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gaming with kids

King Me! – A Family Game from Ravensburger that is an Evolution of Checkers

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Draughts or Checkers as it's better known in North America has been around for over 5000 years and continues to be a popular board game even now. Today I'm going to review King Me!, a game that takes the basic mechanics of Checkers and turns it into a family weight area majority boardgame.

Like it's predecessor, Checkers, King Me! from Ravensburger only plays two players. While the basic mechanics may be the same, there's a lot more to King Me! than moving diagonally and jumping over the opponent's pieces. [ READ MORE ]

Talisman: Legendary Tales – A cooperative family weight bag building adventure – Review

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I was so excited when I first heard that there was a new Talisman board game coming out. I'm a huge fan of the original Games Workshop version of Talisman and was very excited to see a new game in the Talisman universe. 

I was very surprised to learn that this new version of Talisman is very much a kids' game. It's actually a family weight cooperative bag builder that has only a few ties to the original Talisman.   [ READ MORE ]

10 of the Best Three Player Board Games for Playing with a Toddler – Ask the Bellhop

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I get a lot of questions from people looking for tabletop gaming advice when it comes to playing board games with kids. Some are broad questions like, "What games are fun for kids and adults too?" and some are much more narrow, like today's question.

Dylan Zimmerman asks:
Question for ya: Friend asked me as the board game person she knows; she's looking for good games for 3 that can be played with a Toddler-aged 3rd player. What was good with your family around that age? [ READ MORE ]

Go Cuckoo, A Kids’ Game That Everyone I Have Shown Loves – Board Game Review

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If you've been paying any attention to the blog or our podcast recently you have heard me talking about the hottest game I found at Origins: Go Cuckoo by Haba games.

Ever since first watching a quick demo game at the Haba booth at Origins 2019, I've been hooked on this game. We played it a ton of times while still at the con and have been playing it even more often since coming home. At this point, it's my most played board game of 2019.
So what is it that has made Go Cuckoo such a hit? That's what I'm going to try to figure out. [ READ MORE ]

Initial Impressions of Zenteeko, Horizons, King of the Dice, Raiders of the North Sea, and Sorcerer – Tabletop Gaming Weekly

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This past week I found a great board game to play outdoors. During our Canada Day celebrations, Deanna and I tried Zenteeko while the kids were playing at the splash pad.

After we got home on Canada Day, Deanna and I tried out Horizons from Daily Magic Games. Later in the week Deanna, Big G and I played King of the Dice from Haba for the first time, and later that day Deanna and I were both really impressed by Raiders of the North Sea.
Yesterday Deanna and I got in one more two-player game. This time we played Sorcerer from White Wizard Games. Read on to find out my thoughts on all of these games. [ READ MORE ]

Some of the Best Kids Board Games and how to get Kids to Play Them – Ask the Bellhop

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Way back in July, when this whole thing was just getting off the ground, we answered a question about what are the best cooperative kids board games.

Today I'm tackling a follow-up question to that original blog post and our second podcast episode ever.
Duran Barnett asks, "What about doing an episode on introducing kids to gaming? Or maybe a direct sequel tackling non-co-op games for kids?" [ READ MORE ]

What are some less well-known cooperative kids board games? – Ask The Bellhop

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Brian Kurtz, Tabletop Bellhop patron asks,

I am looking for advice on cooperative tabletop games to play with kids of different ages (grade school through high school).
I have enjoyed Hoot Owl Hoot for very young kids and Forbidden Island for older kids, and I have heard good things about Pandemic.
Are there less well-known options I should be checking out?
 
Thanks for the question Brian and thanks for being a patron of The Tabletop Bellhop!
One of the great things about the growing popularity of boardgames is the growing number of games released. More important to your question is the number of games coming out that are fun for players of all ages. For many years kids games were fun, for kids. It was rare to find a game that was fun for both kids and adults. Now, you specifically asked for cooperative games, that narrows the field down quite a bit, but I do have some suggestions. [ READ MORE ]