A mentor of mine introduced me to the phrase, “the family that games together, stays together.” How true this is! With the holiday gift-giving season approaching faster than the Tardis at a Time Lord party, here is a list of great board games to give this holiday season. Is there a better gift to promote the meaning of the season? Yes, I mean family togetherness, love, compromise, … and the desire to beat both of your parents at Wits and Wagers Party...

Ages 3+ If your little padawans are anything like mine, when they first started talking, among their first words were: “dice”, “game”, and “guys” (referring to war-gaming miniatures). Since old standards like Candyland are outdated (and most parents would rather spend time in a Sarlacc pit than sit through a game); GeekMom has put together a list of games that two-or-three-year-olds can play with a little assistance and parents will enjoy as well.

Sequence for Kids: If you play your cards right, your colored tokens will line up for the win! This is a great game for younger kids to learn animals, colors, and shapes. The three-year-old in my house has won this game, and the adults don't dread playing it. $13

• Busy Town: They needed a six-foot-long game board to contain the fun and little pieces this game processes. In a race to beat the ants to the picnic, find and collect different objects in this cooperative race game. $20

Monza: A game by Haba who makes amazing wooden and fabric toys for kids; this board game features brightly colored wooden race-cars speeding around a track filled with kaleidoscopic colored bricks . Roll six colored dice and see if you can make a path with your car and be the first to the finish line. $20

• Bonkazonks: Spin them! Flick them! Stack them! Attack them! That's the motto of Hasbro's Bonkazonks. The free-form stunt-battling game features some of your favorite Marvel heroes and villains including Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Magneto and Dr. Doom and with over 100 different characters, there's something for everyone. Battle your team against an opponent or test your skills at the many different stunts you can learn on your own. $4.99 and up

Ages 6+ When kids get their reading legs, they think that means they can play the games that mom and dad play. This is true to a point. Here are some games that require little to no reading but have simple enough rules for young players to feel like one of the grown-ups.

• Kaijudo: Kaijudo is a GeekMom approved gateway trading card game. Designed for the young 'tween crowd, Kaijudo teaches players the basic strategies for other popular TCGs. $18
• DiceAFARI: Match up animals to win this safari game. This game is subtly educational working on math and strategy skills. It even recently won a Parents Choice Foundation Award and was GeekMom approved. $24
• Flip Out: No reading necessary! In Flip Out, up to five players flip and exchange cards to match patterns for points. As far as family-friendly games go, this is a good one by a great family-friendly company. $16
• Got Em board game: Build walls to fence your friends in and win! This colorful board game comes with two boards so you can play an easy game with kids or a more complex game with older contestants.$19

Flip Six Card Game: This is a great stocking-stuffer. Add and subtract your way to the lowest score with the cute little cartoons. $11

• Tripolo: Here's another great stocking-stuffer. In this tic-tac-toe meets war card game, make three in a row using the color, letter or animal on your card. I really like playing this one with my kids. $10
• Continuo: Here's another great stocking-stuffer! Continuo is like a grid version of dominoes. Players match colors and count up the number they were able to match. $23
• Geistes Blitz: This is a wonderful game with sturdy wooden pieces. Similar to Spot It, players race to pick up the item that is either not correctly represented in the card picture or the one that is correctly represented. If you get it right, you score the card. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins. $23
• Numbers League : In this card game, collect heads, bodies, legs, and equipment to build super heroes. Each body part and equipment are worth points that when added together make a total. If the total equals that of a villain in the playing field, defeat the bad guy and score points! Two levels of difficulty are included. You don't even realize you are working on your math skills.$19
• FlowerFall: GeekMom Ariane shared this with us about FlowerFall:"Reading the instructions for FlowerFall, my expectations were really low. Players each gets 12 cards of their flower kind then take turns dropping them from eye level. The rules are pretty much that simple and the goal is to form a garden patch that dominates the garden patch of other players. It almost sounds idiotic and basically it IS, but that means the games are short and anyone can learn it within seconds. By dropping the cards at eye level – thus allowing them to float down (and something hilariously far away) – it makes the game random enough to be fun for everyone rather than entirely skill or strategy-based. Experienced players and newbies can happily co-exist! I brought FlowerFall to PAX Prime this year and it was a huge hit as a quick pickup game while waiting in lines." $15

