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Explore our list of Games for Kids at Barnes & Noble®. Get your order fast and stress free with free curbside pickup.
Explore our list of Games for Kids at Barnes & Noble®. Get your order fast and stress free with free curbside pickup.
At Barnes & Noble, we carry classics like Uno, Monopoly, Candy Land, Pictionary, and Dominoes, to the best new games for kids like Sushi Go!, Happy Little Dinosaurs, Go Pop! Roundo, and Pusheen card game.
- Overview
- How we picked the best board games for kids
- The best board games for kids in 2024
- Meet our experts
- Why trust NBC Select?
A good board game can be a fun way to get the family together and encourage kids to take a break from phone, television and video game screens. A great board game inspires by encouraging strategy, teamwork and interactivity.
In recent years, several standout tabletop games launched for kids between ages 3 and 12 (see our list of the best board games for adults here). While classics like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders are top contenders for beginners and early gamers, there are plenty of kids board games to explore outside of the typical ones you’ll find crammed on the family room’s shelf.
To save you time browsing through the endless sea of board games online, we’ve compiled a few of the best, based on expert recommendations, high ratings and our past coverage.
SKIP AHEAD The best board games for kids
•Best award-winning game
Cascadia
We consulted experts from the board game review site BoardGameGeek for their recommendations. When shopping for a kids board game, they recommend keeping in mind the following factors:
•Age: Most game manufacturers will list the recommended age for each board game on the packaging. This might go without saying, but look for a game that’s appropriate for your child’s age group — it’ll likely make the game more fun since they’ll be able to grasp the rules and strategies quicker, according to our experts.
•Playtime: There’s no set playtime for specific age groups. However, consider that a child’s attention span is relatively short, so you’re better off looking for a game with a quick turnaround of 30 minutes or less.
•Awards: Our experts recommend looking at key certifications, like American Tabletop Awards or Spiel des Jahres winners (the gaming world’s top awards).
Spot It!
Spot It! $3.99 $9.99 $3.99 $7.99 Spot It! is an absolute hit among the children Select photo editor Vivian Le babysits. The card game has players use their observational skills and quick wits to see which card has a symbol that matches another on the table. The first one to spot it, wins. “I also introduced this to my parents and boyfriend’s parents and everyone is hooked,” says Le. “It’s an all ages game.” Ages: 6 and up | Players: 2-8 | Playtime: 15 minutes
A Game of Cat & Mouth
A Game of Cat & Mouth $15.99 $19.99 $19.82 $23.24 This game is like playing Ping-Pong, but on a regular table, according to W. Eric Martin, news editor of BoardGameGeek. Players must use a magnetic “cat’s paw” to flick a yellow ball through the cat’s mouth to the opponent’s side of the board. Players win the round when they get rid of all the balls on the board. “Each round lasts less than a minute, but your excitement level goes through the roof as you try to get rid of those last few balls,” Martin says. Ages: 7 and up | Players: 2 | Playtime: 10 minutes
Sushi Go!
Sushi Go! $11.99 $13.67 Martin also recommends this fast-moving card game, where players get a hand of cards and keep one and pass another to their neighbor in an attempt to collect the right combination of sushi dishes to score points. “You can take a card that will be worth a lot of points for another player — but be prepared for them to do the same thing to you,” says Martin. Ages: 8 and up | Players: 2-5 | Playtime: 15 minutes
At Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
•Eric Yurko is an American Table Top Awards committee member.
•W. Eric Martin, news editor of BoardGameGeek
•Lincoln Damerst, the director of media at BoardGameGeek.
•Michael Barnes is a senior board game reviews editor at There Will Be Games.
•Brian Mayer is a school library administrator and game designer.
Mili Godio is an editor at Select who has covered a variety of children’s wellness topics, including sunscreen, bikes and rolling backpacks. For this piece, Godio interviewed five board game experts to get their recommendations for the best games for kids, as well as Select staff favorites.
Catch up on Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.
Oct 10, 2022 · Here are the Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2022: Babel by R.F. Kuang – A dark academia standalone that dives into the power of language and the evils of imperialism, student revolutions and a legacy of violence.
Jun 5, 2023 · Connecting readers with their next favorite book is core to the very fabric of Barnes & Noble. The Best Books of 2023 joins the bookseller’s immensely successful promotions of new books, including already this year their Discover Debut Authors program and the Children’s & YA Book of the Year awards.
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Let Barnes & Noble make shopping for kids easy. With kid’s reading games, coloring games, educational games, card games, board games, and even travel games, find the perfect game for anyone. Whether you’re shopping for your own child or a gift for someone else, board games make a great gift.
