As more of us stay close to home, board games increase in
popularity. We asked moms what board games they like to play. This makes a great holiday shopping list.
Thanks to 25 moms who submitted their favorites. (We will
add to this list as more parent submit their best games to play at home.)
I have not added links for places to shop because most of these games are available on many popular online sites, as well as at our local box stores.
Spot It
Each player draws
one card and flips it face-up at the same time. The
first player to spot the animal match between the
cards and call it out wins the duel. It’s a fast-pace game for
two to eight players.
Go Away
Monsters
Little kids have to get rid of the monsters before going to bed. The
game ends when all the players have completed their bedroom game boards and all
the monsters have been thrown into the "monster pit". Teaches shape
recognition, sharing and cooperation.
Jenga
A game of physical skill. How many building blocks can you pull from the tower of
blocks without making the tower crash?
Kara
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to
Ride is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect
and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities
throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points you earn. It
is fast-paced with two to five players. Ages 8+
Azul
Object is
to create a beautiful wall in a Portuguese Palace. An award-wining and popular
game but not easy to explain. I have included a video link from Board Game
Geeks to get your started.
https://boardgamegeek.com/video/174577/azul/how-play-azul
Sequence
Play a card from your hand and place a chip on a corresponding space on the game board. When you have five
in a row, it’s a SEQUENCE. Each player or team tries to score the required
number of five-card sequences before their opponents. Easy enough for children,
challenging for adults!
Uno Attack
Brace yourself for an
exciting, action-packed way to play UNO™! If you draw the Attack!
Attack! command card, you have to push the UNO™ Attack game's sleek
electronic card shooter. If you're lucky, nothing will happen. But if you're
not, the shooter will fire a stream of UNO™ Attack cards that you'll have to
add to your hand! For 2 to 10 players, ages 7 and older.
Otrio
Players compete to line up
three pieces of the same color my similar size; in ascending or descending
order; or within the same space. Encourages players to cultivate their
reasoning, strategizing and critical thinking skills. 2-4 players aged 6+.
Throw Throw Burrito
Place a pair of burritos on
a table and draw cards. Keep your cards a secret. Rack up points by finding
three of a kind in the deck. Find matches before anyone else does. If someone
plays Burrito Cards, a Battle ensues. Steal points from your opponents by
hitting them with squishy burritos. Declare war on your friends. Some battles
involve a handful of players. Others force the entire table to engage in a
Burrito War. Duel to determine the winner. During a Burrito Duel, two players
must stand back to back, walk three paces, and FIRE. All ages.
Chickapig
You are in charge of a flock of Chickapigs. Strategically move
your Chickapigs across the board to pass through the goal on the other side.
Along your way, do everything you can to thwart your opponents. And beware of
the pooping cow! Why do your Chickapigs want to cross the board? To get to the
other side. 2-4 players. Ages 8+.
Mancala
A turn-based strategy board game played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes. The objective is to capture all or some set of the opponent's pieces. Any child or adult will have fun taking part in this quick and
easy game! Rules are easy to
learn. Best with 2 players who are ages 7 years old and
up.
Exploding Kittens
Exploding kittens is the perfect card game for adults, teens and
kids who love kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats. A
highly strategic, kitty-powered version of Russian roulette, basically, if you
draw an exploding kitten, you lose. 2-5 players. 7+.
READ MORE: Board games are back
Pass the pig
You roll, and if you get a Pig-Out or an Oinker, you pass the
pigs onto the next player. If you get anything else, you may decide to roll
again or pass the pigs. Two to four players may compete, and the first player
to reach 100 points or more wins the game. Ages 3+.
Skip-Bo
Skip-Bo is the ultimate sequencing card game! Players use skill and strategy to create sequencing stacks of cards in ascending order. The first player to use all the cards in their personal Stockpile wins! 2 players. Ages 7+.
Cauldron Quest
While working together, players use strategy and problem solving to find ingredients before the wizard blocks the path. Tokens, dice, and bottles add to the fun. Cooperative game which cultivates emotional development, shared decision-making, positive self-esteem, creative problem solving, and a sense of community in a non-stressful play environment. For 2 to 4 players ages 6 and up.
The Fairy Game
In this matching and gathering game, kids learn simple strategy by following directions & taking turns. No reading required. Special cards allow players to slow down Mr. Winter’s chill. Work together to fill the fairies’ magic wand and banish Mr. Winter from the garden! Different card combos keep the game fun. 2-4 players ages 5 and up.