Bulls-eye: Even small children learning letter recognition can have fun with this board game. This word game is sort of a cross between Scrabble and a card game. Make words out of the letters on your cards and make it to the center of the "bull's-eye" to win. I am horrible at word games and I actually won this game playing three and four letter words. $30

• Tsuro: The Game of the Path and Tsuro of the Seas: GeekMom Jenny shares,

  "Build a winding path on the board while trying to direct your opponents off the edges. The last one standing is the winner. This path building game is great for kids as young as eight or younger, but is also a lot of fun for grownups. It's easy to learn, easy to play, and great for families and mixed ages. It plays up to eight people, and goes very quickly, so it's also a perfect addition to your weekly or monthly game night gatherings. Tsuro of the Seas is the recent sequel to the original, Tsuro: The Game of the Path, and adds additional challenges and strategies." $29.99 and $39.99

Rory's Story Cubes: Actions and Voyages: GeekMom Jenny also presents us with this story telling game, "Roll the dice and tell a story based on the pictures! The original Rory's Story Cubes are joined by Actions and Voyages this year. These incredibly portable games are great for all ages, and can also be used to inspire drawings, writings, and other creative endeavors." $9.99

Ages 10+ When we have a game day at our house, nine-and-ten-year-olds tend to play games with the grown-ups instead of playing with the youngins. A great deal of the games in our house fall into this category.

• Wits and Wagers Party: Wits and Wagers Party is educational, fun, humorous, promotes party conversation, and can be played with pretty much anyone. It was GeekMom approved in a review earlier this year. $22
• Small World: It's a world of horror, a world of monsters, it's a world of magic and a world of conquering....It's a small world after all....$39
• Seasons: Draft cards and roll dice to transmute gems and win the wizard's tournament. Make it through three years worth of seasons playing cards in your hand to mess with the other players. $37
• Puzzle Strike : This is a deck building game that uses tokens instead of cards. There are more than a dozen characters with different special abilities to choose from in this third edition board game. To add to the challenge, the money tokens add up on your board like Tetris pieces. As soon as someone fills their board, the game ends! $57
• King of Tokyo: ROAR! Who is your favorite monster? Godzilla? King Kong? A bunny rabbit driving a giant bunny robot? Regardless of your favorite, you can roll dice to earn energy, buy special abilities, and clobber your opponents to be the last monster standing (I mean literally, there is ONE space on the board if you are playing with four or fewer people).$50
• Say Anything: Do your friends know what you think the most dangerous thing to do while driving is? What about your favorite pizza topping? In this party game, players take turns reading questions like these and having the other players guess what the answer would be. The reader of the question votes and the other players bid on which one they think the questioning player chose. Crazy fun for anyone old enough to write. $17
• Knock Your Blocks Off: Build a wall out of your six cubes and set your king cube on top as the other players do the same. Then, roll the die and drop, flick, or throw it at their wall! Different wall configurations give you different powers, but some take longer to build than others, or are more likely to fall under the assault of your neighbors. $13

Hasbro Zynga CityVille Monopoly: GeekMom Patricia asks:"Do you play CityVille on your favorite social media? Do you enjoy Monopoly? If you answered "Yes" to those questions you will really enjoy this twist on the immensely popular social-media game. Unlike traditional Monopoly, where play can continue until all players go bankrupt except the winner, in CityVille Monopoly, the winner is the first player to build four skyscrapers; skyscrapers are built upon three other buildings that were purchased. Your properties are the same types of businesses, utilities and residences seen in the online game: the Coffee Shop, Sushi Bar, City Hall, Tuxedo Rental, and a Bakery are among the properties you can purchase and rent out. Instead of Community Chest and Chance cards, instead you have "Visitor's Center" and "Mystery Gift" cards. Visitor's Center is much like the Chance set of cards: things such as additional taxes and Get Out of Jail Free cards are found in there. The Mystery Gift cards seem to be very unique to CityVille Monopoly: each card has two "add ons" that you can apply to the property of your choice (among those you already own). You can then charge additional rent, I saw add-ons from $2 to $20. There are ways to succeed in the game without actually getting a monopoly, which saves time, but also can be confusing for Monopoly-purists. The instructions to the game assume you understand traditional Monopoly, there isn't a lot of detail about strategy, or how some of the finer topics – such as mortgages – work. This is a great gift for a CityVille fan in your life." $24.99

