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Post 27 Sep 2014, 2:53 pm

I think there used to be a thread about family appropriate games. If not, well, here's one.

My daughters enjoy many games, especially the older one (Rita - 8 years). If you have any suggestions for us, it would be greatly appreciated. Below, I've reviewed a couple of titles recently added to my collection. We also play Ticket to Ride & Dominion.

Takenoko. Put this one on the wish list and received it for Xmas. I thought it looked about right for the girls and it was mostly a hit. Zoe, the six-year old lost interest but I just finished a game with Rita and she kicked my butt. The mechanics take some getting used to but easy after that. There is some strategic thinking involved which makes it interesting for adults.

Flash Point. Bought this about six months ago on a recommendation from a player in the SC game. I think this is an outstanding title for family play - it's a cooperative game wherein everyone wins or everyone loses. The theme is pretty engaging (putting out a massive fire while trying to save potential victims) and mechanics fairly simple. The complexity can be ramped up in several ways including specialty player roles and tougher set-up. Rita's not a big fan - she doesn't like it when the dog dies in the fire. We always seem to save the cat, though,

Battle Cry. Wargame light. The mechanics are just easy enough for the girls to manage and enough strategy to entertain the adults. Rita is actually quite good, having won the First Battle at Bull Run & Pea Ridge. This game is based on the one most of us had as kids but was much improved with the re-issue about fifteen years ago. If you buy, get the 150th anniversary edition - it has a lot more scenarios to play. There are other titles that use the same type of game mechanics (Memoir '44 and the Command & Colors series).
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 4:55 am

SLOTerp wrote:I think there used to be a thread about family appropriate games. If not, well, here's one.

My daughters enjoy many games, especially the older one (Rita - 8 years). If you have any suggestions for us, it would be greatly appreciated. Below, I've reviewed a couple of titles recently added to my collection. We also play Ticket to Ride & Dominion.

Takenoko. Put this one on the wish list and received it for Xmas. I thought it looked about right for the girls and it was mostly a hit. Zoe, the six-year old lost interest but I just finished a game with Rita and she kicked my butt. The mechanics take some getting used to but easy after that. There is some strategic thinking involved which makes it interesting for adults.
not seen this one. Sounds good. By the same maker is Tsuro, which has a pretty easy mechanic. My be a bit tough for younger kids as it means thinking a move or two ahead and looking at the whole board.

Flash Point. Bought this about six months ago on a recommendation from a player in the SC game. I think this is an outstanding title for family play - it's a cooperative game wherein everyone wins or everyone loses. The theme is pretty engaging (putting out a massive fire while trying to save potential victims) and mechanics fairly simple. The complexity can be ramped up in several ways including specialty player roles and tougher set-up. Rita's not a big fan - she doesn't like it when the dog dies in the fire. We always seem to save the cat, though,
I have played this a few times, and I do like that it can be set at a very tough level or a fairly easy one

Battle Cry. Wargame light. The mechanics are just easy enough for the girls to manage and enough strategy to entertain the adults. Rita is actually quite good, having won the First Battle at Bull Run & Pea Ridge. This game is based on the one most of us had as kids but was much improved with the re-issue about fifteen years ago. If you buy, get the 150th anniversary edition - it has a lot more scenarios to play. There are other titles that use the same type of game mechanics (Memoir '44 and the Command & Colors series).
As a fan of C&C Ancients, I did enjoy this as well. If an 8-year old can play it, then I think she's destined for great things in the hobby. Be very afraid, SLOTerp.

A friend of a friend invented a little dice game that's like Yahtzee with fruit - apparently it'll see a major publisher soon and may cross the Atlantic. It's called Flippin' Fruits

Another one that seems fun for all ages is Hanabi - a co-op where you try to build fireworks displays using cards of the same colour and increasing value. the twist is you can't see your cards, only everyone else's and you can only give them limited clues as to what they have. So a good memory test.
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 8:03 am

I always liked Enemy in Sight which is a card based game of age of sail naval battles.

Haven't played it with my girls yet so don't know if it is family focused or not.
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 9:07 am

My boys like Flash Point, but like Pandemic better. It also teaches the kids a little about geography.

The best Euro-type game for kids, I think, is Stone Age. I can also sell it to my wife as a kind of math game, which makes it educational!

And it's really hard to beat Ticket to Ride for easy to learn fun for the whole family. We taught Bubbie (i.e. grandma) how to play it about a year ago and we had a three generation game going where everyone had a good time.
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 9:37 am

danivon wrote:As a fan of C&C Ancients, I did enjoy this as well. If an 8-year old can play it, then I think she's destined for great things in the hobby. Be very afraid, SLOTerp.
I'm looking forward to taking her to a gaming convention. Perhaps WBC's next year.

Archduke Russell John wrote:I always liked Enemy in Sight which is a card based game of age of sail naval battles.

Haven't played it with my girls yet so don't know if it is family focused or not.

Never played that one but I do have Wooden Ships & Iron Men. I'll probably trot that one out in a few more years as it's one of those older AH titles with little cardboard counters chock full of information. Those AH games can have thick rulebooks as well.

geojanes wrote:My boys like Flash Point, but like Pandemic better. It also teaches the kids a little about geography.

I have it but was afraid it might be too difficult. Given your experience, I'll think I'll have to give it a go with the girls.

Another Euro-game they like is Small World. Fun game & anybody can win (I typically don't).
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 9:48 am

Btw, Stone Age is on my wish list. That looked like a good family game - thanks for the confirmation.
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Post 28 Sep 2014, 7:08 pm

Hey, guys! Have you tried Carcasonne? It is fairly easy to learn, at least for kids 8 and older. My gaming group trots it out now and then, because it can be a lot of fun.

