Ever attended a children’s birthday and pondered what’s worth giving? Finding reasonable gifts for your friends and relatives becomes more crucial, especially with the holidays around the corner.
Before you resort to yet another Nerf gun or Starbucks planner, consider a more wholesome choice from this list of affordable, easy to learn and readily available board games.
1. Love Letter – ($10) A small card game designed by Kenji Kanai, where you try to outwit other players for the Princess’ hand. This is done by playing cards to either be the last player left standing or the one who has the highest card value at the end of a round (typically 5 minutes long). This game has been republished in numerous guises, and is a great gateway game. My favorite version is Loot Letter where you are Munchkin explorers trying to get out of the dungeon with the biggest loot.
2. Straw – ($10) The game that broke the Camel’s back. This game comes in two versions, a big box version, and a travel edition the size of a pack of playing cards. It is equally suited for family gatherings or on-the-go gaming. In Straw, each player plays cards to move things into the camel’s back. Be careful though, because if you are forced to play a card that will exceed what the camel can carry, you lose. In my game group, I ask the kids to do the math out loud – clever arithmetic practice while having fun.
3. Rory Story Cubes – ($14) A great dice game best played with the kids. The game comes with 9 unique dice, with drawings etched on each. To play, simply roll the dice and try to make up a story with each drawing shown. Don’t be deceived by the small packaging, the potential for learning and fun is immense.
4. Timeline and Cardline – ($15) A card game that comes in a beautiful tin. Players are given cards face down and try to place them in proper chronological order, forming an accurate timeline. If they guess correctly, the card stays, otherwise they find the right spot for that card and draw a new one. Players become familiar with different historical and pop culture-related events – forever seared into memory with fun.
5. Coloretto – ($15) This game has simple yet interesting decision points, where you either draw and place a card or take a stack. The goal is to complete a certain set of colors. The challenge is that at the end of the game you will only present 3 colors from your collection which will add up to your score, the other colors are worth negative points instead.
6. For Sale – ($12) This game has two parts, first part you buy properties the next you sell them. This is done through a simple auction mechanism. I’ve played this with my parents, grandparents and kids with very much success. The common reaction among friends I introduce this game to be, “Oh, it’s like Monopoly”, to which I respond, “Sure… but this one’s better”.
7. Sushi Go – ($12) Turns go with each player simultaneously selecting a card from their hand to play and passing the rest to the next player. Players try to collect sets of cutesy drawn sushi, tempura, nigiri and dumplings. Complete sets give points and whoever have the most points won. It’s an appetizing card drafting game that can be learned in a minute.
8. Forbidden Island – ($20) Players here get to be adventurers finding treasure in a sinking island. This is a cooperative game where either everyone wins or everyone loses. They have different talents and skills to use together in hopes of finding the four legendary treasures hidden in the special locations of the island. It comes in a beautiful tin, vibrant artwork and easy to learn rules, making it a great gift.
9. Eight Minute Empire – ($20) Here players get to experience being explorers, traveling to uncharted contents and gathering resources. The challenge is players have a finite budget at the beginning of the game and will have to make do with what they have. Every turn a player takes a card which counts as their action as well as a resource. The actions can be like moving armies around or reinforcing them. You can get to build cities, conquering regions and continents. The simple theme makes it appeal to a wider audience, and best of all it plays under 20 minutes.
10. Star Realms – ($12) This a deck building game for two players. In deck building games, players start out with the same deck of cards, then on their turn they have a common market to buy cards from. These cards eventually work their way back to the player’s decks to be played in later turns. The game is fairly easy to learn but difficult to master. To win you must deplete your opponent’s strength to zero. The card art is great, the theme is about these warring factions: Trade Federation (Human Corporations from Earth that has conquered vast majorities of space), Star Empire (A human military colony that has grown into a formidable force), Machine Cult (Human Scientists and Engineers that built planet sized automations to save their dying race), and The Blob (Aliens from unknown origin of unclear motives wreaking havoc across the sector).
I personally prefer not to give toys for birthdays and holidays. I instead find good board games to give to the kids. When you give a board game to a kid, the friends and family of that child will be inclined to play along. They may not necessarily join the hobby, but you’ve definitely given them opportunities to make some cool memories together.
If you’re wondering where you can find these games, try visiting your friendly local gaming store. In my country there are many hip and cool board game shops where you can even try demo copies before you buy. For a list, check this link.
Written by: Ronald Villaver
Edited by: Reg Tolentino