Your board game gift guide for families this Christmas
Need to buy a family gift this Christmas?
It's difficult to know what to get that a whole family will enjoy, from a six to sixty year old!
Instead of making several shopping trips to buy a horde of maybe-they'll-like-it presents, why not try a family board game? Whether the kids are 6, 8, 10, or somewhere in between, our top picks of family board games just made your Christmas shopping a whole lot easier!
Gifts for families with kids aged 6+
OK Play, 2-4 players, £15
OK Play is super simple to learn, it literally takes 5 mins, and once you get playing you won't want to stop! Just grab a stack, throw down tiles and block your opponents until someone sneaks a line of five and takes the victory.
Like a cool Connect 4, this travel-sized game is great for families out and about who need a quick distraction or a few minutes of quiet!
In a Bind: Junior, 3-7 players, £10
In the original In a Bind card game, players draw cards and follow the physical actions until they end up looking all twisty, like a pretzel! The last one standing wins the game.
In a Bind Jr introduces bright colours, simplified instructions, and extra silly rules with animal noises.
Jungle Speed Safari, 2-6 players, £15
In Jungle Speed Safari, players turn over cards from their personal stacks one by one in front of themselves and react when certain cards or combinations of cards appear.
The game features five wooden totems to grab and every card that's revealed might possibly trigger an action, so be alert... Now, roar!
Jungle Speed Safari uses speed and dexterity to 'grab' your way to victory - a great party game for families at Christmas.
Gifts for families with kids aged 8+
Dr Eureka, 1-4 players, £20
The brilliant Dr. Eureka has important experiments for you to complete! You must solve his scientific formulas by mixing the molecules from tube to tube without touching them with your bare hands.
Transfer your molecules faster than your competition in Dr. Eureka to prove you're the smartest scientist in the lab...
Speed, logic, dexterity - all these come into play in Dr Eureka, the triple-award-winning game new for 2016.
3 Wishes, 3-5 players, £10
In 3 Wishes, a not-so-nice-but-not-too-evil genie appears as if from nowhere and pitches the crowd against one another, granting the most astute player no fewer than three wishes — but not all wishes come true!
Only the player with the right balance between super powers, benefits for the world, and selfish gifts will be enter the good graces of the genie.
This family party game plays in 3-5 minutes and utilises memory, intuition and bluffing skills - get your poker face ready!
What's Up, 2-4 players, £10
What's Up is a fast card-flipping game in which you race to collect sets of birds first.
The first player to collect 2-4 sets wins. Watch what others do, remember what was flipped where, and play the odds when deciding to flip the birds!
Risk-taking and decision-making is the name of the game in What's Up, from the same creators as 3 Wishes.
Gifts for families with kids aged 10+
Mysterium, 2-7 players, £35
Mysterium was the biggest family game of 2015, selling out twice! Players are 'mediums' of the 1920s, working with a gifted astrologist to conduct a seance and talk to a ghost. However, this particular ghost won't talk, so beautifully illustrated cards are its only method of communication.
Players work together to solve the mystery of the ghost's demise before the timer runs out.
This incredibly popular and cooperative board game is brought to you by the same makers of Dixit - if you know a family who loved that, they'll adore this.
Concept, 4-12 players, £27
In Concept, players team up to place tokens on a board covered in icons, depicting everything from ancient samurai and snails to Leonardo DiCaprio.
Points go to the player who can guess the correctly by looking at the various symbols, but in this wild party game, the points are less important than just having a great time!
Families can update their usual Christmas charades with Concept - there's definitely less physical exertion involved!
Splendor, 2-4 players, £25
Splendor is a fast-paced and addictive game of chip-collecting and card development where players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops—all in order to acquire the most prestige points.
Amass wealth, gems and more to come out on top - it's the ruthless Renaissance, after all.
This competitive light-strategy game for families is a great alternative to party games and suits a quiet family night in at the table.
Family board games are easy-peasy presents for Christmas - even if you're not buying gifts for anyone else, you can play them with your own family and show them you're the gift-buying boss!
For extra advice or help, just drop us an email.
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