Please help me think of games for my slightly awkward family!

[FreezerBird]

2 DC - ds is 13 (will be just 14 at Christmas) and dd is 10. DD has some Sen and plays at the level of a younger child.

We really struggle to find things the four of us can enjoy. Currently we can play Uno (DD still needs a bit of help) and the kids version of dobble.

DD likes orchard games and ds is very patient and will play with her as will we but I'd really like to increase our range of games we can all enjoy a bit more equally. We do have things like headbanz, pig goes pop etc but I'm thinking more of card/board games.

She can do simple things with words and numbers but not if there's a time limit or speed element to the game.

Any ideas?

What about something like marbles or tiddly winks- my 2 love playing those!!

How about Othello?

There's any there game thread running where someone mentioned Rhino Hero. I saw it on a local shop yesterday and bought it in a fit of excitement. She loves it, and we will played it all together. Brilliantly, she can also play with it on her own just trying to build the highest tower she can.

(I know I was asking about Christmas, but it's unusual to see anything other than monopoly/Scrabble around here. Also, anything to get through the the last bit of the school holidays...)

Colourbrain is a brilliant family game -we've played it with a 7 year old. There's enough they can do by guessing to feel involved, and it's not as simple as it looks for adults-lots of fun!

Just been off googling parlour games and some of these sound great fun. I will be doing some of these this weekend I reckon mentalfloss.com/article/88659/14-parlor-games-bring-back-holiday-season-plus-one-you-definitely-shouldnt

Dunesofsand I agree with you on the ELC Travel the world game it’s well liked here and has been played with cousins as old as 19

I have a just eleven year old who sounds similar in some ways to your DD. He enjoys articulate, junior and original edition with adaptations. We have bought lots of little games for holiday, pass the pig has worked as has Shut the Box. We also have labyrinth and that has been great.

Following the thread with interest as I have a ds9 with asd who struggles with tension and hates losing, and likes to change the rules , ds8 who loves GameStop but cannot bear “cheating” and dniece7 who is just outgrowing the orchard games. It can be fraught!

Monopoly junior is very good - easy to manage for all and surprisingly enjoyable as an adult.
Cluedo (the adult version) has been a surprising success too. DN needed some help initially in keeping track of the information. It gives a good illusion of problem solving but winning really comes down to luck.
We play a few old fashioned card games too: beggar-my-neighbor is good, gin/rummy are both good, and old maid once they can hold a lot of cards.

I find that playing one-on-one with the weaker child and letting them win a few times against me, and lose against me helps greatly. They cope better in the group then.

If a game is getting too tense we might make alliances (eg mum vs kids) which helps massively.

Haven’t tried any cooperative games yet. They sound good.

We really like junior monopoly, it's kept the essence of the game. I'd say it's more 6 upwards. However, we found junior cluedo ridiculously complicated. The gameplay just hasn't transferred well!

I agree

DC are 9 and 6. We like real Monopoly, Labrinth, Quirkle Cubes, Game of Life.9

Another recommendation for forbidden island. You need to work together so everyone must help everyone else.

We play guess the person as a team game. Print off loads of pictures of famous people from different times that young people may know or older grannies etc. E.g., Cliff Richard when he was young, Justin Beiber, a young Marilyn Monroe, some people off Love Island, David Beckham, Cruz Beckham. You get the idea, a wide range. Number them and stick on sheets, place sheets round the room. People pair up, young with old, and try to guess the names. It's a good game to do when you want some time to yourself as everyone else is wandering round, trying to get a sneaky look at over people's answers! You coup,d have a time limit. Prizes for the pair with the most correct.
Don't do what I did one year, and forget to write down the answers somewhere!

Tsuro is fun, a path making game which everyone can play.

Also the Destination Games, map/journey based also good.

We love Ticket to Ride which my 8yo DD can manage too.

We are a family of board game geeks, we have hundreds of them. I may have a bit of an addiction. I'd really recommend Gamewright games- they are creative, funny and perfect for your children's ages. But also they are engaging enough for adults to play too. Someone has already suggested Sleeping Queens I think, I'd also recommend Rat-a-tat-Cat and Go Nuts for Donuts. Forbidden Desert is also by Gamewright and is also excellent.

Dobble!

Have you tried the logo game, there will be a kids version and that might appeal?

What about Jenga? Or even Pick up Sticks?

My daughter played Rat-a-tat Cat in primary school and we all still has fun with it today (DD is 17). It's a card game made by Gameswright who also make a variety of other card games.

Try Pandemic, it's a fab co-operative game so you're all helping each other and win or lose together. Would be more challenging for your DS as he could get into the tactics but not too challenging for your DD as she could concentrate on the basics.

My six year old really enjoys Kingdominos and Ticket To Ride, which are both games I’ve bought with adult players in mind. He is also capable of winning them (very occasionally). I’m going to start him on Carcassonne soon.

What about Tenzi (a dice game, it’s really good fun) or Ghost Blitz (five coloured objects on the table have to be matched with the card in your hand)

For card games when I was small we played a lot of 7’s and a game called ‘oh hell’ which I think is a version of whist and lots of rummy. They’re all fairly simple but good fun for the adults as well as children, I was probably around 7. Also, Perudo, which is a liar dice game, also really good.

My 5 year old can play rat a tat cat.

And exploding kittens with teeny help

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Potato-Ok-Play-Ultimate/dp/B01KMJK80A/ref=sr18?ie=UTF8&qid=1535727571&sr=8-8&keywords=Big+Potato+games

This game is really good & handy for taking out places.