13 Board Games My Family Loves

Eli is quickly developing my love of board games. Yippee!! I am so happy after all these years that I finally have someone to play with me. Here are 13 games that we love, mostly board games, but I’ve included some others (like Connect Four) also!

1. Bonkers – This was my favorite board game as a kid. They no longer make it, but I found it on ebay and ordered it so I could play it with Eli. He loves it, too. My husband? Not so much. He thinks it takes too long to play.

2. Candyland – This is a classic, but I think my kids love it because we have the Dora version. Eli loves this game, but I have to watch him to make sure he doesn’t cheat. (He stacks the cards!)

3. Chutes and Ladders – I like this game, but I NEVER win. I get beaten every time by a 5-year-old! What is up with that? I swear I land on every freaking shoot.

4. Connect Four – Eli just got this game for Christmas, and he’s still getting into it. He doesn’t understand strategy quite yet so he gets very pissed when I block him. He’s decided that the best way to play the game is to see how fast you can fill the grid up with checkers.

5. Operation – Another new one for Eli. I thought it would be a great game for him to work on his fine motor skills. He likes it for a couple of minutes and then he gets extremely irritated by the buzzer.

6. Sorry – This is Eli’s favorite board game. We play this one over and over and over. And most of the time he wins. His favorite party of the game is when he gets to bump me back to start and say “Sorry!” in a sing song voice. Grrrr.

7. Trouble – Very similar to sorry, except this game has a popper with a die in it instead of drawing cards. I never realized when I was younger how similar the games Trouble, Sorry and Aggravation actually are.

8. Lucky Ducks – This is a cute game that even Georgia likes to play. It’s a fun memory game in which all the ducks have shapes on the bottom, and they go around in a circle. You try to pick matching shapes. The kids really enjoy it, but I could do without the quacking.

9. Clue – I am a big fan of Clue, and I’ve loved it all my life. They now have Clue Jr. where instead of a murder, the players are trying to solve the case of the missing cake. Miss Scarlet ate the cake in the Lounge at 8:00 with a glass of milk!! Okay, it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but it’s still fun.

10. Backyardigans – Yes, the Backyardigans have their own board game. On one side of the board you can search for pirate treasure and on the other side of the board, it’s the Mission to Mars game. Okay, it’s really the same game with different pictures, but it’s still fun, especially if your kids love the Backyardigans.

11. Jenga – Not a board game, but I’m quite impressed at how skilled my son is at this one. In fact, I’m the one that usually knocks the blocks over.

12. Candyland Castle – The kids got this one for Christmas. It’s another fun one that Georgia can play. It has a castle that shoots out shapes, and you match the shapes to shapes on your Gingerbread man. The only drawback to this is that the kids fight over who gets to pull the lever on the castle.

13. Let’s Play Count and Cook – This is a Cranium game that Mom Central sent me. I’m actually going to be reviewing it on Saturday, so come back to read more about it. But if your kids are interested in cooking, they will LOVE this game. It’s quickly becoming one of Eli’s favorites.