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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Best family board game?

110 replies

ScariestFairyByFar · 12/11/2012 00:26

Looking for a present for step brothers family don't see them much but will see then at Xmas was thinking a game for them all would be good but need ideas.


MNHQ Update
We appreciate this thread is a little old now, but if you’ve come across it while on the hunt for similar recommendations, our guide to the best board games has been recently updated to reflect current availability and new releases. It’s been compiled based on advice from Mumsnet users as well as consumer reviews with fun for the whole family in mind. We hope it’s helpful! Flowers

OP posts:
jellybeans · 12/11/2012 15:02

Harry Potter Cluedo (older ones), Ghostly Galleon, Pop up Pirate, Bop it,

KittyLilith · 12/11/2012 15:20

Oh no :( I was looking forward to getting it. We usually love lego here. I'm off to check that thread now.

niminypiminy · 12/11/2012 15:46

Carcassonne is a brilliant game, and easily adaptable for younger children. There's a junior version called Kids of Carcasonne which we didn't get much use out of, but it works for children 6 and under. Carcassonne though is an excellent investment as it is great for adults as well.

Uno is an excellent card game (very addictive).

We also like Pass the Bomb, Ticket to Ride, Pop to the Shops, Animal Safari (both Orchard), Dominoes and Snakes and Ladders.

fuzzpig · 12/11/2012 15:57

This thread is turning expensive :o

joanbyers · 12/11/2012 16:05

Ticket To Ride is good, but Ticket To Ride: Europe is a more modern/tuned/geographically relevant version.

Carcassonne bit tedious for me.

BartimaeusNeedsMoreSleep · 12/11/2012 16:22

Uno works for all ages I think (very easy rules and quite easy to fix so little ones don't cry!).

Coppit is fab - we've even played it as adults (drink was involved) and it was fun.

Pass the pigs is good too.

Jungle speed is good too but can get violent!

I think for those ages you need something simple but fast moving, that doesn't involve too much knowledge (like words etc.)

A great card game is "pig" also known as spoons.
Ordinary pack of cards. Pick out enough sets of 4 cards for each player (i.e. if there's 5 players pick out all the kings, jacks, tens, fives and twos).

Shuffle and deal out all the cards (so four each).

One person is designated to say "go". Everytime they say go, everyone places one card, face down, to their left. You then pick up the card from your right.

The idea is to get 4 matching cards (say all the kings). You keep going until one person has 4 matching cards. Whoever gets it first puts their finger on their nose (silently so as not to give the game away).

If you see someone put their finger on their nose then you copy them, even if you haven't got 4 identical cards.

The last person to put their finger on the nose is the pig. The variant with spoons is more violent - whoever gets a set of 4 cards grabs a spoon and everyone else follows suit. There's one fewer spoon than the number of players so one person won't have one. It can result in quite a tussle though. Grin

Hope that's clear! It's a great game and very cheap Smile

BartimaeusNeedsMoreSleep · 12/11/2012 16:36

crap just re-read OP - thought it was suggestions for games to play at Christmas Blush

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 12/11/2012 16:43

No no Bart, thank you for posting that! I had completely forgotten about Spoons! Used to play it as a child and loved it - now I'm all excited about teaching it to the DDs!

MyCatsRule · 12/11/2012 16:46

Rapidough is fab - play dough version of pictionary. It's great fun and very quick!

3b1g · 12/11/2012 16:50

We're really into our board games and we've tried most of the ones mentioned on here. With a two year old, you'd need something where reading isn't required, but still interesting enough to engage the sixteen year old. These are all games that I'd consider to be suitable for any age but also fun:
Hedbanz for Kids
Uno Extreme (need to be able to read numbers to 9)
Wobally
Lego Creationary
The last two contain small pieces so two year old would be to be past the stage of putting things in his mouth.

frenchfancy · 12/11/2012 17:24

Ticket to ride is definately our number one family favourite game.

nondomesticgoddess · 12/11/2012 17:46

Pit (loud and fun card game)
Yahtzee (dice game)

justaboutchilledout · 12/11/2012 18:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BirdyArms · 12/11/2012 18:41

Monopoly Deal - card game version of Monopoly, I can't recommend it highly enough. We have taken it on two holidays with other families and each time both children and adults have got addicted to it. Unlike the board game version it only takes about 15 minutes to finish a game. 5 year old DS2 can play and it's also fun for adults. Everyone needs one! (but make sure you buy the UK version, for some reason the US version seems to be more widely available.)

nooka · 12/11/2012 18:52

Not a board game, but Toss Your Cookies is silly and fun for older and younger children. I don't think that you are likely to find a game that really works for such a wide age range, probably better to find something aimed at younger children and add a different gift for the older child. Something like a pack of UNO cards is not very expensive (playable by a six year old but not a two year old).

diabolo · 12/11/2012 19:40

Risk - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_(game)

World domination game and totally addictive. Since DH and DS taught me how to play, I haven't lost a game. Grin

harrietspy · 12/11/2012 20:02

More votes for Ticket to Ride and Blokus.

Yama · 12/11/2012 20:24

Of all the games we've had, this one was played the most - Tummy Ache.

I'm talking young kids.

Agree this thread is becoming expensive as Blokus, Ingenious, Labyrinth, Set and Animal Upon Animal are all looking mighty tempting.

AliOT · 12/11/2012 21:00

Ingenious was our game of last Christmas, 6 year old DD and 10 year DS coped no problem although DH and I enjoyed it more and sat up playing late! Have just ordered Dixit, on a whim, had good reviews, any feedback?

peasandbeans · 12/11/2012 21:04

I'm another fan of Labyrinth. It is works well for children from 6 and up, is fun with everyone helping the littler ones to get to their treasures and is also fun for bigger people trying to prevent their opponents from reaching them. My 2 and 4 year olds also love just setting the board up and tidying the pieces away afterwards, so its good for the whole family!

Ploom · 12/11/2012 21:11

I agree with the posters suggesting Labyrinth -ds1 got it last month for his 8th birthday & it's been a huge hit with the whole family.
I also like Rummikub but it's only been this year that ds1 could play it with the rest of us-ds2 age 6 still finds it too difficult.

Visualarts · 12/11/2012 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ventilatormum · 12/11/2012 21:43

Another fan here for Labyrinth, a very clever simple game! You can make it easier or harder depending on who is playing.

amy175 · 12/11/2012 21:43

another vote for pit here, especially as we found a moshi monsters version of it in waterstones

Taffeta · 12/11/2012 22:01

Best game I think for any age range is Jenga.

My DD then aged 3 beat the entire family, 3 generations, 7 times one Christmas. 3 years on she is still awesome at it. Grin

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