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Original poster

Board games?

41 replies

FreakyFrie · 16/11/2022 10:45

What board game is enjoyable for a nearly 15 year old but also a 11 year old.

I buy a board game ever year but I’m running out of ones that they would both enjoy.

I have all the normal ones such as cluedo, monopoly, pay day, boggle, kids against maturity, twister, battleships, connect 4 etc

It can’t be anything with much writing in so a word game as our daughter is dyslexic and struggles so it won’t be much fun for her..

Id also prefer something that doesn’t go on and on like monopoly 😂

I was thinking maybe the logo game or herd mentality?

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OP posts:
frozengoose · 17/11/2022 01:39

Skala123 · 16/11/2022 11:58

Definitely ticket to ride. First favourite in our house

I agree with this.
My favorite and I don't much like board games.

frozengoose · 17/11/2022 01:40

I'm also dyslexic for what it is worth.

Smallonesaremorejuicy · 17/11/2022 02:01

Pictionary is always fun .

OrigamiOwls · 17/11/2022 05:29

I'm surprised so many people are recommending Dobble if your daughter is dyslexic. I'm dyslexic but really struggle with Dobble for some reason, it's like I just can't see what's on the card.
Maybe it's a me thing rather than my dyslexia, but just wanted to give others a heads up.

carefulcalculator · 17/11/2022 05:41

Ticket to Ride Japan edition is nice
Pandemic
Terraforming Mars
Catan

Alexaplaysomething · 17/11/2022 05:41

Bears vs babies
Exploding kittens

Puddywoodycat · 17/11/2022 07:32

@OrigamiOwls we strongly suspect my dd has dyslexia and she's been good with dobble. I wonder if game's like this help with it?

I think dobble is short term fun to have for waiting somewhat,ferry, train and plane or restaurant.

aroman · 17/11/2022 07:40

Ticket to ride Europe
(The Europe edition is the best and most kid-friendly).
Good family game, fun, not too complex, takes 60-90 mins to play.
You can also learn about geography/ countries as you play.
It will take longer if you need to learn the rules. I'd recommend watching a YouTube video.

Carcassonne - similar length/ complexity to Ticket to Ride, but a different theme, it's about building settlements and who owns the most villages/ roads/ farms.
It's pretty simple to learn and you build a map of your settlement together as you play, which is fun.

Hey! That's my Fish
If you want something simple try this cute game, actually quite strategic but quick to learn. It only takes about 15 mins to play. Looks a bit childish but actually very good game. Everyone I've played it with has loved it, children and adults.

Yika · 17/11/2022 07:44

We really like Sushi Go! It’s easy, fun and suits all ages.

i would also second the suggestions of Azul and Rummikub as suggested above.

Tilda77 · 17/11/2022 07:57

Last year I bought family trivial pursuit...it has kids questions and adult questions. Last year i got my sister and family tension movie edition so this year I got them the family edition. You get a minute to give the 10 most popular answers?

Thereisnolight · 17/11/2022 10:54

OrigamiOwls · 17/11/2022 05:29

I'm surprised so many people are recommending Dobble if your daughter is dyslexic. I'm dyslexic but really struggle with Dobble for some reason, it's like I just can't see what's on the card.
Maybe it's a me thing rather than my dyslexia, but just wanted to give others a heads up.

DD is dyslexic and is excellent at this. A visual, language-free game.

Original poster
FreakyFrie · 18/11/2022 08:43

OrigamiOwls · 17/11/2022 05:29

I'm surprised so many people are recommending Dobble if your daughter is dyslexic. I'm dyslexic but really struggle with Dobble for some reason, it's like I just can't see what's on the card.
Maybe it's a me thing rather than my dyslexia, but just wanted to give others a heads up.

My daughters really good at dobble, she can find the pictures quick. It’s English she struggles with … the reading and writing… getting letters jumbled up or the wrong way around.
She’s actually improved loads but these games are meant to be fun and I don’t want her playing at a disadvantage😅

OP posts:
Original poster
FreakyFrie · 18/11/2022 08:49

Alvinne · 17/11/2022 00:45

Some great games here OP, but the newer /less mainstream games sometimes appear a lot more complicated than monopoly, cludo etc. One thing that really helps me learn new rules is to watch the 'watch it played with Rodney Smith' channel on YouTube. He runs through set up and how to play the game.

Some suggestions here are maybe a little complicated for your first game of this type, wingspan particularly is quite complicated and has different mechanics to games you've played before which might make it feel a bit challenging. Quacks of quedlingberg is a great game, but the printed instructions are poor definitely watch a video if you choose that one. Ticket to ride is great and was my gateway game 😂so I always recommend it. It probably sounds more complicated than it is, you get train routes across Europe and pick up coloured cards which allow to place little plastic trains and claim a route. The person with the most points from placing trains and completing routes wins. It's fun because it requires you to figure out different ways of getting between places and competing with your other players for the routes or finding ways around them. It probably takes about an hour to an hour and a half to play at first.

For shorter games azul and splendor are both great! They both probably take around 20 to 30 mins.
Id really recommend Azul as it's quite easy to pick up the rules and it's really fun. You pick up cute little tiles from a set of tiles available to everyone and build a sort of picture of tiles on your own board, but you are competing against the other players to pick up the tiles from a limited supply and have to think about where you place them, so for something quite simple it can be quite tactical.
Splendor is also a great option, in this one you aim to get the highest score by building up stacks of gem-themed cards. As the stacks of cards build up you become more powerful and can buy more valuable cards. There are only 3 options of things you can do on a turn so there isn't too much to remember which again makes it a nice introduction to different styles of games.

If you have an independent game shop locally they might have test copies to show you or be able to explain the rules and show you the game. With both ticket to ride and azul there are multiple versions so best to stick to the original azul to avoid buying an expension or more complicated version of the game. this one www.board-game.co.uk/product/azul/
With ticket to ride I'd recommend thr Europe map as a place to start, it feels a bit more relevant than the American map and avoids the risk of again buying an expansion that adds on to another game.

Thanks! I defo agree that some of the board games mentioned are not like any of the board games I normally play 😂 which isn’t a bad thing and it will be good to play something totally different.

Wing span looks a bit to complicated.

OP posts:
Original poster
FreakyFrie · 18/11/2022 09:05

Think I’m going to go for Ticket to Ride …

can I pick up any version? Are they all ok?

Il probably go for the cheapest I can find which is New York or London as they are only £18/£19.

OP posts:
Chasingsquirrels · 18/11/2022 09:05

Som simpler games

Sequence the Board Game is quite fun, we got a development copy years ago when exFIL was working with Parker Games.
amzn.eu/d/c70z9uA

Perudo dice, although you don't need the boxed set, just enough dice and instructions.
amzn.eu/d/iCXO319

Yahtzee
Rummikub
Blokus
Dominoes - Mexican Train maybe
Uno
Loads of card games

Also love Ticket to Ride (but dislike the Europe version & prefer US).

Pictionary

frozengoose · 18/11/2022 13:12

Ticket to Ride: London is a sequel to Ticket to Ride: New York, a small 15 minute version of the classic Ticket to Ride.Jun 4, 2019

I would buy a full scale game like Europe.

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