# Games to play with your kids **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695 "2013-07-16T20:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/1 "2013-07-16T20:25:10Z")
(that don’t make you want to gouge your own eyes out). I don’t know about you all, but I typically loathe playing board games with my five year old. They’re an excruciating mix of boredom, frustration, and temper tantrum management. _Candyland_: coma-inducing _Chutes and Ladders_ and _Sorry_: Jesus Christ, will this game ever end? _Operation_: nothing more than the prelude to a screaming meltdown when she can’t even get one piece out _Hungry Hungry Hippos_: device for seeding white marbles around the entire house _Go Fish_ (specialty cards with actual fish on them, in a size guaranteed to never, ever fit in a child’s hands or allow shuffling except by Andre the Giant): do you have any sharks, because I want them to kill me now and so on. BUT, I have discovered some games that I not only don’t despise, I actually enjoy! _Yahtzee Jr._: not great, but not a total loss. Games are pleasantly brief. _Crazy Eights/Uno_: simplistic but not mind-numbing _Puzzles_: Surprisingly engaging, and it’s cooperative so no loser _Checkers_: believe it or not, I’m just learning how to play. But that means the kids might beat me, which makes it more fun for them! _Doodle Dice_: Actually fun, and good for everyone’s spatial relations and planning skills and the best so far - \*Catan Junior \*- retains the fun of the grownup version, but not too complicated or frustrating. Plus it has pirates and a Ghost Captain - what’s not to like? What games do you like to play with your children? (Alternatively, what are the worst games to play with kids and why?) ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/2 "2013-07-16T20:34:49Z")
I don’t have kids, but I do have a lot of Legos. Five is a great age to start building things. Buy a tub, see how it goes. How viable is outdoor fun? Can you jump rope? That’s hours and hours of entertainment right there. Are kites an option where you are? ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/3 "2013-07-16T20:42:21Z")
I have a 7yr old daughter, and a 4yr old son who… doesn’t really play. However, we all get a lot of mileage out of: [By Golly](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3507/by-golly), which is a twist to the standard memory card game [Aquarius](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/814/aquarius), which is a card edge matching type game [Zeus on the Loose](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22864/zeus-on-the-loose), which is a counting game with greek gods in. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/4 "2013-07-25T02:19:17Z")
Dino Dice, a reskinned version of Zombie Dice. Dixit King of Tokyo Love Letters The Resistance Apples to apples Survive: escape from Atlantis All terrific board games that adults and kids can enjoy. Fuck nonsense “games” like candyland that teach terrible habits and lack decision making. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/5 "2013-07-25T03:09:40Z")
Some substitutes that are actually sort of fun: _Candyland_: [Cartagena](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/826/cartagena) _Chutes and Ladders_ and _Sorry_: [Max](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4637/max) _Operation_: [Gulo Gulo](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6351/gulo-gulo) _Hungry Hungry Hippos_: sorry, never played it - can’t help with this one _Go Fish_: [Love Letter](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/129622/love-letter) We also get a fair amount of mileage out of Zeus on the Loose. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/6 "2013-07-25T19:10:13Z")
The big one at our house right now is [Trouble](http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-4658-S5-Trouble-Board/dp/B00000DMFN). Games are pretty quick, and you can’t lose the die. The boring part comes when everyone’s trying for a “6” at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-to-play-with-your-kids/663695/7 "2013-07-26T00:51:05Z")
I have a suggestion about the temper tantrum management. When my younger daughter was old enough to play games, at first she would throw a fit if she lost. “Okay,” I said, “Do you want to win?” “Yes!!” So I put both our playing pieces at the starting square. Then I jumped hers to the winner’s spot. “Hooray! You win! Want to play again?” Not sure what that was about, she said yes. Repeat. “But I want to play the game!” “Oh, that’s different. I thought you just wanted to win.” She got the point very quickly. In games of skill rather than chance, we would give her a slight advantage. For example, in Big Boggle, she could make smaller words, and there was a one-point adjustment on the scoring. After she started to beat the pants off us regularly, we did away with that rule! Just the other day, I taught my 3 year old granddaughter to play the card game War. I figured it was educational; she had to decide which number was higher. What she liked the best was watching me shuffle the cards.