30+ Best Cooperative Board Games For Kids!In my opinion cooperative board games are the best board games to play as a family (notice I didn’t say ONLY!). Below are the Best Cooperative Board Games for Kids, organized by age so you can find the perfect ones to bring to your table!
[Stephanie’s note: If the voice sounds different it’s because this post was written by Tyler, my husband, and originally published on Kidsloveboardgames.com which is now defunct!]
If you like this post, you might like these too!
- Benefits of family game night & tips for raising game loving kids
- 100 Things Kids Can Learn with homeschool board games aka gameschooling
- Educational games to play with uno cards
- The secrets to playing board games on a budget
Pin this round-up of family board games with this photo or link!
Why play co-op style board games with kids?
Research shows cooperative board games are great!). Keep reading to find our reasons why you should be playing cooperative board games for families!
First, what is a cooperative board game? A cooperative board game is a board game where all the players work together to accomplish an objective. This type of gameplay brings a lot of benefits to the table that competitive games can’t provide…
1. Learning opportunities
The first thing we noticed when playing cooperative board games with our kids was how many new learning opportunities they provided. Cooperative board games teach all the same skills as competitive board games (numbers, letters, reading, math, critical thinking, strategy, etc.), but they also teach a whole host of other skills. Because players are working together and discussing moves, cooperative board games teach communication, cooperation, and negotiation. If kids want to make moves in these games, they have to learn to make their voice heard and how to sell their ideas! Oh and by the way, there is over 100 things kids can learn playing board games!
2. The Gateway Game
Cooperative board games are great for introducing people to modern board games. If you grew up playing Monopoly or Checkers, but haven’t played much since, the leap to the new strategy games can be pretty intense. Especially when you’re playing against game nuts who already know the ins and outs of these games. Cooperative board games are perfect to bridge this gap, because new gamers can learn from their more experienced counterparts and ask questions without hindering their chance of winning the game.
3. No More Board Throwing!
I think most people who have played board games with kids have seen pieces go flying or tempers flaring at one point or another. With cooperative board games the stress level of losing is greatly reduced. There is a BIG difference for kids in losing TO your parent/sibling/friend vs. losing WITH them. With cooperative board games, it’s very clearly ‘just a game’.
4. Be a Role Model
With most things in life, kids look to you to learn how they should respond. however it’s really difficult for kids to take their cues from you when playing competitive board games. The reason? You’re always doing the opposite of them. They can’t see you lose gracefully when they just won and are busy celebrating. And on the flip side, they don’t notice how kind you are to them when you won, because they are feeling the weight of the loss they just took! With cooperative board games, you and your kids win and lose together, creating the perfect opportunity for you to model the behavior you want to see in them.
5. Cooperative Games can be Played Solo
One thing that can be a challenge if you love board games is that you need at least two to play. This goes doubly when your kids love board games and want you to play ALL THE TIME. While we want to play every time the kids ask, in the hectic world we live in, that’s not always an option. Cooperative board games provide a great solution to this as most of them can be adapted for solo play!
So what are you waiting for?
We have loved playing cooperative board games, and they have really taken our families gaming to the next level of enjoyment and been a great family time activity. Ready to get started? Check out our list of the 30+ best cooperative board games for Kids!
Best cooperative board games for families
When you’re shopping for games, consider looking on Facebook marketplace for secondhand, buying from your local, small board game shop/toy shop, searching on Ebay, or checking Kidizen for used games. These are linked to Amazon for convenience but we’d much prefer you shop secondhand and/or small when you’re able!
Jump to your kids age range? Click a link:
Toddlers
First Orchard by Haba
Can you pick the fruit before the Raven comes down the path? First Orchard is a great first dice game for toddlers. Roll the dice and see which fruit you can pick, but watch out, if you roll a Raven it’ll continue down the path toward the orchard. This is an easy game to pick up and play right away and the game length matches up well with the toddler attention span. This was our fist experience with cooperative board games for kids, and definitely one of the best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of players: 1-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 2+
- What we like best: Fast paced, high quality construction
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to learn and understand simple rules
- Kids will learn: First Orchard will teach basic colors, simple dice concepts, and turn taking
Feed the Woozle by Peaceable Kingdom
A friendly looking hairy monster with a gross appetite that needs to be spoon fed, sounds like a good time to me! This is another great game to channel preschool wiggles into a focused task with lots of movement. Players take turns rolling the dice to see how many pieces of food they get to load on their spoon and try to reach the woozle’s mouth. If players can cooperatively fill up the woozle, they win. This game also comes with built in ways to make the game more or less challenging to fit your child’s coordination level. This is one of our favorite active games as well, if you looking for more active games, check our the best active games for active kids.
