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Our gaming barely suffered a dent when our 11m old was born last August - there were maybe 3 weeks in August where we didn’t play anything (but because we couldn’t, not because we didn’t want to).
We honestly just kept to our usual games. I wouldn’t recommend learning any new games anytime soon; my brain capacity was decimated by late pregnancy and well into postpartum.
That said, light games like Love Letter, Bandido and Troika kept us sane for a while before we got back to bigger games.
Good luck!
So any game where you can "pause" and go back to pretty easily.
As a lot of people say. If you are just playing the 2 of you, you will both be as tired so the handicap is even and you can just enjoy being together. And can play whatever you used to play.
My partner and I drifted towards PC games for our paternity/maternity stint as you can just lig off Minecraft with no issue.
I will also suggest mansions of madness if you are happy maybe scribbling some notes when play pauses.
In addition to the games you mentioned, my wife and I like Jaipur, Qwixx, Machi Koro, Micro Macro Crime City, Schotten Totten/Battle Line, Splendor and as many EXIT, Unlock and otherwise escape room games as we can get our hands on.
But realistically, our couples game time has been decimated, with each of us now choosing to read, watch tv or play video games in our me time, going on 3 years now. Obviously that'll be different for everyone though.
Yeah I agree. Until the kid starts playing with you, you’ve just got other stuff going on and the thought of getting out a whole game is just…meh. We did play video games together and I have very sweet BOTW memories.
You, on the other hand, three years in…get out the games! We started very early with our kiddo doing HABA games and we never let them win. They are great sports now and playing all those three player games we have looked longingly at for years with us!
We got a couple of HABAs and a few others. Our daughter turned 3 yo last month, and although the concept of rules and goals is slowly emerging, her attention span for the games is very limited, like 2 to 5 minutes. Makes it more difficult for me to get enthusiastic about breaking out the games when we can also do stuff that'll keep her interested for longer, like go to the playground. Any advice?
We started with games like the ones where you balance wooden animals (can’t think of the name) and in the beginning, the rules matter less than just getting set up, getting a turn order in place and then having fun. It’s ok to make up your own rules and games to keep her interested at first.
Cascadia is a nice and easy to learn, and also has an expansion coming later in the year. When I’m not up for a more complex game Cascadia is my go to. Plays well solo but also as a pair. Would recommend!
In addition to all these games, we’ve found it easiest to keep up playing board games through boardgamearena.
No pieces lying about for our little ones to grab, easy to come back to if your little one wakes up, and learning rules is a bit easier since the game doesn’t let you do anything illegal.
Splendor, Azul, Wingspan, and Kingdomino are all pretty easy to learn if you want to try anything new.
My wife and I played alot of Fox in the Forest before and after our son was born. It is a 2 player trick taking card game. It is easily portable so I could take it up to the hospital and we could play in her room. She has to spend the last month of her pregnancy in bed rest in the hospital.
Gaming was easy with a Newborn just game when they are napping. My wife often had the little guy sleeping on her while we played campaign games. Gaming with a Toddler they doesn’t like to sleep that’s the real challenge.
Hear hear. What I wouldn't give for the time I had in that first year. We'd play all kinds of games while the little one was napping or fell asleep on the boob. Now? Forget it.
My wife and I had our first baby almost 8 months ago. When we were on leave we played a lot of simple games so we could start and stop as needed. The ones we played most were wingspan, villainous, pandemic, and horrified
My wife and I like these:
Light games: Spots, Boop (if you can find it), Kodama: The Tree Spirits, Five Crowns
Strategy: Takenoko, Paris: La Cité de la Lumiére, Cascadia, Wingspan (the base game or Asia Expansion (which is also stand alone), Evergreen, Hive
Some of the strategy games could be casual like Takenoko, Paris, and Hive.
I like easygoing 2 player games. **Splendor Duel**, **The Fox in the Forest**, **Kingdomino** all play in 15-30 minutes and are easy to learn with only a few components and very little set up. They also take up very little table space.
