Gift guide: Screen-free games for 10-15 year olds
Park those pixels, stow those screens…
It’s the season for quality face-to-face time with friends and family – and there’s nothing like a good game to bring people together.
Buying for slightly older kids is tricky, however. They won’t thank you for anything too wholesome and worthy; attention-spans can be minuscule, and a game has to be spot-on to compete with the phone’s dreaded lure.
So here are four suggestions that won't be looked down upon - shedloads of fun, and not a screen in sight!
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>> Face It!
The silly game for the Insta generation – without an Insta in sight! This is the game that asks the simple question: ‘can your team guess the face that you’re pulling?’ It’s seriously funny amongst a group of giggling teens or on a family game night (even more so if you can get grandma involved). Face It is incredibly good-natured, and nobody is excluded - it comes with two sets of expression cards: one for older kids/adults and a simpler set for the younger ones.
>> Puff Ball
Great for those competitive under 12's, Puff Ball is completely different to any game you know! Imagine a construction set, crossed with one of those marble run puzzles, crossed with a physical challenge. Create your own individual tracks, then use the power of your own puff to guide the ball through obstacle to obstacle. Challenge your friends! Challenge dad! Four different-sized sets are available, from stocking-filler upwards.
>> Rapidough
Rapidough’s a bit of a national institution but no apologies for including it here – it’s the perfect game for teens who can’t be bothered with trivia, who don’t want long periods of waiting between turns, and who want to wee themselves laughing at their sister’s frantic attempt to create a hedgehog against the clock. Model and guess as quick as you can; sabotage your rivals by pinching their dough… Rapidough is the original dough-modelling guessing game!
>> Articulate/Articulate for Kids
And talking of national institutions… a regular feature in ‘best board game’ lists for years, what can we say about the fast-talking description game that hasn’t been said already? Oh yes! There’s a kids’ version (guide age 6-12 years) that can be played standalone or seamlessly integrated with the classic game. So youngsters can play with older siblings, and all can play with mum and dad. The original ‘Articulate’ is great for teens – and often finds itself spirited away from the family home when it’s time to up sticks to college.