- Number of players: 2-5
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 3+
- What we like best: Lots of movement, fun variations to keep challenging kids, cooperative game play
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to follow simple instructions
- Kids will learn: Coordination, balance, counting
Monkey Around by Peaceable Kingdom
Another silly game, with lots of movement. This game has actions you can do together, actions you do by yourself, and actions with a fabric banana (fabric banana included). Fast, cooperative game play makes it another great toddler game, and one of the best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of players: 2+
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 2+
- What we like best: Fast game play, focused on cooperation, active game
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand and follow simple instructions
- Kids will learn: Coordination, vocabulary, team work
If you’re looking for more toddler board games, check out our all time favorites in best board games for toddlers.
Preschoolers
Create and Tell Me a Story Cards by eeBoo
This isn’t a game in the sense of competing, but more just a fun card games for being creative together. The best part about this game is there are lots of different versions depending on your child’s interests (animals, robots, and fairy tales to name a few). Players take turns drawing cards and telling their portion of the story. Since the cards are random the story always changes into something new, fun, and silly.
- Number of players: 1+
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 3+
- What we like best: Non-competitive play, and it’s entertaining to see the preschoolers mind at work creating stories
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to create a sentence based on a picture
- Kids will learn: Creativity, communication, story telling, connecting thoughts
Busy Town, Eye Found It by Wonder Forge
I love reading the Richard Scarry books with the kids, and we all love playing the games as a family as well! This game is a cooperative race to a picnic before the pigs eat all your picnic food. Players take turns spinning the wheel to see how far they can move through the board. There’s a twist if the spinner lands on a search space a search card is flipped over and everyone collectively works to find as many of the shown item as possible. If your preschooler loves seek and find books, this is the game for them!
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 3+
- What we like best: Giant playing board with very entertaining art makes is really enjoyable
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand game rules and find items in a category (i.e. shovels, buckets)
- Kids will learn: Attention to detail, counting, communication
Stack Up! by Peaceable Kingdom
Build the tower before the giant hand smashes it to the ground. Stack Up! has players take turns spinning the spinner and stacking blocks, but if the hand gets to the end of the track before the tower is complete, game over. This game has a nice built in mechanism to continually increase the difficulty using different stacking methods and challenge cards. This helps keeps the game fun for a large age range. The concept of a cooperative game focused on dexterity is pretty unique, securing its place on the list of best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of players: 2-6
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 3+
- What we like best: Cooperative game play, multiple play methods allows the game to grow with your kids
- Prerequisite skills: Dexterity to stack items and remember/follow simple game instructions
- Kids will learn: Coordination, fine motor skills
Wildcraft by LearningHerbs
Wildcraft is a cooperative game that teaches kids about wildcrafting (the harvesting of wild plants). Players venture into the wild to harvest plants for their grandmother. As they play through this game they will learn about 25 edible/medicinal plants! This is one of our favorite nature games as well, check out the full list of best nature board games.
