October 2017 - EASTERN OREGON PARENT - 5
Family board games – so much more than Monopoly!
By JENNIFER COLTON
Few things can liven up a fam-
ily night and bring out the friendly
rivalry like a board game, and the
options aren’t just limited to Mo-
nopoly and Life. The list below only
includes a couple recommenda-
tions for each age range, and this
doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Visit BoardGameGeek.com for
more information on ratings, rec-
ommendations and reviews from
other players.
Tsuro: 2-8 players
Time to play: 15 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 6.7
In Tsuro, each player controls a
dragon token and places lined tiles
to guide their token on a “quest for
enlightenment.” The game is easy
to learn, even for young children,
as you place tiles and work to keep
your token on the board the lon-
gest. If you run into another token
or run your path off the board,
you’re out.
Age Range: Preschool (under 5)
We won’t delve into the pre-
school games much here, but this
is where it’s still okay to pull out
some of the favorites you remem-
ber: Hi-Ho! Cherry-O, Candyland
and Chutes and Ladders rely mostly
on luck but still appeal to young
players. For some variety, try Silly
Shenanigans, Spooky Castle, or
Dragon Quest.
Coconuts: 2-4 players
Time to play: 20 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.1
Coconuts is a dexterity game
based on Chinese mythology. Play-
ers use monkey-shaped catapults
to launch plastic coconuts toward
cups in the middle of the play-
ing area. Add in power-up cards
to throw off your opponents by
requiring them to wear a blindfold
or other tricks, and it is a quick, fun
game for the whole family.
Age range: Primary (age 5-9)
Dixit: 3-6 players
Time to play: 30 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.3 (of 10)
Dixit is a game of storytelling,
creativity and full-color art that can
appeal to children and adults alike.
Each turn, one player is the story-
teller and selects a card from his
or her hand. The storyteller makes
up a sentence and says it out loud,
without showing the other players.
The other players select a card from
their own hands they think best
match the sentence and play them.
All cards are shuffled and placed
face up on the table, and players
earn points for selecting the story-
teller’s card – or for fooling others
with their own. The game is as var-
ied as the stories a family can tell.
Other suggested games: Buccaneer
Bones, Hoot Owl Hoot, Suspend,
Spot It, Sorry!, Little Drop of Poison
Age range: Elementary (age 8-12)
Coup: 2-6 players
Time to play: 15-20 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.1
Be the player with the most
influence in the game by bluffing
your way through actions, assassi-
nations, and the final coup on your
opponents. Each player starts the
game with two coins and influence
over two hidden characters, and
they work to be the last player with
hidden influence.
Hanabi: 2-5 players
Time to play: 25 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.2
For a twist on the typical board
or card game, try Hanabi – a game
where everyone else at the table
sees your cards, but you can’t know
your own. Players take the role of
inept pyrotechnicians, trying to put
on a fireworks show without run-
ning out of time or lighting a fuse
too early. Help others play their
cards in the right order while figur-
ing out what cards you have.
Ticket to Ride: 2-5 players
Time to play: 30-60 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.5
In Ticket to Ride, each player
draws train tickets and works to
complete their designated route
across North America. The longer
the route, the more points, and
players work to complete as many
Destination Tickets as possible and
build the longest continuous route.
The game combines strategy, set
building, and a little bit of luck to
become one of the “new classics”
every gaming family should take for
a spin.
Carcassonne: 2-5 players
Time to play: 30-45 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.4
Practice strategies while work-
ing to build a kingdom with fields,
lands, cities and farms. The pieces
have to line up to keep your king-
dom prospering, and it’s a game
where strategies grow as players
become more familiar with the
game. Because players place tiles,
it’s a new board every time.
Other suggested games: Takenoko,
King of Tokyo, Control, Scuttle, Clue,
Timeline, Love Letter
Age range: Middle school and up
Plague Inc: 1-4 players
Time to play: 45-60 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.9
If you’ve ever had the urge to
destroy, say, Argentina, or prevent
your family members from tak-
ing out Portugal, this might be the
game for you. Each player takes
the role of a disease bent on infect-
ing – and then wiping out – the
world. Mutate and earn DNA points
to raise your disease’s abilities to
spread across the globe and then up
your mortality to bring a swift end.
Dark Gothic: 2-6 players
Time to play: 45 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 7.0
Dark Gothic is a deck-building
game where each player takes the
role of a monster-hunting hero who
has to gather cards and abilities to
defeat three monsters. This game
is semi-cooperative: All heroes lose
if the villains aren’t defeated. Once
all three villians are defeated, count
up card point totals and see who
takes home the bragging rights of
best villain-slayer in this colonial-
themed strategy game.
House of Borgia: 2-6 players
Time to Play: 30-40 minutes
BoardGameGeek rating: 6.8
It is 1492, and the church is with-
out a pope. You have influence over
one of the cardinals and need to
make sure your cardinal becomes
the next pope: without tipping off
the other candidates. This dice-
rolling game combines bluffing,
strategy, and a bit of luck.
Other suggested games: Book of
Madness, Papa Paolo, Il Vecchio,
Hoplomachus, Family Plot, Gloom.
________
Jennifer Colton is news director of
KOHU and KQFM, and mother of
three, based in Pendleton.