Board Games for Families

A variety of board games for families and some information about each one.

Monopoly Empire

In the Monopoly Empire game, players can own the world’s top brands. After choosing one of the uniquely branded tokens, players move around the board, and start building their empires. The game is a race to the top as players buy their favorite brands one by one and fill their towers. Players can own famous brands, including Nerf, Transformers, Levi’s, and more. Opponents collect rent from their rivals; the higher their tower, the more they can charge! For two to four players, the first player to fill their tower with billboards wins!

Includes gameboard, 4 towers, 6 tokens, 30 billboard tiles, 6 office tiles, 14 Chance cards, 14 Empire cards, money pack, 2 dice, and game guide.

Details:

• Players own their favorite brands, including Puma, Levi’s, Nerf, and more
• Fast, fun gameplay
• Tokens and game pieces are based on the world’s favorite brands
• First player to fill their tower wins
• For 2 to 4 players
• Adult assembly required

For Ages: 8 and up.

Teen Board Game

In this reality game, teens start in high school and have part time jobs. They will be faced with money and life decisions like buying cars, managing expenses, giving back to their community, paying for college, using credit cards, buying stocks and starting businesses.    The winner is the teen that not only generates income and makes positive financial decisions, but also effectively manages their time and does good for those around them.  

My son seemed to enjoy the game and said he could see how it would be helpful for teaching teens about budgeting and good money management. For me, the game seemed like work. I do not enjoy budgeting and it’s something I do in real life on a very regular basis, so this game was not very enjoyable for me. It’s a good thing that the target audience is not moms in their late thirties!

Overall, I do believe the game serves it’s purpose, which is teaching teenagers about “real life” and money management in a way that they can actively participate and learn. It is geared to kids 13 and over, and I completely agree with that. The game is too advanced for younger children.

Telestrations

When the Telestrations game arrived at our house, my 7 year old could hardly contain himself. We had watched the Telestrations videos online and he was so excited to try the game out.  Unfortunatley, he had to wait awhile until there were enough people home to try the game out.

Experience the Telestrations Effect at your next party!

DRAW what you see, then GUESS what you saw. All players simultaneously sketch, pass & guess to reveal hilarious and unpredictable outcomes!
Easy to learn. Simple to play. Multi-generational & social. Even more fun if you can’t draw! The perfect ice breaker or game night warm up.
Laugh-out-loud party fun for 4 to 8 players, ages 12+

The first time we played, it was just four of us: Me, my husband, and my 6 and 7 year old kids (my two year old was drawing in one of the extra books while we played). The game isn’t intended for children so young (they recommend 12 years and up; I think 8 and up would work great), and it did make it kind of challenging because Avery couldn’t read/write all of the words, but we worked it out and had a fun and quick game.

Our Results

We had these results from the first game (starting words – ending words):

Real Estate Agent – Someone Moving Into a House
Olive Branch – Stump of a Tree
Dashboard – Race Car
Strawberry Jam – Haunted House

Here are some of our drawings:

  I love board games, and I would put Telestrations in the top 5 of games I have played. I think it will be more fun with at least six people, and it would be great with all adults. I am thinking a game night with friends may be in order!

USAopoly

My kids have inherited my love of games, and they are always so happy to see new games come into the house. The people at USAopoly are continually coming up with great games, and we recently had the opportunity to try out some of their games.

YAHTZEE: The Muppets Collector’s Edition

The Muppets make their premiere in America’s all-time #1 dice game in this special Collector’s Edition of YAHTZEE. Custom dice featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Gonzo and the Swedish Chef are ready for you to shake up and roll dice combinations like Full House, Large Straight and Five of a Kind. A custom Kermit dice shaker makes this YAHTZEE game with a Muppets twist a treasured collector’s item for fans of all ages.

The Muppets Yahtzee is for ages 8 to Adult and is for 1 or more players. I love this game for a few reasons. First of all, it is cute and fun. Secondly, it encourages the kids to practice some math skills. Thirdly, and probably the reason I like it the most, all of the pieces fit inside of the Kermit head, making this game a great choice for traveling. I took it with me to a hockey tournament a couple of weeks ago, and successfully occupied my non-hockey players for hours on end.

Even though Avery is just 6, I think she loves this game the most. She needed a little help with the scoring, but otherwise does very well, and even three year old Griffin likes rolling the dice and looking for pairs.

Disney Cranium® Family Edition

Outrageous fun for the whole family! Join Mickey and friends on a fun journey through the wonderful world of Disney! Celebrate everything Disney with friends and family as you. . .