- Number of players: 1-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 4+
- What we like best: Cooperative gameplay, subtle learning
- Prerequisite skills: Matching pictures to cards
- Kids will learn: How edible/medicinal herbs can be used, communication, cooperation
Rainbow Fish Share and Sparkle Game by MindWare
The Rainbow Fish Share and Sparkle game is a great game to play in conjunction with the rainbow fish book. Players work together to help everyone’s rainbow fish find their scales before getting washed up on shore. Preschool aged kids will love working together to help find the scales. This game is pretty focused on the preschool age range, and does a great job of that, but it’s probably not one your kids will continue to play past age four or five.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 3+
- What we like best: Simplicity and quality construction
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to comprehend simple game rules
- Kids will learn: Colors and counting, as well as cooperation and sharing
Noah’s Animal Rescue by Jumping High Five
Noah’s animal rescue is another cooperative board game that is a great fit for preschoolers. Players work together to rescue the animals and get them on the ark before the flood. This game introduces some very simple strategic decision making and is a great game for kids to start to understand that aspect of board gaming.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 4+
- What we like best: Beautiful game board, hits the right level of strategic thinking challenge for a preschooler
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand and work towards a simple goal
- Kids will learn: Problem solving, teamwork, and communication
Mmm! by Pegasus Spiel
The premise is that you are a mouse working to empty the pantry before the cat catches you, players take turns rolling dice and using them to eat foot. Each turn a food item is not consumed, the cat comes closer. I really like that players have a chance to win this game with or without making the right strategic decisions. This affords players the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, without parents feeling like they have to jump in and provide guidance right away.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 5+
- What we like best: Simplicity of the game, very easy to pick up and play
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand and work towards a simple goal
- Kids will learn: Dice concepts, using odds to make decisions, weighing consequences
Engineering Ants by Peaceable Kingdom
In Engineering Ants players work collectively to race around the board, pass obstacles and rescue ants before the ant eater gets to the ant hill. This is a really cool game where players get to engineer solutions to the obstacles. The multitude of parts makes for great replayability and keeps the game interesting over time.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 5+
- What we like best: Awesome building pieces that let kids work together and create
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand and work towards a simple goal
- Kids will learn: Engineering, fine motor, communication, and cooperation
If you’re looking for more preschool board games, check out our all time favorites in the the best board games for preschoolers.
Kindergartners
Outfoxed by Gamewright
In Outfoxed, players work together to try and find which fox is the thief. This game fits really well for ages five to sevenish and provides a challenge to kid’s deductive reasoning skills. Game play is quick and provides a lot of opportunity to discuss and work cooperatively.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 5+
- What we like best: Well balanced combination of traditional board game aspects with teamwork and logic
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to play simpler board games (think Chutes and Ladders)
- Kids will learn: Problem solving and deduction, as well as cooperation and communication
Race to the Treasure by Peaceable Kingdom
In Race to the Treasure players race to pick up treasure and keys and try to race to the end before the Ogre blocks their path. If you or your kids love puzzles this is the game for you as you connect pieces to try to build the most efficient path to the treasure and off the board.
- Number of players: 2-4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 5+
- What we like best: Creative path building concept, quick and challenging game play
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to complete simple puzzles
- Kids will learn: Spatial thinking and communication
Eye Found it! Journey through Time by Wonder Forge
For kids who love seek and find books, this is an ideal game. The game board is about 6 feet long and full of detailed art throughout. Players work together to travel through time and try to get back to the present day before running out of fuel. Movement is based on a spinner which also contains the ship’s fuel gauge, and search spaces. The searching is the most fun as everyone scrambles around the board trying to find as many of the search items (random things like shovels or fire) as possible to move your ship forward.
- Number of players: 1-6
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 4+
- What we like best: Huge game board is perfect for large groups but the game also plays well with two players, cooperative game play, intricate board art
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to identify similar object in a category (i.e. shovels or buckets)
- Kids will learn: Counting, attention to detail, strategy
Ghost Fighting Treasure Fighters by Mattel
In Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters players work together to find treasure and remove it from the haunted mansion before being overrun by ghosts. This is a prefect strategy game for younger gamers who are just moving past the luck based games for toddlers and preschoolers. Decision making is complex enough to keep them engaged, and because it is a cooperative game, parents can help guide kids who are new to the game without feeling like they are playing against themselves.
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 8+
- What we like best: Sweet 3-D game figures really bring it to life, great balance of strategy and luck for five to nine year olds
- Prerequisite skills: Experience in dice games, ability to think strategically
- Kids will learn: Prioritization, strategic decision making, cooperation, and communication
Leo Goes to the Barber by Hasboro
Can you get Leo to the Barber before his mane gets out of control? In this game players work to get Leo to the Barber, but he is easily distracted! This is a combination of memory game and race to the finish, a really unique idea and its done with great balance to challenge you and your child’s memory and communication skills.
