Top Board Games of the Year

Managing Contention in Family Board Games

Now being a “little” on the competitive side myself, I can actually relate to this story I found in a Utah paper today. There seems to be an abundance of poor sports in my state lately.

Incident One

A Salt Lake City woman is accused of throwing shot glasses at her husband and attempting to stab him with a cane after the two argued over a card game earlier this week. The 58-year-old woman was playing cards with her husband, daughter and her daughter’s friend … The woman pelted her husband and daughter with shot glasses. The daughter and the daughter’s friend left the house, and the woman then began hitting her husband in the head with a cane, charges state. The cane broke and the woman pointed it at her husband and threatened to stab him, according to the charges. She then found a baseball bat and began striking her husband with it. The man had to seek medical treatment for his injuries, charges state.

Incident Two

An Orem man whose luck ran out in a game of Uno was arrested Aug. 15 on suspicion of aggravated assault after he allegedly hit a woman and threatened her husband with a large kitchen knife. The 58-year-old man, who had been drinking, was playing cards in his home with his 47-year-old nephew and the nephew’s wife, 64, when he became agitated over the game, police said. He hit his nephew’s wife on the back of the head and when the couple later tried to leave, he waved a large kitchen knife at his nephew, Orem police said.

Now there must be something about being 58 years old that brings out severe aggression in card games. I have to admit to having thrown a few tantrums a time or two in some of our family board game sessions. But I can honestly say I’ve never attempted (or threatened) to stab someone over it. The worst I’ve done is throw a monopoly board at my husband, and get into a yelling match in front of his friend.

Here are some tips for managing contention when playing games (especially with family members):

1. Don’t play past midnight
2. Avoid games where there is the chance to “gang up” on one player
3. When you can feel yourself getting heated … just walk away
4. Try not to laugh when someone else is having bad luck
5. When people are having a bad game, allow them to vent about it
6. Don’t gave false sympathy to the loser, just move on to the next game
7. When all else fails, just go to bed and the next day you will remember it being a fun game night

Remember that families that play together stay together (as long as they can avoid the fighting). Hopefully you can find some fun board games for families that won’t incite this type of rage in your household

I LOVE CRANIUM

I finally found a game that my sisters will play with me.  Enter CRANIUM!  YAY!  We’ve played the original Cranium and Turbo Cranium and both are fabulous board games for families that allow 8 or more players. Now I just have to convince them to start on some euro-games.  That will be a tougher sell

Posted via email from Jodi’s posterous

Board Games For Families: Carcassonne Game Modified For Preschoolers

3 Fun Date Ideas With Board Games

Whatever phase you are in in a relationship one of the biggest problems is finding fun date ideas. My husband and I just had our 6 year anniversary and we have two little pre-school aged children who make it difficult to get out for a good date night. Not only is it a pain to find babysitters, but we also have a hard time coming up with date night ideas. Here are a few fun date ideas we have come up with lately now that we’ve found a some great board games for families:

1. Two Player Games

There are several EXCELLENT two player games available. Put your kids to bed, pop up some popcorn, grab a nice cold beverage of choice, and break out a game like Lost Cities, Mr Jack, or Balloon Cup. These games are ONLY for two players so use them when you and your partner want to have a nice relaxing date night at home.

2. Double Date Games

Invite over another couple and expand your game horizons. There is a vast world of games out there that require more than two players. This is a great chance to break out some of those games and give them a try. If couples tend to have contention when playing one-on-one, having two additional players can really help to diffuse the tension and make for a fun night. Some excellent games for 4 players are Dominion, Small World, TransAmerica.

3. Group Party

While this may not be a very intimate date, it can sure be a lot of fun. These are fun date ideas because you are still interacting with each other even if other people are there too. Some really fun multi-player games are Bang, Saboteur, and Guillotine. To make it really fun you could even decorate for the party in the theme of the game you will be playing. *nerd alert*. Or you can just have some good refreshments and a clean house

Hopefully this has given you a few fun date ideas that you can consider when you are short on money, unable to find a babysitter, or just want an activity that is interactive and mentally stimulating.

What are some of YOUR favorite games to play for a date night?

What are the best board games for families?

Choosing the right board games for your family can be harder than you think. There are so many board games for families out there that sometimes the mere prospect of choosing one is daunting. However, with an understanding of your kids age and level of development, you can increase your chances of choosing a game everyone will enjoy and reduce the risk of choosing a bomb. Here are a few tips that will help.