• Hasbro Zynga Draw Something board game: Also recommended by GeekMom Patricia, "In homage to

  the popular mobiles app game, Hasbro's Draw Something lets players use their real art skills – as opposed to their mobiles app fingertip-drawing skills – to challenge up to 3 other friends to guess what they're drawing. My two sons spent 2 hours (and about 100 sheets of included notepad paper) challenging each other to guess a wide assorted of topics. Each card has 3 levels of words/topics, each word ranging in worth from one coin (easiest) to three coins (most difficult). And yes, Lady Gaga was a three-coin topic to draw! Count the coins with each successful guess and whoever collects 15 coins first wins! Hasbro's Draw Something includes four draw stations (which each include a pad of paper, one crayon and a scorekeeper clip), 180 topic cards in a convenient box and a game guide. The cardboard box the game comes in was rather awkward, but transporting the four draw stations and topic card box is very easy without the bigger box. Draw Something is designed for ages 8 and up although my 7-year-old enjoyed it quite a bit." $19.99

• Dungeons and Dragons Next: Wizards of the Coast has gone back to basics in their next version of D&D. Are you interested in story telling mechanics instead of mad dice rolling? Then maybe you should play-test D&D Next. It's still being developed, changed, and tested, but it's already a great way to introduce kids to storytelling and role playing games (RPGs). FREE

• Get Bit If you play your cards right, and are the last one to move, the shark won't take a bite out of your person. Another game to be played on TableTop, Get Bit features little people that can be disassembled as you play. $18

Ages 13+ There are a few games that require a little more of an adult view or understanding of life...or there is a gore factor...or punny potty humor...

• Fiasco : Fiasco is a role playing game with attitude. The scenario and relationships are determined by the dice rolls. There are many scenarioses to pick from. We have talked about it here on GeekMom and Wil Wheaton has played it on TableTop.$25
• androids: Netrunner Living Card Game:My husband went absolutely bonkers when he saw there were copies of this deck builder available at PAX. In this complex living card game (deck builder meets trading card game) players pick either the hacker deck or the corporation deck and try and shut the other down with viruses and programs. $35

Hasbro Zynga Words with Friends board game:Also from GeekMom Patricia, "Words with Friends is a funfamily board game that will make a great addition to your collection this holiday season. But I caveat this by saying that if you already own Scrabble, you’ll find that a board game version of Words with Friends is extremely similar and probably redundant for your collection. Words with Friends has a suggested age range of 13+, but my 7- and 10-year-old sons not only really enjoy the game, but often score higher than I do." $19.99

• HooYah!: This is a cooperative pseudo deck-building game. You and the other Navy Seals on your

  team collect cards of different colors and equipment to pass missions before time and health run out. This would be a great way to introduce adult family members to card games and might also be a fun gift idea for family who are/were in the military. $25 (until 1/1/13)

• Kwizniac: GeekMom Kris tells us, "Trivia buffs will love Kwizniac. Each card offers ten clues in a
  variety of topics, bridging the gap between youth and adults. Players earn points based on when they are able to shout out the correct answer. Play it around the kitchen table or play it in the car; either way, it's a gas." $20

Dabble:If word games are your thing, add Dabble to your family's wish list. Instead of building one great word as you would in Scrabble, players arrange letter tiles into words of two, three, four, five, and six letters in graduated trays within a five-minute time limit. $20

Any of these games would be a great way to introduce a household a to table-top gaming or an addition to an existing collection. There were so many great games this year! What are some of your favorites?