- Number of players: 2-5
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 6+
- What we like best: Unique twist on a memory game, multiple rounds to get to get to the end as you watch Leo’s mane grow
- Prerequisite skills: Experience with memory games and roll and move games (i.e. chutes and ladders)
- Kids will learn: Counting and number recognition, reading a clock, simple math, memory, communication and cooperation
Gnomes at Night by Peaceable Kingdom
Gnomes at Night is a very unique game. It’s a cooperative game where players don’t work to beat the game, but work to beat their past achievements. Players sit across from one another with a vertical game board between them. Each side of the board has a maze and different treasures on it. Player pieces hook together magnetically so you can guide both pieces at the same time. If you hit a dead end you have to work with the other player to find a way around from their side. We love to play 2 player games with our kids and this 2 player game is one of the best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of players: 2 or 4 (works best with just 2 in our opinion)
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 6+
- What we like best: Ability to challenge past records, unique concept
- Prerequisite skills: Understanding and following game rules (very important since you can’t see the other player’s board to know if they’re following the rules)
- Kids will learn: Communication and cooperation skills
Cauldron Quest by Peaceable Kingdom
In Cauldron Quest, players work collectively to try and complete a potion before being blocked by the wizard. This game features two unique die and different combinations rolled allow players a multitude of different actions to identify the correct ingredients and move them toward the pot. We love this game!
- Number of players: 2 -4
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 6+
- What we like best: Multiple strategies possible induces lots of discussion on the next best move
- Prerequisite skills: Past experience with dice games, ability to work toward an end goal
- Kids will learn: Deductive reasoning, communication, and cooperation
Also see our favorite kindergarten games in the best board games for kindergartners post.
7 & 8 Year Olds
Rory’s Story Cubes by GameWright
For creative game play, Rory’s Story Cubes is the perfect fit. While the concept is really simple (roll the dice and create a story using all the pictures) the possibilities are endless and its great to see the creativity that comes out as kids are creating stories. This also makes a great travel game, check out some of our other favorite games to travel with in the best travel board games post.
- Number of Players: 1+
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 8+
- What we like best: Endless possibilities, there are a ridiculous amount of dice combinations possible and when combined with player’s creativity every game is unique and entertaining
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to put a concept into a sentence
- Kids will learn: Creativity and communication
Bandido by Helvetiq
Can you stop the bandit before he digs his way out of jail? Bandido will put that to the test. This game is so simple that you can basically open it and immediately start playing (which I love), yet it does a good job of making players think spatially and strategically as they place their cards. From a difficulty perspective, it is a perfect, next step up from the kindergarten cooperative board games listed above and one the best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of Players: 1-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 8+
- What we like best: Great balance of the bandit escaping vs. being caught keep the replay factor high
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to think strategically regarding card placement
- Kids will learn: Thinking strategically and spatially, as well as communication
Mole Rats in Space by Peaceable Kingdom
Mole Rats in Space was created by Matt Leacock, the guy who invented Pandemic and Forbidden Island (probably the two most popular cooperative games for older kids/adults!). So when someone with that pedigree designs a cooperative game for younger kids, you can bet I am interested. In Mole Rats in Space players race around the board to pick up items to fix their space ship and try to get back to their space ship before it is infiltrated by space snakes. The game features a lot of different challenges, snakes are roaming around the board trying to bite the mole rats, there are also random chutes that will launch players into space. There is also a more difficult version that come included to play once you have mastered the base game!
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 7+
- What we like best: Great replayability, every game seems to present different challenges
- Prerequisite skills: Familiarity with cooperative game concepts and some experience with basic strategy
- Kids will learn: Cooperation and communication, working under pressure, beginning with the end in mind
Escape the Curse of the Temple by Queen Games
In Escape the Curse of the Temple, you guessed it, players race to escape a cursed temple (ok so the name’s not very creative…). This game isn’t cooperative in the sense of working together, just in the fact that there is no player vs. player competition and players win or lose together. The unique aspect of this game is that there is a 10 minute time limit. Players frantically roll and explore the temple to try to get out of the temple, with dramatic music to keep the time and set the mood.
- Number of Players: 1-5
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 8+
- What we like best: Every game is 10 minutes guaranteed, soundtrack is a clever way to keep the time and set the mood
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to understand a game and focus while others are making moves since there are no turns
- Kids will learn: Working under pressure, staying focused
Mice & Mystics by Plaid Hat Games
In Mice & Mystics, players attempt to help Mice through various challenges and scenarios. What’s cool about Mice & Mystics is that the game is half board game, half story. There are loads of different scenarios to play through as you advance and replay the game. The scenarios are also set up in a way that they have great replayability as well.
