Top 10 Family Board Games - 2021
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2024
- This is my family's list of our top ten favorite boardgames OF ALL TIME. I started putting it together at the beginning of 2021, searching for new games and comparing against our standing favorites to see whether or not our list would change. After many family board game nights and copious amounts of footage, this is the result! (and in case you are wondering: Yes. Some new games we tried did overtake our old favorites.)
By the way, there are three criteria for these games:
1. They must be something everyone (all ages and genders) wants to play.
2. They must be something everyone CAN play (not too much reading so the littles can enjoy too!)
3. They must be educational or enriching
You can check out my ratings for all of these board games and - even better - discover the best deals for family board games on Amazon by visiting ThePerfectBoardgame.com
WATCH THIS VIDEO on The Perfect Boardgame:
theperfectboardgame.com/board...
UPDATE: Check out my response to viewer recommendations:
• The Best Family Board ...
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - #10. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
2:00 - #9. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
2:35 - #8. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
3:34 - #7. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
4:56 - #6. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
5:37- #5. amzn.to/3paMw82
7:09 #4. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
9:15 #3. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
Full length review for the #3 Best family board game: • Planet - A Family Boar...
10:37 #2. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
Full length review for the #2 Best family board game: • Kingdomino Review for ...
11:51 #1. theperfectboardgame.com/?e=bg...
Full length review for the #1 Best family board game: • Karuba Board Game Fami...
12:36 - Why is this the best family board game?
13:21 - How to find the best deals for family board games
13:53 - A challenge for viewers - Hry
Best criteria I’ve ever seen for choosing family board games. Excellent explanation from family interaction and kid learning perspective. I that I’d have seen this earlier.
That is such high praise! Thank you so much.
Not many lists for kids/family come with such amazing insight. I also loved that you showed the board, contents, playthrough, etc. You definitely earned a subscriber! Thanks for such a great video.
Thank you so much! I try. I appreciate that you explicitly name “showing the board games” as something you value. That takes several hours of extra editing, so it’s affirming to hear it helped earn a sub.
@@theperfectboardgame The fact that you take the time to do that, explain the mechanics, and give insight, all means that I don't have to look at separate review videos. You've done it all! haha. I'm assuming you get affiliate compensation from your website so I will order exclusively through that to help out in any small way. I appreciate all the hard work from one dad to another.
@@jimmyhetten9 from one dad to another: 👊
The following has gone down well with our 6 and 5 year old boys: Kingdomino, Sushi Go!, Roll for It!, One Key, Scarabya, Dixit, Pyramid of Pengqueen, Thunderbirds and Paleo.
This is a great list! Sushi Roll has replaced Sushi Go for us. We have a 5yo and to accommodate her when we taught her Kingdomino last year, I drew a grid for her to play on. In Karuba, we allow her to turn her tiles. Karuba is an awesome game - it can be tough! Our daughter’s favorite games are Trash Pandas, Catacombs of Karak, Zombie Kidz, Roll for It, and Kariba.
Thank you so much for the suggestions! Also, the Kingdomino grid: BRILLIANT!
Great content. I really like the planing and organization of data and the added bonus of your kids specific experiences. Graphics are really nice and visible too. Keep it coming. 🤙
Thank you so much, I’m sure you can tell this is a new channel so comments like these are very encouraging!
Reef is a lot of fun and i like how creative the shape building can be. Love love patchwork and New York Zoo!!!! So much fun.
The Dice Tower used to have a series called "Modify it For Me" I'd love a similar series from you that takes more strategic/difficult games and modifies for younger children or makes it more family friendly. I liked that you adapted your recommendations for your youngest. I have an 8 yr old who loves trying harder games and we're always looking for ways to accommodate her.
Thanks for the list!
Thanks for not rehashing the standard family game list, this was well thought out.
My pleasure. I’ve watched a lot of videos and I know what’s “popular”. I definitely believe the best games (for any category) and the games everyone knows about have less overlap than you would think.
Our 8 year old really likes Over Boss, Minecraft Builders & Biomes, Point Salad, Keys to the Castle, Barenpark and Trash Pandas. They're games the wife and I really enjoy playing with him. Great list, going to look into a few of them.
Wow. I’m always interested in what other people will recommended when I post a video and I haven’t played ANY of the games you listed! I have some homework to do!
Indeed. Minecraft builders and biomes is a banger
man, i just found your channel!
i love your style!
passionate about gaming with kids and family
knowledgeable, nuanced, comparative, and aware of considerations gamers have
no nonsense but still warm and personable
great stuff!
