5 board games to play with your kids this vacation

BarcelonaThere are millions of fun and educational board games to spend time with the family. Whether at the beach, in the mountains, or after dinner: any time is a good time to engage your brain, stimulate your imagination, and bond through play. We have five diverse suggestions for different ages.

A group of pirates must locate the island where the lost treasure lies by scanning the nearest islands with binoculars and shooting down pirate ships by rolling a die through a cannon. This is the premise of this game created by Gerard Ribas, which was recently chosen among the six best games in the world for the 2025 Spiel des Jahres award, one of the most important international awards in its field. Initially published by the Mercurio label and illustrated by Miguel Ramos, it already has versions in several languages and international editions. Recommended for ages 6 and up, it is a stimulating game both in terms of the story you must follow, but also in terms of memory and cooperative work, as players must remember which elements appear on the tiles or they don't want to sink in the attempt.

Where does an African elephant live? How much does it weigh? How long is its tail? The Fauna game, created by German author Friedemann Friese, consists of a series of cards with 360 animal species and a board to discover all these characteristics. But it's not about being the science teacher of the group and knowing that a giraffe's neck is five meters long; it's about getting as close as possible. Be careful not to take too many risks, or you might run out of pieces! It's recommended for children aged 10 and up, although the rules can be adapted for younger children, allowing for play by 2 to 6 players. It's an ideal game for children passionate about animals and encourages strategy, as well as knowledge of biodiversity and geography. It also includes a book with expanded information about the animals for the more curious.

Do you play word games at home? Do you share your children's passion for language? Set in espionage, in Codenames you must decipher the words on the counter by following the clues of your group's lead spy, who must make associations between them with a single keyword. Recommended for ages 14 and up and with a Catalan edition by Devir, this award-winning game—which also has a version with images reminiscent of Dixit in the imagination it requires—will have you racking your brains trying to find a way for your team of spies to understand what you mean. And not only that, but the hourglass can start ticking at any moment. Don't worry: sometimes it's better to use complicity and common references than more elaborate concepts.

One of the funniest things about board games is starting with cheating. Or so brothers Emely and Lukas Brand thought when they designed this game with their parents. Cheating is allowed here, as long as the rules are followed. It's L'Arna Tramposa, or L'Abellot Trampós, a more complex version with the same dynamics. In both cases, it's a card game with images of insects associated with the actions they must follow. Meanwhile, they have to get rid of the cards without anyone seeing them. This is where the fun comes in, when the cards fly under the table—unless you're the guarding bug and have to touch the bark of the players who are hiding the cards up their sleeves. This game, created by the publisher Devir, is for children ages 7 and up.

"Once upon a time..." can be the introduction to cooperative storytelling through the images that appear as we roll the dice, which, using pictograms, guide us. This is the idea behind this now-classic game, the best-known version of which is Rory's Story Cubes, by the French company Asmodee. Despite its apparent simplicity, this tool can be adapted to various dynamics and ages to stimulate the imagination and work on oral expression, listening, improvisation, and even emotions. Children actively participate in the creation of the story and, with luck, will retain the urge to enjoy stories (beyond the screen). For the most passionate, there are themed versions, for example, on fantasy, astronomy, mysteries, or heroes.