Game Night Games Top 5 Board Game Recommendations
Last week we received the annual Holiday Gift Guide mailer from a great board game store in our area – Game Night Games.
I always love seeing what they include in their mailer and this year they included a number of Top 5 Games lists. So I thought it would be great to share their recommendations.
Why? Because this is their “day job”.
They’re dealing with customers every day, all day and they know what people are most interested in buying and playing. So it’s always a fun activity to see what they list.
Here are the Game Night Game Holiday Gift Guide Recommendations:
Top 5 Family Strategy Games
You really can’t go wrong with anything on this list. The most surprising game on this list is actually Power Grid. Don’t get me wrong, because Power Grid is one of my favorite games. But I wouldn’t think it would go over well for most family game nights. It’s a longer game and there’s a lot going on. I love it because of the deeper level of strategy and things you have to keep in mind constantly. But my wife won’t come near it.
The other on the list are all sure-fire hits. Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Dominion are vying for the #1 spot of top board game sellers. And Kingdom Builder is also another on one of my favorite games. It’s the most recently published game on this list (2011) so it’s not breaking any sales records yet like the top 3 on this list. But it’s a fantastic family board game.
Hottest New Games in 2014
The only game on this list that we’ve played is Steam Park. It’s also a game we included on our 2014 Board Game Gift Guide because it’s a fun family board game.
We also put King of New York on our recommendation list even though we haven’t played it yet. Mainly because we love King of Tokyo and the new game play elements in King of New York sound awesome. It isn’t an expansion, but rather a stand-alone game and we won’t mind having both. (And Splendor is on its way to our home, so we’ll find out soon enough how fun that game is.)
Top 5 Cooperative Games
Another great list! For families with young kids, we’d highly recommend starting your cooperative board game playing with Forbidden Desert. Then if you want some monster slaying and more tension mixed in, go with Castle Panic.
With teens and adults, Pandemic is the gold standard for cooperative board games. The only one I’ll disagree with on this list is Hanabi. We’ve played it a few times and don’t like it.
Top 5 Party Games
We’d actually put Telestrations at the top of any Party Game list! It’s a riot every time we play it. In fact we played it a couple times this past weekend when we had a group of 11 at the house (Trevor brining college friends home). Everyone had a blast! Dixit is also a great party game, but it’s not the laugh-out-loud type of party game that Telestrations is. We have the Dixit Odyssey version which can accommodate up to 12 players.
Coup is a fun bluffing game that plays quickly. The only downside with including it in the Party Games category is that it’s limited to up to 6 players. We’ve heard Ca$h ‘n Guns is a lot of fun, but haven’t played it. And Concept looks like a good game for both parties and families that we’d love to try.
Top 5 Family Card Games
I’m mixed on whether I’m surprised to see Munchkin on this list. On one hand it’s an extremely popular card game that people rave about. But on the other hand, I’ve heard that it’s suspect for family play because of the risqué content. The only other game on this list that we haven’t played is Love Letter. It was published in 2012 and has gained a lot of popularity because of the very simple game play.
If you like randomness in your card games, then you really need to play Fluxx. As the name implies, the game is constantly changing. Very random. Bohnanza is all about bean farming – which you wouldn’t think would be interesting at all. But the game play mechanics are very unique and fun. And Gloom has the coolest cards on this list – they’re transparent! Very cool!
Thanks again Game Night Games for your mailer with these great family board game and card game recommendations!
Merry Christmas!
You’ll LOVE Splendor, Trent. We got it this year and my wife and I really enjoy it. We ordered Steam Park for Christmas and are excited to try it. My son, especially. Merry Christmas!
That’s great to hear Doug. We’re looking forward to playing it.
Have fun with Steam Park!
Great list. Sounds like you are yet to get your hands on Machi Koro. Trust me, when you do, it will be at the top of your list for hottest new game of 2014, best family card game. Its so much fun.
Daniel – Thanks for the recommendation for Machi Koro. We’ll have to check it out.
A great list. I own ten of them and I’ve played at least 4 of them this week, including Castle Panic at lunch today.
John – I love the tension in Castle Panic. The onslaught comes so quickly and doesn’t let up.