There have been a few requests for an article on some games that require little reading, but are still fun for adults to play as well. It's always hard to find that balance, especially since parents and relatives want to find games through which they can begin forming a common ground of interest with their kids, nieces, nephews, and so on. Today, I want to talk about a few specific games as well as game companies that do tremendous work to bridge that gap. The games I want to point out are Concept Kids: Animals, Tell Tale, Spot It! Jr. Animals, Rhino Hero, and Gobblet Gobblers. All of these games are not reading-heavy and are still really fun for adults, who might be struggling to remain interested in the games their 4 to 6-year-olds enjoy.
Tell Tale
Tell Tale is an extremely flexible card game from Blue Orange Games for ages 6+ that provides instructions for 4 different ways to play, though you can always make up your own version of play, as I have done in the past. The small tin comes with 60 double-sided cards, each with two separate illustrations, and you use these cards to tell stories, come up with debate points, make up get-to-know-you questions, and more, depending on which version of the game you're playing. None of the cards have instructions or extraneous text, and the game allows for a range of 3-8 players, so that it is perfect for families with younger kids or get-togethers where younger kids want to participate in something with older siblings or parents. It does require some speech skills, but nothing too technical. I've even played versions of it as simple as each player drawing a card and starting or continuing a story until we've run through the deck, which I still found really enjoyable even as a grown up.
Spot It! Jr. Animals
Spot It! Jr. Animals is another great game from Blue Orange Games that is fairly simple but still enjoyable for grown-ups. It is a game about visual recognition of matching things and can be played by ages 4+, as I thought that there may be those with even younger kids looking to share the fun of gaming. The main gist is that you flip over one card, look at it, then flip over a second and try to find the matching animal between two cards as quickly as possible. There are again several ways to play this game, and instructions for these different rules set-ups come with the game. Visual perception games are always a good intersection between younger and older demographics, as they require a skill that is altered dramatically once people become adults, so the challenge balances a little more. Kids find clever ways to compensate for the difference in skill level of visual perception and games like these help their brains to do that.
Concept Kids: Animals
Concept Kids: Animals is a fun, cooperative game from Repos Production that both kids ages 4+ and adults can enjoy and appreciate. The game revolves around 2-12 players working together to help the adult in their game or whomever is the designated guesser to figure out what animal each player is trying to indicate with their clue. The designated guesser will draw one card and show it to the rest of the players without looking at it, and then each other player takes a turn on the clue board, using orange plastic squares to mark different clues, such as color, behavior, characteristics, diet, and etc. It is a great game for helping kids learn animals and how to describe things in a fun, creative way. I love this game and think it's a super fun way to entertain both adults and kids alike.
Rhino Hero
Gobblet Gobblers
These games are all great additions to any kids games collection or family games collection. If you would like to look at even more options, however, I recommend looking into our selection of Blue Orange and Haba games on our e-shop. Both of these companies make really solid kid and family friendly games that often require little, if any, reading comprehension (with exceptions, of course), and can be a great source for reaching gamers both young and grown.
https://store.labyrinthgameshop.com/