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Which is the best choice to get young kids involved in board games?
Carcassonne
Ticket to Ride
Catan
Other (state in reply)

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Made in gb
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Yvan eht nioj






In my Austin Ambassador Y Reg

As a parent, I worry my kids spend too much time ogling the iPad rather than engaging in more wholesome activities. To that end, the wife and I have decided to set aside an hour or so every week to play a board game as a family and enjoy some quality time that way. Obviously, Cluedo, Monopoly and the like only hold so much attention so I did a little research into so-called 'gateway games' and bought 3 games off Amazon that I hope will provide sufficient gaming nectar. However, I am curious as to which game Dakka feels is most appropriate to start with. The kids are 5 and 8 so to start with, I want something quick to pick up, simple to play and enjoyable. Which out of the three options in the poll do you think fits that initial bill and if not, which other games do you think are suitable?

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Did Fulgrim Just Behead Ferrus?





Fort Worth, TX

Of the three, Ticket to Ride will probably be the easiest one for kids to pick up on. Everything is on the board to see, and the gameplay is very straight forward.

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Dipping With Wood Stain






Sorry! Sliders
King of Tokyo
Pirates Cove
Takenoko
Coconuts

I've found that dexterity games, and games that have a theme my kids are interested in work the best.
While there might be some that the game play is easier to grasp, but from a kids' point of view, building train routes, roads, and trading wood for sheep, are kind of bland themes.

Themes and action will keep a young childs attention much longer than an easy game to play.

What are your kids interested in?
Start there.
   
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Junior Officer with Laspistol





London, Ontario

Carcassonne is pretty easy to get a grip on, particularly if you start with the base set and don't try to actively weasel into your kids' cities. You should probably ignore farmers for a couple of games.

Games like Uno, while not "board games" are quick paced and have personal interactions like making other players draw cards, skip turns... your kids will get a kick out of making Dad draw 5 cards one turn then skipping him the next. Not that I'm bitter, or anything.

My eldest enjoys Othello, or Reversi, depending on where you live.

I would say my kids have the most fun playing cards. My boys are now 8 and 6. The eldest loves reading so is starting to be able to play cards games with described actions, like Fluxx. My youngest not so much, but he was a ton of fun as a half-orc rogue in a dungeon crawl I ran with the family. Nothing coerces a terrified farmer to tell you where the goblins are hiding quite like throwing the heads of goblins at him while you scream, "Where are the rest of the goblins?!?".

He didn't know, but he would have told him anything to get him to stop pelting him with goblin heads. Sometimes I worry, but then I remember I was a weird kid too and the feeling passes.

He also loves crazy 8's. For a kid that can't sit still or focus for more than 4 seconds at a time, he really seems to get into it, and can play about 3 games before the squirms take over.
   
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Pustulating Plague Priest






I kind of thought Catan was a bit easier to learn as opposed to Carcassone, but I was an idiot as a kid.

An additional recommendation I would make, is a game called Taboo. You basically need to get someone else to guess words correctly, without using certain kinds of words to describe it. It's like vocabulary charades. My family played this game every once in a while, and those nights were absolutely hysterical. The rules are extremely straightforward as well.

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Norn Queen






King of tokyo is a good game for younger kids. Its primarily dice rolling but there is some decision making (in particular about how many and which dice to keep rerolling). The art is bright and fun and the set up/pack away is quick. Unless you start using cards/expansions there is also little to no reading which is good for the youngest of them.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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Longtime Dakkanaut






Rivet Wars.
Expensive but a nice way to get anyone into the army style tabletop gaming, due to chibi style minis, beeing a board game and easy combat rules.

If you want fast, fun and easy to play pre game games then Zombie Dice and Get Bit will get that job done.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/07/18 07:46:55


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Ragin' Ork Dreadnought




Monarchy of TBD

Pick a game that you're passionate about, and that aligns with their interest. My wife adores Monopoly, and I love Risk, but neither one works great for the kids (8 and 4). So we also went looking for intro games.

We settled on Mr. Toast and Sleeping Queens. Both are simple to grasp, and have some limited strategic options.

Once Upon a Time and Munchkin will be our next steps.

FYI- a 4 year old can play DND 5e with a bit of help with hit point tracking- don't be afraid of RPGs!

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 Gitzbitah wrote:

FYI- a 4 year old can play DND 5e with a bit of help with hit point tracking- don't be afraid of RPGs!

Yup, my not quite 5 year old son is playing in a simple gladiator campaign using heavily house ruled 3.5. I can't help but smile every time the little elven warmage larps firing his bow!
   
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Monstrous Master Moulder




Rust belt

Rhino hero, Dex based game where you stack cards
King of Tokyo, rolling dice and monsters

Here is BBG rank of the top kids games

https://boardgamegeek.com/childrensgames/browse/boardgame

   
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Ancient Venerable Black Templar Dreadnought





Canada

Anything that has some degree of challenge and simple rules.

"Mexican Train" is a dominoes game and we found it surprisingly addictive. There are many versions out there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Train

"Talisman" recently went out of print but I would recommend that where it was fun for everyone.

"X-wing" I oddly found my kids were able to play it easily and we had alot of fun... something about shooting your dad down or crashing into asteroids.

"Zombicide" Season 1 was good, it was nice to ALL work together to survive and not fight each other (much), you can even play the game solo.

"Risk" in any incarnation you like. It was addictive for me a long time ago and I found it still is.

"Catan" seems to still play well for us. The kids can remove themselves from the machines to play this.

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Norn Queen






We always had a rule for the youngest kids that if they couldn't read the cards to play the game then they couldn't play the game.

It was both because they couldn't keep their hand hidden from the other players if that was an element of the game (something just about every game with cards involves) and because it encouraged them to want to learn to read so they had more games to play.

We got games that did not include reading so they had things to play with us. But that rule was one they were raised on.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
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Raging-on-the-Inside Blood Angel Sergeant





Lawrenceville, New Jersey, USA

My daughter is 12 and has been playing board games for about 3 years now. Here is our list.

Catan
Betrayal at house on haunted hill
Dead of winter
Splendor
Spice road
Forbidden Island
Munchkin
Sentinels of the Multiverse
X-wing
X-wing armada
Ticket to ride

Hope this helps!

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Throw them in the deep end with a Battletech starter (and make them try to acquire it too)

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Decrepit Dakkanaut






New Orleans, LA

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Of the three, Ticket to Ride will probably be the easiest one for kids to pick up on. Everything is on the board to see, and the gameplay is very straight forward.


I agree with this. I’d also add King of Tokyo

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