As the holiday season fast approaches, we thought we'd work up a (hopefully) helpful list of games for people who are looking to give a board game as a gift, but have no idea what to get or where to get it. This isn't exhaustive, and it's full of our own biases, but it should give you some ideas. (We're only mentioning games that are in print, so cool games such as Gulo Gulo, and The Magic Labyinth aren't here.) And please feel free to contact either one of us if you have specific questions. About board games. Not your Calculus homework...
We're going to start with Kids Games. We'll have a separate list for Family Games, but these are games specifically meant for kids—even though many of them are great fun for adults, too.
Loopin' Louie—This fantastic game has gone through many cycles of being in print and then out of print—I had to order a copy from Germany! But you're in luck! It's in print, and I've seen this on the shelves of Toys R Us, so snatch one up before they're hard-to-find again. There's a crazed pilot trying to knock off your chickens, and you have to bounce him away. It's as insane as it sounds—and I mean that in a good way. My 4-year-old wants to play this all the time. And my group of adult gamers has Loopin' Louie tournaments on a fairly regular basis.
Cost: ~$20
Available From: Toys R Us (online and in-store), Amazon
, and your friendly local board game store
Ages: My 4-year-old plays, but if I'm being honest, he's a tad young. Probably 5 or 6 and up on this one. (But seriously, snag one now.)
Animal Upon Animal—The publisher HABA makes some really cool kids games, and this is no exception. It's a bunch of carved and painted animals of varying sizes and shapes, and each person is trying to stack their set of animals without it falling over. It's simple, and kids are good at it—I think because they're so fearless.
Cost: ~$20
Available From: Amazon
, and your friendly local board game store
Ages: 4 and up. Unlike some other games, this doesn't have a whole lot of appeal for older kids or adults. Definitely a kids game.
Chicken Cha Cha Cha—This is a memory game. You're moving your chickens along a path, and trying to remember where various tiles are. If you pick the right tile, you move forward, and if you move over another chicken, you steal one of their feathers. The winner is the person who manages to get one of every feather. Kids are ridiculously good at this—probably because they still have a decent memory. Unlike, say...me! There's a small, hard-to-find expansion for this that introduces small wooden piles of chicken poop. Yes, it's weird. Yes, my kids love it.
Cost: ~$35
Available From: Amazon
, and your friendly local board game store
Ages: 4 and up. I don't think older kids would like this, and there's no crossover appeal for adults, either. But parents will enjoy playing with their little ones.
Sorry Sliders!—Sorry is a game many of us played as kids, but it's dice-driven, so ultimately unsatisfying (in my opinion). But take out the dice and add a dexterity element, and it turns into a fun game! The pieces each have a ball bearing in them, so they sliiiiiiiide on boards. And the boards can be moved and swapped and changed depending on the number of players, or the variant you're playing.
Cost: ~$20
Available From: Amazon, big box stores (such as Target or Wal-Mart), and your friendly local board game store
Ages: 6 and up—though my 4-year-old does fine with it. Families, teenagers and adults will have fun with this, too.
Hula Hippos—This is a fast, easy dexterity filler. There's a polished wooden ring, and a bunch of small wooden hippos. You spin the ring, and people try and slide their hippos into the ring as it falls. If you can manage that, your hippo goes away; if you're the first to get rid of your hippos, you win. There's enough chaos and uncertainty that it's good for all ages.
Cost: ~$10
Available From: Amazon
, and your friendly local board game store
Ages: 5 and up. This is a fun game for many ages. We've used this as a quick filler in my game group.
, or your local game store
, and your local game store.
