Gwen Ottenberg doesn’t wait for a holiday to talk about the benefits of board games.
“Games are a great gift all the time because it gives you a chance to get together with people,” says Ottenberg, owner of Imagine That Toys in Wichita. “To speak with people, and to use all those skills that we don’t use in front of a computer.”
Ottenberg loves discovering new board games — especially ones that are easy for young children but interesting and fun enough for adults to enjoy.
Bigfoot vs. Yeti Splat Attack (ages 6 and up, $24.99) — Line up your cryptids — Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) on one side, Yetis on the other — and use plastic catapults to launch rubbery mud or snow patties to the other side of the board. The player who knocks down all of his opponents’ characters first wins the game.
Genius Square (ages 6 and up, $24.99) — This one- or two-player game requires you to place an entire set of Tetris-style shapes onto a 6-by-6 grid, avoiding blockers on some of the squares. It teaches graphing, spatial skills and other mathematical concepts as you race to the finish.
IQ Gears (ages 7 and up, $19.99) — Players can work alone or with friends to fit pieces onto the board and then twist the gears to check their solution. If the pieces connect and the wheels on each side of the game board spin together, you’ve mastered that challenge. The game includes 120 challenges from easy to expert, and a hard plastic board that snaps closed for easy travel.
Reverso (ages 6 and up, $7.99) — This is a brain teaser and fidget toy in one. Start by fitting the green piece anywhere, and then fit the rest of the pieces onto either side of the grid. The puzzle is solved when both sides of the board are either filled by pins or covered by puzzle pieces. The silicone pieces are fun to maneuver, and the puzzle encourages logic, problem solving, critical thinking and concentration.
Sixem (ages 10 and up, $22.99) — In this high-intensity dice game of strategy and sabotage, players race to line up their Xs by rolling the perfect combination of numbers and colors. But it’s not just about luck — it’s also about smart moves and keeping an eye on your opponent’s board. Every roll can turn the tables. It takes just a few minutes to learn and 15 to 20 minutes to play.
Word Snap (ages 8 and up, $27.99) — Spell words horizontally, vertically or diagonally with any of the 100 octagonal, soft-snap letter pieces to create a crossword-style grid. Two “wild card” tiles add an extra challenge by multiplying points on those words. Great for fans of Scrabble or Bananagrams.
Uno Show ’Em No Mercy (ages 7 and up, $12.99) — You may know Uno, but you’ve never seen it quite like this. The “No Mercy” version includes 56 more cards, special rules and some brutal new action cards including “Wild Draw 6,” “Wild Draw 10” and “Skip Everyone.” A new stacking rule lets players pass a penalty to the next player, and any player with 25 or more cards in their hand is out of the game.
Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @SuzPerezICT.
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