Best Board Games to Play With Your Kids

Quality time with the family is precious. These memories will live with you and the rest of the family for life. One classic way for families to spend time together is playing board games. There are so many game out there to choose from. How do you know which game to play? Here are the best board games to play with your kids.

1. Monopoly

Monopoly is the classic board game that allows players to conquer the board through strategic buying techniques. In the end, the person with the most money wins.

Every player picks a token and uses that token to move around the board. When a player lands on a space, they have the opportunity to buy the space unless it is already owned by another player. There are also spaces on the board that throw a wrench into the plans with “chance” and “community chest” cards, paying taxes, or a trip to jail.

One player takes on the role of “banker”. This person will be responsible for divvying out the money at the beginning of the game and facilitating transactions throughout the game.

2. Cranium

Cranium is a board game that forces players to step out of their comfort zones and use multiple different parts of their brain. There are four main card categories:

• sketching
• sculpting
• acting
• wordplay

Every person will roll a dice and move a game piece on the board. You must pick a card that correlates with the space you landed on. Players are divided into teams to work together to accomplish whatever task is on the card. The game is designed to stimulate a wide range of skills.

3. Chess

Chess has been around for thousands of years. It is the strategy game that pits two players’ forces against each other. Each player starts with the same configuration on each end of the board. Each player takes a turn moving one piece at a time. The different pieces have different ways of moving. The ultimate goal is to take down the opponent’s king. The king will become more and more vulnerable as other pieces are wiped out of the game. The game requires people to think about what their opponent might do not only in the upcoming move but the next couple of moves. It’s a great way to stimulate the mind, and many people consider chess a thinking person’s game.

4. Life

Life is a board game that takes players through the multiple highs and lows of, well, life. Every player will pick a car and start at the beginning by choosing whether to go to college or get a job. You will hen move through the board with your salary and
address all of the different adventures life throws at you, such as career changes, children, and buying a house. At the end, the person with the most comfortable retirement wins. The Game of Life will help teach children about adult situations they may face when they get older.

5. Jenga

Jenga is the classic game that tests a person’s grace. A tower of blocks is all you need for a great time. Each player will remove one block from the tower and place it on top until the loser makes the tower fall down. There are a number of versions of this classic game these days. Some blocks have truth and dare prompts on them. You can also find versions that use larger than life blocks. It’s a perfect game for the family. Loser has to clean up the tower of blocks and maybe even do the dishes.

6. King of Tokyo

Tokyo is under attack! A number of different monsters and aliens are battling to determine who will be the one true King of Tokyo in this fun dice game. Each player will choose a monster. You will then roll the six die to make your moves. You do get to roll three times and pick the best results. The six monsters you can choose from are:

• Alienoid
• Cyber Bunny
• Giga Zaur
• Kraken
• Meka Dragon
• The King

When you roll the die, you may pick up a power card, heal your monster, or attack other monsters. The winner is the person who collects 20 power points or the last monster standing.

7. Pictionary

Pictionary is perfect for the family who embraces their creative side. Players will team up to battle the other team on who will get to the end of the board first. To move across the board, teams will try to draw the clue provided to them. People choose clues from a deck of cards. You will not be able to use words to communicate the clue – only your drawing skills. You are also not allowed to write words or numbers in your drawing. Teams rotate who will draw each turn. You don’t have to be the best artist in order to play, but it can help. There’s a timer that ensure that no one takes up too much time drawing or guessing. This means that quick drawings are generally a better idea than taking the time to draw something well.

8. Kids Against Maturity

Cards Against Humanity is the hilarious fill in the blank card game that leads to some funny moments for adults. However, it’s not exactly kid-friendly. This game follows the same format, but is designed for children. Each plyer gets ten cards from the large white deck. Then, a prompt is selected from the smaller blue deck of cards. Each player will put down a card that fits the prompt. Cards have references to bodily functions and funny noises. Parents may want to look through the cards to ensure they approve of all of the cards in the deck.

9. Magic Maze

In Magic Maze, a number of mystical creatures are stripped of their powers and left in a mall. Since they don’t have their powers, they are forced to use items from the mall to get them through their next adventure. However, mystical creatures don’t typically have money. That means they need to shoplift their equipment and make it out of the mall’s maze successfully. This is a collaborative game. Each player will have specific movements, and you need to work together to escape the mall. However, you won’t be able to talk to each other through most of the game. A timer will keep moves to under three minutes. If you let the timer expire, everyone loses.

10. Catan

Catan, previously known as Settlers of Catan, is one of the more popular board games available these days. It is a German-style board multi-player game that encourages people to create a settlement. Each player will role a die on their turn that allows people to make certain moves. Players will use resources to develop their settlement. Players can trade resources with each other based on needs. The winner will be the person who gets ten victory points first. There are numerous expansions is you want more out of the game.

Start a family tradition of playing board games when the children are young. When you find your favorite game, you may even be able to talk your teenagers into playing from time to time. When they get older and have their own children, the whole family can play together.