Thanks for dropping this comment. I realize you could have just liked the video, but deciding to write something is very encouraging to me.
Great video. It’s hard to find a game that kids and parents enjoy. That balance point is on a knifes edge. Ticket to Ride and Catan are both easy enough and fun to play for everyone. I wouldn’t play 10 through 2 without kids. But number one looks interesting. Thank you
Thank you for this amazing board game listing .
This a great, thoughtful list. Makes me wish my kids weren't all grow'd up. Thanks for putting it together.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you, I tried my best. After seeing some of the suggestions from other people, I have some homework to do and I’ll definitely have to update this video next year.
@Scyld Scefing By the way, Dominion a very accessible game. It isn’t hard to get into.
Well done videos. These should have way more views!
I appreciate it, thanks! This is a fairly new channel, that will come with time! Glad you can be here to see how it starts 😊
Thank you so much for creating great informative and interesting videos such as this one!
I especially love the fact that you teach your kids from such a young age, such nice fun and advanced inteligent board games from such a young age, whereas most parents don't bother and even think kids can't handle it.
Your kids and my nieces are great proof that kids can handle much more complex concepts than most people give them credit for, even at first they need some(or lots of) help and some rules simplified/bent/broken. From that only, I can see that you are a superb dad!
I will check out your website. Keep up the great work and enjoy lots of your family board gaming times. You deserve it!
Correlation is not causation, but I'm tempted to claim that my kids' early introduction to numeracy and problem solving via games has given them a boost in school. Regardless, as a former math teacher myself, it's hard to overestimate the importance of mathematical problem solving and I do think games offers a form of that which young kids can really get a handle on. I hope my videos can be an inspiration to other parents as well. Thank you for your kind words. I am always working on the web app and would love to hear any feedback you may have.
Karuba is my favourite too. Nice. 😁👍
Great list!! A few that my kids like is Cascadia, Tsuro, King of Tokyo and Project L.
Thanks for the recommendations! I hadn’t heard of Project L.
Excellent video, thank you.
Great list. I have two younger elementary aged kids.
I agree on KingDomino and Isle of Cats (we didn't get NYZoo because it seemed similar enough). Will have to think about Karuba.
I would recommend having some dexterity games. My kids love Rhino Hero SuperBattle, Pitch Car, Ice Cool, Coconuts, and Crokinole.
Non Dexterity games that work well with my kids also include are Mountain Goats, Dinosaur Tea Party, Sleeping Queens, Hey That's My Fish, Cardline, Viva Topo (which may be out of print), and Roll For It. Had limited success with Tsuro and King of Tokyo.
Thank you! The dexterity games are definitely worth mentioning because they are so accessible for all ages. Pitch Car is my favorite of those you mentioned. In general, my five-year-old gets a little frustrated with dexterity games, but we tried Beat That and my making a few accommodations, Kay really liked it. (Maybe because the challenges are always changing so if she doesn’t like one, we quickly move to the next.)
I have to second Viva Topo. It is a perfect family game. Adults love it for the push your luck and kids love moving the cat and running for the cheese. I would also add Giro Galloppo, similo, ghost fightin treasure hunters, pj masks: team of heroes (seriously), spot it, chateau roquefort, Indigo, crazy race, zombie kidz, cheeky monkey, barenpark, rory story cubes, and zombie dice. All went over really well including some of the ones you listed. (rhino hero always gets everyone engaged)
Azul is another great one that has been a hit with our family every time we play. Both kids and adults do well with it.
We have Azul. Great game, even though it’s more abstract. I like how tactile it is. They could have used card board pieces, but the fact they use those hefty tiles is really satisfying.
Calico is one of my favorite games. It's a fun game that's going to have you thinking and wishing that pattern your looking for pops out.
Great List! I will add: Juicy Fruits, Magic Maze, Ice Cool, and Zendo.
I considered Magic Maze but I thought the game going on in my head- as I considered the consequences of shifting the maze- was different than the game going on in my kids’s heads.
Absolutely love Karuba, for the reasons you stated, primarily that everyone has exactly the same conditions and how they develop depends on their own choices. Another similar to this is the new Phil Walker-Harding game - Explorers. Three other games I would recommend if you haven't tried them are Everything on 1 Card and Silver & Gold which are similar to Explorers in that you write on the cards (dry wipe pens). the other game I would suggest is Luxor, where you are trying to reach the centre of the tomb with some set collection of items as you progress.
Awesome recommendations! I’ll check out Explorers! By the way, THANK YOU for taking the time to list your recommendations. I haven’t played these yet!
