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Christmas

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Original poster

Which Board Games can you recommend?

39 replies

Nearlyadoctor · 15/09/2016 15:09

Looking for a new Christmas board game for all of us to play over the holidays, but would be good if dd and I could also play it alone. Youngest dd is 9.5 and fairly intelligent. Last year we bought Articulate and Labyrinth which have both been thoroughly enjoyed, I have briefly looked at Dixit so would be good to hear from anyone who's played it. We already have all the 'traditional' games ie: scrabble, clue do, monopoly, Rummikub.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 15/09/2016 15:13

Not a board game but we have loved Mapominoes as a family. We also like Go For Broke (the game you win by losing a million). Have you tried family Trivial Pursuit? It has separate questions for children and adults.

Original poster
Nearlyadoctor · 15/09/2016 15:15

Thanks will look up Mapominoes, and yes have both trivial pursuit and Go for broke.

OP posts:
jessplussomeonenew · 15/09/2016 15:18

Carcassonne is good, you could also try cooperative games like forbidden island.

HiDBandSIL · 15/09/2016 15:18

Cranium

Humidseptember · 15/09/2016 16:03

We have Dixit, really enjoyed it however enjoyed Ticket to Ride much more and has more interest and longevity to it.....

I would go for ticket to ride...

neddle · 15/09/2016 17:01

Games we have that are popular with my eldest children (14 & 11):

Tuk Tuk Taxi: expensive on Amazon, but you might find it somewhere else.

Exploding Kittens: card game rather than board, but lots of fun. I bought it on a lightning deal last year.

Imploding Kittens: expansion pack for Exploding kittens, available to preorder.

Nubble: maths based game, but not boring.

Isolation: picked this up at a car boot sale in the summer. It's a strategy game, but really fun and quite quick too. My 8 yo also likes playing this one.

Mole in the Hole: obviously I don't recommend it at this price, but it's a great game if you can find it elsewhere.

I'll go rummage in the game box later to see what else we've got.

Humidseptember · 15/09/2016 19:59

neddle I got expoliding kittens for this year, and Go Sushi

fatnorville · 16/09/2016 05:42

Labyrinth - Very addictive and simple to play.

Settlers of Catan - A fantastic strategy game, and perfect for a nine year old.

SillySongsWithLarry · 16/09/2016 05:46

If you have the original Ticket to Ride and enjoy it, the new box Ticket to Ride : Rails and Sails has been released. We have bought it and are excitedly waiting tor Christmas.

pepperpot99 · 16/09/2016 06:02

Linkee is brilliant - it's all about categories, finding the link between a fe different words/phrases (eg they are all vegetables/names of Disney characters/makes of car etc). We played it last Christmas and had a blast. I keep meaning to buy it for ourselves! My dds really liked it too and they were 13 and 10 at the time.

HapShawl · 16/09/2016 06:04

Lost cities is good - more of a card game and only two players at a time but games are quick and we have tournaments

YouMakeMyDreams · 16/09/2016 06:11

One of the Logo quiz games. My friend bought one and the dc loved it so we ended up getting one as well. I never thought the dc would love it so much but they do.

dizzygirl1 · 16/09/2016 06:47

We'really getting Game of life this year. Last year we had Monopoly Empire game. It's all brands and quicker and everyone here loves it! Scrabble is well loved here and disney trivial pursuit. We love board games 😆😆😆

PurpleDaisies · 16/09/2016 06:59

Another vote fit ticket to ride. We've got most of the different boards now and it's still the clear favourite with us.

I recently played Camel Cup and really enjoyed it. That's going to be our new Christmas game.

margiebargie · 16/09/2016 07:13

Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan are all great.

averythinline · 16/09/2016 08:55

Was going to recommend Camel Cup..

We have enjoyed ticket to ride - although its a bit long it was our christmas game last year..(gets better once you get into the strategies a bit more)
Also like Forbidden island and Pandemic - just got Flashpoint only played once but will do again -
Have bought maponimos as a stocking filler (was in charity shop Grin) and Fluxx - space :did go sushi last year which is good fun

Our favourite games have been Gubz took a couple of rounds to get going but has been great and love letters...I would really recommend the batman edition - we have the original but bought friends that version

I'm thinking 7 wonders this year or maybe Dixit but will have a look at some of the others on this list! the board game thread cost me a fortune last year but has transformed our games cupboard... Would always recommend looking in charity shops as well..

neddle · 16/09/2016 10:07

Do you guys mean this one Camel Up?
If so that looks really fun and will be going on the wish list.

AnyTheWiser · 16/09/2016 10:21

Ticket to Ride (original is best, Pennsylvania v good too)
Settlers of Catan
7 Wonders
We play dixit fairly often, but I struggle as I have no creative spark!
King of Tokyo is quite fun
Imhotep looks good, think that will be out Christmas purchase this year.

Humidseptember · 16/09/2016 10:21

So many Shock

we are looking at Forbidden Island too and Gubs...have also looked at camel up, heard excellent things about carsconce and settlers of catan.

avery we got dixit and 7 wonders last year, must admit cant get into 7 wonders but will keep persisting as it does seem good but I canrt work out what your supposed to do to win!

Dixit is fun but shallow...I couldnt play it for hours or regularly...but fun a few times a year ( you get used to the cards and how to describe them otherwise)

averythinline · 16/09/2016 11:10

yes thats the camel one it is great fun...even my step dad who is not a massive games head eventually enjoyed it (we had to play through it a couple of times )....there is a gambling element so possibly not for playing with puritans ..MIL raised an eyebrow but then got really into it!

OK - Dixit might not be for us then most of the time there is only 3 of us playing...king of tokyo does look good too...anyone played with 3?

KingLooieCatz · 17/09/2016 08:09

Another vote for Carcassone.

My current favourite is Escape the Curse of the Temple. DSIL couldn't handle the fact everyone is playing at once, not turn taking, but we love it, very Indiana Jones, co-operative and different every time. We don't play against the timer.

Amazon has been recommending Camel Up - might add it to my list now based on this thread. Thanks. Also I'd imagined Ticket to Ride would be a dry and more for adults. Will check that out more.

Humidseptember · 17/09/2016 08:39

my 8 year old dd loves ticket to ride.

GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething · 17/09/2016 13:37

King of Tokyo is good fun, we play with 3 quite often.

Big hit last Christmas was Codenames - a fab party game - works with any number of people as in two teams or there is a co-operative mode you can play with 2 or 3. I would say for children to fully take part (i.e. have a turn as clue setter) they need to be a bit older, my nearly 11 year old can do it but 7 year old DD wouldn't manage.

We have so many of the games mentioned on this thread! We all enjoy Dixit - again a good one for different numbers of players. Bohnanza is a card game which we can all play. Munchkin I don't think has been mentioned yet, it's great fun :)

I really like co-operative games so Forbidden Island has already been mentioned and works with all ages, for a slightly older group I love Mysterium (which I got for my birthday - kind of a cross between Cluedo and Dixit) and Pandemic is also good fun.

EllaHen · 17/09/2016 13:44

We like:

Where is Moldova?
Carcassonne
Ticket to Ride
Exploding Kittens

For Christmas I've already bought Wink:
221B Baker Street
Pandemic
Sleeping Kittens

However, we play cards more than anything else.

RTKangaMummy · 17/09/2016 13:47

We love CLUEDO SmileSmileSmileSmileSmile