Board Games By Age: Win a Bunch of the Best Board Games for Australian Families

Skip the screens. It’s time for board games. If you’re searching for the best board games for Australian families that actually get everyone off their devices and around the table, you’ve come to the right place. No phones, no tablets, no Netflix in the background. Just your family, laughing at something ridiculous, arguing over who gets to go first, and actually talking to each other.

Why your family actually needs a board game night

Board games aren’t just about entertainment (though they’re great at that). They’re one of the smartest investments you can make in your family’s actual wellbeing.

1. Screen-free time that doesn’t feel like punishment. Kids resist when you tell them to put the devices away. They don’t resist when there’s a game on the table. It’s entertainment they can’t get anywhere else, and everyone’s playing together.
2. They keep little brains busy. Depending on the game, kids are practising memory, counting, problem-solving, planning, and decision-making without realising they’re learning anything. It just feels like fun.
3. They’re cheap long-term entertainment. Buy one good game and you’ll play it 50 times. That’s better value than a trip to the cinema or a takeaway pizza.
4. They teach kids how to handle losing. Nobody enjoys losing. Board games give kids a safe place to practise handling disappointment, cheering for the winner, and trying again without flipping the table. (Though let’s be honest, sometimes they want to.)
5. They create the memories you actually remember. Years from now, you won’t recall every score. You’ll remember the ridiculous arguments, the terrible strategies, the inside jokes, and the time Dad somehow lost despite having an impossible advantage.
6. A good board game can earn its keep quickly. They can be pulled out again and again, keep everyone entertained and give the whole family a reason to sit down together.

Skip the screens. It’s time for board games, and we’ve got them in spades!

Thanks to our friends at Asmodee Australia, we’ve rounded up some of the best board games for Australian families, covering kids from 4 years right through to tweens, teens and adults too!. Clear the kitchen table, choose your teams and prepare for the inevitable debate over who gets to go first. We’ve got three game bundles up for grabs, just in time for Christmas and the holidays, so don’t forget to fill out the form below!

But first, let’s check out each of the games in detail, and why they made it on our list of the Best Board Games for Australian families!

10 of the Best Board Games for Australian Families

Board Games for 4-6 years – Little Legends

Go Bum Card Game

AGES: 4 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 6
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 10+ minutes
RRP: $10
WHERE TO BUY: Kmart

Ten dollars. That’s it. That’s all it costs to get a 4-year-old absolutely losing their mind with laughter at the kitchen table. Go Bum is the card game that proves you don’t need to spend a fortune to get the whole family playing together, and it was created right here in Australia by a father-and-son duo who clearly understood the assignment.

The premise is simple: collect matching character cards before anyone else does. But the characters are what make it. We’re talking Pirate Bum, Disco Bum, and the highly coveted Golden Bum that every kid at the table is desperately hunting for. The name alone will have little ones giggling before the first card is dealt. Optional action cards throw in extra chaos: dancing, acting silly, swapping cards mid-game. Every round feels fresh and unpredictable.

What parents will love is how quickly kids pick this up. No long explanations, no confused faces, no one asking “wait, what am I supposed to do again?” Little ones are in the game within minutes, building memory and matching skills without realising they’re learning anything. And because rounds move fast, nobody loses interest before it’s over. A rainy afternoon lifesaver, and one of the best value buys on this entire list.

Spot It! Classic Card Game

AGES: 6 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS:  2 – 8
AVERAGE GAME TIME:  5 – 15 minutes
RRP:  $17
WHERE TO BUY: Big W

Don’t let the small tin fool you. Spot It! is the card game that turns a quiet family evening into a surprisingly intense competition, and it happens so fast you won’t see it coming. The concept is brilliantly simple: every pair of cards in the deck shares exactly one matching symbol. Find it faster than everyone else, score the point. That’s the whole game.

Sounds easy, right? It isn’t. When you’re racing against six other people who are all scanning the same cards, your brain starts doing something it hasn’t done since school: genuinely focusing. Kids who struggle to sit still suddenly can’t look away from the cards, because the moment they lose concentration is the moment someone else yells “I saw it first!” and steals the point.

The beauty of Spot It! is that it genuinely works across ages without anyone needing a handicap or a head start. A six-year-old has a real shot at beating a teenager, and that levels the playing field in a way that keeps everyone invested. It sneaks in sharp observation and quick-thinking skills while the family is too busy competing to notice. Comes in a handy tin that travels everywhere. Car trips, beach holidays, waiting rooms. This one earns its spot in the bag every time.

Magical Athlete

AGES: 6 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 6
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 30 minutes
RRP: $39
WHERE TO BUY: Target

Picture a race day. Now throw out everything normal about it and replace it with a banana, a rubber duck, a baby, and thirty-three other completely unhinged competitors all battling for the finish line. That’s Magical Athlete, and it’s exactly as brilliant as it sounds.

