I have three grown children with families and need a present for each to open at Christmas. I’ve gotten the game Cranium for one, and Cosmo for another. I need suggestions for a third. To keep them all fairly evenly matched, I’d like to stick to no more than $20 - $25. Any “experienced” suggestions would be appreciated–ones that are fun, ones to avoid, etc. Thank you.
MizQuirk
It’s a bit out of your price, but I would suggest Axis & Allies.
It’s the rare family that can play, much less complete, a game of Axis and Allies.
I’ve got no idea what Cranium and/or Cosmo might be, so I can’t offer any suggestions along those lines.
But A&A is a very involved and complicated, and above all LONG, game. Perfect for a group of Dopers with a dozen hours to spare. Not so good for the ‘average’ family.
We played Balderdash yesterday after dinner, and had loads of fun.
I like Apples to Apples a lot. It’s definitely one of those pick-up-and-start-playing games, and it’s more of a party game than a real strategy-oriented game. The premise is that the “judge” draws a card from the deck, containing a word or phrase topic. Other players choose a card from their hand that describes or “goes with” the topic. The judge checks all the responses, chooses his favorite, and then passes “judge-ship” to the next player.
If you’re looking for more strategy-based or “deep” games, I recommend Settlers of Catan.
That depends on the skill level of the players. After a very large number of wasted hours, I can win a game of A&A in a very short time.
If you want a game which can stretch on forever, give them Risk. The rules are simpler, it doesn’t involve too much strategy beyond getting a good starting location and attacking with greater forces.
I, like SolGrundy, like Apples to Apples. It’s great for families because it’s one of those games based upon knowing the personalities of the other players. It also helps you get to know others’ senses of humor. Any game that lets you know your family better is a good family game.
I’d also maybe recommend Diplomacy. It is very personality-intensive. Although, if your family is like my family (my mother can’t be in the same room as people playing Monopoly because she hates competition, and my sister quits halfway through every game), Diplomacy isn’t for you. You have to lie to people. You have to decieve folks. You have to stab them in the back. Feelings might get hurt if the rules aren’t seriously taken into account. But, if you have a cutthroat family (in a good way), it may be for you. If you have a big family, that is. It’s optimal with seven players.
I, like SolGrundy, like Apples to Apples. It’s great for families because it’s one of those games based upon knowing the personalities of the other players. It also helps you get to know others’ senses of humor. Any game that lets you know your family better is a good family game.
I’d also maybe recommend Diplomacy. It is very personality-intensive. Although, if your family is like my family (my mother can’t be in the same room as people playing Monopoly because she hates competition, and my sister quits halfway through every game), Diplomacy isn’t for you. You have to lie to people. You have to decieve folks. You have to stab them in the back. Feelings might get hurt if the rules aren’t seriously taken into account. But, if you have a cutthroat family (in a good way), it may be for you. If you have a big family, that is. It’s optimal with seven players.
:rolleyes: :eek: :smack:
I got Cranium for my birthday and it is the best board game I’ve ever played. I’d recommed Mad Gab or Tribond. Both of those are great to play as well and I can’t see them costing much more than Cranium did.
May I recommend the ultimate boardgame review site? BoardGameGeek should let you browse through good user reviews until you find something that will suit your family perfectly.
Settlers of Cataan has already been mentioned, but I feel that it deserves a look. It’s a bit of a complex setup, and the rules seem a little odd at first, but it ends up being the most replayable and enjoyable game my board gaming friends play. Plus, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard a friend ask, with a straight face, “Have you got wood for sheep?”
Oh, and you can’t beat the Illuminati.
Another second (third?) on Settlers of Catan. It’s a little more expensive, but worth every penny. Good production values, infinite replayability.
Carcassonne is a nice tile-laying game with many levels of stategy. It’s also a very good value, as I think it retails under $20 and has good pieces. There basic version is good, and there’s a new version called Hunters and Gatherers that I think is less elegant, but not everyone agrees with me. 
The advantage to these games is that they are playable at many levels. They aren’t too diffucult, so kids can enjoy them, but the adults won’t be bored either because they can focus on the deeper strategy.
I’ve recently fallen in love with Fluxx, but many people I know get bored with it very fast. The Fluxx people also make a bunch of other games. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but some of them seem pretty fun. If you buy Chrononauts or Icetowers or something, let us know how they are.
Wow – what great help you’ve all been, and with links, even! I’ve been on a merry search as a result and am in the process of closing in. Thanks a lot. You’re all cool. 
Hi, TJdude! I’m a fan of Looney Labs games.
I am thoroughly bored with Fluxx, because it’s really, really random. After N games, you realize that a win through clever play are far less likely than just randomly happening to have or draw the right cards to win when it happens to be your turn. I imagine kids would enjoy it, though, and it’s not to bad if you just have 15 minutes or a half hour to kill.
I like Chrononauts more, because there’s more strategy to it and I like the sense of humor in the cards. It still suffers from the problem of too much randomness, but the likelyhood of strategic gameplay paying off is greater than for Fluxx.
The Martian Chess Set rocks! I can’t get anyone to play Icehouse with me–most people don’t seem to “get” it, and unfortunately I haven’t played enough games to really “get” it either, which makes it hard to teach to people, but I can sense greatness lurking in it somewhere. Some of my friends and I like Ice Towers, and some don’t–can’t get past the lack of turns, I think, which is another major barrier to people warming up (heh) to Icehouse. I myself didn’t really get Ice Towers until I played it at a con with some of the Loonie Lab Rats, and now it’s one of my favorites (when I can cajole people into playing.)
On the other hand, the more straightforward strategy games you can play on a chess board are universally agreed to be awesome. Martian Chess has the interesting mechanic that ownership of pieces depends on where they are, and color is irrelvant, which is mind-bending and fun. Pikemen is my absolute favorite. You can only move the piece in the direction it’s pointing, or change the pointing. It’s a stitch to play with four players, because many, many turns go by with players doing nothing but pointing at their opponents. Then one player actually moves a piece, and suddenly everybody’s rushing all over the board. It’s great as a two-player game, too.
Volcano is pretty fun but requires six stashes. Zendo has experienced a limited vogue among our gaming group, too.
Anyway, I highly recommend investing in 4 stashes, and Playing with Pyramids. Sure, you can print out the rules from the internet, but it’s nice to have the best games in one tidy package. More importantly, we should all give money to Looney Labs so that they continue to make good games!