2024 Top 10 Family Board Games

[@chetil]

So many great games on this list. And we're very honored to see our game Gardlings in this company. I'm very happy that you liked it 😍

[@theperfectboardgame]

Our family really enjoyed Sparks, too. But the brilliance of Gardlings is the simplicity of the rules with simultaneous play. The tiles are also extremely intuitive. It’s wonderful!

[@hmmmstvethebaffled7720]

Love planet unknown. Super creative and fun, so much configuration and replay ability. Love the mechanic with the neighboring goals, and the simple fact that that there’s no “turns” where you have to wait for others first. Love it!

[@theperfectboardgame]

Yeah. I’m a bit predictable. Every time I play a family game with simultaneous play, it’s pretty much always going to be a favorite. It is just so much easier to keep kids engaged when they never have to wait long.

[@DWatkins-d9c]

Just found this channel and I love your website you’ve built. I can’t believe you did it all on your own. It’s super cohesive and easy to navigate!

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks so much! It’s taken four years to build what I have so far, but this is just the beginning!

[@gabechase9912]

These lists are so creative! I love how the mechanics are compared to other games and how you show kids playing the games! Great video!

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks for the feedback! (And for teaching me Werewords!) I looked at this list again: you haven’t played any of the other nine games with us! Wow. We have work to do!

[@gabechase9912]

I noticed that too and am super excited to play more games with you.

[@davidgarza9731]

I love Middle Ages! I want to eventually buy it but I’ve enjoyed playing it a lot on BGA. It’s so smooth but it has a nice decision space that makes it a good evolution for Kingdomino

[@theperfectboardgame]

“Smooth” is a good description. Maybe it’s because while other games might have a turn order phase and action phase, in Middle Ages, they are combined into one, adding expedience to gameplay.

[@davidgarza9731]

@ and everything is visually tracked by the position of the player pieces too so turn order is very hard to lose too

[@seanmolloy4636]

A few games I would suggest are very family friendly that I have not seen you cover are Dorfromantik and Diced Veggies. Forgive me if you have, but I certainly do not see diced veggies on your website as of yet. It is a great family game as you can change the mechanics of the game depending on who is playing with you. So if playing with a table full of adults you can play the heavier more strategic rules, and if playing with some kids you simply play the generic rules. The kids love "cutting" veggies from the dice pile and building and developing their own recipes and meals. Love the videos and the site, keep it up!

[@jameskirk4692]

Thank you for great video and great list of family games. Very useful.

[@StephenMatthews-s7o]

Ben, I love Planet Unknown and that was most concise & thorough yet exciting & enticing description of it I have ever heard. Thank you for using your uniquely powerful perspective in the board game industry to promote such a wonderful (and unique) game. Bravo!

[@theperfectboardgame]

What high praise! Thank YOU!!

[@fiatlux805]

Great content! My oldest son is almost 7 so I love to see this genre of kid friendly (or non-gamer friendly) games.

[@dddmmm21]

My recommendation is Little Alchemists. My 9yr son plays anything but my 7yr daughter is super picky and not a big BG fan. The fact she is asking for that game makes it a win here. And the game is made in chapters so it is quite easy to introduce to true beginners. Additionally, I would say "Escape the Island" and "Wrath of the Fire Mountain".

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks. You are clearly someone who knows their games.

[@Ryan_Schlutz]

Awesome video. Thank you!

[@theperfectboardgame]

Glad you liked it!

[@homerchristo]

Funny. It's my birthday soon. My daughter asked me what I wanted : Planet unknown ! I answered. And I have Fit to print just unboxed to try ! Planet unknown is easy to find second hand at half prize .

[@amjuga1]

Have you ever tried the game megaland? It’s one of our family favorites. It’s kind of like a video game! I enjoy playing it as much as our 6,8 and 10 yo!

