How to enjoy these COVID-19 Holidays? Fun Board Games with your Bubble!

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Are you wondering how to enjoy these COVID-19 Holidays? Why not create memories and hours of laughter with fun board games for your whole bubble family!  Spending some quality family time is curial and has a profound positive impact on all family members. It allows them to foster communication, helps build their self-confidence, and most importantly, gives them the chance to bond with each other. I have watched my blended family create quality time by playing Board-Games suitable to the whole family for a long time now.  

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to stay home more, they took advantage of discovering new board games they could all enjoy. They also make for perfect holiday gift ideas. Check here to find a retailer or an online store near you! Make it quick if you want them to arrive for the Holidays.

The four boys were quite excited with the arrival of these three popular board games from Asmodee: Wavelength, Got a Hint, and Carcassonne. They spent the weekend testing and reviewing all of them while I watched or sat under the table. Here are their thoughts:

Wavelength

Wavelength is a social guessing game. Two teams compete to read the psychic member’s mind. The goal of the game is to read your team member’s minds. The closer to the targeted hidden bullseye within a spectrum, the more points you score. This spectrum is always located between opposing criteria.

The Best part is that it only takes less than a minute to set up, and you are ready to play. This is great for kids. You can play with as few as two players; you can also play with as many people as you like.

First, each member takes a turn being the Psychic for their team.  Secondly, the psychic knows where the target is on a rotation dial and gives a clue on a spectrum, to his team, between two opposing concepts (ex: small or large). After that, their teammate has to guess where the target is. The game itself is not as complicated as it sounds. Nicholas is only 11 years old and was able to understand the concept after a few rounds. They found the concept very original and creative. Finally, the team to score 10 points first wins. There is some excellent youtube video explaining how to play.

The complicated part is finding the right clue so your teammates can read your mind and score points, which was more difficult for Nicholas, 11 years old. The boys are recommending it for teenagers and adults.  

Friday night, Benjamin, Jacob and Xavier played against my Mom, Cecile, My dad, Frank and Nicholas, the youngest. My Mom’s team won!

Get a Hint

• Players count: 4 to 12+
• Time to set up: 5 min
• Time to play: 40-50 mins
• Age: 14+

• +Easy to understand the rules
• +Plays with as many players as you like
• +Guaranteed to bring a lot of laughter
• +Easy to set-up
• –Some Cards categories were more challenging for kids ex: (HUM: Songs from Hamilton)
• –Total play time might be higher than the Time to play mentioned above. (We played for over 90 Mins)

What they loved:

Get a Hint was their second choice. Two of the boys had already heard about this game, and they had an idea it might take a much longer time to play. Get a Hint made my blended family laugh all night. Check out the video below of my dad!

The goal of this board game is to make your teammates guess as many answers as possible before the timer runs out. There are 6 of them per card, but one is forbidden (more on that later). You do this by either talking, drawing, miming, or humming. BUT be careful that your team does not say the forbidden word! When you do, you lose points.

It’s great if you are a good singer, but my Mom is horrible at singing. (My poor sensitive dog ears) Benjamin was a pro at miming, and his team won a great number of points that way.  Xavier was good at drawing. They played for almost an hour and Benjamin, Xavier and Jacob won by far!

Some cards were more challenging for the boys since it was not general knowledge (ex: Humming Songs from the 60s). Although it was exciting, not to say the least, to watch them trying.

Carcassonne

• Players count: 2 to 5
• Time to set up: 10 mins
• Time to play: 30-40 mins
• Age: 7+

• +Highly addictive game
• +Game expansions available
• +Easy to set-up
• +Great Board-game duration for kids
• –Maximum player is 5

What they love:

Since it was late when my blended family finished playing the first two board games Friday night, and it was way past Nicholas’ bedtime, they decided to wait until the following night to play Carcassonne. Xavier and my dad had already played this game in the past, and they loved it.

Carcassonne is a strategic tile-laying game where your goal is to build cities, monasteries, roads, and fields to score points. (This is the simplified rules version.) It took a long time for my dad to read and teach them the rules. But it was worth the wait! They loved it so much that they played two games that night. No wonder more than a million copies are sold worldwide. Every game is unique because the medieval landscape changes every time.

Nicholas was not with us to play after supper Saturday, but I am sure he will love it too. Although my blended family of 6 cannot play all together since the maximum number of players is 5, this is one game that the four boys will enjoy playing together.

The most exciting part, you can add game extensions to bring the game to the next level. I am sure they will want to buy these extensions kits soon. With expanded rules and multiple extension packs available for the game, there is undoubtedly a lot of variety of play with this game.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, they enjoyed all these popular board games from the Asmodee game. These fun board games will bring joy to all your bubble family during this COVID-19 Holiday. For more board game ideas, check out these other games selected by the boys. Let us know which one you liked the best. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Follow us for more activities and adventures throughout our ongoing journey as a blended family.