Games Your Teens and Tweens Will Play With You

In our blended family, the kids often wanted to go their separate ways, having relatively little interaction with their parents/step-parents. Board games were the exception. They all liked Settlers of Catan so much that they were willing to play it with parents. Other games that are great for age 10 to age 100 include Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Stone Age, and Dominion. The rules for these games are pretty simple, but the variations on what can happen in a game are great. We must have played Settlers of Catan hundreds of times. Although the games involve competition, none of them are war games.

This is on my mind right now because I am at a games convention in Charlottesville, where some 11- to 14-year-old kids are winning tournaments while competing with adults. We're all having lots of fun.

Kids grow up and move away surprisingly quickly. I am glad we got to play with our kids a lot while they were still living at home.

Bonus: Grandparents can also join the fun!