17 of the Best Board Games for Kids Who Spend Too Much Time Online

There was a time when the greatest new games could not be bought with a click from the App Store. There was a time when gaming was not a pursuit of lone children with  poor posture, tired thumbs and illuminated brows. In fact, there was even a time when families of all ages would sit down together and play games in some kind of strange ‘bonding’ ritual.

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Well it turns out that ‘that time’ is back. Back with a modern, collaborative and exciting vengeance! There has been a huge board game resurgence in recent years, so now is the time to get your children out from behind the screen and get them involved in some real face-to-face fun! Here are seventeen of the best board games for kids to get you started!

 Reviewed and Updated February 2018 – The game Sagrada was introduced to the list. 

Best Board Games for Kids

1. Robot Turtles Game

Robot Turtles Game is the game for little programmers a very fun way to learn to code! The most backed board game in Kickstarter history sneakily teaches preschoolers the fundamentals of programming, from coding to functions, while making silly turtle noises! Before you know it, your little one will be writing computer games rather than just playing them!

Promotes: Programming Skills, Logic, Problem Solving

Ages: 4+

 

2. Hoot Owl Hoot!

Hoot Owl Hoot! is an award winning color-coded cooperative matching game where players must help the owls fly back to their nest before the sun comes up. Play a color card and fly to that space. Draw a sun card and you’re one step closer to daylight. Help all the owls get home before the sun rises and everyone wins! Two levels of play allow this game to grow with your child.

Promotes: Collaboration, Problem Solving

Ages: 4+

 

3. Elementos

Elementos was originally created as a Kickstarter campaign that exploded in popularity. A good short game for kids, each match lasts around fifteen minutes. Based on the simple game mechanics of Rock/Paper/Scissors, Elementos uses the concept of three elements (fire, water, tree) overcoming each other to create an intriguing, exciting and thoughtful head to head challenge.

Promotes: Strategy, Thinking, Planning

Ages: 7+

 

4. Sagrada by Floodgate Games

 

Sagrada is a great game for children and adults alike who enjoy problem solving and puzzles.  I think it’s one of the more innovative games to hit it’s stride in 2017.  Players take on the role of master artisans designing  their most ambitious work yet – a stained glass window for the Sagrada Familia.  Colored dice represent the stained-glass material, and must be placed according to the needs of the window.  The artist that ends up completing the window successfully with the highest score wins.

Easy to describe, but requiring some forethought on exactly what color and number should go where, this game is a relatively quick play at 30 mins.  There’s a high replay value as the game changes each round.

Promotes: Creativity,Strategy, Problem solving

Ages: 9+

 

5. Pandemic

The original Pandemic is a worldwide best seller.  With average game length of about an hour, it’s a great fit for children with busy lifestyles.   Pandemic Legacy Season 1 allows you to both play the original game, and once you are comfortable ups the difficulty a notch.  This is a truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose. Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together playing to their characters’ strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. And with loads of great expansion packs, the game never gets old!

Promotes: Collaboration, Strategy

Ages: 13+

 

6. Spot It

Spot It is one of the most simple yet popular games for all ages. Played with 55 circular cards, each decorated with eight symbols varying in size and orientation, the aim of the game is to be the first to spot the one symbol in common between two or more cards. The cards change with every match made, so you have to stay focused to keep up. Don’t be fooled! It’s not as simple as it sounds. Perfect for travel and playing on the go.

Promotes: Visual Perception, Observation Skills

Ages: 6+

 

7. Splendor

Splendor is one of the more mysterious board games for kids where players play a wealthy renaissance merchant, acquiring mines and transportation and creating the most fantastic jewelry to become the best-known merchant. Acquire precious stones to trade them for development cards. Use development cards to acquire more gem stones. Use your gems and gold to create the most fantastic jewelry, and appeal to the nobles to gain the prestige you need to win.