@@theperfectboardgame Everything on 1 Card and Silver & Gold are fairly small and so reasonably cheap. Should have said that Silver & Gold is another Phil Walker-Harding Game, and Everything on 1 Card is by the same designer as Ohanami and Qwixx. Hope you get to play those sooner rather than later.
Explorers is already in the mail! I don’t buy every game that viewers recommend, but when I checked out the rulebook for this one, I couldn’t pass it up. I need to play it with my kids, record video, etcetera, but I’m sure I will feature it eventually.
I'll second Luxor.
We have a few of these that we like with our kiddos. We also LOVE the games Slide Blast by FoxGames, sleeping Queens, Go Nuts for Doughnuts (we prefer over sushi go), Llama Drama, and battle sheep
Thanks for the recommendations! I can see why Go Nuts for Donuts would be preferred- the artwork, if nothing else, looks hilarious!
Thank you for this list, I have a 6 year old daughter and feel like I can relate to your situation, we are enjoying Bärenpark, Carcassonne, Quacks of Quedlinburg, Rhino Hero, Sleeping queens, Tsuro, Kingdomino and Ticket to ride.
I'll definitely be checking out some of these, also you introduced me to Explorers which looks great and is added to my list.
Thank you! The search is ongoing and it sure is fun! Living Forest is a new game that might need to be added to your list as well. It was released after I made this video. Take a look on boardgamearena if you want to try it first.
@@theperfectboardgame nice one, I'll take a look right now!
I think for future purchases I'll also be looking at Cascadia, Land Vs Sea, King of Tokyo (maybe) and maybe Suburbia, thinking that might be a little deep though at the moment.
@@theperfectboardgame oops I bought explorer's, I'm blaming you.
I would love to see a list of the top board game for each age range, like 3 - 10. That seems to be the hardest age group to find a game everyone can enjoy together.
That’s a great idea!
We love playing bluffing games like Skull, Cockroach Poker, and most recently, Spicy. The artwork on the last two are comical and fun for kids. Also, sometimes the youngest players can simply choose their own win conditions in order to feel like they aren't losing, even if the official rules don't agree.
Thanks for the list. Your kids are adorable and I think it's great that you all get to play together. It's a great way to bond with them. Kudos!
Outfoxed and dragon dash were our kids first games that they loved at about age 4. A lot of these games seem for a little older than that.
Great list, gave you a like as well deserved and will check out your website for more! 😊
Hi, great video! Have you tried treasure Hunter by Richard Garfield? Also Adventureland by Kramer and Kiesling? Two all time greats for families in my opinion.
I haven't, but these look like great recommendations. I will take a look before I publish my list for 2022. Thank you!
My 7 and 6yr old love playing barenpark, quacks of quelidenberg, Azul, lords of waterdeep, Dale of merchants
3yr old joins in with some games normally on someone's team but we have games she can play aswell
Love this list, I have a 6 year old who likes board games so always looking for new ideas.
Board games he already likes are Ticket to ride, Baren Park, Stone Age, Roll for it, Zombie Dice, Kingdomino, Takenoko, Hogwarts Battle, Exploding Kittens, Dragonwood, Astronaughts, Pandemic and Sagrada
I appreciate this list. I’m making not of the games I haven’t tried yet because I am building a “Best of Viewer Recommendations” video
Calico does have a family mode mentioned in the rules where you flip the scoring tiles face down.
I actually discovered that during the last time we played! ❤️ Ignoring the scoring tiles is basically what we did, but it was cool to discover that it is officially part of the rule book.
@@theperfectboardgame Ok, by the way, I liked the video.
My son is 11 and we’ve been playing board games for the past couple of years.
He is very quick, so he really likes games where this quality brings him victory. These are simple and ultra light things Iike SET and Dobble. But he is also very happy to play Patchwork / Patchwork Doodle, Azul, Takenoko + Chibis expansion. Previously we also owned Raptor, but it was too harsh and unfriendly: actually, I myself could not play it with peers without getting frustrated and teary 🙈
Great content! I was looking for suggestions on family board games and CZcams sent me here. :) Your website also looks interesting! The URL from the description looks like it has an extra 'b', so it's broken when you first click on it.
Thank you so much for the note. I was able to fix it!
Great list! I've played almost every game you mentioned. Reef, Kingdomino and Karuba are 3 of my favourite games.
Family games we love:
Splendor
Avenue/Kokoro: Avenue of the Kodama or Trails of Tucana
Boomerang
Habitats
Wurfelland
Cottage Garden
Scarabya
NMBR9
Watched this video last year and bought several games recommended for our family.. our 3.5 year old loves calico.. are their any other games with similar style of play as that one?