Players pick their team of racers, roll the dice, and trigger special powers that send the whole race into gloriously unpredictable chaos. The superhero might get knocked back three spaces. The pirate might teleport forward. The potato, somehow, inexplicably, takes the lead. The “how is this even happening” moments are what make this game genuinely funny for everyone at the table, not just the kids. Parents find themselves laughing just as hard, which is rare and worth noting.

What makes Magical Athlete stand out is that it’s accessible without being boring. Six-year-olds can jump straight in without a complicated rules explanation, but the unpredictability and special abilities keep older kids entertained too. There’s no eye-rolling “this is a baby game” energy because the chaos is universal. Every game tells a completely different story depending on which racers end up in the mix. If your family wants something that gets loud, gets funny, and gets everyone around the table without any convincing, this is the one.

Board Games for 7-8 years – Big Kid Fun

LEGO Brick Like This!  

AGES: 7 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 8
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 15 minutes
RRP: $25
WHERE TO BUY: Kmart

Someone at LEGO looked at their bricks and thought, “What if we made these even more chaotic?” and the result is this absolute gem of a party game. LEGO Brick Like This! takes everything kids already love about building and adds the one ingredient that makes it hilarious: having to describe what you’re making without being able to show anyone.

Teams race to recreate LEGO models as fast as possible. The builder constructs. The clue-giver describes. And somewhere between “it’s like a house but with a thing on top” and “NO, the OTHER blue piece,” the whole table dissolves into laughter. The gap between what one teammate means and what the other builds is where all the magic happens, and it never gets old because every pair communicates differently and catastrophically.

With 92 models to build and 20 challenge cards throwing extra curveballs into each round, no two games ever play out the same way. That’s what keeps this one coming off the shelf instead of gathering dust. It’s a genuine workout for communication skills and quick thinking, wrapped up in something that feels like pure fun. At fifteen minutes per game, it’s snappy enough for a school night and entertaining enough to play three rounds back to back. For families with LEGO fans, this is a no-brainer addition to the cupboard.

Carcassonne  

AGES: 7 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 5
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 30 – 45 minutes
RRP: $64.99
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon

This is the game that quietly turns your kids into strategic thinkers without them realising it’s happening. Carcassonne looks beautiful on the table, plays intuitively from the first turn, and somehow gets better every single time you play it. Players take turns drawing tiles and building a medieval landscape together: cities, roads, fields, and monasteries spreading across the table as the game progresses.

The brilliance is in the meeples, those little wooden player pieces you place to claim features and score points. Every placement is a small decision with real consequences. Do you commit your meeple to a half-finished city that could score big, or does an opponent block it before it’s complete? Do you sneak a farmer into someone else’s field and quietly steal points at the end? There’s genuine strategy here, but it never feels overwhelming because the rules are simple enough for a seven-year-old to grasp within minutes.

What keeps Carcassonne coming back to the table is that no two games ever create the same map. The landscape grows differently every time, which means the strategy shifts, the opportunities change, and players who got beaten last time have a completely fresh chance. Kids who love puzzles absolutely adore this one. At 30-45 minutes it sits in the sweet spot of long enough to feel satisfying, short enough to fit into a weeknight. A genuine family classic that earns every dollar of its price tag.

Exploding Kittens Card Game

AGES: 7 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 -5
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 15+ minutes
RRP: $39.95
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon

If you’ve never watched a nine-year-old dramatically gasp, slam a card on the table, and yell “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT,” you clearly haven’t played Exploding Kittens yet. This is the card game that turns a quiet evening into pure, wonderful mayhem, and it does it in about 15 minutes flat.

The rules are brutally simple. Draw a card. Don’t draw the exploding kitten, or you’re eliminated. Use the cards in your hand to skip draws, peek at the deck, shuffle everything into chaos, or shove the exploding kitten back in the pile right where an opponent will find it. The bluffing, the strategy, the absolute betrayal when someone plays an attack card just as you thought you were safe: it’s all there in 56 beautifully illustrated cards.

The artwork deserves its own mention. Laser-shooting cats, potions, magical enchiladas, exploding kittens in genuinely absurd situations. Even losing is funny, which is a rare quality in any game. Because rounds move so fast and everyone gets knocked out relatively quickly, nobody’s sitting bored waiting for the game to end. Kids pick up the strategy after one round. Adults find themselves playing “just one more.” It’s exactly what a family card game should be: quick, chaotic, deeply satisfying, and impossible to play without laughing.

Board Games for 8-10 years + – Game Night Pros

Whirly Derby

AGES: 8 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 6
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 10+ minutes
RRP: $25
WHERE TO BUY: Target

There is something deeply, primally satisfying about watching marbles race. Whirly Derby takes that satisfaction and turns it into a proper competitive experience that gets the whole family leaning forward, holding their breath, and occasionally yelling at small glass spheres like they’re racehorses.

