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Your Kids Will Love These Fun Board Games — Whether They're 5 or 15

There's nothing like a great board game to banish boredom on a rainy day, or to liven up a family gathering. The best board games for kids provide a welcome alternative to screen time, and keep everyone engaged fo hours (jaded adults included!). And these days, there are so many awesome board games to play as a family or while you are babysitting, it's hard to pick just one.

When choosing a new board game, it's all about hitting the sweet spot in terms of your child's skill level, because, let's be honest, a game that's too complicated will have a kid tuning out in no time, and a game that's too simple will start collecting dust on the shelf after only one use. That's why the games below are organized by age range. Of course, while a game might be designed for a 4-year-old to play, that doesn't mean it won't appeal to a child for years to come. In fact, many Amazon reviewers noted how much fun they had playing these games as adults.

So, without further ado, here are the six best board games for kids to play right now. From classic board games to award-winning new ones, you're sure to find a game below that you'll want to play with the kid(s) in your life every chance you get. Some of them have earned some impressive awards, and all of them have high Amazon ratings.

1

Best Board Game For 4-Year-Olds

Designed for two or more players, ages 4 and up, Yeti In My Spaghetti is a perfect game for the preschooler in your life (although adults will love it too!). It won TOTY's 'Game of the Year Award' in 2017 and has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon. Game play is similar to Pick-up Sticks, only way cuter because there's a yeti involved. You place the noodles across the of the bowl, add the Yeti on top, and then take turns removing a noodle one at a time. The first person to make the Yeti fall, loses. It's silly and educational too, since it teaches cause and effect and encourages hand-eye coordination and planning.

What fans are saying: "My boys, ages 4 and 5 are absolutely loving this game. Easy enough for them to set up, and fun for the whole family to play."

2

Best Board Game For 5-6 Year Olds

Designed for ages 5 and up, Rooster Race is an award-winning game that is easy to learn but hard to stop playing, it's so addicting! The premise of this "guessing game" is to win corn, and to do so, you must guess whether the rooster card in the stack is higher or lower than the previously played card. Up to five people can play, although many reviewers noted that the corn runs out quickly if you have too many players competing for it.

Rooster Race is made by RoosterFin, a company founded by a former teacher with a degree in mathematics, so the game is as education as it is fun. Your kid will be learning logic skills without even knowing it.

What fans are saying: "My 7 year old son just loves this game! I really feel it's a game that he, his 5 year old sister, and I can all play together! Since this game came home, it has been permanently on our kitchen table and is quickly becoming our go-to when we first get home and are talking about our day. Our one and only qualm is that we wish it had more corn! The game comes with 15, but with three players, it goes quickly. So we improvise with small tokens."

3

Best Board Game For 7-8 Year Olds

The naval combat game of Battleship is a total classic. Designed for ages 7 and up, it's a head-to-head, two-player competition that involves hiding your ships and hoping your opponent doesn't find them before you're able to find all of theirs. There's definitely some strategy involved, although the basic game play is simple enough to pick up on within minutes. And since the cases are foldable and portable, you can play wherever, whenever.

What fans are saying: "What's fun about this game is that no one has an advantage, so it's fun for adults to play with kids because the adult doesn't have to "let" the kid win - you've honestly both got the same odds of finding the other player's 5 ships. This was always one of my favorite games growing up and I still love it - I'll gladly play anytime one of the kids asks me."

4

Best Board Game For Ages 8+

Designed for two to four players, Sorry! is an updated version of the game you remember from childhood. While it might play slightly different (there are only three pawns instead of four) it's just as cut-throat as you remember. It's made for kids ages 6 and up, but ideal for slightly older kids that won't mind getting their pawns sent back to Home. For the uninitiated, the game play goes like this: the first player to get their colored pawns all the way around the board — either by jumping, bumping, sliding, or colliding — wins. The game is easy to learn, fast-paced, and one that you instantly want to replay to take down the winner.

What fans are saying: "This is not the Sorry game you grew up with, there are 3 pawns instead of 4, a few other minor changes. Overall I approve as it makes the game go by faster ;) My kids play literally every day and it holds up well, I mean it's ridiculously cheap, and it's perfect quality. A+"

5

Best Board Game For Teens

With a 4.8-star rating on Amazon, and more than 2,500 customer reviews, it's easy to see why Codenames is quickly becoming a cult classic (it has already sold 2 million copies worldwide!). Designed for ages 14 and up, the word-play game can accommodate anywhere from two to eight players, and is fairly easy to pick up. It has a simple premise (find out the secret identities of your agents before the rival spymaster team does — all through one-word clues) but the game is challenging enough to warrant round after round of play.

What fans are saying: "Awesome game, fast playing too, which is great for the teens in our house. Stick to the recommended ages unless your younger child has a seriously fantastic vocabulary."

6

Best Board Game For Kids & Adults

If you're looking for a fresh game to spice up family game night, you can't go wrong with Pandemic. It's fun for kids (ages 8+) and adults because it's both strategic and cooperative. Here's the gist: Players need to work together to save humanity from deadly diseases that threaten the world. The game has a unique design and an engaging premise that will have you hooked from the start. However, it's worth noting that it can take 45+ minutes to play, so you need to schedule according.

What fans are saying: "It's a co-op game — you fight the board, not each other, and I love that, especially in a family that is full of competitive people."

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