We continue our series of introduction board games after previously looking at ages 2 to 4 and 5 to 6. For ages 7 to 9, we want to focus on games that will capture their attention and hopefully fuel their interest in exploring more board games. At the same time, we want to have a game that is designed to challenge their way of thinking, providing opportunities for critical decision making.
At this age, if a child hasn’t been playing many board games as of yet, it can be a challenge to introduce. They already have their preconceptions of what board games are like and likely have a inclination toward video/tablet games instead. Keep in mind that the main draw for board games is the social interaction within the family. We want them to enjoy their time playing with YOU. Even if they don’t express it, they do want more quality interactions with you and this is a great place to start. It’s a shared activity and over time they will decide to play among themselves or with friends.
Our first two suggestions are cooperative games. We have said it before and we can’t stress it enough, cooperative games really help ease a child into the board game world. The innate characteristics of competitive games can be hard to deal with and cause frustrations. However, in a cooperative game you work together and learn the strategies and rules together.
Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters :: Ages 8+ :: Publisher – Mattel :: Designer – Brian Yu
“In a dark and dreary house, every sound sends a cold chill through your bones. A door opens – is someone there? You hear whispers, but no one answers when you call. Your eyes and ears may deceive you, but the hair on your neck tells you what you already know: There are ghosts here — and not just one for these spirits are legion.”
In this cooperative board game players are each a young ghost hunter (sort of a Stranger Things feel) that enters a haunted mansion to collect all 8 gems and escape. With a roll of a die and a card flip, ghosts begin to appear and accumulate. If you are in a room with a ghost you fight them, again with a die roll, to remove them. If three appear in a room they turn into a larger red haunting ghost which then requires two players to fight it at the same time. You lose the game if all 6 hauntings appear.
This is cooperation at it’s fullest as kids start calling for help to fight a haunting and of course they love to come to the rescue. It has a strong theme and visual presence that is great for hooking kids into playing. For those of you that have played the popular cooperative board game Pandemic, this has a similar feel as bad things accumulate and you have to remove them to manage the overall situation. There is a lot of conversation during the game as kids decide, “you go get that gen while we go fight this haunting before things get worse!”
Forbidden Island :: Ages 10+ :: Publisher – Gamewright :: Designer – Matt Leacock
“Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!”
Forbidden Island is another cooperative game of treasure hunting. The island is slowly sinking and you have to collect all 4 treasures and escape via helicopter to win. There’s no dice rolling here. At the end of each turn flood cards are drawn to randomly flood locations. It’s ok, there is nothing wrong with a flooded location, however if it floods a second time it sinks and disappears completely. Players will take turns moving from tile to tile, collecting treasure cards (you need 4 marching treasure cards to collect one of the treasures), trading treasure cards with each other so one person will have a set of four, and cleaning up flooded locations to prevent them from sinking.
This is a game about risk management with discussions about which locations are in danger of sinking, how do players get close enough to give each other cards, and overall pure teamwork. Again, it’s very much like the popular game Pandemic, but even more so because it’s by the same designer. This is definitely Pandemic for kids. And like Pandemic it can be hard and stressful, which is why the box notes a 10+ age rating. However, the mechanics of the game itself is simple and can be easily played at 8, and often at age 6 with some good guidance. However, as an introductory game I would target this at age 9. This game will definitely depend on personality as not every kid is up for the stressful challenge, but if they are, it will be well worth it.
King of Tokyo :: Ages 8+ :: Publisher – Iello :: Designer – Richard Garfield
For many gamers, King of Tokyo would be first on their list at this age range. It’s incredibly appealing. Each player takes control of a Godzilla/KingKong type of monster rampaging a city and fighting each other. But it’s not a pointless monster fight game.
The game consists of the city, Tokyo, which can only occupy one monster at a time. All other monsters are outside. The monster in the city is the “king of the hill”. It will get points for each turn it can stay in the city. First player to 20 points wins. However, being in the city puts a target on your back, every other player can attack you and only you. If you get 10 hits, you’re eliminated from the game. It’s essentially a push your luck game. How long do you stay in the city, racking up points, before you decide to leave to heal up your health.
The main way of doing actions uses a Yahtzee dice mechanism. You roll a handful of dice, keep certain symbols you want, then re-roll the rest, keep, then one last re-roll. This mitigates the luck factor of rolling dice, giving you 3 opportunities to get what you need. Each side of the die has an action, such as attack, heal, get power (which is essentially currency to buy special power cards), or a number 1/2/3 (if you can roll triples of a number you get that many points – another way to get points without being in the city).
King of Tokyo has a lot going for it. It’s visually appealing. It has the fun of rolling a handful of dice but mitigates the luck involved. The “king of the hill” aspect avoids hurt feelings of being attacked because a player isn’t choosing to attack you, you are the only player they CAN attack. Rolling triple numbers is actually the fastest way to get points and win so most of the time players aren’t attacking too much. It’s a great risk and reward feel wrapped up in light-hearted fun.
Potion Explosion :: Ages 8+ :: Publisher – Horrible Games :: Designers – Stefano Castelli, Andrea Crespi, Lorenzo Silva
“Dear students, it’s time for the final exams of the Potions class! The rules are always the same: Take an ingredient marble from the dispenser and watch the others fall. If you connect marbles of the same color, they explode and you can take them, too! Complete your potions using the marbles you collect, and drink them to unleash their magical power. Remember, though, that to win the Student of the Year award, being quick won’t be enough: you’ll also need to brew the most valuable potions in Potion Explosion!”
Potion Explosion is like “Candy Crush: The Board Game”. You have an inclined ramp of marbles. When you pull a marble out and two similarly coloured marbles hit each other you can collect those too. You are collecting the coloured marbles to complete a potion. Once you have all the marbles required for the potion you get the points listed on it, then you select a new empty potion. Most points wins.
The colourful visuals and tactile appeal of the marbles is a big draw. Kids are naturally drawn to it. The gameplay is super simple with a bit of forward planning to see which marbles would hit each other. It’s phenomenal to see the pure joy when they make a chain of crashing marbles.
You can adjust the game for younger ages by making it shorter (for example, first to make 5 potions). You can make it more complex by introducing the special abilities a potion gives you. For example after completing a certain potion it can give you the immediate bonus of collecting 3 marbles from the bottom of the rack. We love this game because it can be easily played with both our kids, 2.5 years apart with the youngest not concerned with the potion abilities. I find the game can work as low as age 4 with some simple rules modifications.
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At these older ages a child can handle the rule set of almost any game. These games listed are great for first time board gamers because they are simple to play, immensely engaging, and uses a little logical foresight. Once they are accustomed to games like these, a whole world of great games exist and we plan on sharing those with you soon.