Audience: Ages 7+
Recommended by Lili: "Carcassonne is a 2-5 player tile-placement game. Collaboratively build a medieval French landscape, scoring points by placing "meeples" on roads, cities, monasteries and flower patches. Can be quite a quick game if just 2 people, or longer with 5, but just as fun either way! Haven't even touched Catan since we got Carcassonne."
Audience: Ages 10+
Recommended by Julia: "I love the Cascadia board game. It is strategic, with where you place the animals in their groups and also how you arrange them in their habitats. It is fun and competitive and has awesome pictures of wildlife and scenery!"
Audience: Ages 6+ (different theme versions available ranging from Animals to Harry Potter)
Recommended by Lili: "Also always enjoy Spot It! (also known as Dobble) - a game I am fiendishly good at (until I get tongue tied) - it is truly amazing how often you can be convinced that there is absolutely no matching image on the card in your hand... fast-paced observational style for 2-8 players where the goal is to find the single matching symbol between two cards. The deck consists of 55 cards, each featuring eight symbols, with any two cards always sharing exactly one matching symbol. Based on a maths puzzle, believe it or not!"
Audience: Ages 8+
Recommended by Lizzy: "It's like snap but chaotic and crazy fun. It always gets everyone laughing and is perfect for an after dinner table game with kids. It's a spin off from Exploding Kittens - also a family favourite."
Audience: Ages 8+
Recommended by Lyndsey: "It has a separate box of questions for adults and one for kids, so all of the family can be involved. Perfect for camping trips or family games night."
Ages: 14+
Recommended by Julia: "I love playing Wingspan and Wyrmspan. Great art work. Lots of strategy-thinking needed. It takes a while to get the concept, there is loads to think about and so many ways to gain points. They are both long games don't expect to finish quickly! Needs a whole night, start early! I recommend learning how to play first and it is 14+ so is quite complex."
