On the twelfth day of Christmas... Games For Mams & Daughters

In the same way Board Game Santa's got game suggestions for 'dads & sons' coming out of his ears, he reckons he's the expert with mams & daughters too! Alright, he's not bad. Okay, he's a genius - I know better than to insult him this side of Christmas. Sometimes, mams and their daughters just want to sit down at the kitchen table with a game that won't be interrupted by man nor beast. When the rest of the family's out somewhere causing chaos, it's nice to just lay out some snacks and begin a gaming adventure of their own.

Forbidden Island.

2-4 players, 30 minutes, age 10+

A Great Time To Play Is: when Christmas suddenly becomes too QUIET - add your own mayhem with a sinking, soggy island!

Looking bad at all those great 'desert island' stories, it's clear they never end too well (Lord of the Flies, anyone?). With this one, you at least have a chance! Hop from one part of the island to the next, collecting the four items of treasure along the way. Watch out, though - there's a 'waters rising' danger that could add more water round your ankles at any second as you only need to turn over the wrong card for it to happen! Luckily, this is a co-operative game, so there's no 'accidental' pushing into rockpools. Work together to collect as many pieces of treasure as you can, before the tile glug-glug-glugs down into the watery depths! Are you going to play strategically? Or just hop, willy-nilly, from one tile to the next, hoping to keep your feet dry? Good luck either way! You'll need it.

Jungle Speed Safari.

2-6 players, 15 minutes, age 5+

A Great Time To Play Is: whenever weird aunties and uncles come round for a Christmas visit - play one round of this and they'll be off running!

'Ooh ooh ooh ooh ah ah ah ah ah!' screamed the world's worst monkey impersonator. You're on safari! Except everything's gone a little bit mental. When certain cards are revealed, your animal instincts kick in and suddenly you're a trumpeting elephant! The game comes with five wooden totems that work alongside particular cards - turn over the next one in the pile, for example, and you could be reaching out to grab the right totem for a hungry animal! Bananas, meat, bugs and more - Masterchef has never been so adventurous. The player with the highest score wins, but having been on such an exciting safari, it's clear that everyone's a winner. But mostly the person with more points!