There’s more to games than meets the eye…
Gathering around the table for a board game is a highlight for many of us at Christmas. But, these times spent connecting are more than just great fun, says ITV This Morning’s Dr Zoe Williams.
“Looking back, we would all sit around the TV to watch the big movie at Christmastime, but times have changed. With so many ways that members of the family are accessing media, things have become more disconnected,” said Dr Zoe. “Games are more than ever a great way to bring generations together, and if the big day can sometimes bring some family tensions, they’re also a great way to break the ice and keep positive energy flowing.”
Time spent playing games can bring many other benefits too, from reducing screen time to de-stressing and keeping brains active. Here, Dr Zoe Williams shares more of the benefits of games:
– The benefits of switching off from day-to-day stresses are well known. Games that bring your focus to the here-and-now offer an informal mindfulness practice that will encourage a sense of well-being.
– ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ is a popular saying for good reason. Getting together with a group of friends or family and giggling your way through a game offers health benefits long after the game is over.
– The sense of achievement that comes from completing a game, not necessarily winning (!) gives that little dopamine boost that will lift your mood and confidence.
– Human connection is so important in this digital age. In an age where life is led so often behind a screen, playing a game face-to-face around a table offers that all-important human connection.
– The various gameplay mechanics in games may improve memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness and so many other skills – for players of all ages.
After all that, if you’re in the mood to take to the table? Here are some our top picks…
Monopoly Classic – Great for everyone!
Quite probably the best board game ever!… A huge family favourite.
There have been many incarnations of this classic board game, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Back to the Future, to name a few, but for us, the classic is still the best.
Build a property empire with the iconic Monopoly board game.
Your fortunes could change with the roll of the dice as you move around the board developing properties, paying rent, drawing Chance cards and passing Go. Will you bankrupt your opponents, go to jail, or lose it all?
Monopoly Classic sees players collecting property colour sets to start their empire. When you own all the properties in a colour group, you can start to build houses. The more you build, the higher the rent players who land on your property have to pay. Once a player has 4 houses on each property of a group, they can start building hotels to rake in even higher rents.
But other players are building their own empires and if you cant pay their rent, you could lose it all.
The Monopoly Classic game now features an updated line up of tokens, with the Rubber Ducky, T-Rex and Penguin now starring alongside old favourites like the Dog and Top Hat.
Suitable for 2-6 players, aged 8yrs+. £14.99RRP.
Trivial Pursuit – Great for getting the friends round & cracking open a bottle of wine:
The Classic Edition of this Trivial Pursuit Game is the same gameplay you know and love, only with a 1980’s retro appearance! Featuring classic gameplay and gameboard, this game contains 2,400 questions in 6 categories: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art and Literature, Science and Nature, and Sports and Leisure.
2,400 trivia questions from traditional game categories.
Suitable for adults, 2-6players. £30RRP.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Night of Frights! Game – Great for the adults:
Packaged in a thematic pizza box with a window to display the figures.
You’re the stars of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! Play as one of the terrifying animatronic characters and use your unique power to gain the upper hand. Creep through the restaurant gathering items. Make yourself scarier and get to the security office.
Compete to collect pizza and cake, use your unique abilities and out- scare the other animatronic. Suspenseful push-your-luck gameplay keeps everyone guessing until one player captures the guard & wins!
Suitable for adults, 2-4players.
£19.99RRP.
LOGO Board Game Second Edition – Great for family & friends:
How much do you know about the brands you love? The Logo board game challenges players to answer questions in 3 categories: picture, pot luck and common theme.
Answer questions about iconic logos to leap around the board. The playing team answers 4 colour coded questions. With each right answer, the team moves to the next board space in that colour. The first team to answer correctly in the centre zone wins!
This second edition is an all-new version of the Logo board game, with a whole new set of cards.
Suitable for 2 to 6 players, aged 12yrs+.
£16.99RRP
Mycelia – Great game for family fun:
This beautifully illustrated game offers an introduction to deckbuilding play and younger players will love the interactivity of the forest shrine. Clear your game card of the sparkling dewdrops to win the game. Winner of Best Family Game in the UK Games Expo awards and the Imagination Gaming Awards, this game will have you absorbed in magical fun whether you play solo or with others. Suitable for players from age 9 to adult. £27.99RRP
Guess Who? – Fun, Fun, Fun:
The Guess Who? game is a classic tabletop guessing game for kids.
Choose the red board or the blue, and pick a mystery Guess Who? character. Players take turns asking yes or no questions to try and name their opponent’s mystery character. Do they have a beard? Brown eyes? What about a hat?
Close the doors as you rule out characters. Once you think you know who’s on your opponent’s card, make your guess. But beware – if the guess is wrong, you lose the game!
Players can use the scorekeepers to challenge opponents to a series of games in which the first player to win 5 games is the Guess Who? game champion. Please note that styles may vary.
Suitable for 6yrs+. £11.99RRP.
Oh My Pigeons! – Great Game for giggles:
Flock around the table for birdbrained antics in this fun party game. Be the first to fill your park bench with pigeons to win. Play your cards carefully and you might steal birds from your opponents – but watch out, they might get to ‘flick the poo’ to knock pigeons off your bench too! 2 – 5 players age 8 to adult. £18.99RRP
Operation Classic – Great for all ages:
You’ll need a steady hand to in the classic Operation game. Take turns operating on Cavity Sam a patient with some very silly ailments.
Can you remove the ailments without setting off the buzzer? Use the tweezers to lift the frog from Sams throat and the butterflies from his stomach. Steer clear of the sides or Sams nose will light up and you’ll have to pass your tweezers to the next player.
The Classic Operation board game features 12 ailments for you to remove: a pulled muscle, Adam’s apple and even a broken heart. The game is over once all of the ailments have been removed and the player with the most ailments wins!
For 1 or more players. £19.99RRP
Garden Heist – Great Game for Kids:
Racoon versus gardener in this tabletop translation of hide and seek. The box transforms into a house with curtained window. One player will be the gardener while the other players take on the part of raccoons. While the gardener is not looking, the raccoons must make their way up the garden to trash bin paradise, hiding behind obstacles as they go. Who will be victorious? 2 – 4 players age 6+. £24.99RRP
Disney Lorcana Gateway – Great game for all those Disney fans:
Designed as the perfect introduction to the bestselling Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game, players can assemble their favourite Disney characters and race to earn magical story stars! In this fun fantasy game, you use magical ink to summon characters and gather story lore to win! The Lorcana Gateway set contains everything you and a friend need to start playing the immersive trading card game, including a game board, 2 starting decks, 4 additional card packs and gameplay accessories! With a guidebook, rulebook and quick tips inside, you can start playing right out of the box: no experience needed! 2 players age 8 to adult. £22.99RRP
Entertainment Swindon 
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