CREATE works of art like Cinderella’s glass slipper;
PERFORM hilarious feats like finding something that Ariel would use to comb her hair; and
DISCOVER fun facts like “What does Hakuna Matata mean?”

Enjoy this playful game that delivers fun and laughter, and stretches the imagination every time! Game includes: 16 Fun activities, 400 Disney-themed cards, 2 Mickey Mouse ears movers, game board, 1 tub of “Cranium Clay”, 6 letter dice, Sand timer, 1 die, pad and pencil. This games is for ages 8 to Adult and 2 Teams/4+ Players.

MONOPOLY: The Muppets Collector’s Edition

Celebrate the sensational, inspirational world of The Muppets as you make like Miss Piggy and try to own it all in this Muppets Collector’s Edition of MONOPOLY. Here’s your chance to buy, sell and trade treasured Muppets properties such as Kermit’s Swamp, Miss Piggy’s Dressing Room and Fozzie Bear’s Comedy Club. Six collectible tokens including Miss Piggy, Kermit, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Gonzo and the Swedish Chef make this a cherished collector’s item for Muppet fans of all ages.

Ages 8 to Adult
2-6 Players

Monopoly has always been my favourite board game, and I love that there are so many versions of it to choose from! The kids are always wanting to play with my Star Wars Monopoly, and since I haven’t mastered my sharing skills, I would rather that they left it alone. Now they have two Monopoly games of their own to play, and they are just as fun and far more age appropriate for my kids. Kellen is finally old enough to read instructions and he does a great job as banker for Monopoly. Avery needs some help, but soon will be able to play without help.

MONOPOLY: Dinosaur Edition

Step back in time with this special Dinosaur Edition of the MONOPOLY game. Learn fun facts about popular dinosaurs as you buy, sell and trade the Spinosaurus, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus and more. Game includes beautiful illustrations of dinosaur species and six collectible fossil tokens depicting a dinosaur egg, footprint, skeleton, T-Rex skull, Triceratops skull and claw. A prehistoric relic for dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages.

Ages 8 to Adult
2-6 players

This Monopoly game is a great learning opportunity too! The game pieces fueled a discussion about fossils and how/where dinosaur bones have been discovered, and we all learned about the variety of dinosaurs that existed. I love unplanned learning opportunities 🙂

*I received these games to review. My opinions are my own.

Farm Animal Dominoes

Features:

• Farm animal theme
• Classic matching game for the young ones
• Each game contains 36 illustrated theme

These large cardboard-type dominoes are easy for my three year old to handle and match. He enjoys looking at all of the animals, but is not interested in learning how to play dominoes. I guess that will come when he’s a little older, but in the meantime these dominoes are great for learning about farm animals. He tells me what sounds they make which is really cute.

Beam Me Up

•Requires 2 to 4 players
•Designed for ages 6 and over

It’s the Annual Alien Conference and the aliens are stuck on the moon without transportation. This is your chance to take an alien home! Maybe not your home… but it’s your job to get the aliens back to their home planets. In this trick-taking card game the highest card wins the round. Call out “Beam Me Up” when you have collected three aliens from the same home planet and a Space Racer will come to the rescue. The player who send the most aliens home by the end of the game wins the title of Star Space Traffic Controller!

This is a fun little game that is perfect for my six year old daughter. She used it for board game day with some friends and apparently it was a hit! The aliens are cute and fun with some learning involved too!

Chattabox

• Requires 3 or more players or teams
• Designed for ages 8 and over

The wacky word game that will keep everyone talking for hours!

It’s a helter-skelter race in which you must get rid of your cards by calling out answers to teasing topics.
Once the topic has been announced you’ll have to think quickly, calling examples that start with the letters on your cards.
Try not to panic: do your best to keep the momentum going while playing out the cards in your hand…but don’t delay…pause too long or fail to play your cards and you’ll pick up a penalty!

This is a quick and fun game that is great for kids who are a little older. Kellen is 8 and he did okay with it, but it was too hard for Avery. I think this will make a great board game day game too!

Telepaths

•Requires four or more players
•Designed for ages 8 and up

This side-splitting team game is for those who think the same. Players anticipate what their teammates will associate with various pictures and words, and try to match answers. With only 30 seconds to come up with matching words, it’s a race against time… and your opponents.

I love this game. It is great because you play in teams so you can get the whole family involved. It is also better for older kids and a little too challenging for my six year old, but definitely a fun game!