Christmas Board Game Wish List

With only a few days left until Christmas, we’re all very excited. We hope that all the reviews and posts we’ve made in 2010 have been helpful for you to find some great board games and card games for your family. And we also hope that some of these games make your list of ‘best family board games’.

There are so many great family board games out there that the decision of what to get for your family or give as a gift to someone else may seem difficult. But don’t worry about it. One of the best things about board games is that the games are fun mostly because of the people you play them with. The best game experiences come because of who you play them with. So no matter what games you get, we just want to encourage you to set aside the time to play along with your kids.

Yes, there will be a number of board games that will be great for the kids to play by themselves, but realize that a lot of the fun for them will also be because of who they play the games with. So sit down and play with them. They’ll feel special and you’ll all have a great time.

As a family we’re looking for a lot of that special time over the Christmas weekend and New Year holiday as well. We’ll be pulling out some of our favorite board games and card games to play together as well as with extended family when we get together. But we’re also looking forward to playing a number of new board games as well (at least new to us).

Here’s what’s on our Christmas games wish list:

Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

Survive: Escape from Atlantis is actually a reprint of an old game that will be hitting retail shelves in January. We pre-ordered a copy of Survive from Stronghold Games that we hope will arrive in time for Christmas. We heard about Survive a few years ago and it has always sounded fun. And earlier this year when we heard it was being reprinted, it jumped up on the wish list. So we’re really looking forward to playing this new board game over the holidays.

Zooloretto

Zooloretto is a game that appears frequently on lists of top family board games. And we’ve also had it on our wish list for a couple years. Each player uses small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try to attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo. The game play looks fun and we know our daughter will love building a zoo of animals – since she practically already has a zoo full of stuffed animals in her room.

Two by Two

Two by Two is a new game that was published in 2010 and is also about collecting animals. However, in this board game, each player has an ark and they’re trying to rescue animals from the sinking/flooding landscape. But rather than just focus on younger kids, it also has some advanced scoring to make it more challenging for older players as well. We’re ready to save the unicorns.

Mystery of the Abbey

Mystery of the Abbey is a deduction game by Days of Wonder that has been on dad’s wish list for about 5 years. It’s a deduction / who-done-it board game with a twist. A monk has been murdered in a medieval French Abbey. Players maneuver their way through the Abbey examining clues and questioning each other to find out who is the culprit. Our family really likes to play Clue and while Mystery of the Abbey doesn’t play like Clue, we like deduction type games and hope to really enjoy this game.

Inkognito

Inkognito is another deduction game. Dad first heard about this from Stephen Conway of The Spiel podcast when they met in Indianapolis earlier this year. Having just reviewed Code 777, they were talking about deduction games and Stephen highly recommended Inkognito the card game. So when Fantasy Flight games had a sale last month, dad couldn’t miss the opportunity to pick up a copy for only $5! And now it’s nicely wrapped under the Christmas tree.

Nuns on the Run

Nuns on the Run just came out this year, but it looks like a great game. Players take on the role of a simple novice, the old abbess, or the noble prioress. The novices sneak out at night to explore the abbey seeking treasures to fulfill their “secret wish”. Meanwhile, the abbess and prioress look for novices who should be fast asleep in their cells. So it’s a balance of finding your secret item and getting back to your cell quickly versus moving slow enough not to be detected. Sounds like sneaky fun.

With these board games under the Christmas tree, who can complain? We’re looking forward to a great Christmas and holiday break with many hours to spend together and build memories. We hope that wherever you may be or what ever holiday you may celebrate that you get to enjoy great times with your family.

And feel free to share what’s on your family board and card game wish list.

Merry Christmas and Happy Gaming!