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I’m “Board!”

December 15, 2020

Best Board Games to Score For The Holidays.

Scrabble Board game

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

― Albert Einstein
Monopoly - Board game of all time

Time Well-Spent Making Family Memories

I have to confess that my favorite board game of all time (at least in my memories of it) flies in the face of my feminist nature: The Bride Game. I know. I have now said this out loud. I used to love playing this game with my friend, Sarah, in her perfect, pink bedroom, where we would collect all the cards for a “semi-formal daytime” or “formal evening wedding,” and then race each other up the aisle to win. And I LOVED this game. It shocks me now, but these are wonderful memories. You can make some pf these precious memories too with some great new games that are on the market now or with some of the old standards that are dying to be replayed. (P.S. I have linked game names to places you can buy them, but many are available from multiple sources).

Best New Games For Kids

Squirrel game

There are some really great games out there that you can play with your little ones. In The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game the object is to collect one acorn of each color to win. This game is easy to learn, takes 10 minutes to play and has a “tool” involved in the game play that actually helps develop fine motor skills. It teaches matching, sorting and strategic thinking in a fun and fast-paced way.

Paw patrol

Paw Patrol Matching Game is a basic matching game based on the books and series of the same name. You can start small and grow the game exponentially as you child learns because this game comes with 70 tiles. The matching tiles are also thick and sturdy to hold up to little, sticky hands.

Best New Games For The Kid In All of Us

SCYTHE - economy board game

Every game-rating site out there is recommending the game Pandemic this year. Why?? Please tell me??Aren’t we living that one?? So I will NOT be recommending that one, dear friends, but I do have a few good ones for you anyway. First up is the game Scythe that Games Radar calls the “best economy-based board game.” Based in post-World War I Europe it’s a game of strategy and capitalism with visually stunning production. (FYI: It’s recent popularity has driven up the price.)

Betrayal At House on The Hill

Betrayal At House on The Hill is another strategy game where the object is first to build the house and then to defeat the traitor amongst you. The New York Times says Betrayal At House on The Hill “is what would happen if HP Lovecraft wrote a Scooby-Doo episode and turned it into a party game.” Sounds fun to me…

Exploding Kittens- Card game

And who wouldn’t be intrigued by a game called Exploding Kittens? It’s a game similar to UNO with the object of getting rid of all your cards first. It’s billed as a “Game for people who are into kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats.” I am laughing just writing that, so I think it’s definitely worth a try.

A Big Hoorah For The Classics

CLUE- Mystery board game

The classics are classics for the very reason that they hold up over time. Board games are no exception. My daughters and I had a side-splitting time playing Scategories recently and the game was as fresh and fun as ever before.

Chutes and Ladders board game

So if you’re looking for some guaranteed fun think about these familiar ones too:

  • Scrabble
  • Trouble
  • Bananagrams
  • Chutes and Ladders
  • Clue
  • Monopoly
  • Candy Land
  • Operation
  • Sorry
  • Battleship
  • Trivial Pursuit
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Labyrinth
  • Stratego
  • Chess/Checkers/Backgammon

A Few More Before I Go…

I Dessent - Best party board game

I truly admire the late Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her fight for the equality of women in her law career and her stellar time on the country’s highest bench have earned the respect of millions. I like her equally for her indomitable spirit and her spunk. That’s why I really like the RBG inspired game I Dissent. The object of this game is to put forth the better argument for a certain position. You can play as individuals or teams and debate things like “Cats are better than dogs.” I already bought this one for my kids, the lovers of any argument, ever… but that’s our little secret.

Superfight- Best Board Game

My son Joe got us Superfight last year for Christmas. It was so funny having players argue about who would win in a battle (the game’s object). Like Abraham Lincoln with steel claws vs. Clara Barton with invisibility powers… it brings the ridiculous to the level of the absurd and it is a riot!

Spontuneous- Best Family board game

Finally, there’s Spontuneous. It’s fast-paced fun and you don’t have to be able to carry a tune to be able to play, but you do have to sing, and that’s half the fun.

So What Else Is Good About Giving Some Board Games This Holiday?

We are all doing our best to stay within our family group to lessen the spread of this horrible disease, so why not make it the best fun you’ve had all week by playing a board game with the people you love most?

And Now For A Little Music Before We Go…

“I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.

-Steven Wright

1 Comment

  • Reply
    VISHAL
    December 26, 2020 at 7:25 am

    This is awesome.

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