Take a look at Lost Seas. It’s a new game that I really enjoy, but when I considered buying it, my only objection was: “maybe this game is too similar to Calico.”
good list
I remember the days when all I needed to have fun was a good old Memory game.
For me it was Risk. Before that it was Uno. But the one game that has endured through every age and still fun from time to time is Cribbage.
Our favorites are Carcassonne, king of Tokyo (with a few house rules), Minecraft builders and biomes, zoo break, and pebble rock delivery service
Zoo Break and Pebble Rock Delivery Service… I haven’t heard of those! Will check them out, thanks!
@@theperfectboardgame zoo break is very good but the art and components may not be everyone's taste. It's also a co op. Pebble rock has great art but a tad too many components but it's a super solid kids/family game. Both probably more towards the 8 to 12 range but I make em work with my littles
@@theperfectboardgame really like the family driven content and great breakdowns. New subscriber 😁
I'm surprised you picked Kingdomino. I love it, but I know that for a good game there is enough multiplication that even some of my middle school students struggle (I'm not a Maths teacher, so that isn't my fault.)
I prefer to play Dragomino with my students and my own kids (3 and 9), just because it is able to be played without any math, but still has many of the fun elements.
Yes, Kingdomino has multiplication, but the factors are low enough (often the smaller factor is 2 or 3) that young kids can add repetitively. Working through something like this takes time, but it leads students to discover patterns.
The same is true of golfing or skiing or any activity. Initially there is a very rigorous process and mental checklist as you are first learning it, but if you want to do the activity badly enough, you endure the difficult training process until it comes naturally.
Anyway, all that is to say: I make my kids count their own score and I was a math teacher. (Granted, I taught high school.)
Catan if you dont play with the robber is pretty fun
Crazy race (2017) is good
And new one is Inspector Mouse: The Great Escape (2021)
Thank you, I’ll take a look. Inspector Mouse hasn’t hit my radar yet. I appreciate it!
Great Video! As a parent of 3 I'm always looking for good games for their level
In the 70s I made my brother play Avalon Hills Squad Leader. He was 6. …. 😂
Do you have any favorite card game picks? My family loves card games.
That use a traditional deck of cards? Not really. And card games that have designated decks seem perhaps too abstract for the littles. But Sushi Go is a card game, they like that. Another one that is good but requires light reading is Tea Dragon Society. What are your recommendations?
Brawl, Nertz, Scrimish, Bottle Imp, Silver and Gold, Jaipur, Rescue Animals, Star Realms, Camel Up, Pokemon CCG, Mille Bornes, Dragonwood, Paperback, Taco-cat-goat-cheese-pizza, Outfoxed.
Been looking through lots of videos but yours best suits me as a single dad with a 7 year old daughter. Some of the other videos seem way too advanced or boring for a little girl.
That’s very encouraging. This is a new channel, so I really have to listen to my audience to figure out if I’m on the right track or if I need to switch my focus. I called my channel “Board Game Dad” because I thought there was a need for more family-focused games. This is a huge affirmation.
@@theperfectboardgame You've got yourself a new subscriber. Kingdomino is a good all-rounder in the house I also have to keep reminding my daughter of the 5x5 grid rule. Ticket to ride Europe is a new addition which is easy to pick up and you can break it down to a simpler game if your remove the Objective cards. Santorini is a game that my daughter keeps picking up and its great strategy building game, again you can make the rules easier just by removing some of the advanced card rules. Picked up zombie kids after watching your video for my niece Christmas present.
If your kids have watched the Harry Potter movies they may like Hogwart Battles
Thanks for the recommendation! I haven’t played it. When my kids are a little older, we will read them the books. Right now, I don’t think they really know who Harry Potter is!
yo,
Where is Incan Gold?
Where is Marvel United??
Where is Ice Cool?????
I don’t know Incan ahold. I will take a look, thank you for the recommendations!
(As for the other two, the dexterity of Ice Cool didn’t catch on with Kay, the youngest, and no one in MY family is interested in Marvel-themed anything, so that’s just pure discrimination on my part.)
I've got a 2yo daughter and another girl on the way. This channel gives me hope that I can indoctrinate them into the cult of board gaming soon!
Absolutely. I’m not a researcher or anything, but I was a math educator for ten years. I am sure early introduction of games and rules has helped my children’s development. Would love to know if any studies have been done on that.
Also, while my spouse want originally into games, as we have played more together, even she has become a convert.