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Boardgame Beast reviews the Best Children’s Board Games tells it how it is! Don’t buy another child board game without checking our opinion first, and spend your money wisely.

Top 10 Kids’ Board Games

Looking for childrens’ board games? Have a flock of kids terrorizing your household? Board game intervention can save plenty of torn-out hair and turn a whiny, rainy day into a fun-filled experience.

To make it easy for you, here’s the top 10 board games for children. In no particular order, because different occasions call for different games. Kid’s party games will be very different choices from board games for children to play with their parents or siblings on a regular day, for example.

1: Guess Who?

The simple game of deduction that all kids enjoy, Guess Who? board game sees your children narrow down the identity of the mystery person based on questions they ask their opponent. A good choice of two-player games, there is also an advanced electronic version called Guess Who? Extra.

2: Game of Life

As well as making it into our list of 10 Best Family Board Games, the Game of Life board game appears on this list of kids’ board games too. It’s simple enough for children aged around 8yrs old to play, yet still fun for people aged up to about 12 or 13, and there’s plenty of replay value.

Teaches lots of good life lessons, such as higher education’s impact on careers. There are plenty of variations available, including famous TV and movie editions, and versions designed to appeal to girls.

3: Kerplunk

One of those games (like Hungry Hungry Hippos) that makes adults say, “Games aren’t made as well as they used to be”, with some justifcation. The Kerplunk game is not as solid as the 1970s vintage board games version, but still, it’s hard to make this basic game so badly that it won’t function. Pull out the sticks without disturbing the marbles. Simple, noisy fun.

4: Trouble

The Pop-o-Matic game that has never aged, Trouble board game is as much fun as you remember it being, and just as likely to cause fights when people are bad losers (or bad winners). A good game for teaching kids to avoid bad sportsmanship, and even if you overlook the important social skills development, it’s still essentially a fun child’s board game.

5: Sorry!

Another in the same vein as Trouble, only without the Pop-o-Matic dome, Sorry! board game can also cause fights. It’s a bit more invovled, with the card-drawing mechanic, and hopefully no-one will lose a life-long friendship over its little colored pawns.

6: Scrabble Junior

If your kids are word game fans, or voracious readers, then Scrabble Jr. will be the perfect game to get them interested in expanding their vocabulary. A simplified version of the adult Scrabble games you have played a thousand times, your kids will love the artwork and gameplay challenge.

7: Mouse Trap

You may fondly remember this game. The Mousetrap game is another of those games that was better built in the 1970s, so get a 40-year-old version if you can find one. It’s all about the contraption, so be prepared for the kids to simply want to set the thing up, activate the trap a couple of times, and play something else.

8: Abandon Ship

Race your rats off a sinking ship using dice! That’s Abandon Ship board game in a nutshell, and it’s a good one. The rats are cute wooden meeple types, the rules are simple, and you can play with up to seven people. Fun!

9: CLUE Junior

Just as Scrabble players of the future can cut their young teeth on Scrabble Jr., CLUE players get to train on CLUE Jr. There are different versions of this young player’s detective game, so you can test them with one and then introduce others.

10: Kids of Catan

The best-selling Settlers of Catan, for kids! If you thought all children’s board games were like Candyland, then this will be a real wake-up call, and have you questioning why it takes European game designers to make good board games for children.

Have we missed a crucial parenting tool here? Don’t see your favorite child’s board game on our list? Send us board game reviews and see YOUR opinion on the site!

If you have yet to try board games for children, consider purchasing one or more of these kids’ board games for your family.

You’ll wonder what you did with them before.

More Board Games for Children

Loads more choices are below!

Other Kids’ Board Games



For more fun games for your children, check out this dice games for kids guide.