Then there are games that are so quick, with such engaging energy, that if you play them too late at night, your neighbors might end up filing a noise complaint. Why we love it: Some games require sharp focus, advance planning, and subtle strategy, and this can lead to a lot of intense, furrowed-brow looks around a silent table. Whoever collects the most gold (earned mostly by acquiring land) throughout the game wins. This continues for a number of rounds, depending on the number of players.

And on their next turn, players pick a new race/power combo to use. As players expand their empires and come into conflict with each other, they eventually run out of useful tiles, which they can then turn over (the game calls this “going into decline.”) The pieces stay on the board and can still accrue points (but they can no longer be used to gain new territory). Once a player picks their characters, they get a set of tiles representing their troops during their turn they use the tiles to take over land on the board. For instance, if you pick up Wizards with a Flying power, you get bonus gold for occupying magic spaces (the Wizards feature), and you can send your troops anywhere on the board (the Flying feature). Each race is paired with a separately shuffled stack of powers, which modify what the troops of that race can do. Our team researched each game here, evaluating online ratings and reviews, and most have been played by the team with their families.How it’s played: At the beginning of the game, every player gets to select a fantasy race to control from a shuffled stack. After all, playing Catan or Code Names can take a dreary Friday night to a rousing evening of good-natured ribbing, jokes, and a ton of fun.įrom classic games like Chess to newer favorites like Kids Against Maturity, today's family board game options are nearly endless. We have several shelves dedicated to our epic rivalries. And best of all? It gets your kids off their screens for a couple of hours. You'll be grateful to have a game on hand that doesn't require technology - one that everyone in your fam can agree on. But a classic family board game has the power to encourage your entire crew to hit the pause button for a few hours and make room for memories that'll last a lifetime.

For most of the week, it's likely your family is hustling through the daily madness of life with work and school, barely finding time at the end of the day to scarf down a quick dinner before homework and bed.

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