Let's face it, a lot of board games for young children are quite boring. I think this is because some game creators think "simple" means "purely based on luck". But a good board game for young children, at least if you ask me, should still require some level of skill or tactical thinking, designed in a way that it fits the age group. Even better if the design is such that it fun for any age group. Is this even possible?
Let's take a closer look at the lovely and aptly named board game Weeeooo Weeeooo - they could've just gone with something boring like "Here comes the Fire Engine", but this shows the level of dedication - and see how it holds up to my adult eye.
Weeeooo Weeeooo is a board game in which you play as a fire fighter who gets called on missions. The goal is to complete as many missions as possible, but if you're not careful you get called to lunch and lose your points. Each round the player flips cards to see whether they are a point (mission) or a point reset (lunch break). To get the point the player also need to have brought the right tools - two out of three possible, since every mission requires a certain tool to be completed. If someone fails to complete mission/s, the point goes over to the next player in turn. So the game is essentially a risk vs reward assessment game and its great fun to see how differently young players can approach the game mechanics. Some go the safe route and only take a few points per turn, some (most) go all in and just hope for the best.
I find this fairly simple premise easy to grasp for any age group above the "put everything in your mouth"-age and this means that as an adult you don't have to go out your way to avoid being the supreme winner nor smiling through boredom. While the tools add another layer of activity to the game, they're basically just luck based. To pick a card or not pick a card, that is the only question and it's a pretty fun and interesting one, at least for the 10-15 minutes that the game lasts. I played this with my kids from the age of 2 with no problem, though at that age the components are still more fun to play with than to win with.
I forgot to tell you about the best part - the game includes a little fire fighter figure and best of all the game box itself turns into an actual fire engine with which you can drive around and complete/pick up missions.
This is probably difficult to get hold of now, so I'll make a general recommendation. Risk assessment gameplay is usually fun for most ages and something that can be designed to level out some of the differences in skill. It's a good style of game to bet on when trying out games for the youngest kids that actually require some thinking, maybe something to kindle an interest into heavier things to come.
Weeeooo Weeeooo is a fun and well designed game in this category, one that I feel goes that little extra distance and I whole heartedly recommend it.
