Board Games To Help Dads

The Importance of Play

Yesterday, while I was distractedly kicking a ball with my three year old, he said to me, “Daddy, put down your phone and play with me!” Ouch…my priorities were instantly revealed. He was not content with half of my attention, nor should he be. For a three year old, play is the most important activity of the day, easily outranking books, bath-time and meals. He is happiest when he plays with others and especially with me.

There is something sweet and memorable about the times when dads devote time to play with their children. It builds and strengthens the relationship so, when we later seek to teach, they are more likely to hear. Play is important because lowering ourselves to play, sometimes at carpet level, is becoming a servant. We set aside our agenda and show them affection by attending to their priorities.

Board Games to help

As a father, one of my favorite ways to initiate play together as a family is through board games. The English weather is not accommodating to outdoor activities so we must be creative with extra indoor activities over winter. And games can actually be helpful discipleship tools.

You teach your children to lose graciously (c’mon dads) or to win humbly (this is happening more and more), communicate well, laugh, smile and enjoy wholesome fun together. All good things that create memories and teachable moments. Over the years we have gathered a collection of games for all occasions. Our children can predict which game we bring out based on who is visiting with us. Here are our well-played favorites that may be not as well known.

Telestrations

We love this light-hearted game; you might guess from the name, it is a combination of telephone and illustrations. You quickly sketch out a clue, the next person guesses the sketch by silently writing in the booklet, and the next person draws their guess. After your booklet goes around the table, each player takes turns narrating the decline of their original drawing/clue through its evolutions to the end result. It is quality fun.

There is no winner or loser, everyone just enjoys the process. Our children always ask to play this game when we have another family visiting with us. It fosters great interactions; children often compliment the other illustrations and laugh at the guesses. We always laugh a lot with this game. It is a family favorite.

Herd Mentality

This is another great, light-hearted game for laughs and interactions, especially if you are with another family. It also works well for mixed ages. In this game you answer opinion questions on your slip of paper and then compare your answers to the group led by a moderator.

When you tally the responses, if you are in the herd (the majority opinion) you score a point. If you are in the minority, no point. If you are the only person who gave a unique answer, you get the pink cow (which means you cannot win until someone else takes the cow from you)! Take that, expressive individualism! We love to play this game as we are getting to know other families, it is always good for a surprise and a laugh. We have played it dozens of times.

Memoir 44

In this game you recreate epic battles of World War 2 through guiding your troops across the hex tile terrain. This game requires about 1 - 1.5 hrs to set up and play. Strategic with some luck involved, it is a game that is quickly grasped. This is my son’s favorite game, particularly over the holidays when we might have more of an extended time to play. It also has a fair amount of historical value when you play through the scenarios.

Magic Maze

This is a challenging cooperative game. If you went to measure your family’s ability to work well as a team, this could be a metric. The concept is strange but simple: you have four heroes who need to grab their corresponding weapons in a shopping mall. Your team must guide them and help them exit the complex before their time expires. Everyone has an individual ability and direction they can move a hero.

Here is the kicker, you must accomplish this without talking. You would think it would make for a quiet night, but there are interludes when you can give instructions to each other. It is challenging to work well together. Our family hasn’t made it past level 3.

Colt Express

This is a unique light-hearted strategy game. You play as bandits on a train or later as the Marshall attempting to catch them. In each turn there are two phases; you plan and then execute your actions. While you lay out your actions cards in the planning phase, you sometimes can see the other players actions which influence your choices. It is great fun to play back all the cards and see the actions executed. There are lots of laughs and some fun strategy ideas.

Carcassonne

This is the best beginner strategy game we have played. In this game you use the tiles to build structures and gain points. There is an element of chance as you don’t know what tile you will draw but knowing where to place the tile and your “meeple” is the real key. Our children love to play; it is fun to see your structures grow and anticipate what tiles are left. It stretches them to plan for the end game and to make critical judgments, there are few occasions where you can block other players.

Cobra Paw

If you have some children who seem to never win the thinking and planning type strategy games, this game might be a good alternative. Cobra Paw is a fun game that usually gets competitive and is quick and easy to play. I am reluctant to mention it on this list because it is one game that I have never won. My children always win. You roll special dice and then grab the corresponding tile from the pool. There are no turns; it is a game of speed. You must be first to recognize the combination and grab it from the pool. While other games challenge our minds this is a game of speed and reactions.