Essential Games Library – Under 10

3 great games for under 10s

Game Name: Bohnanza
Picture:
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher: Amigo / Rio Grande (English language edition)
Players: 2-7
Playing time: 45 minutes
Suitable for: Families (ages 8 and up); adults
You’ll love it because: In Bohnanza you are a farmer growing different types of bean, from the green bean through to the ever-popular cocoa bean. The beans are represented on cards which you must plant in rows in front of you or else trade with other players. The player who best manages their trading and harvesting of beans will earn a bohnanza!
Game Name: Hey! That’s My Fish!
Picture:
Designer: Alvydas Jakeliunas & Günter Cornett
Publisher: Bambus / Phalanx / Mayfair (English language edition)
Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20 minutes
Suitable for: Families (ages 8 and up); adults
You’ll love it because: You’re a cute little family of penguins… but you are in ferocious competition with those other penguin families to get the most fish! The game board is made of cardboard tiles that each show some fish. On your turn, one of your penguins waddles to a new tile and then dives through the ice to catch the fish. You keep the tile to show the fish you’ve caught, but unfortunately this leaves hole in the ice shelf. Eventually the holes all join up and each penguin is stranded on its own iceberg gloating over its haul of fish!
Game Name: Blink
Picture:
Designer: Reinhard Staupe
Publisher: Adlung / Out of the Box (English language edition)
Players: 2 or 3
Playing time: 5 minutes
Suitable for: Ages 8 and up (but we have played it with younger children)
You’ll love it because: This a game of frenzied card play. If you love Spit, or Racing Patience, this game is for you. You split the deck of cards and then try to be the first one to get rid of all your cards. You can play a card onto one of the two piles in the middle if it matches the top card on any of three attributes – colour, number or shape. Hugely fun and very fast, you won’t be able to stop at just one round.