[@thesphyrth]

Looks like I'm getting myself Swordcrafters. It looks like Dice Forge without being a table-hog. Swordcrafters will be joining Rhino Hero Super Battles for my fave party games.

[@theperfectboardgame]

Made up your mind already, huh? Glad this video helped.

[@Flip5ide]

Great list! I have Foundations of Metropolis but haven't got it to the table just yet, I also backed the reprint of Planet Unknown so even more hyped to get that now. Plenty for me to check out from this list thank you. We had Illiterati but for some reason it just didn't click with my family unfortunately, they seem to prefer Wordcraft, the theme is bolted on and the components are terrible quality but a great word game worth checking out. Hope you and the family are well and don't get hit hard with the Typhoon heading your way, stay safe.

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks. We are heading off island for two weeks so family can meet the twins. We’ll be in the Portland, OR area, where I was raised.

[@theperfectboardgame]

I haven’t heard of Wordcraft, I’ll have to take a look. I alluded to high expectations for a new game from Adam’s Apple Games. The game is Defenders of the Dictionary and it’s probably going to be our new favorite word game. Had a chance to play it at Essen; it was fantastic.

[@Flip5ide]

@@theperfectboardgame oh thanks, I'll check it out.

[@MistyCozyGaming]

Aww, I'm sad I missed the giveaway. I've been dying to get my hands on this game for a while. Great video!

[@theperfectboardgame]

Thanks for telling me! That’s a huge confirmation that I should do more giveaways in the future!

[@MistyCozyGaming]

@theperfectboardgame no one would be sad about that!

[@dddmmm21]

Tough thing with the "family game" concept is the fact it wildly varies based on the kids age... 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, etc... these are age brackets with vastly different abilities.

[@theperfectboardgame]

I have endeavored to choose games that will hit all of those ages except a 5-year-old. However, if you watch my older top ten list, in 2021 my daughter was 5 and none of the games required reading and all of them were even simpler.

[@danielconsta]

Omg I love planet unknown!

[@Exozik]

Nice video. Now could you do Top 10 friends week evening board games? Seems no one does that kind of video.

[@theperfectboardgame]

Can you clarify what you mean? Like, games you can play on a weeknight with friends? Deep strategy games that you can learn and play in less than two hours?

[@Exozik]

@theperfectboardgame Yes, best games to play on weeknight with friends!

[@theperfectboardgame]

I have a video called 5 Gateway Games that are Better Than Catan. That’s about the same idea. For a new game, I think Explorers of Navoria is excellent. But I will see about making a new video. “Top 10 Weeknight Games”

[@bestatstartrek2179]

Have you tried mystic market

[@chillionaire7114]

Im shocked swordcrafters missed my radar. Might be a complete delight, or total disaster with my two boys (4 and 7) just wanting to battle! Paused watching this video to get a copy. Middle Ages i also want to look into more: i have family members that like Kingdomino, but they have moved past it complexity wise.

[@theperfectboardgame]

I’m so happy to share it with you!

[@purplemicrodot58]

My nephew's family of 5 kids is pretty unstructured (nothing wrong with that) and chaotic. He says the problem with games is that the pieces get lost. All these games seem to have tons of small pieces. Can anyone recommend a family game, ages 6-12, that is a little easier to keep up with?

[@theperfectboardgame]

That’s tough. On this list, Werewords is your best option. It has a lot of pieces, but they aren’t very important so if a few get lost it isn’t a problem. Also, each player gets dealt only one card. Another thing to look at are flip-and-write or roll-and-write games. For a 5 year old, I recommend Scribbly Gum. These games come with a pad of paper that players write on. After the game, their papers are scored and then thrown away! Scribbly Gum also has a few cardboard cards. Railroad Ink has some dice. But in both cases, only one player (say, the adult in the family) needs to access the cards/dice.

[@theperfectboardgame]

Whoops. I read that incorrectly. 5 kids, not a five-year-old. Nevertheless, those recommendations are very suitable.