Episode 428 – Junior Games: Are They Worth It?

August 10, 2026 Anitra Smith Podcast Episodes, The Family Gamers Podcast

Lots of board games have a stripped down or re-themed version for kids. Are they worth it? Well… sometimes.

0:00:00 Fact for 428

4/28, April 28, is the birthday of Carl Laemmle Jr. who was the head of production at Universal Studios from 1928 to 1936 and personally greenlit the original Classic Monster films (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy), effectively creating the monster universe. (And there’s a rock with this number carved into it at “Darkmoor”, Universal Epic Universe.)

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0:04:25 What We’ve Been Playing

Ham Helsing *
Splendor Kids *
The Four Doors (review coming soon!)
Boop Shuffle *
Carnuta
Journey to Tir na nOg *
Super Duo * (truly off the shelf of shame)

(*) first time mentioned on The Family Gamers Podcast

0:21:20 July Monthly Report

Andrew: 21 plays of 13 unique games. H-index: 3 (Little Alchemists, Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game, Palette)

Anitra: 35 plays of 22 unique games. H-index: 3 (Little Alchemists, Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game, Unmatched, Palette)

Most of our games were played at home, on the weekend, and/or with just 2 players.

0:23:30 The Family Gamers Community

Welcome new members!

0:25:00 #Backtalk

Just a few stories about your “tricky” moments.

Read the responses on Facebook or #backtalk channel of the Discord.

0:27:40 Junior or “My First” Games

These are games that start from an “adult” game that already exists and strip them down to something simpler so that younger kids can play it.

It’s obvious why they exist: to bring in kids and introduce them to not just gaming *concepts* but to worlds/themes already well-branded.

When they do it well, “My First” games follow our guidelines for very young children (see our Candy Land article), while keeping games tolerable for older kids & adults.

Keep physical tasks simple, like rolling a single die. Other simple skills that could be used are matching, stacking, or pulling.
Use durable equipment (dice, tokens, cardboard tiles rather than cards)
Keep it short! Turns should take less than 30 seconds, unless all players are engaged on every turn. The whole game should take less than 20 minutes.
Don’t combine challenging mental tasks into a single “action” (like color matching with counting).
Keep all players on equal footing. (Lots of luck will help even the playing field.)

This is the same thing that happens in the B-mods we’ve tried! Simplifying decisions and keeping players on equal footing.

But some “Junior” or “My First” games try to stay too close to the original, and the game suffers for it. Keeping more complicated mechanics bumps the minimum age back up (Ticket to Ride: First Journey is 6+, Catan Junior is 6-9), while removing elements that keep the “grown up” game interesting. Not exactly “My First” at that point, although these games can work well for slightly older kids who have never played a strategic game before.

So which “My First” games do it well?

The best “My First” games take board games that are already accessible to older kids and bring them down to a preschool level:

Splendor Kids (which we just tried) keeps the set collection and engine building but changes the GOAL and progression to something more concrete – now it’s a race up a track!
Animal Upon Animal Junior (stacking but with much larger sturdier pieces and a simpler game loop. Can combine with the “big kids” version.)
More “junior” stacking games: Rhino Hero Junior (short shelf life but approachable for a 2 year old) and Suspend Junior (just as much fun for adults as kids!)
My First Castle Panic – our NUMBER ONE recommendation
- Similar matching and planning as the big brother, but simplified.
- Same cooperation!
- Encourage children to “ask a friend for help” – better language but the same concept as “trading” cards.
- And what parent doesn’t love a game that cleans itself up as they play?
Dragomino (My First Kingdomino)
- A more fun theme – hatching dragons!
- Adds luck (will your dragon egg hatch?) that gives some balance to scoring
- Points to probability instead of multiplication

0:53:00 A few more that take a much more complex and “adult” game down to a elementary school level:

Little Alchemists focuses on only the deduction aspect of Alchemists, and uses a built in advancement/progression to slowly add complexity
Kids Chronicles based on Chronicles of Crime takes same the basic idea “use the phone/tablet to look around, pick up items” and sets it in a friendly fantasy universe with very basic items and tasks – and a compelling story!

0:55:30 New Backtalk Question

Lots of people ask us how to get our kids into board games. Do you think “My First” games are a good way to do it?

Tell us on the #backtalk channel on our Discord, or in our Facebook community.

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Episode 428 – Junior Games: Are They Worth It?

0:00:00 Fact for 428

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