Have you got board game gift recommendations for my age 20 & 24 kids?

November 25, 2024 5:44 AM

I used to rely heavily on Matthew Baldwin's (aka The Defective Yeti) yearly Good Gift Game Guide, but it ended its run in 2017. My kids like Catan (but not the expansions.) They like Tiny Towns, Isle Of Cats, Boss Monster, Scrabble, and Canasta. They even like Parcheesi & Life. I would love specific game recommendations, and also tips to other game guides or reviewers. Thanks in advance!
posted by chr1sb0y to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (25 answers total)

If they like Scrabble, have you looked at Bananagrams? It's like a faster, free-form version of Scrabble.
posted by toucan at 6:03 AM on November 25 [3 favorites]

The Dice Tower channel on YouTube has a series of "12 games of Christmas" videos, where they do quick-fire reviews of games in different categories. Full Playlist. I'd imagine most of the games mentioned have full reviews on the channel if you want to check any out in more detail. I like these because they go by pretty quickly but have enough detail for me to know whether I might like to look into the game further.
posted by brentajones at 6:15 AM on November 25

I bought Ransom Notes for my kids this year.

We all like Cards Against Humanity, Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride and Telestrations

Wizard is fun but you need 4 people
posted by Ftsqg at 6:41 AM on November 25 [2 favorites]

Splendor is a really fun strategy game for 2-4 people. You collect gemstones to trade in for properties and attract nobles with certain property cards. The property cards and noble cards give you points and you're trying to earn points as fast as possible. It's a good game to play with the same group repeatedly because your strategies will improve with experience.
posted by Eyelash at 6:54 AM on November 25 [3 favorites]

Also Board Game Arena is a good site for trying out games. They probably still have a 1 month free trial for faster matching without having to pay.
posted by Eyelash at 6:56 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Who would they be playing with? There are great suggestions for 2-person games and for 3+ players. But there's not always a ton of overlap.

That being said, the Tiny Epic games are a lot of fun for 1-4 players usually. I own Galaxies, and it's a good game. Not too hard to learn, and fun to play.

For a 2-player game, i love 7 Wonders Duel (this one is a bit more complicated, but a lot of fun)

Stronghold Games makes these games called Clever (That's so clever; Twice as Clever; Clever Cubed). I love That's so Clever, but I'm not sure it's available. It's like Yahtzee, but way more fun and complicated. Highly recommended for 1-4 players.

2nding Ticket to Ride; also Cards against Humanity is great for a group (4+ is best), and it's infinitely expandable.

The Wirecutter has a ton of great suggestions, too.

Lost Cities is a good 2-person game as well.

If they like chess-like games, then Hive is a great 2 person game that doesn't take a ton of time (or room).
posted by hydra77 at 7:06 AM on November 25 [2 favorites]

BoardGameGeek puts out a "Gift Guide" every year. Haven't seen one for this year yet.
I used to game with Matthew, like, 30 years ago. Good times.

Splendor is a solid suggestion. Carcassonne is very classic. Azul, Sagrada and Roll Player have placement like Tiny Towns. You don't get to fight monsters in Roll Player, (without the first expansion).
posted by Windopaene at 7:09 AM on November 25 [2 favorites]

OK, not quite like Tiny Towns.

But yes, player count matters. Lots of multi-player games have gone the "Duel" route, for 2 player versions of bigger games. 7 Wonders is great, but not at two, so there's now a Duel version. I think Splendor now has a duel version as well.
posted by Windopaene at 7:16 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Not a Board game but SO FUN: Monikers
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 8:35 AM on November 25 [2 favorites]

I think they would like Azul, Carcassonne, Calico or Wingspan. All of these games work well with only two (or more!) players.

I like Three Minute Boardgames for quick reviews on games.
posted by Polychrome at 9:11 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Carcassonne. Also, Sushi Go seems like a kids game but all the adults I know enjoy it.

I think this is also really a good request to walk into your local game store and ask. I've found those people so knowledgeable and so helpful and it's a great to support a local brick and mortar shop for this kind of thing, particularly because game stores in particular provide a really useful third space for kids and teenagers in particular.
posted by vunder at 9:36 AM on November 25 [3 favorites]

Thewirecutter.com has board game recommendations for different ages, including adults. If you have a gaming shop in your town, they will be very helpful with suggestions that fit what you know of their tastes, and it will support the local economy much more than some other places. This time of year they actually love getting questions about what games to buy, and they are often having sales.
posted by drossdragon at 9:57 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

Abducktion is cute & easy to learn. My kids (15 & 17) enjoy it.

