Board Games that Make Great Holiday Gifts

Board games make the perfect gift not only for kids, but adults as well. Board games help educate children and they take adults back to their childhood. Adults remember getting these board games as gifts when they were children. Board games also make great gifts because they bring families together. There are some board games that will never be forgotten; even Monopoly has been updated to the Here and Now version. New board games are released every year and thousands are given as gifts at the holiday season, but there only a few that seem to stand the test of time. These are the board games that make great gifts and will be loved by families for many, many years.

Monopoly: I remember playing this board with my uncle. It's truly stood the test of time. Monopoly was patented in 1935! Seventy-one years later, Americans are still playing this game. The new Here and Now version of Monopoly finally updates this game to make things more realistic. The currency is now larger, the pieces are now laptops and cell phones, and when you pass go you get one heck of a raise. There have been several other versions of Monopoly though. Right now there is even a Spongebob version. I've also seen an Elvis version, a Dale Earnhardt version, and so many more. People are buying these board games not only as gifts that will be fun to play with, but also as gifts that will be collectibles. I think we all know the object of Monopoly. It's to own every property on the board and have all the money; it's the American dream, just kidding.

Trivial Pursuit: For years, my family played this board game every Thanksgiving and even though I didn't know a lot of the questions because I was so young, I learned a lot from this board game. This board game has also stood the test of time, it was released in 1979 and twenty-seven years later Americans are still enjoying this board game. There have also been several editions of this board game. A couple Christmases ago I bought the Lord of the Rings edition for my Granny. This makes a great gift because everyone in the family can enjoy it. You can buy decks of questions for adults and children. The object of the game is answer questions correctly and collect pie pieces along the way. Once you have all the pie pieces you make your way to the center of the board and answer another question. If you answer correctly, you win.

Scrabble: I was shocked when I did the research and found out that Scrabble has been around since 1938! This board game again is educational and taught me several new words. After all, big words equal big scores. This is a great gift to give not only because it's a board game that teaches children new words, but because it allows children to have fun while learning. The object is to make words from tiles you have drawn out of the box. The bigger these words are the better your score is.

Battleship: How could anyone not know about Battleship? This game came out in 1931 as a paper based game. Boy how times have changed. This board game now makes noises, lights up, etc. I remember playing this game with my mom when I was younger. It's a very competitive game. The object is to place your ships on the board (there are big and small ships), the other player places there ships on the board as well. You take turns trying to hit each others ships. Each player will yell out a number and the other player will place a peg into the board, if the player fills up all the holes in the other players' ship, the players ship will be sunk. It's a constant guessing game, you may have all but one hole filled in a ship but have no idea which direction to go in to sink it.

Operation: Last but not least, we arrive at the board game that quite possibly caused you to say your first curse word. Though no where near as old as Battleship, Operation was a board game that rattled your nerves, and the nerves of your parents. Operation was released in 1965 and has seen several different versions along the way, including one where you operated on Homer Simpson. If you are a grandparent this is a perfect gift to drive your children crazy. Children love this board game even though they spend the whole time jumping as they hit the edge and cause that horrible buzz sound. It's still fun, but it requires a lot of skill. This is a board game that I never mastered and actually drove me crazy, but it's still a classic board game and makes a great gift.

Share these board games with someone you love. I think these make great gifts and even if you don't have children buy several of these board games and give them away as gifts to charities. Don't forget to give these board games as gifts to all your friends who played these board games when they were kids.