Board Games

Race up and down the board collecting dinosaur eggs but if you land on a dinosaur print and the dinosaur is awake, you have to go back to the start.  If he's asleep, relax, you get to keep the eggs.

A game for 2-4 players.

Age suitability: 4+ years

Orchard Toys is a Norfolk-based company designing and making their games in-house. They have been going for years and have a reputation for producing good, honest games which are both fun and educational.  All the games are fully tested by teachers and of course by children so they are totally safe and dependable.

Most of the games are aimed at the 3-6 year olds.  To an adult the games will inevitably seem somewhat simplistic but they really know that age group so I never have any hesitation about recommending them.  Obviously children develop at different rates so some children may not be able to follow the instructions at first but that doesn't seem to matter as they enjoy playing with the colourful cards.  As the child develops, it isn't long before they fully appreciate the game and they benefit from the educational aspects whilst enjoying themselves.

Ticket to Ride features in so many people's top 10 lists of board games and is often recommended to people new to the board game scene.  It is a stategy game in which you compete to connect cities by claiming train routes before your competitors can.

It comes in various formats.  The original one is based on North America.  This, the European one, has routes all over the continent from Edinburgh to Ankara which, unlike the original version, involves tunnels and ferries. 

2-5 players

Age suitability: 8 (bright 8) to adult

Here's an excellent video from 'Watch It Played' on Youtube:

Scrabble is one of those games that has been around for ages.  You either love it or you don't.

We sell it in this the standard version, the travel one, or a retro version.

2 - 4 players

Age suitability: 10 - Adult

This is one of my son's favourite games, not least because he always beats me.

Always voted as being in the top ten family board games, Cluedo is a bit of a classic. Millionaire Samuel Black has been murdered.  One of his disfunctional guests did it so who was it, how did they do it and where?  As you move round the house and ask questions of your competitors, can you pice together the truth?  Was it Mrs Peacock, the Rev. Green or the new character, the mysterious Dr Orchid and what weapon did they use and where?

2-6 players

Age suitability: 8+

Here is an American video showing how to play (it's called Clue over there):

 

Colourful wooden board with four wooden counters and a dice.

28 cm across

Age suitability: 3 years +

BJ788

Here's a board game with a difference.  There's no board.  Instead the players create their own planet, by sticking desert, mountain, ice, water or forest tiles on a magnetic dodecahedron, an ingenious feature of the game.  You do this in a way that creates the most suitable habitats for animals.  So for example penguins would need a large area of ice next to water whereas an arctic wolf would need ice but not water.  Each game lasts about half an hour.

2-4 players

Age suitability: 8+

Here's an excellent review from Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower on Youtube:

and a video from the game designers:

Scrabble is one of those games that has been around for ages.  You either love it or you don't.

We sell it in this, the bonanza version,  or in a junior version.

2 - 4 players

Age suitability: 10 - Adult

 Play the centuries-old strategy game on this wooden board.

Comes with 48 colourful acrylic 'stones'.

Two-player game for people of almost all ages (not suitable for the under 3 year-olds - small bits - choking hazard).

34007

Introduce the delights of Scrabble to younger children.

For children starting to spell, one side of the board has pictures and clues for children to guess words that are already on the board (for example f--h paired with a picture of a fish).

On the other side of the board, older children can play a more conventional game of Scrabble, making up their own words but with bigger tiles and simpler scoring.

Contains : Double-sided board, 84 word tiles, 30 counters for scoring, and instructions.

2 - 4 players.

Age suitability: 6+

Here is a video from youtube with a very American voiceover:

Wooden board marked with the numbers 1 to 90.

90 wooden number discs.

48 cards

28 cm across

Age suitability: 3 years +

BJ788