations but I’m talking about the original Azul game here. We bought this for Christmas back in 2022 and it’s been a hit with the extended family as well as friends. In Azul, players go up against each other to claim mosaic style tiles and place them strategically on their player board to score points. It’s a very simple concept which can be played anywhere from super friendly to very competitively. We taught our child to play at the age of 5 although he needed a lot of help to begin with particularly on how to score points, but he’s now a very confident player and can beat us all frequently! There are two game modes, one for a more challenging play which is more suited to teenagers and adults only.
What we love about Azul – No reading involved, quick to play, encourages strategic thinking.
Does Azul have any cons? – May take a while for younger players to get to grips with how to play competitively.
Kingdomino
Another huge favourite, we play Kingdomino whenever we have a spare 10 minutes as its so quick to set up and is quick to play. Kingdomino is a game perfect for the whole family where 2-4 players take it in turns to claim a tile from the available selection and match it to their existing tiles to create their own kingdom. Points are then scored at the end of the game for all the connecting tiles of the same type. We bought this game many years ago and it still regularly comes out to our table even now our children are a little older. Whilst it’s recommended for ages 8+, a cooperative 3 year old would be able to learn to play with your help.
What we love about Kingdomino – Great for beginner gamers of all ages, no reading involved, simple concept, quick to set up.
Does Kingdomino have any cons? – Young players who haven’t mastered their times tables will need help to score their points.
Skull
Skull, I admit, is a bit of a strange one to put in as a suggestion for entertaining younger gamers, but it’s proved to be great fun, especially with more people, and your older kids could happily sit and play this for hours with their friends. Skull is designed as a party game for 3-6 players where each player has 3 flower tiles and 1 skull tile and has to bluff their way to winning by tricking other people into turning over your skull tile or successfully avoiding other people’s skulls. More suited to entertain your pre-teens and teenagers, I think this game is suitable for around 8 years plus as my own 8 year old loves to play with us, and his grandparents, and his uncle, whenever he can. He’s quickly mastered the art of bluffing, and it’s a creative way to give your older children an outlet for their trickery and deception.
What we love about Skull – It’s really quick to set up and doesn’t take long to play, great for a bigger crowd of players.
Does Skull have any cons? – Not suitable for under 8s, some parents may not like that this game somewhat encourages players to learn to lie! (We personally encourage it in the game so our kids can get it out of their system and know not to keep it up when we aren’t gaming but I know that’s not for everyone).
OK Play
Going on holiday this summer? OK Play is the perfect travel companion for gamers young and old, with 2-4 players it’s suggested age is 8+ but I think players younger than that will enjoy this too as long as you go easy on them! OK play is basically a game of 5 in a row, without gravity or a player board restricting your game placements. Each player has their own stack of tiles in their own colour and players must play new tiles adjacent to an existing one trying to get 5 in a row either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Ok Play can be taken with you wherever you go so it’s perfect for playing whether you’re at the beach, up a mountain, in a tent, or sat at the kitchen table, all you need is a reasonably flat surface and your copy of OK play.
What we love about OK Play – Perfect for travelling with, easy to play, quick to set up, competitive for adults and children alike, and very easy to learn.
Does OK Play have any cons? – Maybe it’s a little abstract or too simple for some of you more experienced gamers out there.
Other Games To Consider
There are loads of family friendly games out there for entertaining your young gamers, some other games you may want to check out that didn’t make it onto my main list but came close are: Catan Junior, Uno, Ticket to Ride First Journey, My Lil’ Everdell, and Dobble.
