I’ve noticed a bit of a board game gap when it comes to players. Between ages 4 and 10, your child likely still wants to play games with you. When kids are younger that looks like endless games of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. It won’t always stay that way. As younger kids begin to read, you can cast a bit wider net as far as the types of games to play. As reading and comprehension begin to develop, the variety of games kids can play successfully expands.

However, what I’ve found with my own children, is that right when they are hitting their tweens and teens – board games start to lose their luster. For any number of reasons, the interest begins to wane. Other friends, video games, sports have all nudged board games a bit back when it comes to things to do.

When I do get a game with my oldest son, I find the game has certain characteristics.

Short Overall Length –

As I alluded to, there are alot of competing items for a tweens time. Video games, chatting with friends, sports, are all real demands on a young tween time. If you would like to have a piece of that time, don’t pull out a 2-hour board game. Shoot for smaller bite-size chunks. There are several games under an hour that are fun and won’t lose the attention span of your tween.

Short Overall Turn Time

Part and parcel with overall length is overall turn time. Including the inverse of that concept, overall downtime between turns. Games that have fast turns will keep downtime low and players engaged. Dice rollers or card games often can hit this sweet spot. Worker placement games and trading type games are probably the worst. Trading games often take time to strike a deal. Likewise, worker placement games take time as players sort out where the “best’ place to put your workers is.

Small Rule Set

Tweens are still by definition children. Children don’t want to remember a lot of rules. Heck, there are enough parents that don’t want a lot of rules to sort through. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that tweens can’t handle a rule rich game like Twilight Imperium or a meaty war game like Hannibal vs Carthage. It’s just that by and far – smaller rule sets have a higher chance of engaging a tween. There are plenty of games that have small rule sets that still have interesting choices to be made. Card driven games (CDGs) are great because many rely are short on rules in a rule book but rely more on the text on the cards. Deck Building games follow that same pattern. Check out our deck-building games lists for some great ones.

Finally, we’ll split this down between great two-player games for tweens and “the rest”. The two players are great for some one on one time that can be tough to find. The rest can be played with the whole family or perhaps with friends of the tween!

Two Player Board Games for Tweens

 

 

Star Realms 

What it is like: A fast-paced deck-building game. In this space-themed game, players will have cards that generate money, health, and attack values. Each turn a player will draw 5 cards and attempt to make the best combination of currency, attack, and health from them. Each turn you will want to purchase better starships or space bases. The ships and bases provide are your key to producing an attack value that you will use to lower your opponent’s overall health.

Why it works: The game can be explained in less than ten minutes. The turn consists of playing your entire hand each round. The theme is easy for tweens to relate to and understand. Most have seen some sort of space-themed movie or tv show. Each player will have 5 cards that will either generate some form of currency, attack value, or health. The cards themselves contain most of the action that players need to keep track of. The game is strategic, but not a brain burner. I find that my son likes it when the high value/high attack ships/bases become available, and he’ll actively work to purchase them. Then it’s fun to unleash those high-value ships and bases on dear ole’ dad. Each full game can go pretty quickly, but not so fast that you don’t get to spend some quality time with your kid.

At an extremely low price point – this is a great addition for any board game collection.

Pinata

What it is like: You have a 7 card hand that you are using to “claim” various pieces of candy. If you claim enough of a certain color of candy – you are awarded a medal. Gain a majority of the medals, you win the game. To win the candy, you need to achieve either a high point total or low point total – depending on the location of the candy. The game is all about hand management and where to put the cards you have to gain you the greatest chance to win candy stockpiles.

Why it Works: The game works well because it is easy to understand. The game has easy, but there are meaningful decisions to make each round. The game is a bit of a tug of war tension as both players end up competing for various stacks of candy. The game works well as it builds tension throughout the game. It will be very clear which particular stack of candy will win the game. Often the game will go down to the very last stack of candy to be claimed. The game is a small box game, which makes it great for traveling. You could easily store this in your carry on and play it on the plane. It won’t take up much storage in a suitcase.

