Can anyone recommend me some boardgames, suited to an 8 year and their dad (i.e. me).

Ive had in mind Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne and Formula De, but Id like recommendations that are ideally still in print (no Dune or Down with the King etc...) and have a good set of rules which can be made more advanced either through optional rules or online websites giving out updates.

Ideally it also needs "bits" - kids love things they can hold, so cards, chits etc... will go down well...

Links and reviews most helpful - or is there a Youtube channel you can recommend please...

Ta

One of my favourite two player games is "Mr Jack".
http://www.amazon.co.uk/5511789-Mr-Jack/dp/B0002HYPG6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_h_b_cs_1
One player takes the role of a detective, the other is Jack the Ripper (but it's not bloodthirsty, no grizzly murders or anything so you can play it with a kid). Jack has to escape before dawn; the investigator has to try to find him. The game comes with a colourful playing board, cards and wooden playing pieces. You can also buy expansions but I don't have any of those.
The rules are easy to learn (4 pages) but offer a lot of possibilities. After the first few games, a game lasts normally less than an hour so you can take turns playing Jack.
Winner of the International Gamers Award 2007
More on boardgamegeek:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21763/mr-jack

Matt Leacock's Forbidden Island is popular with my 8 year old nephew. He also likes Carcassonne and is starting to get into Dominion.

I'd definitely recommend Carcassonne, but just the base set.   The base set is sufficiently easy to get into but still can develop a lot of strategy.  Once you feel you've played that out then start adding in the expansions.

Settlers of Catan is another good game, but not for 2 players.  However for a family event it can be a blast as all the trading can get very cut throat.  However for an 8 year old that portion of the game could be a little much.  There are other variations of Catan that may be better suited but I haven't played them so I can't comment.

I'd suggest Formula D over De.  It's updated has an expanded rules set and is in print.  My 3yr old daughter loves it.  We don't play by the real rules we right now just use 6 sided dice with pips on it so she can count.  But she's having a blast.

Another good family game is Tusuro.  It's a tile/path game.  You place tiles on a grid.  Each tile has paths on it and you move your piece according to the path.  Each turn that path extends.  The object is to be the last person on the board.   The way you get taken out is if your path pushes you off the board or into another player.  It's fast paced with each game usually taking about 10 minutes per player (2 - 8 players).

Ticket To Ride is a fun very family friendly game that I think an 8 year old may be able to grasp.  Certainly if she can understand the set collecting aspects of Catan she can handle Ticket To Ride.  You collect sets of coloured train cards to collect and match to routes.  The object being to create long routes.  If you don't play cut throat it can be a very friendly, yet still competitive game that won't be soul crushing for an 8 year old.  Of the various one's.  Ticket to Ride Europe is probably the best.  The routes are better balanced and it adds in Stations which can also help prevent route cannibalism.

Forbidden Island or Pandemic may also be a good fit.  They are co-op games which means you can help out other players without creating that feeling of playing their hand for them (though that can be a problem if you don't keep it in check).

Don't play War on Terror (by terrorbull games). Even though it's a spoof/satire it's a mess.

Ticket to Ride and Forbidden Island are both very good recommendations. My nine year old daughter also likes Bohnanza, Guillotine and Saboteur. Roll Through The Ages is worth checking out too.

Last but not least, visit //www.boardgamegeek.com. It's a geat (great!) site, and will let you search for suitable games to your heart's content.

Posted previously in the "Any Boardgamers?," thread by me:

Right now, we're getting surprising mileage out of the Lego "Minotaurus," (yes, that is how it is spelled) boardgame which plays much like my old, beloved "Survive!"

The neatest thing 'bout the Lego game is that they say, in the rules, to feel free to modify the game as you wish once you get tired of playing it the way that is set up initially. Pretty smart of them to promote that type of thinking in the kids.

Having said that, I did have to kind of reign the boy in when he showed me his "Kill the Wampa on the Teleport Level," add-on.

To add: by having lots of Legos lying about, adding to the game for us isn't difficult but I know that's not everyone's frame of reference either.

Quote from: kryyst;435781*snip*
Another good family game is Tusuro.  It's a tile/path game.  You place tiles on a grid.  Each tile has paths on it and you move your piece according to the path.  Each turn that path extends.  The object is to be the last person on the board.   The way you get taken out is if your path pushes you off the board or into another player.  It's fast paced with each game usually taking about 10 minutes per player (2 - 8 players).
*snip*

this...
game is very cool.

Memoir '44 is a pretty cool wargame, should be simple enough for a 8 year old to play. It has cool tanks and soldiers to play with, you can easily play in under an hour, neat dice...currently have it set up by my computer, playing while doing goofy things with the computer that don't require my full attention.

Not that I'd recommend it for an 8 year old, maybe a 12 year old.  But I just played two games of Merchants and Marauders and that game is all kinds of awesome.  With no undue amount of hyperbole that could very well be one of the best games I've played.  At least while it's got that new game feel to it.  That opinion was shared by everyone else as well.  It generated about a half hour discussion after the game and the day after emails were passed around about playing it again and rules and strategies we goofed up the first time through.  Just awesome.

