What a great site. I want to buy some of those as gifts -- for me!

liz, I liked the idea of the 'Great Penguin Book Chase' game, but fear I would have to play against myself. DH refuses ever to join in any board games, youngest son, not the brightest button in the box, needs help when it is his 'go', so even Scrabble, though 'do-able', becomes little more than using up the letters.

I wonder if there is a tradition in the US as there is in the UK during the Christmas period, of getting the board games out, blowing the dust off the boxes, hunting for the missing pieces and finally playing for an hour or so?
I can remember my father making up the rules as he went along, so he always won and some of us children getting bored and wandering away and others slyly moving the 'pieces' or stealing the Monopoly money.
Happy Days.

I think some families do the "board game" thing, but I haven't seen it amongst my group at all. We played a ton of board games when we were kids, but now, like your DH, my DH will not play them unless there is significant peer pressure and/or my mum is in town.

My mum was always joining in the board games when we were kids, but happily, didn't change the rules too often. Unlike my big brother who changed (and probably still does) the rules all the time.

And Monopoly has to be near the top of the "most boring board games ever"...

I love board games, and the Christmas holidays are about the only time I can get others to join in. My DH is not a big fan, either, but the kids (grown now) seem to still enjoy the games. We have some pretty entertaining ones. One of my favorites is called Wise and Otherwise.

The product description reads: In Wise and Otherwise there are 2,500 wise, funny and unusual old sayings from around the world, and more than a few possible endings! During play the first part of an actual but little known old saying is read aloud. Then, with a little wit and imagination each player writes an ending to go with the beginning. The made-up sayings are read aloud along with the actual old sayings, and everyone tries to guess the real one. You'll get points when other players think your ending is the real one, and points for guessing the real old saying.

We've had some pretty hilarious evenings. It's surprising how much we all think alike -- a little scary even.

My family loves board games but have lost theirs during frequent moves. They asked me to find some Scrabble in my charity shop browsing. They preferred the old version with the wood racks and I picked up a couple in perfect condition for 10% of the new game price! I could not find Jenga but the toy department of my favourite store had a sale and I had some loyalty vouchers!

We played board games as a family in my childhood, then with our kids when they were young. Occasionally we play Trivial Pursuit or Newshound with another couple. I do agree that it seems to be something people do less frequently than we once did. I was tempted to order one of the games. Our friends are readers, too (lucky us!). But the ages given for the games are awfully young. Has anyone actually seen either of the two games listed?

Rosefolly

I just had a chance to look through the gift site. I loved all the 'Bodleian Library' items -- so gorgeous. The pencil cuff links were clever, too. I may have to revisit it after Christmas.

We have a pile of board games at our house that no one has played for ages. Oddly enough, last week while DH was on a business trip, both kids (11 and 15) decided we had to play Monopoly and we had three nights of marathon games. Lots of fun, but I think they're played out for now. The only other board game we play as a family is Apples to Apples, which gets very funny with family inside jokes.

Sarah_Canary, Wise and Otherwise sounds wonderful. I'm going to look for it.