Can’t Stop

What it is like: Can’t Stop is a press your luck dice rolling game. Each round you have certain “runners” based on your initial dice roll. Advance enough of your runners down the track via dice rolls – you win the game. The individual track length varies based on two-dice rolling frequencies. Meaning that if your runner is on the “7” track, it has a much longer way to go than if your runner is on the “2” or “12” track. It goes without saying that it is much easier to advance your runner on the 7 track than the 2 given probabilities. However, if you select the easy path they have farther to go. Once your runner claims a particular number, no one else can go down that track. 3 completed tracks, will win you the game.

Why it works: It’s easy to understand and fast to play. The press your luck aspect is great. Everyone always wants that one more advancement, willing to risk it all! If you roll your dice, and you can’t advance any of your runners – you lose your turn, as well as all the temporary progress you may have made. You decide when you want to pass the dice to the next player. Only when you voluntarily stop, can you lock in your progress. It can lead to some very exciting finishes as each player advances towards their goals. On your initial roll of 4 dice, you can pick which two dice combo you want. Do you go for easier to achieve numbers with the longer track – or do you go for the shorter track – but harder to roll numbers? Or after some very good rolls, you may find yourself one or two spots from closing out a number. You’ll have to decide – should I roll one or two more times trying to capture it? – or settle for the progress you’ve made?

Forbidden Island

What it is: Forbidden Island is a cooperative game in which you and your teammates are simultaneously trying to collect 4 different treasures while keeping your island afloat. The game object states you are just trying to get the treasures and yourself off the island. But it really is a battle to keep the island in one piece. While this can be played with a handful of players, I like it as a two player challenge. With a limited amount of available actions, players need to work together to try and accomplish their shared goals. There are variable rolls players can assume. Each roll has a specific talent that will aid their attempts to secure the treasure and leave the island.

Why it works: As a cooperative game, this provides a chance to work together to share a common goal. The “burden” of winning isn’t laid upon one person. It is very easy to ask questions in a co-op game because after all, you are working together. Tension builds after each island card sinks a portion of the island, as the endgame draws near. The tension builds cooperation, and when you work together to get that shared victory it is so very rewarding.

Santorini

What it is: Santorini is considered an “abstract” game. It generally means all the information is on the table visible to all, and there is no randomness/luck. Think of Chess, Checkers or GO. No hidden cards or random dice rolls. In Santorini the object of the game (most of the time) is to elevate your token to level three of a player constructed tower. With only two tokens to move over a small grid, your “pawns” will jockey for position to build towers. When you ascend to the third level of a tower, it doesn’t matter who started the tower, only who ends up on top of it. While that sounds like a fairly simple tasks, it requires a bit of planning, forward thinking, and to be fair, very little luck at all. It feels like a bit like 3D checkers, minus most of the pieces.

Why it works: I’ll come right out an say it – this game may not work well for all tweens, because it does require a bit of critical thinking and forethought. Those used to faster-paced games may not enjoy it. It is not my oldest son’s favorite game. Conversely, those that like to think things through, will enjoy this a bunch. It really stretches the brain. While the basic game is quite challenging, the designers added a way to increase the variety of play. The added Greek gods to the game. The “god” cards add a great wrinkle to the game as well. Each player can select a Greek god that will grant them a special power they can use. It creates a bit of asymmetry in the game as well ramping up the replay value of Santorini.

Board Games for Tweens with More Than Two-Players

 

Incan Gold

What it is like: Much like Can’t Stop, Incan Gold is a press your luck style game. Best played with a small crowd, tension grows as each treasure or hazard card is revealed. After each card is revealed players decide if they should continue to explore for more treasure or keep their gains. Further exploration could yield more treasure, split among few players – or it could mean running into hazards and losing the gains you’ve made. It is literally a “should I stay or should I go” type decision. Played over a series of 5 rounds of varying length, players need to accumulate wealth quickly to win this fast game.

Why it works: It works because it could be the most highly engaging game I’ve ever played. Every turn and every card matters. Even the actions of the other players matter. If your opponents leave the temple, that could have a direct impact on what you do on the current and following rounds. The rules are incredibly easy to understand and there is very little setup. It’s a perfect game to play over the holidays when the family and extended family is around the table. It’s a game you can get everyone to play.