Promotes: Strategy, Planning

Ages: 10+

 

8. Jenga

Jenga is absolutely one of my favourite games in the world! Young or old, the nerves and thrill of manipulating the teetering tower of blocks is like no other game. Stack the wooden blocks in a sturdy tower, then take turns pulling out blocks one by one until the whole stack crashes down. Is your hand steady enough to pull out the last block before the tower collapses?

Promotes: Hand-Eye Coordination, Strategy, Patience

Ages: 5+

 

9. 7 Wonders

In 7 Wonders you lead an ancient civilization as it rises from its barbaric roots to become a world power. Lead your troops to a military victory or create a nation of artisans and philosophers. Establish a powerful merchant state or master the mysteries of science and technology. Build an architectural wonder that will fascinate for eons to come, and rule the most powerful civilization on Earth!

Promotes: Strategy, Geography

Ages: 10+

 

10. Telestrations

In Telestrations, each player starts with their own erasable sketch book, marker and word card. A roll of the die determines each player’s secret word. The timer gets turned and everyone draws their word. After 60 seconds, everyone passes their book to the player on their left. Then each player takes a few seconds to guess in words what they see, and passes again. One of the most hilarious and unpredictable board games for kids, it’s miscommunication at its best.

Promotes: Drawing, Communication, Creativity

Ages: 8+

 

11. The Settlers of Catan

The Settlers of Catan is one of the most popular strategy board games for kids there is. Players collect resources and use them to build roads, settlements and cities on their way to victory. The board itself is variable, making each game a little different from the next. Each round of The Settlers of Catan will keep three or four players engaged for a good ninety minutes.

Promotes: Strategy, Planning

Ages: 10+

 

12. Clue – Classic Edition

The classic board game Clue is still one of the best board games for kids and adults alike. One of the six legendary suspects has done away with Mr Boddy, but in which of the nine rooms? And which of the six weapons was used to commit this dastardly dead? Collect the right clues, make the right deductions, to determine who? where? which weapon? and you will solve the mystery and win the game.

Promotes: Strategy, Mystery, Deduction

Ages: 8+

 

13. Forbidden Island

In Forbidden Island you will join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!

Promotes: Collaboration, Strategy

Ages: 10+

 

14. Chess

It may not be the flashiest game on the list but there is no doubt that Chess is definitely one of the best board games for kids. Not only is it a pathway to deeper thinking, it’s also one of the most widely played board games around the world. Encourage your kids to quit the Chess app on their iPad and try the more social option and start playing the real thing!

Promotes: Strategy, Thinking, Focus

Ages: 5+

 

15. Dominion

In Dominion you are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. But wait. It must be something in the air, several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way.

Promotes: Strategy, Planning

Ages: 13+

 

16. Scattergories

Play Scattergories individually or as teams in this exciting and fast-paced game for kids and adults. Each team or player takes 1 of 32 category cards and writes down words that fit the categories on the card. Words have to begin with the letter rolled on the oversized letter die. Start the timer and the challenge of being different begins!

Promotes: Vocabulary, Word Play, Creativity

Ages: 8+

 

17. Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is the wild, award-winning card game that provides instant fun for 4 to 10 players. Players are dealt red cards which have a noun printed on them, and the judge (a different player in each turn) draws a green card on which an adjective is printed and places it for all players to see. Each player then chooses a red card they are holding that they think best describes the green card. The judge then decides which adjective wins!

Promotes: Creativity, Literacy, Objectivity

Ages: 10+

 

[BONUS] – Monopoly

It just had to be mentioned. If there was ever a ‘classic’ board game it has to be Monopoly. With pretty much every possible variation of the popular game, you can now play themed Monopoly with your kids including Monopoly Junior, Adventure Time, Despicable Me and of course, Frozen.

Promotes: Strategy, Finance, Patience

Ages: 5+

 

What are your best board games for kids? Let us know your picks in the comments below!

 

Feature image adapted from image courtesy of Flickr, Wolfgang Lonien.