- Number of Players: 1-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 7+
- What we like best: Fascinating story brings the game to life and connects different plays of the game together
- Prerequisite skills: Reading, past experience with simple strategy games
- Kids will learn: Communication, cooperation, reading comprehension, strategic decision making
Also check out our list of the best board games for 7 & 8 year olds
Older Kids
Forbidden Island by GameWright
This is one of our favorite cooperative games of all time. You and your team of treasure hunters visit a forbidden island to hunt for treasure, but as you explore the island more and more of it vanishes below the ocean. Can your team find the four treasures and escape the island before it sinks? There are also a couple more games in the Forbidden series if you’re looking for more strategic challenge, check out Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky!
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 10+
- What we like best: Great mechanism for adjusting difficulty, cooperative game where the game actually wins often
- Prerequisite skills: Ability to remember different rules for the game plus each player, ability to work cooperatively toward the endgame
Escape the Room by Think Fun
A game you can only play once?! While usually we look for board games that have great replayability, these ‘One’ play games are a blast for a special occasion. Similar to the Escape Room locations that have become very popular lately (but much cheaper), players work cooperatively to solve puzzles and challenges to progress through and escape the game. This style of one play escape room games are great for puzzle lovers and definitely one of the best cooperative board games for kids!
- Number of Players: 3-8
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 13+
- What we like best: Cooperative gameplay, challenging puzzles, pressure to get out before time is up
- Prerequisite Skills: Reading, experience with puzzles
- Kids will learn: Problem solving, working under pressure, communication
Pandemic by Z-Man Games
Pandemic is one of the most popular cooperative games there is. Players work together to stop a disease outbreak before it takes over the world. This game has multiple layers of strategy and prioritization and is very challenging. If you like this game there are many different expansions to try as well.
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 8+
- What we like best: Does a great job simulating pressure of an accelerating disease outbreak
- Prerequisite Skills: Reading, experience with more complex strategy games
- Kids will learn: Working under pressure, creative problem solving, cooperation and communication
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle by USAOpoly
The coolest thing about this game…it’s actually seven games in one! One for each Harry Potter story. You and your kids can choose to be one of the iconic heroes from the Harry Potter stories and battle through various challenges that tie to the books. If you have a Harry Potter lover in your family, this is a must have!
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 11+
- What we like best: Great art from the movies, really brings the Harry Potter story to life
- Prerequisite Skills: Reading, experience with more complex strategy games
- Kids will learn: Strategic decisions, weighing priorities, communication and cooperation
Castle Panic by Fireside Games
In Castle Panic players work together to defend their castle from an onslaught of monsters. Each turn players attack monsters and add new monsters to the board. The game has multiple versions of play to keep things interesting and a ton of different cards and monster types which require a multitude of different strategies to stop.
- Number of Players: 1-6
- Manufacturer Age Recommendation: 10+
- What we like best: The 3-D castle and circular game board brings to life the idea of monsters coming from all angles
- Prerequisite Skills: Reading, experience with more complex strategy games
- Kids will learn: Strategic decisions, weighing priorities, bargaining, communication and cooperation
Flash Point: Fire Rescue by Indie Boards & Cards
What kid doesn’t dream of being a firefighter at some point? Flash Point: Fire Rescue allows you and your kids to bring that dream to the game table. In this cooperative board game, players work to rescue victims trapped in a fire before the building crumbles and traps the visitors.
- Number of players: 2-6
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 10+
- What we like best: Multiple game boards to adjust difficulty and increase replayability
- Prerequisite skills: Reading, ability to understand and evaluate more complex strategy options
- Kids will learn: Evaluating and setting priorities, strategic decision making, communication, and cooperation
Spaceteam by Timber and Bolt LLC
Dubbed a cooperative, shouting game, Spaceteam is kind of party game meets cooperative board game. With a five minute time limit, players race to repair the spaceship before getting sucked into a black hole. This is a very fast paced game that always plays differently because of the way the cards are divvied out. They also have ways to increase the difficulty and expansion packs for larger groups available.
- Number of players: 3-6
- Manufacturer age recommendation: 10+
- What we like best: Fast paced, time based game style, requiring cooperation, leads to very rowdy and fun gameplay
- Prerequisite skills: Reading, ability to understand a problem and communicate it quickly
- Kids will learn: Processing speed, making themselves heard
Also see our list of best board games for older kids.
Cooperative Board Games for the Win!
What games make your list of the best cooperative board games for kids? Comment below!
Leave a Reply