Can we have a 'what board games are you getting' chat thread please?

[fuzzpig]

Choosing the board games is my favourite part of Christmas shopping! :o

Unfortunately it is DH's turn to choose the main family game this year so I've reluctantly relinquished control - he's chosen Castle Panic, although the new cooperative Thunderbirds game came a close second.

For the DCs I've got that Bounce Off one that is advertised on telly - looks a bit of a five minute wonder, but they both go gooey over it whenever it comes on, and I'm thinking that will be the Santa present (as they know mum would never buy it ).

DSCs (teens/young adult, all live together) are getting a couple as a joint gift - the Batman edition of Love Letter, and the London Game.

DCs always get Top Trumps in their stockings, so DD (8) has Monster High and DS (6) has the retro style Transformers.

Trying to resist the temptation to add more

[Baconyum]

Realise I'm late on here. It's gonna only be me and dd Christmas. But we do love board games, she loves monopoly I hate it! Was browsing Amazon thinking trivial pursuit (do i get normal or family edition?) and cluedo came up (in the back of my mind I think she's always wanted to try that) also game of life. There's also a hunger games one.

She's 15 any other ideas?

[FishWithABicycle]

For the under-10s my recommendations ftom previous successes are:
Labyrinth
Qwirkle
Qorridor
Abalone
(I hunt for games which are simple enough for a young child to understand and sometimes win without being boringly facile and all these succeed)

This year I am thinking of getting one or other version of Cranium which we played a few years ago at a friends house and really enjoyed.

[fuzzpig]

Thank you Hols the Priests of Ra looks really interesting. Seems a bit advanced for now, but it's on the wishlist for the future in case Egypt is a lasting obsession! :)

I'd also like to know how Ghost Blitz works out - looks adorable!

I've been epically twitching on TheBookPeople and playmobil so not sure I can really twitch on more games too. But my King of Tokyo birthday purchase should be arriving today! :o

[fuzzpig]

And bacon there's no such thing as late when it comes to this thread :o the more the merrier!

[fuzzpig]

Also, Cluedo is fab (and there's loads of versions like Dr Who, Big Bang Theory etc (I'm desperate for the latter!) BUT you need 3 players, so you wouldn't be able to play on the day.

[fresta]

Has anyone got The Magic Labyrinth, the magnetic one rather than the Ravensburger one? It looks fun but wondered if it might prove a bit too basic as dd is 10 and the youngest in the family.

[AlmaMartyr]

Oops, I just bought Labyrinth to add to DD's pile...

Sushi Go for DH too.

They're all educational, it's fine!

[INeedACheeseSlicer]

I've got Labyrinth for DD. The ocean edition one, so I don't have to be too annoyed that I spent more than £9.99 on it .

I am considering getting Ticket to Ride too, as a family present. Is the Europe one the best?

[fuzzpig]

I only got the Europe one as I thought it more relevant to us than the original US one, but it turns out it's got a couple of extra features - different types of railway line, and a station thing that lets you use other people's lines. We played without the latter for the first few goes while we got used to the general game.

[DrasticAction]

I am thinking about getting Enchanted Forrest and Jaipur rather than Ticket to ride...this year.

But I loathe Labryinth and it frustrates DD however, she loves the Gruffalo memory game...I wondered if anyone could give me any tips...

Is EF really good?

[GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething]

We've got Magic Labyrinth (the magnetic one) - it's quite fun, my 10 year old prefers to set it up for my 7 year old to play so not sure how much play you'd get from it if your youngest is 10. It is a nicely made game with good components and you can vary the difficulty by adding more or fewer walls so it works well.

I had a look at Enchanted Forest but it seems to be basically a memory game so I decided against it (haven't actually played though!)

We have the Europe version of Ticket to Ride and I think it's fun. Friend of mine got caught out by getting confused between Bucharest and Budapest so you have to be careful! I think the ferries and tunnels make the game more interesting.

[fuzzpig]

Friend of mine got caught out by getting confused between Bucharest and Budapest

What an utterly silly mistake. Never done that myself. Course not.

[Wolfcub]

We've played Smash Up today which I'd definitely recommend and Welcome to the Dungeon mini game 1 which is good but, being a mini game there's only so much play you can get out of it.

[fresta]

Like the look of Dixit, anyone have this and what age does it suit?

[fuzzpig]

I've heard many good things about Dixit, but it scares me a bit! I'm not sure I'm imaginative enough actually though I might get it for my friend's birthday this month, I think she would really like it.

[GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething]

We really like Dixit. Can play it as a family with our children (7 and 10) and we have enjoyed playing it with a group of adults. It's quite different to other board games, more about ideas and imagination, the artwork is stunning. To get an idea of how it is played you could watch the table top episode;

[fuzzpig]

Thanks. I think I will get it for my friend. She really enjoyed the game Tell Tale which she brought here once, I didn't really 'get it' but friend liked the storytelling aspect.

[AlmaMartyr]

We're having Dixit for Advent, the Tabletop show convinced me of it as a family game a whole back. DH not super keen but only because differing interpretations of pictures was driving him bonkers!

We've been playing Little Wizards, a roleplaying game for children this afternoon. That's great fun!

[fresta]

Thanks Grouch, that was really helpful, it's on the definite possibility list now.

[wafflyversatile]

thanks, fuzzpig.

[Whatsername24]

I want a Simon Swipe, I had the original Simon when I was a child and loved it. Looks like it could be fun to play as a family.

[DrasticAction]

Oh Lord, i love the look of Dixit.

I just wonder how much you can get out of each card though, how many times you can describe it before we all know which one it is.

[frenchfancy]

Thanks for the thread, just added a couple of things to our wish list.

We love ticket to ride, carcasonne, the settlers of Catan, forbidden island/desert etc. But our absolute favourite game is 7 wonders. Honestly if you don't have it then BUY IT NOW. It takes a couple of goes to understand the pinciple but after that you are hooked. We play with DDs 16,14 and 9.

For card games we love gubs, love letters, dobble (bit noisy though), coup, Coloretto ... but our 3 favourites that I haven't seen mentioned here are bohnanza , take 6 (or 6 qui prendre in French) and the city (can't find this in English which is a shame because it is a great game)

[frenchfancy]

I meant to say, the game we are buying for Xmas this year is puerto rico

[janaus]

Thank you for this ... I now need ideas what to get 10 year old Grandson.

I bought him Scrabble. The young brother I bought Scattegories.
My daughter insisted that he did not already have Scrabble. Guess what we found in their cupboard. Wouldnt mind something along the word game theme, just not scrabble. Thanks