We LOVE "The aMAZEing Labyrinth". It's a Ravensburger game. It claims to be for ages 8 and up, but our daughter has been playing it as well as any adults since she was 5. They do have a Junior version as well, but we went straight for the regular version. It's a family favorite, and all of our gifted adult friends love it to. I highly recommend it!

Thanks for the recommendation. We got Blokus after reading about it on a board a few months ago and it's a huge family favorite. I'd never have heard of it without the GT lists. Even the grandparents love going at it with us.

Blokus is another great game. We also love Rat a Tat Cat (a card game) and The Last Word. But Labyrinth is our all-time favorite. And Ravensburger is great - we just filled out an internet form and they sent us 5 replacements for missing pieces. Very nice!

Have to put a plug in for a classic. We were at the cabin and found Parcheesi (the royal game of india). The whole family became addicted. So fun! I don't remember playing this as a kid, but there's so much fun strategy involved. DS4 liked it too, until he got 3 double in a row and had to send a piece back to start... Great for beginning math, too.

We love Parcheesi, too! Love those shakers...

Another challenging and fun game is the 4000 year old Game of Go (Wei-ch'i, Baduk, Igo).

It's one of those minutes-to-learn lifetime-to-master type games.


http://www.usgo.org/resources/whatisgo.html

My DH loves Go! Good addition to the list.

We are big go fans here, too!! Love the idea of 'problems of life and death'. It's just so complicated and yet simple. DS8 of course beats us all

ps, there is a fun manga series call 'Hikaru No Go!' about a boy who has a great Go playing legend in his head helping him master the game. It describes in some detail the culture of Go in Japan and how people get to be pro Go players. DS and I have read through about 8 of the books.

My DS5 loves Labyrinth. Since we began homeschooling, we have been joining in with homeschoolers and there is a fun math/critical thinking game day each month where kids bring their favorite games to play with others. My son brought his Labyrinth this last time and it was a huge hit.