Please recommend me a boardgame

October 6, 2015 5:41 AM

Looking for a family-friendly boardgame which is fun for everyone (ranging from 8-year old niece to 70-year old grandparents). We'll be playing with 7 people (of which 2 kids). Extra difficulty level: must be available in Dutch!
posted by Kosmob0t to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (24 answers total)

Best answer: Carcasonne? Instructions might not be in Dutch, but no language comprehension required for play.
posted by stillmoving at 5:46 AM on October 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Dixit is brilliant and can be played in any language as it involves making up your own descriptions for the images included on cards. Maximum 6 players, but maybe a couple of the kids could team up?
posted by amerrydance at 5:49 AM on October 6, 2015 [9 favorites]

Came to say Dixit as well! The illustrations are weird and charming and there's no writing at all. It kept my family entertained for a solid week last Christmas.
posted by phunniemee at 5:55 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Pictionary. Easily altered for the youngest (they get to choose any of the five choices to draw instead of the one specified). Lots of laughs.
posted by ReluctantViking at 5:56 AM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sushi Go and Love Letter are both easy, fun games that are available in Dutch (here and here on bol.com). I think Sushi Go is particularly fun for kids. You might check out 999 Games, which publishes board/card games in Dutch.
posted by neushoorn at 5:57 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

(For those mentioning Dixit - it seems like there are a million versions. What is the "normal" version?)
posted by ReluctantViking at 5:58 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: 7 Wonders - the cards have names (eg. Statue), which are in English, but they're not necessary for gameplay.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:03 AM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

ReluctantViking - Dixit, Dixit Odyssey, and Dixit Journey are the base games (all the same but with different cards), the others are expansions with more cards.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:05 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Pictureka - it's a picture recognition game so not language specific. Children often seem to be at something of an advantage in this game.
posted by crocomancer at 6:24 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Husker Du? picture matching board game (a classic!)

Spot It picture matching card game
posted by cda at 6:25 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Tsuro. I don't know if there is a ruleset in Dutch, but the game is so elegant you could watch it played in silence for 45 seconds and learn how it works.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:27 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If you're willing to move away from board games, the card game Set Is good for a variety of ages
posted by leahwrenn at 6:32 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Bohnanza is a fantastic game that goes up to 7 players. The copy we have is actually in Dutch, but it doesn't matter since the cards don't really have words.

King of Tokyo only goes up to 6 at a time, but is nice and simple and fun (Yahtzee type mechanic). Games typically take 10 to maybe 30 minutes depending on the number of players.
posted by Garm at 6:39 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Sequence is a fun game that requires no reading. It is a lot of fun and easy for kids to comprehend yet still challenging for adults. And it looks like it does come in Dutch!
posted by jillithd at 6:48 AM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is Monopoly just too obvious? It's a preferred mixed-age-group default here.
posted by kmennie at 7:07 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: My family all love Ticket to Ride, and though the base version has an American map, there are also European and Scandinavian versions. I believe it only comes with track markers for 5 players, but it would be easy to adapt for 7 by using something else for markers (small coins or paper clips would work). Dutch instructions available.
posted by ubiquity at 7:27 AM on October 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

Thirding Dixit! Such a great game.
posted by augustimagination at 7:33 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: A couple of card games (as opposed to board games) might work:

• Bohnanza is probably a little advanced for an eight-year-old (in particular, it requires a certain amount of emotional maturity when the rules force you to do something that you'd rather not do), but it's still a lot of fun and can accommodate up to seven players. Also, it's available in Dutch.
• Flux is a lot of fun, and given that there's not a huge amount of strategy to it (since the rules change as the game progresses), it's pretty light & breezy. Also available in Dutch.

posted by Johnny Assay at 9:39 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: 7 Card Slugfest is great with kids and adults, and supports up to 8 players (in fact it's better with more). The instructions are in English, but it uses an iconology on most of the cards that doesn't require English. The Round/Arena cards do have English text on them, requiring some translation.
posted by teabag at 11:39 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Little known Kaleidos is great all-ages team fun in spotting names (in a language of your own choosing) of objects - starting with a given letter - in wonderfully surreal tableaus.
posted by progosk at 11:44 AM on October 6, 2015

Best answer: Camel Up is so great. Camels racing around a board--players bet each turn (not actual money betting) on which camel will be in the lead, and can choose to bet on the ultimate winner...and the camels can stack. It is a simple game but addictive as hell. We have enjoyed it with family members as young as 8.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:02 PM on October 6, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks so much for all your answers. I'll check all of the proposed games and will probably buy 2 or 3 of them to take with me to the family-outing we're having next week.
posted by Kosmob0t at 3:09 PM on October 6, 2015

Stap op is a Dutch version of the classic French card game Mille Bornes, only for cycling instead of motoring. But I think the maximum is 6 players.
posted by trip and a half at 3:19 PM on October 6, 2015

My family and friends love to play Qwirkle around the holidays- there is no reading for the game, and a quick search shows the directions are available in Dutch. Everyone gets a set amount of tiles and the goal is to either make a row matching colors or shape.
posted by momochan at 8:15 PM on October 6, 2015