'Game on' Family Style!

You've probably seen the TV ads aimed at re-inventing family game night. Generations of older games like Sorry, Monopoly and The Game of Life are the big games being promoted. Marketing strategy aside, board game nights are a great alternative to the 'plugged in' lifestyle our kids lead. However, as a parent, I’m not sure I'm willing to endure many of the often repetitive, time consuming games that are so common. Many of them relying more on luck that any strategy.

So in the spirit of family game night, I began looking for games that would interest my kids and myself, keeping us all involved in family time, and hopefully teaching my kids a few skills along the way. Inspired by some friends who are avid board game players, I was introduced to a number of new games, some so new, they were literally 'invented' and conceived over the past few years. 

By building our game library with age appropriate games that are quick to learn and fun to play, we now have a home where the kids routinely ask to play games before bed. My 8 year oldʼs birthday list included 5 board games, some water guns, and not a single electronic game!

There are hundreds of new games out there, with more being published every year. Many of the games are coming from a new breed of companies with names like “Z-Man”, “Rio Grande”, “Days of Wonder”, “Calliope” and many others.

Family Game Night - Part One of Six

This article, the first of a six part series on the new generation of board games, illustrates
how we can engage our children with games that donʼt always go “beep beep”. I will be looking at games that can be played between dinner and bedtime on a school night, at funny games, at games designed to teach teamwork, and at how we can progress to more complex games as our kids get older. So, lets get started...

My kids are about 8 and 11 years old, so my reviews may be swayed towards their age group, however you’ll find these games provide a good starting point for most ages and will open up the idea of board and card games to your kids.

Incan Gold (Gryphon Games) - An instant success with everyone I know who has played it. Explore an Incan pyramid with your friends. At every move, you need to decide whether to go deeper and find more treasure or get out with what you have found so far. Leave to early and the other players will get more than you. Leave too late, get trapped in the ruin, and get nothing. A risk reward game where players decide what risks they want to take.

Dominion (Rio Grande Games) - a hugely popular card game where players play action cards to manipulate their turn. Buy money, actions, or victory in the right balance to create a powerful deck. My kids love the way they can use cards to gain more cards, and win or lose everyone has fun. www.riograndegames.com

Carcassonne (Rio Grande Games) - Create the board as you play to create the walled cities of Carcassonne. Score points for the cities, roads and farms you create during the game. This game can start simple, but as the players learn to be more aggressive and notch up the level of competition. This game also features a huge host of add-ons, and other versions, visit the Rio Grande Games website for more info. www.riograndegames.com

Munchkin (Steve Jackson Games) - A card game that is also a spoof of classic Dungeons and Dragons, players kick in the door and fight whatever monsters they encounter. No monster, thatʼs okay you can either look for trouble (to find a monster) or loot the room. Help each other out in combat, and gain experience level, the first one to 10 wins. Munchkin also has a range of other versions, with other themes, Munchkin Fu (Kung Fu), Munchkin Zombies, Munchkin Bites (Vampires), and many others. www.worldofmunchkin.com

Learn More

To find out more about these types of games, visit www.boardgamegeek.com, perhaps the best single resource for board games on the web. There you will find over 50,000 entires for various types of games. Information on number of players, play time, and recommended ages, as well as reviews, photo galleries and a host of other useful stuff.  You can even create an account to track the games you own, or would like to own.

Where to Buy

While it's unlikely you’ll find these games at your local Walmart, and relatively few turn up at Toys-R-Us, there are a some retail stores that carry some of them. Try F.G. Bradleys, with locations in  Fairview Mall, Pickering Town Centre and Sherway Gardens. Mastermind Toys is worth a look, they sometimes will carry a few of the newer games. In Waterloo, check out a huge games store called J&J Superstore. Closer to home, Markham's Wood for Sheep is an online games shop with local pick up, as well as shipping options. Wood for Sheep is owned and operated by a couple of guys with a true love of board games, the store  stocks a growing list of really good titles, they carry all of the games mentioned in this article, and many more. Check them out at www.woodforsheep.ca.

Part two in this series will look at some games that take less than an hour to play.

Written for Child’s Life by Stephen Orr.