Test your brainpower on National Board Game Day

Today is National Board Game Day, a day where everyone can celebrate the enjoyment of coming together with friends and family to play a fun and exciting board game.

Board games have existed for thousands of years, with the oldest example being Senet – a board game played by the ancient Egyptians since at least 3500BC!

Here at Kumon, we love to play board games that get us thinking, so here are a few of our favourites that are fun for the whole family:

Catan
A classic starting point for people who want to try new board games, Catan has the players creating a settlement on a newly discovered island and trading resources to build cities and roads. You'll need to make value judgements about the resources you have and the resources you need - it takes canny bargaining skills to gather enough resources to make the longest road.

Carcassonne
This fun game of tile-laying has players compete to finish castles, rivers and roads in the famous Carcassonne region in France. Each turn, you'll take a tile out of the bag and choose where on the board to place it, making sure that all the sides match up. Players will have to put their maths hats on to figure out which moves will score them the most points, and decide if they want to risk going for bigger, more valuable castles that they may not be able to finish by the time the game ends!

Azul
You'll have great fun playing this gorgeous game about making the most beautiful stained glass window, and it encourages players to practice planning ahead. You'll need to take the pieces that you need to finish your pattern, while being sure to not leave too many behind that you drop them and lose points. Take the time to think what you'll want to do in the next two or three turns, and you'll do well in Azul!

These are just three board games that we think are easy to get started with but there are many other games out there that will help you practice different skills. Give them a try for yourself!