I need to buy a game for a 13yo boy I don't know - maybe a tabletop game?

mare_imbrium · December 2011

Hey, I have become put into the position where I have to buy a small gift for a 13-year-old boy whom I've only met once. I don't want to spend a ton of money ($20ish, is probably good). But I was thinking, maybe I could get him an interesting tabletop game. Unfortunately I've never gotten terribly into this part of gaming so I don't know what kind of game would fall into that price range, would appeal to a kid that age, and wouldn't be something he'd have to amass a lot of extra pieces and parts for (so a CCG is out). I have Munchkin, but I doubt he plays PnP RPGs so maybe he wouldn't get the playstyle and the jokes.

Does anyone have a game they like to play that is relatively simple in rules and set-up, that maybe a kid could play with his friends that would take not too long to play (maybe an hour or two tops) but that is fun and would be interesting to a 13-year-old?

Thanks.

edited to add: if I can't think of something he's getting MS points.

AaronKI · December 2011

http://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island/dp/B003D7F4YY

I haven't played it myself but I've heard that Forbidden Island is great for kids, and it's one of the few tabletop games you'll find for under $20. As an added bonus (since we're a few days away from Christmas), you can find it at just about every bookstore like Barnes & Noble.

Edit: Oh, and Zombie Dice is a nice casual/party game with rules that can be explained in under a minute. It usually goes for about $13. It's a blast to play, but there's not a whole lot of thinking involved.

mare_imbrium · December 2011

I will look into that one, thanks. We do have zombie dice, but my kids only ever want to play it sporadically in favor of playing Munchkin (my kids are nearly 6 and 8 and they freakin LOVE Munchkin, which has made me kind of tired of the game) so I worried that it might be TOO simple.

Also, if it's obscure it's not too big a deal, we have a couple of good game/hobby stores nearby.

radroadkill · December 2011

This is more of a card game but Zombie Fluxx (or any of the Fluxx games) is tons of hilarious fun that pretty much anyone will love and find amusing.

see317 · December 2011

Have you looked into the Lego tabletop games? I mean, it's Lego which is always good and a simplified tabletop game that can be expanded with whatever existing Lego collection he's already got.
Seems they've got a lot that are in the 15-25 dollar range.

Alternatively if that's too simplified maybe Scrappers or Infernal Contraption card games from Privateer Press?
http://store.privateerpress.com/bodgergames.aspx

AaronKI · December 2011

Munchkin was my gateway into tabletop gaming and is still one of my favorites. If you don't mind dropping a little bit more cash on the gift, knowledge of PnP RPGs probably isn't required to enjoy the humor. Especially if you grab one of the non-Fantasy sets.

Deebaser · December 2011

S107 remote control helicopter.

They're up on amazon for like ~$25

Burtletoy · December 2011

Everything I've heard about Bang! would make it a good recommendation for this instance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang!

mare_imbrium · December 2011

I appreciate all the good ideas. Actually some of these games look like stuff maybe I'd like to buy to play with my kids too. I bet they'd love that Zombie Fluxx game.

As far as lego games, actually my older boy (8) wants Heroica and you've reminded me I need to research why the heck there are three different sized boxes at the store that all have that name. I will look at those too for this other present.

AaronKI wrote:

Munchkin was my gateway into tabletop gaming and is still one of my favorites. If you don't mind dropping a little bit more cash on the gift, knowledge of PnP RPGs probably isn't required to enjoy the humor. Especially if you grab one of the non-Fantasy sets.

I guess that's true. Sometimes we do have to explain things to my kids specifically because they've never played any rpgs but they still love the game. Of course they also love raiding our D&D bookshelf (mostly to look at the monster manuals) and they want us to run a game for them (they are both good with numbers but we've been kind of stalling until the little one is better at reading). And I didn't think about the other kinds of Munchkin.

Usagi · December 2011

How about Zombie Dice?

see317 · December 2011

mare_imbrium wrote:

I appreciate all the good ideas. Actually some of these games look like stuff maybe I'd like to buy to play with my kids too. I bet they'd love that Zombie Fluxx game.
As far as lego games, actually my older boy (8) wants Heroica and you've reminded me I need to research why the heck there are three different sized boxes at the store that all have that name. I will look at those too for this other present.

There are four different sets. From what I've seen, Heroica is a set theme (Like Harry Potter, or Technic or Space etc...) where there are several sets of different sizes that all share the same general design principles. In this case, board games featuring microfigures themed around a medieval fantasy setting.

mare_imbrium · December 2011

I ended up getting two copies of Zombie Fluxx, one for my kids and one for this boy (Amazon Prime means they'll still come in time for Christmas). I also picked up a game called Loot that I thought my kids would like for around the same price (I saw it come up in recommendations a couple of times while shopping). I think I will go to the game store later and look into some of these other games - particularly because that game Infernal Contraption doesn't seem to be available online anywhere, only the expansion. We'll see.

hamdingers · December 2011

AaronKI wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island/dp/B003D7F4YY

I haven't played it myself but I've heard that Forbidden Island is great for kids, and it's one of the few tabletop games you'll find for under $20. As an added bonus (since we're a few days away from Christmas), you can find it at just about every bookstore like Barnes & Noble.

Edit: Oh, and Zombie Dice is a nice casual/party game with rules that can be explained in under a minute. It usually goes for about $13. It's a blast to play, but there's not a whole lot of thinking involved.

I'll second Forbidden Island - lots of fun.