I have plenty of fond memories of "family game night" as I grew up. Monopoly, Pay Day, Life, Chutes and Ladders, and a variety of other fun games lived in the credenza next to the television. We didn't have tons of video games "way back when" and so we made our fun with those physical games. I also enjoyed playing solo games like Simon. Imagine the thrill when I found the Simon app for my Droid! (Yes, I am also an Angry Birds addict, but having old favorites like Battleship on my phone makes me smile.)
My kids are primarily on the computer these days, but I still try to get them to play some traditional board games, or at least "traditional" in the sense that they don't involve electricity or an internet connection. I've already talked about Animal Mastermind Towers, and another game my boys love to play against each other is Star Wars Trouble. More recently, the highly portable game Bop It has taken center stage.
My youngest son got Bop It for his birthday some time ago, but it wasn't until recently that he became addicted. He and his older brother have played the group version of the game, but he prefers the solo version, where his current high-score is 70.
Essentially, Bop It yells out a command ("twist it", "pull it", "bop it", "shout it") and the user must do it immediately without breaking focus. My youngest has gone over 50-60 in a row several times, with the aforementioned best of 70. (My older son isn't nearly as good at this point.) In the group game, each person must complete a series of tasks before the game instructs the person to pass it. (Or, if the person with the game makes a mistake, the game yells "You're out!" and the next person is up automatically.) Last person standing wins!
What I love about Bop It is that it is quite physical. In fact, my son loves to dance around as he does the various twisting, bopping, or pulling. For "shout it" he gives an enthusiastic yelp.
I would definitely recommend Bop It as a fun game to have around the house or even in the car: it doesn't take up too much space, but has the potential to entertain in big ways. (And yeah, we like the R2-D2 Trouble game, too, which is why I pictured it here.)
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Disclaimer: My son received Bop It as a birthday present. I chose to post about it because he really loves the game. The links to the various games above go to Amazon and contain an affiliate code, so should you purchase anything from Amazon, I'll get a few cents.