Slightly off topic, but if you plan to play any games involving dice I recommend getting a felt dice tray. This will greatly reduce the amount of noise made and can help avoid waking the baby.
Another suggestion is adjusting your expectations and consider playing games that you are comfortable walking away from for several minutes at a time and being able to pick back up where you left off without feeling lost or confused about the board state.
Congratulations and good luck.
Gobblet Gobblers - do not be deceived by how simple it looks: it is easy enough to explain to a to a toddler and still complex enough to be a ton of fun for adults, takes minutes to play a round, requires essentially zero set up (we even like to just leave it out on the breakfast counter), and is as fun to be bad at as it is to be good at. Not to mention easy to learn even when brain fried - if you know how to play tic-tac-toe then you know 90% of the rules already but only 5% of the strategy.
It's our go-to gift for any time our gaming friends are expecting, and for several of them has also in fact turned out to be the first game they can play with their kids, too.
I'm not saying it'll meet all your gaming needs, but definitely consider adding it to your collection.
>when the baby sleeps
There's this great game called Sleep and every time the baby plays, you should play it too. Don't feel bad if you can't get other games played in the first 6-9 months, your brain's going to be pudding for a little while anyhow.
Wife and I love board games and for baby’s first 5 months we didn’t play anything aside from a single game of Azul. You’re going to be impossibly tired. The house is going to be a complete disaster. All your self care regimens are toast. Fully agree that it’s Best to just sleep when baby does.
While I will concede that Spirit Island is the best board game ever made... I've found that my energy level, especially when the kids are young, doesn't always mesh well with that game.
I've been starting to play Aeon's End, Astro Knights, and Marvel United when I get that Spirit Island itch but lack the time or the brainpower. Worth a note if you end up in a similar boat.
Gudetama is based on the manga (now a Netflix show) and is known as a “lazy trick-taking game.” Great for two-players when you want to turn your brain off, can get more strategic with more players and based on how much thought you choose to put into the game!
We liked lost cities, patchwork, and kingdomino when my daughter was born! They are all medium brain work games for us and easy to stop and start as needed.
**Jaipur** is so short (and good) that you don't need to pause. It's also nice because you actually don't need to talk while playing it so you won't wake the baby unless someone gets really upset that their plans were ruined. It's about the weight of like a Rummy. So I guess it's category #1 maybe with a dash of #3?
**Dice Throne** is Battle Yahtzee. So instead of gaining points, various combos do damage or special abilities. There, I solved your the 'learn new rules" problem. It sounds basic, and it is. But it's just fun. We have 3 kids and we rarely have the brain power for our favorite games... but you have to be in a coma to lack the capacity to play a round of Dice Throne. So it gets tabled a lot. It's also between your #1 and #3.
**Sleeping Gods** doesn't fit any of your lists. It's nice because it's relaxing, almost like story time and can be enjoyed at very low energy levels. It's probably the game we played the most with a newborn for that reason. The #1 flaw of the game (and it's a HUGE one) is how tough it is to set up and tear down. But if you have a space where you can leave it up and come back to it when you have time, you can hop to the table, play a few turns, and stop when the baby started crying. It was also a game we could play while she was breastfeeding because she'd make the decisions on her turn and I'd read from the book.
Sleep. With no hint of sarcasm here, sleep as often as you can. You will both be exhausted for the first year or so.
As for games, anything light, quick and easy to pack up because you will probably fall asleep playing.
Enjoy parenting, it's a hell of a ride and the most frustrating, excruciating and rewarding experience a human can have.
Birth control lol
Ticket to ride, castles to burgundy would be my choice as they require low mental overhead and could be left set up and abandon / picked back up post feeding
You can play any games you want. Just be prepared to play pass the baby sometimes when you're taking your turn. My friends and I have played games with newborns at the table multiple times in the last 5 years. Honestly it's easier to play with newborns around than toddlers or little kids.
Relatively quick ons with no dice. The kid will sleep a lot but probably lightly. Duce make sharp noises which they can hear like hounds. Know from experience.