Quote from: Danger;435907Posted previously in the "Any Boardgamers?," thread by me:
 
Right now, we're getting surprising mileage out of the Lego "Minotaurus," (yes, that is how it is spelled) boardgame which plays much like my old, beloved "Survive!"
 
The neatest thing 'bout the Lego game is that they say, in the rules, to feel free to modify the game as you wish once you get tired of playing it the way that is set up initially. Pretty smart of them to promote that type of thinking in the kids.
 
Having said that, I did have to kind of reign the boy in when he showed me his "Kill the Wampa on the Teleport Level," add-on.
 
To add: by having lots of Legos lying about, adding to the game for us isn't difficult but I know that's not everyone's frame of reference either.

We've a fair few of these LEGO boardgames in the UK, so I'll definitely hunt them down.

Quote from: Lawbag;435755Can anyone recommend me some boardgames, suited to an 8 year and their dad (i.e. me).

Ive had in mind Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne and Formula De, but Id like recommendations that are ideally still in print (no Dune or Down with the King etc...) and have a good set of rules which can be made more advanced either through optional rules or online websites giving out updates.

Ideally it also needs "bits" - kids love things they can hold, so cards, chits etc... will go down well...

Starship Catan is the best 2-player game I've ever played.  It may be a bit much for an 8 year old as the recommended age is 12 (bgg.com recommends 10+) but if he's played Settlers, Starship isn't that far off.  It also has 3 free "expansions" that you can download from their website.  Terrific game with loads of replay value!

Lost Cities is also excellent.  It's a simple card game (no bits or chits) with no expansions but my wife and I have gotten tons of mileage out of it.

Defenders of the Realm is much more complex than any of the other games I mentioned but I imagine it could be played by an 8-year old from what I understand.  It's a game very similar to Pandemic in that each turn another element of opposition is brought in to play.  There are multiple ways to lose (the land is overrun by minions, the castle is taken by an enemy general, the land becomes tainted beyond repair, etc.) but only one way to win which is to defeat all 4 enemy generals: the demon, dragon, undead and orc.  Each player controls a hero character with unique stats and abilities.  Players go around the board doing things such as fighting minions, healing the land, investigating rumors and completing quests.  There are tons of bits and there is already one expansion out.

I'll also second the recommendations of Tsuro, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic  &  Carcassonne.  Terrific games!

LORD OF THE RINGS
Its got cool fiddly bits, beautiful artwork, great replay value and its cooperative and scalable 2 to 5 players and the Sauron track allows you to set difficulty so you can develop mastery over time.  

ABALONE
It's sumo wrestling using big cold black & white marbles on a hexagon board.  Its got great tactile feel and an 8 year old will grasp the rules in a minute.  The goal is to line up your marbles to "push" your opponent's marbles off the board.  Extremely tactical, very thought provoking and fun.  

Ticket to Ride and Dominion are also very good choices.   Also, Yugioh and Pokemon are good card games for pre-teens and you can get huge lots of used commons off eBay for cheap.

A great boardgame I have is Tales of the Arabian Nights. It had a recent reprinting and they made significant improvements to gameplay.

Players travel around the board having different adventures accumulating Destiny Points and Story Points. Upon reaching your taget number of points you can head back to Baghdad to claim the sultan status and win the game.

The game handles the adventures as keyed events from a giant 'book of tales' included with the game. There's some element of choose your own adventure, but talents that the player possesses (selected at the beginning of the game or won during quests) will effect the outcome.

The artwork is very good and very evocative of the genre.

Playing games with 8-year-olds can be pretty tough; it really depends on their level of development and, of course, interest and competitiveness. Ideally you don't want to be doing everything for them in terms of both rules and strategy, but you also don't want to be bored as you beat them trivially game after game, or engage in repetitive die-rolling exercises.

Playing with my wife's nieces and nephews recently, I had moderate luck with Twixt, an old 3M/Avalon Hill game that you can find easily on eBay. (EDIT: may be available new from some European companies.) The rules themselves are very simple. The only real complication I found was that the kids had trouble understanding that the only legal "connection" is a "knight's move"; they kept trying to connect pegs that were exactly two squares away in a straight (too short) or 45º diagonal (too long) direction. Over time, they caught on. Some of them even began to get a grasp of strategy, but others basically just enjoyed the visual/tactile quality of the game and the opportunity for structured interaction. If they keep with it, though, they'll find that it's a pretty interesting, subtle game.

If you have trouble locating a copy, Hex might be a good alternative, but I haven't played it myself.

For something more concrete, I could suggest Football Strategy. Like Twixt, OOP but easily obtainable, and...oh, you're British, aren't you? I guess I should just stop here...but on the remote chance you and your kid understand and enjoy American Football, I'll just say that it has simple rules but excellent player interaction, as each "play" consists of trying to outguess your opponent while also taking into account the overall situation in the game--where you are on points, what your field position is, the down & yards to go, etc. I know, all pops & static.

Well, you could try Quebec: 1759, it's even still in print. The simplest of Columbia's block games, it has a bluffing element that should appeal to children who enjoy trying to outwit dear old Dad.