Unlike some of its contemporaries Machi Koro keeps gameplay and decision-making simple, with players looking to complete landmarks and buildings by rolling dice and spending money. On each player’s turn they’ll choose to roll either one or two dice with the aim to score a total that matches the number attached to one of their buildings, which will then activate that building’s effect and benefit its owner. However, players will have to be cautious about how many dice they choose, as any numbers rolled also apply to their competitors’ buildings as well. As player cities grow to include more and more buildings the risk of rolling an opponent’s number becomes greater.

Cobra Paw is a super simple, silly fun game. As such, there’s not a lot of depth to it and that’s perfectly okay. Not every game needs to be a heavy brain burner. What irritates me is when a game pretends to be something heavy and turns out to be pure fluff. Cobra Paw is exactly what it advertises itself to be. There’s no pretense here. Bunny Kingdom boasts a proud lineage, as it was created by none other than Magic: The Gathering Creator Richard Garfield. Don't worry though, this isn't anywhere near as complex as his magnum opus, and certainly not as expensive.Navigate the twisting jungle in the remake of the classic adventure game Dare you enter... the Temple of Vul-Kar?! Cobra Paw is a very simple game to play. Each tile has two symbols on it corresponding to the symbols printed on the two dice. When the dice are rolled, two symbols will be shown and the players will attempt to be the first to place their fingertip onto the tile that matches the symbols. The person that manages to do this first collects the tile and places it on the table in front of them. Note, it is possible to steal tiles from other people, so it’s up to each player to defend what they’ve already collected! Escape from Atlantis hits that perfect blend of desperation and strategy, working to get hold of a lifeboat while evading the threats around you. But there's not enough boats to go around. You can try swimming - anything's possible, I guess - but your chances are far better if you can find some sort of vehicle, so players will be battling for the few boats available, adding another layer of strategy. It's a solid set of mechanics that leads to good-length games that never stop being boring. Slide Quest also requires a surprising amount of communication between players, with everyone needing to occasionally stop what they’re doing and discuss who needs to do what next. All this collaboration makes for a very effective family bonding exercise and could do a lot to bring everyone together - if only for an hour or so. With its three-minute time limit and the bizarre ruleset, Magic Maze is a fast-paced and chaotically fun experience that’s incredibly easy for everyone to get their heads round.

Remove one to five planks from the pool. When the dice roll one of these patterns, the first player to shout “Cobra Paw!” gets to take a stone from the pool. The Cobra Paw tournament derives from an ancient stone-snatching game called Clawfuku, believed to have been invented by a mysterious rogue known as Phee Lion. Phee Lion’s paws were so fast that when he snatched a stone, a terrible wind would rise up wreaking havoc and turmoil to all who stood in his way. He abused this power to take control of the land. Fear and hatred spread far and wide. It was a sad time. The great thing about Perudo is that players can bid as high as they like, with the player who bids the highest only winning if there are that number of dice values on the table, meaning someone will inevitably aim too high and come crashing down to much hilarity. Considering how easy it is to find a copy of Perudo - or even just make one yourself if you have enough dice and a bunch of cups - every household should really have one. However, there is a limited number of tiles available and the game ends once a player has successfully created their grid, so everyone is going to have to be on the ball if they want to collect the most points possible. This is what makes Kingdomino a great family board game, as it involves a lot of player interaction and the desired amount of conversation to make for a really fun time for everyone involved.

Code of Conduct

Sure, the aesthetics of Potion Explosion might seem a little less than original, as players take the role of students in the "Horribilorum Witchcraft Academy for Witches and Spiritual Wizards" (no, really), but it's a great game nonetheless. It's all about mixing and matching ingredients to make potions to help pass the exam, with the coveted Apprentice of the Year award up for grabs to the best player overall. Potions you make could be submitted for the test, but you could always use their effects to try and give you an edge to make something even better. Magic Maze sees players looting a fantasy convenience store for the essential adventurer’s tools they need for upcoming quests - not exactly the kind of moral lesson you want to be teaching kids but it’s in the name of fun so there’s nothing really wrong with it.

While only one player rolls the dice each turn, all of the 2-6 players are constantly involved trying to find the matching tile. The game is a fairly level playing field in terms of demographics, this is more a test of speed and reactions so most people have a chance. Although if your opponent is particularly ninja-like in this field you may not get a go! The components are few, but they are absolutely lovely. The dominos are delightfully weighty and engraved with abstract symbols that match a pair of equally chunky dice that clunk along the table with a gleeful heft. Once the dice stop, everyone tries to snatch the matching domino – helped by the addition of a dimple in the middle of each piece. A rather unconventional co-op board game for one to eight players, Magic Maze requires its participants to work together whilst avoiding being too loose with information, as everyone is only allowed to communicate for very short periods of time whilst playing. Each player has access to a single unique action whether that be moving in a certain direction, accessing a new area or using a particular square, but you aren’t limited to controlling a single character. This means that players are welcome to apply their individual action to any number of heroes - however, they’ll still need to be careful to collaborate as every character has a favorite shop to visit, and all heists need to be executed simultaneously if our heroes want to get out before the store guards take notice. Colour us interested then. It might not be a tactically-rich game, so to speak, but it's well-paced and enjoyable. Nothing eats up a Sunday afternoon as effectively and enjoyably as Colourbrain, even if it makes you question the hue of everything you ever saw.What could be more family-friendly than the fantastical adventures of the famous boy wizard? There are a lot of terrible licensed Harry Potter board games (*cough* the Harry Potter Miniatures Adventure Game *cough*) so you have to be careful about cynical cash-grabs, but Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle is one of the best movie board games. This co-op board game for two to four players has you assuming the roles of classic characters from the film series including Hermoine Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley and, of course, Harry Potter himself as they attempt to gain an education whilst thwarting the schemes of the evil wizard Voldemort. It's amazing how easy it is not to think about these things, but Colourbrain tests you on what you know, and it's the great leveller between friends and family of all ages. Not only that, but you can have up to twenty players in a single match, which means reunions of any size can be accounted for. A restoration of the original game created in the 80s, Fireball Island is a rip-roaring exploration game designed to evoke adventure stories like Indiana Jones, with players escaping traps and scooping up treasure from jungle temples. A tile-based strategy game in which players have to avoid getting chomped by sealife Just keep swimming.