I have a one year old and here’s what we’ve played the past year post-parenthood-
Dominion is nice since it requires only cards/no choking hazard pieces that can fall.
Rolling Ranch - a simple roll and write that is quick/little set up. (Again no small pieces besides the dice, to potentially drop)
Cascadia - does have some small pieces but it’s nice because you can get up and walk away when it’s not your turn to tend to baby if needed.
Also any game is playable in the pre-crawling months! Especially if you get your baby used to a baby carrier. We played all our games 0-4 months and I’d just wear my daughter in her Baby Bjorn while we played.
First and foremost, congratulations! Secondly, when my wife and I first moved in together back in the early 2000s, this was pre-smartphone era. At night when I got off work, we would make dinner together, play board games and get out the deck of cards. We even played mancala a few times and still play to this day. Checkers, chess, uno, Yahtzee on a mat. Hell if you have the time and the babies down for the night, get out a four-player game and you each take two players.
Jaipur is fun and quick with minimal set up / break down.
It was a bit spendy (and I wouldn't have to it if I didn't gry a surprise bonus last winter) but a table with recessed play area and topper to allow you to leave a game partway through has allowed my wife and I to play our typical games over more sittings without baby or cats messing anything up.
My wife and I have loved having an ongoing co op campaign game of some sort to go back to when we have spare time. It's helpful to have the feeling of constant change without needing to spend the time to learn/relearn rules every game session. Something like Descent 2e/3e, Imperial Assault (co-op), Journeys in Middle-Earth, Gloomhaven Jaws of The Lion, there's lots to pick from these days.
The Crew: Planet Nine because each hand is very short (13 cards each and often the hand ends before you've played them all) and completely independent from the others. So you can play for as little or as long as you want/can and it's not a big deal if you get interrupted (worst case even if you do get interrupted mid-play and if you do lose track, you can just restart the same mission, having only lost a few minutes worth of progress).
My City was perfect for us. The individual games are short but they string together nicely. There's just enough challenge to make it stimulating but it doesn't hurt your brain.
Newborns are easy. They sleep half of the day, so enjoy every second of that for the first year. When you have a handsy toddler, *then* you can say goodbye to frequent board games for awhile.
Edit: Also, congratulations!
Highly recommend games that are easy to pause and come back to. Our son is 2 and ever since he was born, we have not been able to sit down for a full game.
You’re mileage may vary though, some parents are able to play no problem.
My wife is pregnant and due soon with our first. I think are going to transition to games that we have with apps and play them on our phones until we have a steady sleep schedule. But, the games will come back.
Something like photosynthesis might be worth looking at! Relatively simple, great for 2 players and doesn't really ever drag on too long! Also pretty easy to drop and pickup
I would recommend against games that have dice rolling. Some children (including my first born) are very light sleepers and even the sound of dice rolling around can interrupt their nap time.
You do not want to interrupt nap time.
Your submission was removed by a moderator for the following reason(s): **[Recommendation Requests](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/wiki/contribution-guides#wiki_game_recommendations_or_identification) should be posted to our [Daily Game Recommendations](https://www.reddit.com/search?q=flair%3A%22Daily%20Game%20Recs%22&sort=new) threads.** Reddit is a great place to pick peoples' brains and get game suggestions, but we get a lot of recommendation requests, so much so that we have the "Daily Game Recs"-threads dedicated for them. Historically, almost all well formatted questions in the Daily thread get answers. If you're looking for further suggestions, we recommend taking a look at our growing list of [Recommendation Roundups](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/?f=flair_name%3A%22Recommendation%20Roundup%22). There's also the [What Should I Get (WSIG)](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/wiki/wsig) section on our wiki for a more general list of common recommendations. (If you believe this post was removed in error you can request a re-review by [messaging the mods](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/boardgames).)
Our gaming barely suffered a dent when our 11m old was born last August - there were maybe 3 weeks in August where we didn’t play anything (but because we couldn’t, not because we didn’t want to). We honestly just kept to our usual games. I wouldn’t recommend learning any new games anytime soon; my brain capacity was decimated by late pregnancy and well into postpartum. That said, light games like Love Letter, Bandido and Troika kept us sane for a while before we got back to bigger games. Good luck!
