My son’s 5th birthday is coming up and I would like to gift him a board game. Usually only the two of us play and he likes for example Carcassonne Junior, Brandon the Nrave or Karuba Junior. Any good suggestions for a new game, maybe also something collaborative?
I picked up Outfoxed! a few weeks ago to play with a relative, it comes highly recommend as a cooperative who-dun-it.
I haven’t gotten a chance to play it yet so I can’t speak to the actual gameplay.
Outfoxed for sure!
Kids version of Ticket to Ride is loved by my 6 year old.
TtR first journey is great because it’s easy to transition to the “full” game after they outgrow it. Catan junior is similar in this. That’s also my main complaint about Stone Age kids, it’s not really the same game.
This sounds great! I will check it out!
If you’re open to a dexterity games, I’d highly recommend Animal Upon Animal, Rhino Hero, or Click Clack Lumberjack for that age group. Even left to their own devices, I’ve seen a group of highly concentrated 6 year olds stack animals surprisingly high lmao.
Considering he’s already into boardgames, King of Tokyo is probably in scope, or will be soon! If not, the mood of Shadows in the Woods (Waldschattenspiel) can be just so good for young kids!
I’m having some trouble thinking of collaborative kids games, but maybe Dixit? That might be an 8 year olds game tbh, I don’t think most 5 year olds are subtle enough yet lol.
Good luck!
I’ve tried compiling all the suggestions from this thread, with BGG links.
I have a 4 and 6¾-year-old, but our game collection doesn’t quite fit the audience, and we usually end up playing Star Of Africa with heavily dumbed-down house rules (and it’s already a pretty dumb game to begin with) to keep it interesting for the little one.
This thread is gold! 😍
- [My First Stone Age] (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191004/my-first-stone-age)
- Outfoxed
- Rhino Hero
- [Race To The Treasure] (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121806/race-treasure)
- Robot Turtles
… Sorry I’ll finish this up later on desktop, this is too fiddly on mobile 😅
Great idea! The thread really shows the power of aging real people!
Fluxx. Anyone that can read can play Fluxx. Sushi Go and Patchwork would also fit the bill.
My First Stone Age is phenomenal for young kids. The memory element even gives them something they can beat the parents at. We loved it! My kiddo is 11 now and won’t let me get rid of it because of all the good memories.
CoraQuest is a fun kid-friendly cooperative dungeon crawl that my 6yo and I really enjoy. (Edit): Rereading, I forgot the part about your kid turning five, so this may be a bit advanced.
Outfoxed! (2014) has been mentioned several times and I also recommend it. It’s a cooperative, clue-esque deduction game.
Thank you very much! CoraQuest sounds grad for next year! I will have a look at outfoxed!
Thank you very much! CoraQuest sounds grad for next year! I will have a look at outfoxed!
For something with fighting, Kraken Attack is a lot of fun. And for something less combative and unique, Gnomes at Night is a lot of fun.
My soon-to-be four year-old loves Sushi Go and we love playing it with her. She mostly just picks the cute cards and doesn’t win much, but games go fast and my wife and I have fun.
Donut County. Great little game to read along with. Simple mechanics and flipping ADORABLE.
Might be a little young but I got my son (at 8yo) the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Begins Game. You don’t need a DM. We laugh our asses off playing it.
My son loves Skyjo. It’s not a board game, but it’s pretty nice. I can’t recommend Skyjo Action though.
Saboteur is also really great, but you need 3+ people for that.
Our kids loved the offerings from Orchard Games in preschool, kindergarten and early primary. Some are available in French as well as English.
They are definitely ECD-informed and target specific development points, but the kids loved them and they definitely made them table top gamers.
There was one that was a pick your route game called ‘Round and Round’ where you sang ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ each time a stop was reached. I don’t see it listed currently. It’s not the same as Orchard’s counting game called ‘Bus Stop’ which is also popular.
I’ll second Rhino Hero! For collaboration, my kids have enjoyed Outfoxed, Race for the Treasure and Robot Turtles.
I found that maybe 4-5 was way more about focusing on following rules and heavily house ruling to make a suitable experience so we could play whatever on the shelf looked interesting.
Once they got just a little bit older Battle Sheep, Hive, Azul, and Camel Up got worn out.
Forbidden desert! Great co-op game. We used to call it Die in The Desert because my group was so bad at it.
