Family Board Games - Looking For Something New to Play?

Why Board Games?

A few months ago I was looking for a way to have a little more fun, and actually interact with people. I've always loved playing PC games that involved playing online. The social interaction was always fun, but it was always someone who was five states away, or sometimes had to deal with the difficulties of when to play, so I started researching board games.

We used to play board games as a kid, but it was usually monopoly, which is a very long game as you all probably know. So I started researching other options.

There are a lot of great reviews of games out there but sometimes it's difficult to find a game that fits your needs. There are some really good web sites that help people match themselves to the best games for them to play. Here are some tips to think about when selecting a game.

Finding the Right Game For You

Some things to consider when choosing a game...

How many players do you want to play with? Some games are specifically for two players, some are for four. Four-player games are hard to get together at times. With a two-player game you may be leaving someone out. Many of us have to work only with two-player games because we only have the capability to play with a spouse. There are even some games that are designed for solitary play...for those times when you can't find another player, but you want to get your game fix. Look at the age levels of the players. You don't want to make it too difficult to where people aren't interested. If you plan to involve the younger players, you don't want a game that is over their head and they won't enjoy. You do want them to grow up and enjoy gaming, just like you, right? Is the theme something everyone is open too? Some people don't like fantasy. Some don't like war games. Some games have the exact same elements, but different pieces.
Reccomendations For You To Start With

Here are a few of my favorites that can usually accommodate different quantities of players.

Carcassonne

It's a tile laying game where you build a city and get points. It's easy and it changes every time you play, because each player chooses how to build the city. As you build the city, you get points. The bigger the city, or item in the game, the more points you get.

Ticket to Ride

The object of the game is to make a railroad line from one city to the next. The great thing about this game is its simplicity level. You can go through any number of cities to get there. Each move you can do only one of three things: 1) draw train cards that you eventually use to build a route, claim a route using train cards in your hand, or get a new destination card so you can points for the different routes you build. It's very fun and plays quickly (typically less than an hour). The instructions are easy and kids seem to really enjoy the theme.

Settlers of Catan

This is one of the most popular games in the world - and you probably have not played it. Simply it is a "country" with different resources. When you roll the dice and have a city on a resource, you get that resource card. In Catan, you collect resource cards to place cities, towns, and roads. When you place towns you get resource cards. If you need a specific card you can trade with other players, so there is a lot of interaction between people on every turn. You win by being the first to get to a certain number of points.

Blokus

Who cares about building cities and gathering resources? You want a good puzzle game. If you like Tetris or Sudoku, this game is probably up your alley. Think of it as a puzzle crossed with checkers. You have many different pieces, and the object of the game is to get them all on the board. Here's the trick, you can only touch the corner of your own piece and other players can block you in. Remember this game board is specific to the number of players you have, so the standard Blokus game can handle up to four players, the travel edition can handle two players.

We hope you enjoy these recommendations and find a new game or two for you and your family. It is a great way to get your family away from the television or computer games for a period of time.