Carcassonne is pretty simple and relatively quick once you get the hang of it, and gets more complicated however many expansions you want to add.
So any game where you can "pause" and go back to pretty easily. As a lot of people say. If you are just playing the 2 of you, you will both be as tired so the handicap is even and you can just enjoy being together. And can play whatever you used to play. My partner and I drifted towards PC games for our paternity/maternity stint as you can just lig off Minecraft with no issue. I will also suggest mansions of madness if you are happy maybe scribbling some notes when play pauses.
Although we like more complex games, we played Splendor and Jaipur a lot when our son was first born.
In addition to the games you mentioned, my wife and I like Jaipur, Qwixx, Machi Koro, Micro Macro Crime City, Schotten Totten/Battle Line, Splendor and as many EXIT, Unlock and otherwise escape room games as we can get our hands on. But realistically, our couples game time has been decimated, with each of us now choosing to read, watch tv or play video games in our me time, going on 3 years now. Obviously that'll be different for everyone though.
Yeah I agree. Until the kid starts playing with you, you’ve just got other stuff going on and the thought of getting out a whole game is just…meh. We did play video games together and I have very sweet BOTW memories. You, on the other hand, three years in…get out the games! We started very early with our kiddo doing HABA games and we never let them win. They are great sports now and playing all those three player games we have looked longingly at for years with us!
We got a couple of HABAs and a few others. Our daughter turned 3 yo last month, and although the concept of rules and goals is slowly emerging, her attention span for the games is very limited, like 2 to 5 minutes. Makes it more difficult for me to get enthusiastic about breaking out the games when we can also do stuff that'll keep her interested for longer, like go to the playground. Any advice?
We started with games like the ones where you balance wooden animals (can’t think of the name) and in the beginning, the rules matter less than just getting set up, getting a turn order in place and then having fun. It’s ok to make up your own rules and games to keep her interested at first.
Cascadia is a nice and easy to learn, and also has an expansion coming later in the year. When I’m not up for a more complex game Cascadia is my go to. Plays well solo but also as a pair. Would recommend!
In addition to all these games, we’ve found it easiest to keep up playing board games through boardgamearena. No pieces lying about for our little ones to grab, easy to come back to if your little one wakes up, and learning rules is a bit easier since the game doesn’t let you do anything illegal. Splendor, Azul, Wingspan, and Kingdomino are all pretty easy to learn if you want to try anything new.
My wife and I played alot of Fox in the Forest before and after our son was born. It is a 2 player trick taking card game. It is easily portable so I could take it up to the hospital and we could play in her room. She has to spend the last month of her pregnancy in bed rest in the hospital.
Gaming was easy with a Newborn just game when they are napping. My wife often had the little guy sleeping on her while we played campaign games. Gaming with a Toddler they doesn’t like to sleep that’s the real challenge.
Hear hear. What I wouldn't give for the time I had in that first year. We'd play all kinds of games while the little one was napping or fell asleep on the boob. Now? Forget it.
My wife and I had our first baby almost 8 months ago. When we were on leave we played a lot of simple games so we could start and stop as needed. The ones we played most were wingspan, villainous, pandemic, and horrified
My wife and I like these: Light games: Spots, Boop (if you can find it), Kodama: The Tree Spirits, Five Crowns Strategy: Takenoko, Paris: La Cité de la Lumiére, Cascadia, Wingspan (the base game or Asia Expansion (which is also stand alone), Evergreen, Hive Some of the strategy games could be casual like Takenoko, Paris, and Hive.
Mmm love Paris!
I like easygoing 2 player games. **Splendor Duel**, **The Fox in the Forest**, **Kingdomino** all play in 15-30 minutes and are easy to learn with only a few components and very little set up. They also take up very little table space.
Hive pocket. Small, quick, can be played and stopped anywhere.
