NFFC Message Boards

My comment in the BWaz thread caused me to ask this. I need some new strategy games to play with my 12 and 9 year old girls.

What do you recommend?

Jack, I'd highly recommend playing chess with them. I honestly feel like playing chess as a youth unlocked many a brain cell for me.

I'm sure there are several others, Stratego comes to mind.

They may be a LITTLE too young, but there's no better strategy game than Diplomacy.

Originally posted by bald is beautiful:
My comment in the BWaz thread caused me to ask this. I need some new strategy games to play with my 12 and 9 year old girls.

What do you recommend? BIB.....I have two girls, same age difference as your two...but mine are 4 and 1 years old....

What can I expect over the next 8 years of my life?

I like the board game Acquire.

Here is good card that can be played with 3 to 8 players. When we played the game, we would play from 1-13 then 13-1(with 4 players) to determine the winner.

Oh Hell (aka Oh Pshaw, Blackout)
This is a game that combines trick-taking, skill and luck. I taught this game to some of my fellow mathletes in Penn State during a math contest several years back.

Players: 3 to 8. Best for 4 or 5.

Cards: Standard Deck of 52 cards.
Variation: Standard Deck of 52 cards and a joker.

Ranking of Cards: A (high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low)

Object: To score the most points.

Deal: Dealer deals cards one at a time, beginning with his left. The number of cards being dealt is determined by what hand of the game it is. It would be 1 card per player in the first hand, 2 cards in the second hand, 3 cards for the third, and so forth. The final hand is determined when the cards remaining from the deal is less than the number of players. Therefore, for 4 players, there would be 13 deals, for 5 players, it would be 10 deals, and so forth.

Trump Suit: The card turned up after the cards have been dealt to the players will determine the suit of the trump. In the last hand, the hand will be played at notrump.
Variation: If you play with a joker, if the joker happens to be the turn-up, hand is played at no trump. Otherwise, the trump is suit of the turn-up and the joker represents the duplicate of the turn-up. For example, the turn-up is the eight of hearts. Hearts are trump for the hand, and the joker (if in play) represents the eight of hearts for that hand.

Bidding: Starting with the dealer's left, each player must make a bid on how many tricks they can win, which is of course limited by the number of cards dealt. For example, in the first hand, the only possible bids are zero and one. In the last hand of a four-player game, bids can range from zero to thirteen. Zero bids are sometimes treated as 'pass' bids.

Play: The player to the left of the dealer leads and play goes clockwise. Every player must follow suit if they can. If not, then they can play any card. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick if no trumps were played, or the highest trump wins the trick if trumps were played. Winner of the trick leads to the next trick.

Scoring: In contrast to other trick-taking games like Bridge and Spades, a player does not fulfill his trick by taking more tricks than he bid. A player scores points only if he makes the exact number of tricks he bid. He busts if he takes more or less. For zero bids, the score for fulfilling such a contract is 5 points plus the number of tricks in the hand. (So, fulfilling a zero bid on the second hand is 7 points.) For other bids, the score for fulfilling such a contract is 10 points plus the amount of the bid. (So, fulfilling a contract of three tricks earns 13 points.) A player scores zero if he busts.

Winner: The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the game.

[ November 08, 2008, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: CC's Desperados ]

Originally posted by Just Russ:
Jack, I'd highly recommend playing chess with them. I honestly feel like playing chess as a youth unlocked many a brain cell for me.

I'm sure there are several others, Stratego comes to mind. Correct on both, one I would stay away from is playing cards. In my house that is already a problem. I guess the gambler in me.

Thanks,

John

I second Shawn's nomination of ACQUIRE - a great board game with lots more strategy then people see initially and can be played with singles or partners.

I am still a backgammon fan.

More strategy than luck and anyone can learn.

Jack,

My kids love Ticket to Ride. It's easy to play and even adults will like it.

Another good game is Around the World in 80 Days. It has up to 6 players and has enough strategy to make it interesting.

If you like adult strategy games then the best board game we have ever found is Age of Empires III. This game is extremely balanced and there are many ways to win. Some of my all time favorites are Puerto Rico, Caylus, Tikal, Yspahn, and GOA.

We have a group of guys the get together once a month for a game night. My kids are really into playing them although some are still a little bit difficult. It is amazing how much my 10 year old catches on though.


Wayne

not much strategy, but always hilarious with the kids is Apples to Apples.