Board Games with "D&D feel" for kids

[Nytmare]

Another vote for Mice and Mystics, and maybe, just maybe a vote for the Pathfinder Card Game (depending on the reading skills of your youngest).

I personally have found the Pathfinder Card Game to be the only "you're not really playing an RPG" game that I've played more than twice. We're maybe a dozen or so adventures in and I haven't lost any interest, or wished that I was just playing an RPG instead.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

So far only my wife and I have played, as the boys received too many cool new video games to pull them away...

Heh. I have the same problem. Each time I ask if my girls want to play they politely decline so they can play with their horde of other toys instead.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Heh. I have the same problem. Each time I ask if my girls want to play they politely decline so they can play with their horde of other toys instead.

Our 9-year-old finally played yesterday. He enjoyed himself, but declined a second chapter. He said he would play again though. And he had the base rules fully grasped before we left the first tile.

 

[Jhaelen]

Another vote for Mice and Mystics, and maybe, just maybe a vote for the Pathfinder Card Game (depending on the reading skills of your youngest).

I personally have found the Pathfinder Card Game to be the only "you're not really playing an RPG" game that I've played more than twice. We're maybe a dozen or so adventures in and I haven't lost any interest, or wished that I was just playing an RPG instead.

Allow me to cast a dissenting vote. I wouldn't go so far to say that I hate the Pathfinder Card Game, but it's simply a very bad game. I got bored of the mechanics after my second game and only continued playing in the vague hope it would get better at some point. Well, it didn't. It's extremely repetitive requiring very little decision making. Its only merit is the (very slow, completely luck-based) 'advancement' of characters. There's zero sense of 'adventure' or 'story' while playing. You're just flipping cards to determine which dice you have to roll to make a test.

The D&D Adventure System games may not have been a revelation for gamers but at least it requires a modicum of tactical play. Positioning is important, as is making the most of your resources (powers, items).

Now is either game suitable for kids? I suspect that the PCG has an advantage here due to its simplicity, but I know I'd rather introduce my kids to DnDAS. It also offer more eye-candy: dungeon tiles and minis. Both games use rather a lot of text, so that's a minus.

Simply running a free-style RPG based on a few simple rules would probably be preferable to either.

 

[Nytmare]

Allow me to cast a dissenting vote. I wouldn't go so far to say that I hate the Pathfinder Card Game, but it's simply a very bad game. I got bored of the mechanics after my second game and only continued playing in the vague hope it would get better at some point. Well, it didn't. It's extremely repetitive requiring very little decision making. Its only merit is the (very slow, completely luck-based) 'advancement' of characters. There's zero sense of 'adventure' or 'story' while playing. You're just flipping cards to determine which dice you have to roll to make a test.

Huh, from my group's point of view, we've all been sort of shocked at how well the game manages to keep tricking us into parsing a bunch of randomized story bits as an actual story. It might have all just been dumb luck up until this point, but we've enjoyed how the "right" NPCs, monsters, and story elements keep popping up at the right time and in the right places.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

If anybody wants a cheap version of Fantasy Forest, Atomic Comics in Hampton VA has a $20 copy. It is dust covered and some of the plastic covering the miniatures looks ripped and yellowed. The box looks like it has never been opened and nearly 3 decades old, so I am sure the stuff inside is in good condition. Just blow off the dust and away you go...

 

[UselessTriviaMan]

It's no board game, but I've had a huge pile of success with the pseudo-wargame Fuzzy Heroes. You use your kids' stuffed animals as combatants in a cute, simple war game of Fuzzy Heroes vs. The Naughty Eye King and his Renegade Boy Toys (action figures). If you've already got a bunch of these lying around your house, you're practically already there. Buy-in is cheap for the book or .pdf and the rule system is wonderfully simple.

My 5-year-old picked up on the rules really easily, and loved it. I've run it twice at local conventions, and people keep asking when I'm going to run it again (I really should take care of that.)

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Didn't realize that was still around. I knew the creator of Fuzzy Heroes through our shared flgs in the 80s.

 

[Phoenix8008]

It may not be enough D&D 'flavor' for you, but my family has enjoyed many games of D&D Clue over the years. Probably out of print and I'm not sure how expensive it might be to find, but it's a fun D&D flavored version of Clue with some random monster combat (resolved by a single die roll). Nice and easy for youngsters to learn also.

Looks like it can still be bought on Amazon.com for either $27 or $43 depending on which version you get.

 

[Fuge]

Definitely check this one out: http://www.adventuremaximus.com/ My kids love this game; card driven low level RPG system. You can find copies on Ebay.