Players launch their team of marbles onto the speedway and then… watch. That’s the magic of it. You’ve made your choice, you’ve committed your racers, and now the outcome is entirely out of your hands. The marbles spin, tumble, overtake each other, and occasionally do something completely unexpected that changes everything. Luck plays a big role here, and that’s exactly what makes it fair and exciting across all ages. A six-year-old has just as much chance of winning as Dad, which matters more than most people admit.

With eight races across the game to determine the overall champion, there’s genuine tension that builds over time. A bad early race doesn’t knock you out. A stunning comeback is always possible. The spectator element is what makes this especially brilliant for parties or big family gatherings: even kids who aren’t actively playing will gather round to watch the marble drama unfold. Setup takes seconds, the rules take thirty seconds to explain, and the action speaks for itself. Simple, affordable, and genuinely thrilling in a way that sneaks up on you.

Ticket to Ride – Europe

AGES: 8 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 -5
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 30 – 60 minutes
RRP: $79.95
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon

This is the game that turns eight-year-olds into strategists and makes adults realise they’ve been outplayed by a primary schooler. Ticket to Ride is one of those rare family games that genuinely works for everyone at the table, not just the adults who bought it.

Players collect train cards and race to build railway routes across a stunning map of North America, all while chasing secret destination tickets that nobody else can see. Complete your routes, score the points. Block an opponent’s crucial connection and watch their careful plan collapse. The tension between building your own network and disrupting everyone else’s is where this game comes alive. Every round someone is quietly plotting, and the moment their plan either pays off spectacularly or falls apart completely is genuinely exciting.

What makes Ticket to Ride special is how much strategy hides underneath simple rules. Kids can grasp the basics within minutes but spend months discovering smarter ways to play. The secret destinations mean every game is a different puzzle, and the map is beautiful enough that kids actually want to sit around it. At 30-60 minutes it’s substantial enough to feel like a proper family activity without dragging on past anyone’s patience. This is the kind of game that becomes a household tradition: pulled out on school holidays, played on rainy weekends, referenced in family jokes for years to come.

Catan Seafarers Board Game Expansion (6th Edition)

AGES: 10 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 – 4
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 60 minutes
RRP: $79.95
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon

If Catan has already taken over your family’s game nights and you’re looking at the base game wondering what comes next, Seafarers is exactly the expansion you’ve been waiting for. It takes everything brilliant about the original and throws open the ocean, introducing ships, new islands to discover, and scenarios that completely change how the game plays out.

Suddenly, building settlements isn’t just about claiming resources on the island you know. It’s about deciding when to explore into uncharted territory, whether the risk of sailing to a new island is worth the reward, and how to balance expanding your empire with not leaving your existing settlements vulnerable. The negotiation element, already a highlight of base Catan, becomes even more critical here. Convincing someone to trade you that one vital resource, or strategically choosing NOT to block an opponent because you need them as a trading partner later, adds layers that older kids genuinely love navigating.

Multiple scenarios mean the game configuration changes, so families who’ve mastered base Catan will find fresh challenges every time they set up the board. It does require the Catan base game to play, so this is firmly one for families who are already converts. But if Catan night is already a thing in your house, Seafarers extends the life of that investment significantly and makes an already great game genuinely brilliant.

7 Wonders

AGES: 10 years+
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 – 7
AVERAGE GAME TIME: 30 minutes
RRP: $94.99
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon

Don’t let the price tag make you hesitate. 7 Wonders is the smartest game on this list, and once your family has played it, you’ll understand immediately why it’s won more awards than any other game here.

Players lead their own ancient civilisation through three ages of history, drafting cards to develop military power, scientific discoveries, trading resources, and iconic structures. The wonder of it (literally) is that everyone is building simultaneously, so there’s no downtime, no waiting while one player spends four minutes deciding, no losing the thread of the game while you stare at the ceiling. Every player is always active, always making decisions, always watching what their neighbours are collecting with growing suspicion.

For kids who’ve outgrown simpler games and are ready for something with genuine strategic depth, 7 Wonders is the perfect bridge. It rewards planning and forward thinking without punishing beginners so harshly that they never want to play again. The different wonder boards mean every player has a unique starting condition, and the card combinations available change every game. Supporting up to seven players makes it exceptional for bigger families or when the extended family descends and you need something that actually accommodates everyone. Thirty minutes for a full game of this depth is almost unbelievable. It’s the kind of game that makes you feel clever for playing it, and that feeling keeps everyone coming back.

From quick card games to longer strategy sessions, there’s a game for every kind of family. They’re easy to pull out, fun to play and give everyone a reason to put the screens down for a while. So clear the table, pick a favourite and get ready for a little friendly family competition.

Thanks to our friends at Asmodee Australia and Big Potato Games, we have 3 amazing game bundles up for grabs, one for 4-7 years, one for 7-8 years and one for 8 years plus!

To enter, simply complete hte entry form below, select which prize pack/s you’d like to win and you’re in the running!

GOOD LUCK!

This is a sponsored giveaway for Asmodee Australia.