If you don't want to worry about being PC, give BANG! a try. It's also quite fun, easy to learn, and the more players, the better.
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Post 29 Sep 2014, 11:12 am

georgeatkins wrote:Hey, guys! Have you tried Carcasonne? It is fairly easy to learn, at least for kids 8 and older. My gaming group trots it out now and then, because it can be a lot of fun.

If you don't want to worry about being PC, give BANG! a try. It's also quite fun, easy to learn, and the more players, the better.
BANG! Dice is better - quicker and louder
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Post 29 Sep 2014, 12:48 pm

Oh, another one for the whole family is King of Tokyo. Great dice rolling game. Kinda like a much more fun version of Yahtzee with monsters where you can attack people. I've had fun with this one with kids as young as six to a table full of adults.

It's an elimination game, so it violates one of the basic rules of a good game, but since it is usually pretty short you're not out long when you're eliminated. The expansion adds a level of complexity to the game, which I think is worth it. In the basic game the monsters just look different but function exactly the same, whereas the expansion adds rules unique to each monster.

Also, I like Lost Cities, a quick, easy-to-learn, yet challenging two-player that you can play with an adult or a kid.
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Post 29 Sep 2014, 2:43 pm

We play "Get Bit". It is a game that a bunch of robots are swimming, and the one in last place gets an arm or leg bit off. Everyone has the same cards, and the lowest card played will put you at the end of the line. Great fun, and the kids love seeing the robots get the arms and legs ripped off. My 3 year old love to play the role of the shark!

Great game!

http://maydaygames.com/get-bit-original-edition.html
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Post 30 Sep 2014, 6:42 pm

I have girls, our family favorite is Dixit, fantastic art based game, guests really enjoy its uniqueness and can win the first time they play.

Forbidden Island turned out to be a terrific choice to play with younger kids (6+). Technically 10+ is recommended, but it's pretty easy, and littler kids absolutely love being able to be on the same side as everyone else, not to mention the cool treasures.

If you have kids that are big into story telling and make believe then Once Upon a Time is a great choice.

Catan Junior is a great one for kids, you can whip out a round in 20 mins, highly replayable as advertised.
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Post 03 Oct 2014, 12:43 pm

bbauska wrote:We play "Get Bit". It is a game that a bunch of robots are swimming, and the one in last place gets an arm or leg bit off. Everyone has the same cards, and the lowest card played will put you at the end of the line. Great fun, and the kids love seeing the robots get the arms and legs ripped off. My 3 year old love to play the role of the shark!

Great game!

http://maydaygames.com/get-bit-original-edition.html


Hey, that looks like a pretty good one. May very well give it a try.
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Post 03 Oct 2014, 2:26 pm

geojanes wrote:
bbauska wrote:We play "Get Bit". It is a game that a bunch of robots are swimming, and the one in last place gets an arm or leg bit off. Everyone has the same cards, and the lowest card played will put you at the end of the line. Great fun, and the kids love seeing the robots get the arms and legs ripped off. My 3 year old love to play the role of the shark!

Great game!

http://maydaygames.com/get-bit-original-edition.html


Hey, that looks like a pretty good one. May very well give it a try.


Just picked up Redshirts. Cute little card game that involves killing all the "Red Shirts" on the team. Funny Star Trek spoof!
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Post 16 Oct 2014, 6:36 am

I have a few suggestions that my girls liked at that age and a few others. The neat thing about these games is they are good for adults and/or mixed adult/kids.

You probably have Apples to Apples, if not, the kids LOVE this game and it can be fun as adults as well. We have not played in a long while but it had a real long run for many years!
I think everyone has heard of this game by now, but if not it's a simple card game where you are dealt words from the Red apple pile, each player takes a turn picking another word from the green apple pile. Each player tries to match one of his red apple card words to the green apple word. Some of the matches are spot on, others are wildly fun, some make you scratch your head at how people think. It's simple fun with no strategy.

We still play Sequence (just played with another couple while visiting last week)
The kids loved this game and still do as well.
Simple game with some minor strategy. You have a board with every card in the double deck scattered about twice. One eyed jacks can remove cards, two eyed jacks are wild. Players take turns placing a poker chip on a corresponding card on the board as they play from their hand, the object is to get a line of five in a row (similar to Bingo) actually TWO sets of five in a row. It sounds simple and IS that simple but it really is fun though does not require great strategy or much thinking I admit!

I recently bought a game that might work with younger kids ...not sure? My adult kids (young 20's) like it though and depending on your kids, they might as well. Snake Oil is similar to apples to apples where you are dealt several word cards and need to match the "customer" card each player takes turns being. Example on your turn to be the customer you select "Caveman" (or superhero, or teenager, or dentist or whathaveyou) I look at my hand of 5 cards and need to select TWO cards that work together and try to "sell" you on this product. Maybe the words I have a Meat and Club. I try to sell you in why you need a meat club! It can be pretty funny if the people get into it and after a turn or two, they do get into it!

Caracassone is a classic tile laying game with strategy and simplicity, something that always plays different each time. This one appeals to "gamers" while all the rest are the more generic party game croud.

The most popular game in our family right now is Telestrations
It's basically the old "telephone" game you might have played in school where you whisper a story in one persons ear, they whisper it to the next and the next and so on, by the last person the story has wildly changed into something different. Same thing here,
You are given a word and need to draw it (like pictionary ...another fun game for kids) that picture is given to the next person, they write down what they think it is and the next person draws that word, it goes on and one and at the end the original word has changed into something quite different. Points are awarded for the best drawing and the best guess. Trust me, this sounds stupid but is VERY popular and a ton of fun for all.
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Post 14 Jan 2015, 4:04 pm

Image

Machinarium is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design.

We've been playing it on our smartphones, great to play along with the kids and help each other out.