Christmas is coming, any suggestions for family games?

[jschild]

Christmas is heading here fast, and I was just looking to the gaming veterans on this site for some suggestions.

My son will be 7 years old soon, and loves 'scape.

I'm looking for something a bit more self-contained than 'scape, can be fantasy, sci-fi, whatever. Needs to be capable of being played by 3 people and rules understood by a smart 7 year old, but should ideally take about an hour or less typically to play a game.

Any suggestions? Just wanting to expand our gaming horizons a bit.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[nyys]

I'd be very much interested in this list as well. jschild, I feel like we're living the same life at times. My son turns 7 on Monday, and has a great handle on Scape, so he's definitely ready for a somewhat complex board game.

Though in our case, in order to get Mom to play the game it will have to be more about the game (if that makes sense) than theme.

[jschild]

I understand, my wife plays scape, though isn't really into it. She'd never play just me - it has to be all of us or not at all.

Yeah, my sone turned 7 at the end of Jan, so I'm looking at multiple choices here. Although he has already hinted that he wanted some Wave 10 for Christmas and D&D Master Set if it comes out in Jan.

[Xn F M]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I've heard good things about Hey! That's My Fish. I've never had a chance to actually play it though so all I'm going off of is a good KotDT review and the ~7 ranking on BGG.

[nyys]

I just dug through a bunch of reviews on thedicetower (about 6:07 in) and I may have found one.

Formula D

Here's a review from our own InfinityMax.

According to the FunAgainGames website it's for age 8+, 2-10 players, and plays for 60+ minutes.

CoolStuffInc has it for $38.99 (spend $100+ for free shipping), and Amazon has it for $39.33 (spend $25 for free shipping).

There are plenty of expansions as well apparently.

This one is definitely going under the tree this year.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Xn F M

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I've heard good things about Hey! That's My Fish. I've never had a chance to actually play it though so all I'm going off of is a good KotDT review and the ~7 ranking on BGG.

I don't have a seven year old yet but I bought Hey! That's My Fish Deluxe! to play with my 5 year old. She adores the game because of the plastic penguins and likes how she can try to make Daddy get stuck on the ice. The game is short so it can be used as a filler and has just enough depth to make it interesting even for adults. Besides, the game has hexes in it and that can't be bad. Yeah, I'm grooming her to play Heroscape with me some day

The other game that my daughter likes is Carcassonne because it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

[jschild]

Nyys, you totally rock! I will be discussing that game with my wife tonight!

[Aldin]

Formula D is an easy one for me to recommend as well, though the finer points of when to shift and when risk tire/engine damage on turns will probably take him a while to pick up (at the core, Formula D is all about probability and risk mitigation). An extremely fun game though, no question about it. If you have fewer than four people playing, I recommend two cars each - tracks are just too empty otherwise.

I'm planning on playing a lot of Summoner Wars with my son. Heroscape-y, more self-contained, three player eligible with two sets. Looks like a real winner.

Another fun game from last year is Sorry! Sliders, another CVN game believe it or not. It's a nifty little shuffleboard game that my entire family enjoys playing.

I'm also looking forward to seeing other responses in this thread - more games is always good!

~Aldin, who thinks that mebbe that shoulda been "are" instead of "is" but he was refering to the "more games" singular state of being as opposed to the physical plurality of more games

[jschild]

Another fun game from last year is Sorry! Sliders, another CVN game believe it or not. It's a nifty little shuffleboard game that my entire family enjoys playing.

It is a really good game - Highly recommended!

I'm planning on playing a lot of Summoner Wars with my son. Heroscape-y, more self-contained, three player eligible with two sets. Looks like a real winner.

Money is a bit tight, which is why I'm (just me, for other people please list more games) looking for self contained games that support up to 3 people. Heroscape alone takes enough money expanding it

[nyys]

Originally Posted by jschild

Nyys, you totally rock! I will be discussing that game with my wife tonight!

I figured little boys, race cars, can't go wrong.

Originally Posted by Aldin

Another fun game from last year is Sorry! Sliders, another CVN game believe it or not. It's a nifty little shuffleboard game that my entire family enjoys playing.

Yes. Every time the commercial comes on TV for Sorry! Sliders my son and my 4.5 year old daughter go nuts. I think it's the 'throwing' of objects that gets them excited.

--

Another Hasbro game I found in my travels is Pictureka. Described as a big Where's Waldo type of game, and since 'finding books' as my son calls them, are one of his favorite things to do, this seems like a natural extension. Age 6+, Amazon has it on sale right now for $12.99.

[jschild]

Nyys, pick it up if you don't have it.

It isn't one game, but has several different types of gameplay with different goals.

It's great.

[nyys]

Yeah, after being reminded of Sorry Sliders by Aldin then suggesting Pictureka, I went to Amazon to look at the prices. Just got both for $30 total.

One more game (and I have this one, though yet to play it, it's a bday gift), is Numbers League.

Not really a family game per-se, but it is educational. The gist of it is that you are trying to build super heroes (head, torso, and leg cards), and you count up the values of each set to determine the super heroes' power. You compare this power to the villains' (on a single card) and capture them if you are higher.

This review does it more justice than my explanation (about 0:43 in).