Games That Promote Communication Skills Make Great Holiday Gifts!

Lynda Stucky December 13, 2018 Develop Language, Develop Your Speech, Develop Your Voice

At Christmas each year, our family spends a lot of time around the dining room table playing board games and cards. One of my children in particular has a hobby of collecting games, learning them and teaching them to us. I’ll call him my Game Player Extraordinaire. His name is Sam and to give you an example, he has 50+ games. I thought he might be a good person to ask for some game recommendations that promote language skills for my game review this year. These make wonderful gifts and promote communication skills as well. Here’s what he suggested:

Codenames ($15)

In this two-team game, you are trying to get your teammates to guess all of the correct agents. This is done by giving one-word clues that are associated with multiple words on the board. Your teammate(s) tries to guess the words you are referring to before the other team guesses all of their team’s words. All the while you must be careful not to guess the assassin, or “8-ball” word. It is a great exercise in word association.

Sam’s review: “Great party game for any number of people. Comes with a word version, picture version, and even Disney and Harry Potter versions.”

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Dixit ($31)

This game for 3-6 players uses a lot of imaginative storytelling. Here’s how it works….when it’s your turn, you select one card from your hand and make a short caption or story. The other players submit a card from their hand that they feel works with that caption. When all of the cards are revealed to everyone, all players guess which card was the original captioned picture. You move ahead in the game if you do. You also score points if someone guesses your card.

Sam’s review: “A lot like Apples to Apples but much better artwork and can be much more goofy.”

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Pandemic ($36)

In this 2-4 player games you must work together to save the world from four diseases. Players work together using different characters with different strengths and take actions to eradicate diseases before the diseases spread further.

Sam’s review: “Not a word game, but it is cooperative. Which makes it easier to retain friendship with all your competitive friends. You travel all over the world curing diseases and preventing outbreaks, trying to ‘beat the board.”

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Magic Maze ($32)

This board game takes place in a mall. Each pawn needs to acquire a specific item and then escape from the mall. Players are in charge of moving any and all four pawns in one specific cardinal direction and there are no turns. You’ll need to communicate silently and cooperate with your teammates to move the pawns around. Imagine a world without verbal communication. It’s your chance to tryout this new way of cooperating through other forms of communication!

Sam’s review: “I enjoy this game because it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever played. Where board games are usually spent socializing or going turn by turn, in this game everybody plays at the same time and you have to communicate non-verbally under pressure (a time limit).”

If none of these sound interesting, check out the 2015 or the 2014 ClearlySpeaking game review recommendations:

Great Games to Play that Stimulate Thinking and Language

Six Holiday Gift Ideas that Promote Language Skills

Thanks to Sam Stucky, game reviewer who made these as his picks for 2018. He’s also a talented singer/song writer. Visit him at www.samstucky.net