Solo

What it is like: Let’s not pull in punches here – Solo is a clone of the wildly popular game UNO. To the point that Solo isn’t even shy about that fact. If you’ve played UNO (and who hasn’t) you and your tween will be able to pick up and play Solo no problem. There are a few cool changes that give it just enough wrinkles to distinguish it from UNO. One of my favorites is that you can rotate all the hands to the player next to you. Although trading my whole hand with someone else is pretty cool too. One particularly unique feature is that if you play any card, and another player has the exact same card, they can immediately play that card out of position.

Why it works: Solo is a very fast-paced that will keep all players on the edge of their seats. What makes the game really work is the ability to play cards out of turn. It forces all players to pay close attention, looking for the opportunity to play key cards out of their hand. One other feature is you can “extend” the Draw 2’s and Draw 4’s card down the line by playing another Draw 2 or Draw 4. Now the next player must draw the cumulative total! Perhaps 4,6, or 8 or more. Consider you play a Draw 4, and then the player seated before you play out of turn a Draw 4 out of turn – forcing you to Draw 8! The laughs and oohs and ahhs are endless and great fun.

Smash Up

What it is: Smash Up is a card-driven game. Players take two differently themed factions, represented by a deck of cards, and combine them to create one deck. Each faction is tailored in such a way that they end up having their own strengths and weaknesses. Each round players will play cards in an attempt to gain control and “break” specific bases for points. The cards that attach to the bases are your minions. It could be a dinosaur, an alien, or a zombie. It just depends on what faction you happen to choose. The more people that pile onto a base, the greater chance that it will break. The person with the most minion power on the broken base, generally gets the most points. Then second and third place points are awarded.

Why it works: The game is great because of the way the two decks entangle. Having a deck of zombie-dinosaurs go to task with ninja-aliens is just a lot of fun. Getting a group together is even more fun as the competition for base dominance escalates. There are a ton of expansions that you can find as well to further increase the crazy combinations. TO be honest, since there is a bit of reading to do on each card it may seem to drag on a bit. That quickly fades once you get the hang of it. It is well worth the effort to learn it

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Not Parent Approved

What is is:  Not Parent Approved is the rated “G”  version of Cards Against Humanity.  Each round there will be a “topic/subject”  revealed.  The goal of the game is to use a card out of your hand to best match the topic/subject.  It is a re-skined game of Apples to Apples much like Cards Against Humanity was.

Why it works:  This game wants a crowd!  Per Boardgame Geek “This game was created to provide an attention-grabbing, easy-to learn and hilarious alternative to screen time for children and their families.”  This game is simply about generating laughs – not scoring points.  Yes you could keep a running score but the score seems to take a back seat to just creating a funny card combinations.  It maintains the level of humor, without the crass and tasteless nature of Cards Against Humanity.  

King of Tokyo

What it is: A great dice rolling game pitting monsters against each other in a last man standing battle. Using a set of custom dice, players will attempt to generate attack power, energy (a form of currency), or point combinations. Using your accumulated energy, you can also “customize” your selected monster by equipping them with special power-ups. Using your attack power, players will attempt to wear down the other monsters on the board. It is a battle royale, with the last person standing as the winner. This game is a bit like Godzilla playing Yahtzee with King Kong. Both without the pleasantries.

Why it works: The theme really shines here. It is a fun “king of the hill” type battle that is easily relatable to. The gameplay is quick to pick up and there is very little downtime between turns. While I won’t say this plays like a video game – I do think with the “leveling up” of you monster that the cards provide, and the quick pace of turns – it is very close. While the game could be played as a two player game, it seems to shine more with 4 or 5 players. I wouldn’t go higher, just to keep the downtime to a minimum.

Conclusion:

Just because your tween has other interests, don’t write of board games quite yet.  These game represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to board games for tweens.  They are definitely out there and you are sure to find one that will meet your tweens’ interests.