Their other favorites are Ticket to Ride (especially the Nordic Countries one), Trekking the National Parks, Quirkle, Mystic Market, and Mille Bornes.
posted by belladonna at 10:13 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

My siblings and I still play Sorry, and we are absolutely brutal about it. There's usually lots of screaming. :)
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:57 AM on November 25

It's a-me!

This year I am giving Sky Team to couples and The Crew: Mission Deep Sea to pretty much everyone else.

And I'd second many of the recommendations already given in this thread, especially Splendor, Azul, and 7 Wonders: Duel (although I've grown to prefer The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth).

Someone else mentioned Boardgame Arena as a place to try out some of these games. Premium memberships would also make great gifts and allow you all to play against each other remotely.

Cheers!
posted by Shadowkeeper at 11:21 AM on November 25 [2 favorites]

Flamecraft is fantastic! Haven't played it solo yet, but have played with 2-5 players, and it works surprisingly well whether you're playing with just two, or with three-plus. I received it as a gift last year, and I gotta say, the son that gave it to me totally picked a winner. It's available from all the usual locations, just figured I'd give the linkage to the publisher.
posted by stormyteal at 12:34 PM on November 25 [2 favorites]

For 2P games, I just got The Fox in the Forest and Jaipur--Fox wasn't bad, but my wife and I really liked Jaipur.
posted by miltthetank at 1:23 PM on November 25

Also great 2p suggestions! Fox in the Forest is so odd, I haven't quite figured it out yet. A trick taking game where you don't necessarily want to win too many tricks? Jaipur is good fun.

How could I have forgotten Innovation!? It is completely crazy, and if you are going to play 4p, use the teams variant. But, best with 2 I think.
posted by Windopaene at 2:03 PM on November 25

Flamecraft, suggested above, is so good. It's a worker-placement game, but we've rarely if ever run into the typical worker-placement problem of having to waste a turn because every spot you wanted to go to is already taken. The art is amazing, it's very quick to learn, and everyone who has played it at one of our board game days decides they need to go buy it. There's enough additional content in the box for remixing the board layout etc. that there's a lot of "new" replay value.

Wingspan and Wyrmspan are bird- and dragon-themed games, respectively, where you're sort of building a little resource production engine by adding cards to your tableau. If I had to pick one, it'd be Wyrmspan, which feels like they took all the feedback from Wingspan, and refined it into an overall better experience. The birds are neat, though, and there are companion apps for smartphones that will use your camera to scan the card and play the corresponding birdcall, which is really interesting.

Grand Austria Hotel is about the only game that I feel works just as well, in terms of mechanics and the overall play experience, as a 2P game as it does with 4P. It very quickly became a favorite.
posted by xedrik at 2:35 PM on November 25

Grand Austria just has so much downtime at higher player counts though.

Wingspan is pretty solid for a low complexity Eurogame. And it's pretty. Haven't played Wyrmspan.
posted by Windopaene at 2:38 PM on November 25

Also: For Sale is the best "filler game" ever. No Thanks is also good as filler, but neither is 2p.

Through the Desert is the best game ever designed, but also not great at 2P. Cascadia is also good, and plays well with 2+...

And yes Ticket to Ride is a classic for a reason.

I could go on all day...
(I will try to stop, but games are kind of my thing...)
posted by Windopaene at 2:49 PM on November 25

Cascadia is fun, pretty, and not too complicated but also not too easy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:25 PM on November 25

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza.

Tenzi - a dice game where you roll your (ten) dice, then re-roll the ones you want until you have all the same then yell "tenzi!" There are variations to this as well. A good not-thinky game.

Carcassonne is pretty good.
posted by freethefeet at 6:33 PM on November 25

Mod note: [Hey there! We've updated the Ask Me gift question list on the sidebar and Best Of blog to add this very helpful question!]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:28 AM on November 26

I'd nth the recommendations of Carcassonne. It's easy to learn but can be complicated in strategy, has lots of possible expansions and a few opportunities for house rules, it's beautiful, and it's pretty chill partly because no one is eliminated. I think the typical criticism of it is mainly the role of luck in playing.
posted by verbminx at 1:28 AM on November 26