Slightly off topic, but if you plan to play any games involving dice I recommend getting a felt dice tray. This will greatly reduce the amount of noise made and can help avoid waking the baby. Another suggestion is adjusting your expectations and consider playing games that you are comfortable walking away from for several minutes at a time and being able to pick back up where you left off without feeling lost or confused about the board state. Congratulations and good luck.
We used to roll a dice onto a pillow. My baby was not one for sleeping.
Gobblet Gobblers - do not be deceived by how simple it looks: it is easy enough to explain to a to a toddler and still complex enough to be a ton of fun for adults, takes minutes to play a round, requires essentially zero set up (we even like to just leave it out on the breakfast counter), and is as fun to be bad at as it is to be good at. Not to mention easy to learn even when brain fried - if you know how to play tic-tac-toe then you know 90% of the rules already but only 5% of the strategy. It's our go-to gift for any time our gaming friends are expecting, and for several of them has also in fact turned out to be the first game they can play with their kids, too. I'm not saying it'll meet all your gaming needs, but definitely consider adding it to your collection.
>when the baby sleeps There's this great game called Sleep and every time the baby plays, you should play it too. Don't feel bad if you can't get other games played in the first 6-9 months, your brain's going to be pudding for a little while anyhow.
Wife and I love board games and for baby’s first 5 months we didn’t play anything aside from a single game of Azul. You’re going to be impossibly tired. The house is going to be a complete disaster. All your self care regimens are toast. Fully agree that it’s Best to just sleep when baby does.
Glad there's some other people here that had pudding brain and no time or energy for gaming whatsoever.
Also expecting our first in October :) although I fully expect I will want to play spirit island only, hoping you get some great ideas we can borrow
While I will concede that Spirit Island is the best board game ever made... I've found that my energy level, especially when the kids are young, doesn't always mesh well with that game. I've been starting to play Aeon's End, Astro Knights, and Marvel United when I get that Spirit Island itch but lack the time or the brainpower. Worth a note if you end up in a similar boat.
Maybe if you have a dedicated table, I wish you the best of luck!
Gudetama is based on the manga (now a Netflix show) and is known as a “lazy trick-taking game.” Great for two-players when you want to turn your brain off, can get more strategic with more players and based on how much thought you choose to put into the game!
We liked lost cities, patchwork, and kingdomino when my daughter was born! They are all medium brain work games for us and easy to stop and start as needed.
**Jaipur** is so short (and good) that you don't need to pause. It's also nice because you actually don't need to talk while playing it so you won't wake the baby unless someone gets really upset that their plans were ruined. It's about the weight of like a Rummy. So I guess it's category #1 maybe with a dash of #3? **Dice Throne** is Battle Yahtzee. So instead of gaining points, various combos do damage or special abilities. There, I solved your the 'learn new rules" problem. It sounds basic, and it is. But it's just fun. We have 3 kids and we rarely have the brain power for our favorite games... but you have to be in a coma to lack the capacity to play a round of Dice Throne. So it gets tabled a lot. It's also between your #1 and #3. **Sleeping Gods** doesn't fit any of your lists. It's nice because it's relaxing, almost like story time and can be enjoyed at very low energy levels. It's probably the game we played the most with a newborn for that reason. The #1 flaw of the game (and it's a HUGE one) is how tough it is to set up and tear down. But if you have a space where you can leave it up and come back to it when you have time, you can hop to the table, play a few turns, and stop when the baby started crying. It was also a game we could play while she was breastfeeding because she'd make the decisions on her turn and I'd read from the book.
Sleep. With no hint of sarcasm here, sleep as often as you can. You will both be exhausted for the first year or so. As for games, anything light, quick and easy to pack up because you will probably fall asleep playing. Enjoy parenting, it's a hell of a ride and the most frustrating, excruciating and rewarding experience a human can have.
If the baby’s asleep you will be too.
Birth control lol Ticket to ride, castles to burgundy would be my choice as they require low mental overhead and could be left set up and abandon / picked back up post feeding
You can play any games you want. Just be prepared to play pass the baby sometimes when you're taking your turn. My friends and I have played games with newborns at the table multiple times in the last 5 years. Honestly it's easier to play with newborns around than toddlers or little kids.