Hoot Owl
In this color-coordinated matching game, players cooperate to help the owls fly back to their nest before the sun comes up. Help all the owls home before sunrise and everyone wins! Play a color card and fly to that space. Draw a sun card and you're one step closer to daylight. Players can move any owl on their turn and talk together about how to get owls home & win. 2-4 Players. Ages 4-8.
Blokus
Players take turns placing their 21 pieces on the board:
each piece must touch another of the same color, but only at the corners! Stake
your claim and protect your territory by fitting as many of your pieces on the
board as possible while strategically blocking your opponents! The game ends
when no more pieces can be placed down, and the player with the lowest number
remaining wins! 2-4 players. All ages.
Suspicion
It is called the game of secret identities and deduction. You become a character in this game, and you have to figure out what the other characters (players) are all about. Up to 6 players. Ages 10+.
Old
Favorites
Monopoly
This game has many
editions, for younger kids to the basic game. You
buy and sell property and houses with the object of becoming rich with the
rents charged when other players land on your property.
Sorry
Players
move their three or four pieces around the board, attempting to get all of
their pieces "home" before any other player.
Trouble
Be the
first player to move all four of your colored pegs around the game board and
into your FINISH line. During the game, try to send your opponents' pegs
back to HOME.
Bananagrams
Tiles in
a banana-shaped holder. With younger children give out tiles and let them create words. For older kids and adults, they have to arrange the tiles they receive (like
Scrabble) until they are all used up.
Pictionary
Playing Pictionary may
remind you of Charades, but with drawing on paper instead of acting out the
answers. Great for all ages.
Scrabble
Junior
Kid-sized
words and colorful pictures make it fun to match letter tiles to words on the
grid. Players move their funny tokens up the score track as they score points.
When all of the tiles have been placed on the board, the player with the most
points wins! 2-4 players. Ages 5+
Uno
Players take turns matching a card in their hand with the current
card shown on top of the deck either by color or number. Special action cards
deliver game-changing moments as they help you defeat your opponents. Ages 7+.
Chess
Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered
board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 square grid. Played by millions of
people worldwide, chess is believed to be derived from the Indian game
chaturanga sometime before the 7th century. 2 players
Othello
A strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8
uncheckered board. Players take turns placing disks on the board with their
assigned color facing up. During a play, any disks of the opponent's color that
are in a straight line and bounded by the disk just placed and another disk of
the current player's color are turned over to the current player's color. The
object of the game is to have the majority of disks turned to display your
color when the last playable empty square is filled. 2 players. Ages 8+.
Yahtzee
While luck plays a big role in Yahtzee, strategy makes a huge difference. The objective of the game is to score points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations. Ages 8+.
Chutes and Ladders
Spin the spinner and move the pawn up the ladders and down the chutes. Chutes and Ladders is a classic game that children enjoy playing over and over. Players scramble to the top of the gameboard without slip-sliding down! Land on good deeds to climb ladders but watch out for the chutes. 2-4 players. Ages 3+.
Candy Land
Players encounter all kinds of delicious surprises as they move their cute gingerbread man pawn around the path in a race to the castle. No reading required. Ages 3+. 2-4 players.
Backgammon
It is a two-player game where each player has fifteen pieces
(checkers or men) that move between twenty-four triangles (points) according to
the roll of two dice. The objective of the game is to be first to bear off, and move all fifteen checkers off the board. Backgammon is a member of the
tables family, one of the oldest classes of board games. 2 players. Ages 8+.
Twister
See where the spinner lands and make a move! Right foot red, off to a good start. Left foot green, you’ve got this! Left hand blue … wait, is that physically possible? Give it a shot. 2 to 4 players. Adults and kids age 6 and up.
Games for the older crowd
What do you Meme
Adult Party Game. Compete with your friends and family to create the funniest memes. Do this by using one of your dealt caption cards to caption the photo card in each round. The winner of each round is decided by a rotating judge. This game was created for ages 17+.
Speak Out
The Speak Out game brings friends and family together for laugh-out-loud fun as players try to say different phrases while wearing a mouthpiece that won't let them shut their mouth. In the Speak Out game, players draw from the deck and read the phrase as best as they can, but it's not so easy to do when the mouthpiece is hindering them from forming words correctly. Ages 16+.
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