Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6

Original poster

to HATE children's board games?

127 replies

ILoveDrKarl · 08/05/2011 15:31

OK - so I know I probably am - but my heart fills with dread when any of my children receive board games as presents, because I'll have to play the dreadful things!

My 2 eldest children are 6 & 3 so not at the age yet when they can go off and play games against each other, meaning we have to play the games with them.

Don't get me wrong - I love playing with my kids and I also love board games - but these kiddie games are DIRE and I HATE them with a vengence!

Currently trying to avoid playing a no doubt lengthy game of "Frustration"....

OP posts:

junkcollector · 08/05/2011 21:01

Yeah Mousetrap...aaaarrrghghg kill me now!

DS1 redesigns the lego games so that as long as he sits in the right place no one else can possibly win. You don't realise this until half way through though...

Mandy2003 · 08/05/2011 21:11

YANBU!

How about Junior Scrabble, the one with all the easy words in

strandednomore · 08/05/2011 21:14

'Mummy, can we play Mousetrap' sends shivers down my spine. 'Yes, darling. As long as you don't mind taking approximately 3 weeks to set the board up'

I have the same feeling whenever they mention the Bees game. Must get round to quietly throwing that one out....

Fennel · 08/05/2011 21:19

Board games are the thing that make me actually think it was worth having children close in age, which seemed a great idea pre-babies, and a rather silly idea with 3 under 5s. But it has meant that I don't have to play many board games.
I have just been playing Boggle tonight, but I like word games, you can play that from about 6 up, just make slightly different rules for the semi-literate. And chess has been a surprising success too, the dds love it though DP and I don't like it, they will play it for ages and even young children can manage that surprisingly well.

sheepgomeep · 08/05/2011 21:22

yanbu I hate them too

nightcat · 08/05/2011 21:23

My ds is older, but the most played is scrabble (on old gameboy), it goes everywhere with us and the beauty of it is that it can be played against a virtual opponent or actual opponent by handing the console across, most played game ever here.

I had realised that my (only) ds missed out a bit on peer interaction (+ he has some SN) so we are trying backtrack and we just got Game of Life (not yet played) and toying with the idea of Ticket to ride..

sheepgomeep · 08/05/2011 21:23

although I quite like monopoly and scrabble.

dp and i do drunk scrabble from time to time, tis quite fun

Fennel · 08/05/2011 21:26

I love scrabble, what age do you think a child can play proper scrabble from? We've only tried junior scrabble which hasn't really appealed.

Upwords is OK, that can be played at different levels.

cakeretention · 08/05/2011 21:29

Try playing "Ticket to ride", "Settlers of Catan", "Carcassonne" or other similar games that (for some reason) aren't available in most toy shops. These games have real depth, and can be as challenging and interesting for adults as they are for children. Our dcs are 9 and 7 and love them, but would have trouble getting the point of "classics" such as Mouse Trap or Buckeroo...

nightcat · 08/05/2011 21:39

thanks cake, I was a tad worried maybe Ticket to ride too complex but if yours 9 & 7 like it then mine (teen) would probably be able to handle it, thank you for the suggestion :)

nightcat · 08/05/2011 21:39

PS. mouse trap only got played ONCE :(

cakeretention · 08/05/2011 21:44

The instructions for TTR and others can be a bit daunting, but it's worth the effort I promise :)

nightcat · 08/05/2011 21:46

I will see if Game of Life goes OK and if so, TTR might be on the Christmas list :)

PandaG · 08/05/2011 21:50

TTR a favourite here too - we like Settlers, not played it with the DC though

munstersmum · 08/05/2011 21:55

Had to sit through 3 consecutive games of junior Monopoly one afternoon - never again. Really not got the patience for Buckaroo. Spend enough time picking plastic tat off the floor anyway.

Best game is Callisto, about 3 rules in total, allows for a little strategy & takes no more than 15 mins. (DS is yr2).

Thumbs up also for the smaller Lego game Lava dragon.

DoubleDegreeStudent · 08/05/2011 22:30

Oh Rummikub is fantastic - I used to work at a summer camp and there were board games for late club. All the staff used to hang around and play even after the children had gone. We had teams (because 9 staff and two children just doesn't work...).

If there is any way you can face it, PLEASE teach your children to play chess when they are little. We had a chess club at primary school and all the people who joined it could already play (I was only about 7, so I'm not sure this is strictly true, but it felt like it at the time) and so I didn't join because I didn't know how to play and was embarrassed and got my dad to teach me at home. By the time I got the hang of it the "competition" had started and I wasn't allowed to join because the rounds had already been sorted [still bitter emoticon]

LynetteScavo · 08/05/2011 22:35

The only childrens board game I like (and I have a cupboard full of the bloody things) is the Tummy Ache game.

I would rather change a nappy than play the bus stop game. Ohhh, how many people are going to get off at this stop? Who cares, lets just watch a DVD.

sleepywombat · 09/05/2011 00:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bemybebe · 09/05/2011 00:39

I LOVE Rummikub!!!!!!!!!!

melpomene · 09/05/2011 00:40

Snakes and ladders is utter tedium - no skill involved, and just when you think the end is in sight someone goes down a ladder. And of course the dcs want to keep playing until every player reaches the end.

Orchard Toys games are great though - have you got the Shopping List game, OP? My dds could play that without help at 3 and 5, similarly with tummy ache game, picture pairs and other variations on the lotto theme.

And they'll be able to play Uno in a couple of years, which is great fun.

I agree with the poster above who mentioned the complex games featuring babyish characters. We bought the Hungry Caterpillar game (labelled suitable from age 3) and dh and I ended up in hysterical laughter because we simply couldn't understand the rules (and we know how to play Bridge, by way of comparison). I ended up ebaying it.

jjkm · 09/05/2011 01:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MollyMurphy · 09/05/2011 02:25

Ah thats too bad OP - I LOVE just about any board game and its a nice relationship building activity away from tv and technology.

DontCallMePeanut · 09/05/2011 03:45

YANBU buuuuuuuuuuuuut I love board games Can't wait til DS is old enough to play them :)

FreudianSlipOnACrown · 09/05/2011 08:01

Can any of you tell me HOW to play proper Mahjong? My parents have a gorgeous ancient set of tiles but without instructions and I couldn't understand what I found online can a kind MNer please tell me the gist of it?

sieglinde · 09/05/2011 08:49

Mine love a card game called The Queen's Necklace, and also Shakespeare, the Bardgame, which though fearsomely educational they adore. Ds went through an awful phase of getting us all to play games featuring busty maidens and ugly orcs. It's over, thank God.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6