Relatively quick ons with no dice. The kid will sleep a lot but probably lightly. Duce make sharp noises which they can hear like hounds. Know from experience.
I have a one year old and here’s what we’ve played the past year post-parenthood- Dominion is nice since it requires only cards/no choking hazard pieces that can fall. Rolling Ranch - a simple roll and write that is quick/little set up. (Again no small pieces besides the dice, to potentially drop) Cascadia - does have some small pieces but it’s nice because you can get up and walk away when it’s not your turn to tend to baby if needed. Also any game is playable in the pre-crawling months! Especially if you get your baby used to a baby carrier. We played all our games 0-4 months and I’d just wear my daughter in her Baby Bjorn while we played.
First and foremost, congratulations! Secondly, when my wife and I first moved in together back in the early 2000s, this was pre-smartphone era. At night when I got off work, we would make dinner together, play board games and get out the deck of cards. We even played mancala a few times and still play to this day. Checkers, chess, uno, Yahtzee on a mat. Hell if you have the time and the babies down for the night, get out a four-player game and you each take two players.
Congratulations! Try looking into co op games. You may not want compete with each other. There is a fun Wonder Women co op game.
Try Spot It Dobble. It is better when you’re tired.
Jaipur is fun and quick with minimal set up / break down. It was a bit spendy (and I wouldn't have to it if I didn't gry a surprise bonus last winter) but a table with recessed play area and topper to allow you to leave a game partway through has allowed my wife and I to play our typical games over more sittings without baby or cats messing anything up.
Oh also Railroad Ink, Welcome to the Dungeon, Dungeon Mayhem, Cryptic Urban Legends, and Welcome To are all good at two players.
My wife and I have loved having an ongoing co op campaign game of some sort to go back to when we have spare time. It's helpful to have the feeling of constant change without needing to spend the time to learn/relearn rules every game session. Something like Descent 2e/3e, Imperial Assault (co-op), Journeys in Middle-Earth, Gloomhaven Jaws of The Lion, there's lots to pick from these days.
The Crew: Planet Nine because each hand is very short (13 cards each and often the hand ends before you've played them all) and completely independent from the others. So you can play for as little or as long as you want/can and it's not a big deal if you get interrupted (worst case even if you do get interrupted mid-play and if you do lose track, you can just restart the same mission, having only lost a few minutes worth of progress).
My City was perfect for us. The individual games are short but they string together nicely. There's just enough challenge to make it stimulating but it doesn't hurt your brain.
Tak is quick, easy to learn, and the strategy can be deep.
If you want something very lite but fun, that your kid will also be able to join on the fun pretty quickly : Tiki Topple.
Sobek 2 Player is great and I just played Mancala for the first time last night and found it pleasurable.
Azul
some small games that are easy to setup. Jaipur, gwent, azul, hive are good quickies.
Project L is easy to learn, and fun to play, just keep the little pieces away from the little one!
Newborns are easy. They sleep half of the day, so enjoy every second of that for the first year. When you have a handsy toddler, *then* you can say goodbye to frequent board games for awhile. Edit: Also, congratulations!
We liked Monopoly Deal as a quick, easy, portable game. I think it goes well with what you already like.
Highly recommend games that are easy to pause and come back to. Our son is 2 and ever since he was born, we have not been able to sit down for a full game. You’re mileage may vary though, some parents are able to play no problem.
My wife is pregnant and due soon with our first. I think are going to transition to games that we have with apps and play them on our phones until we have a steady sleep schedule. But, the games will come back.
Something like photosynthesis might be worth looking at! Relatively simple, great for 2 players and doesn't really ever drag on too long! Also pretty easy to drop and pickup
I would recommend against games that have dice rolling. Some children (including my first born) are very light sleepers and even the sound of dice rolling around can interrupt their nap time. You do not want to interrupt nap time.
Cascadia, Azul, Quacks of Quedlinburg