One of the first factors, and possibly the only one most people consider, is the age of any children that will be playing. Children can be split into roughly four groups. Choosing a game for any one of these groups is relatively simple. It’s much more challenging to choose a good game if you have children in more than one group.

Ages 0 to 4

The first group contains children from the ages of 0 to 4. This group of kids really won’t be able to play any semblance of a real game. However, they probably will be very interested in playing with game components. Many components are brightly colored and have interesting textures. So one way to get this group involved is to simply let them play with a few carefully selected pieces. Of course be very careful to give them only larger pieces that can’t be swallowed or digested. By involving kids of this age, you make it fun for everyone.

Suggested board games for families with kids ages 0 to 4:

• The Ladybug Game
• Candyland
• Chutes and Ladders
• Memory
• Go Fish

Ages 4 to 8

The second group contains children from the ages of 4 to 8. Kids this age can actually play simple games. Games that involve simple counting, colors, shapes, and memory can be grasped and enjoyed. Often you can take a game that would be beyond the comprehension of kids in this group and simplify the rules so they understand. It’s not uncommon for kids this age to just enjoy collecting, moving pieces, and matching up cards or other components rather than focusing on winning. Of course, kids really like to win too, but they seem to enjoy the process of the game equally.

Suggested board games for families with kids ages 4 to 8:

• Gulo Gulo
• Chicken Cha Cha
• Balloon Race
• Rattle Snake
• Cloud 9
• Games with geometric pieces. Kids often like building with them or making fun shapes.

Ages 8 to 12

The third group contains children from the ages of 8 to 12. Kids this age can grasp the full concept of most games. In fact, if you look on the boxes of most mainstream games not made for kids, the low age is usually 8 or 10. It’s rare to find a game with a low age recommended age above 10. Just about any game will work for this age group so you’ll mainly want to consider other factors.

Suggested board games for families with kids ages 8 to 12:

• Heroscape (mostly good for boys)
• Lost Cities
• Bohnanza
• Blokus
• Apples to Apples
• Monopoly
• Chateau Roquefort

Ages 12 and up

The last group contains children (or rather young adults) from the ages of 12 and up. The kids are capable of developing strategies and grasping higher level concepts. Don’t be afraid to push this group towards more challenging games. Having said that, teenagers can often get bored, so sometimes games that are lively and interactive are the best choice. Turn-based games can often be too slow so you might want to choose a game that keeps them involved non-stop.

Suggested board games for families with kids ages 12 and up:

• Memoir ‘44
• Dominion
• Race for the Galaxy
• Ticket to Ride
• Bang
• Puerto Rico
• Wits and Wagers
• Settlers of Catan
• Fits

Board Games For Families = Fun For Everyone!

Whether you are married with no kids, have toddlers, tweens, teens or beyond … the key to a happy household is to get a closet full of board games for families. Family board games are not just Candyland and Monopoly anymore. There is a vast new world of intriguing, strategic, entertaining board games we have recently stumbled upon. Our hope is to spread the word about these great games that are mostly coming out of Europe and let everyone know how much fun it can be to enjoy the wonderful world of board games and how it can strengthen family relationships.

Couples Gaming

How much would you spend for a date night with your spouse? $20, $50, $100 for just ONE date? For a lot of people that is just not feasible any more and they are looking to cut costs. What if you bought just ONE board game every few months and used them for night after night of quality time with your spouse. It’s much more engaging to play games together than to just watch tv side by side or sit on your computers each doing your own thing.

Children’s Board Games

While playing the traditional games like Snakes and Ladders and Candyland can be fun, they are not very mentally stimulating for the kids, and frankly they are quite boring for adults. There are quite a few games out there that are getting kids prepared to play the more intense strategy games as they get a little older. These games are pretty fun for grownups as well. You can also take an adult game and “dummy-down” the rules a bit in order to make it playable for younger children. Kids always want to mimic their parents so they will be thrilled to get to play games just like mom and dad. Consider purchasing games that kids can play with “just kids” as well as games that will need more interaction. It’s always nice for them to have their own board game to play when mom and dad want to engage in a more serious board game.

Board Games for Families

If you have an older crew your gaming possibilities are endless. Most of the really fun new European-style board games are fairly playable for kids 8 and up. They may not get ALL the strategic nuances but they can get the general game play down and have fun. Teenagers that won’t normally sit and engage with adult family members are much more likely to sit down and spend an evening playing games. What a great way to interact!

Keep reading our blog as we will be discussing many great board games for families of all types and ages. We hope you will start to enjoy them as much as we all do!