To say that it is normal for families to play board games

[Millimat]

Am I delusional to think that families do this? DH hates playing board or card games and this is influencing my DCs opinions. I’m not on about when children are little and it’s about learning rules and turn taking, I’m on about just as a pastime to do as a family activity.
it’s a lighthearted question but I’m intrigued as to how many of you out there play board and card games at home.

@Millimat Not delusional but I do think there are families that just don’t play them and maybe that was your DH family.

Maybe finding one he likes might be the key if he’s prepared to try. My son got race around the world for xmas and I was really dubious of he it would translate to a board game but it’s the best new game I’ve played in ages. @Pepperedpickles is great to play with only two as well as multiplayer.

Strange.

I’m guessing you’re actually more relaxed and less uptight and angry in real life. 😁

Yes. It’s a good way to spend time together and off devices (as long as DC2 wins…).

They’re teenagers so tends to be Christmas and I’ll take some on a self catering holiday, or when grandma is over. But we played quite a lot when they were aged about 8 to 12.

Really you think people who like the outdoors or like cooking from scratch are performing?!? Obviously you don’t like board games, outdoor stuff or cooking, but everybody is different! Some people will love to do one or more of those three things. There’s no need to have such contempt for such people. Cooking from scratch at home and treating a child to a McDonald’s are not mutually exclusive! Many people cook from scratch and eat out or take their children to McDonald’s.

we played a lot of board games growing up and it was great.
My DH didn't and hates it, so when our DC were younger he used to force himself, but eventually stopped. DC love playing board games now, as adults, with their adult friends and we do play some games when they come round.

I think they are a fabulous thing to do, and would recommend age appropriate games as much as possible.

@Millimat I can totally see the interactional/social aspects of it but I've always, since childhood, thought of them as "bored games"

CAH or Codenames is about my dead strength, at a very reluctant push though😆

We play a lot over holidays, usually uno, traditional card games, monopoly, cluedo, labyrinth, scrabble

DH is teaching us all blackjack this summer holiday!

DC are 11 and 14

We play board games often. It’s part of our family tradition at weekends and brings us all together. We also take board games away with us on holidays! We also do trivia cards and ‘would you rather’ books. It’s opens up debate and lets us discuss how we’d handle situations ☺️ and absolutely love it!

How can it be performance if it’s in the privacy of their own home and not on social media? I don’t see lots of board game social media posts but I know loads of people that ply them as a family.

We don't really. We are a ND family and noonr has the patience.
We try occassionally, but we do like chess.
I used to love them when I was little though.

We’re similar. We do, and we enjoy it, but usually too busy with work, school and hobbies.

We do enjoy them when we play them.

During Covid we played every Thursday evening which was lovely

I absolutely get this! I keep trying…

Yes I’m sure the reason dh doesn’t like then is because they never played then as a family when he was young.

My DH isn't a fan of board games or card games. I love them and our adult DDs and their partners love them too. I have to wait until I see them to get my game fix.

Well we did when I was a child (and jigsaws), but we didn't have the internet then (and there were 4 TV channels). It's pretty hard to convince modern kids that snakes and ladders or whatever is more exciting than the other stuff they have to entertain them now.

Why?’

I think it’s a real shame that Monopoly has poisoned so many people against board games. If that’s your frame of reference, I’d really encourage you to give them another chance, and try some of the many brilliant games suggested on this thread.

I don’t think it would be enjoyable or healthy to compete against a child ‘for fun’. Neither of us would enjoy it. We do lots of other things together. Thank you for the suggestion but it’s not something I’d want to start.

God Monopoly is probably the worst of the board games! There’s loads of great board games out there, especially with kids.

Some of the ones we like.

With kids:

Outfoxed
Exploding Kittens
Animal Antics
Minecraft game
Bluey Scavenger Hunt
Shopping game from Orchard Toys
Picture charade cards for non/early readers
The Best Worst Ice Cream
Can You See It
The Sock Game
Dobble

For adults/older kids

Logo game
Tension
The Best Of games
Quizztimate
Cards Against Humanity
Outsmarted
Exit escape games
221B Baker Street

We try to have a weekly family night, it might be a movie but more often than not is a game. It might be a board game, card game or game on the switch or ps. But time together off phones

It was just me and my mum growing up and we did a lot of board games! The Game of Life was a big hit with us and The Great Railway Game of Britain. I always wanted to play Monopoly, she was less keen. Now I understand why

I hate board games and find them tedious, but I guess we do equivalent things - we play outside with them, do bowling, DD sometimes plays pool with us and darts with us (in the house, we don’t take her to the pub thats frowned upon these days lol).

My dad plays cards with them at his house, it’s kind of their thing so I leave him to it. Caught him “gambling” with them for chocolate coins this Christmas and wasn’t exactly thrilled but I think they learned a lesson since grandad absolutely cleared them both out.

I mean, charades is a classic that gets played a lot, it's not a 'board game' though.

See also, 'the rizla game' where one is given a character by another player that one sticks to their forehead and has to guess who it is. Obviously goes in rounds, if one gets it wrong, it moves on to the next player.

Who doesn't love this schizzle?

Mad people. That's who.

If you don’t like the idea of competitive games (especially if you have some very competitive relatives) there are more and more collaborative board games on the market, so encourages working together not against each other.

Also if you are the only board game player in the family but have family members living elsewhere who like to play, some games can be played via FaceTime if you both have the same board games. Takes a bit of practice and some games won’t work this way but some do work quite well

Mine are all adults now but we still play board games and a range of card games.

When ds1 left for university the other dc suggested a regular games night to take their mind off missing him and it became part of our week.

8 years later it's no longer a regular event due to dc other commitments, but we do still enjoy each other's company when we get out a game.