The Spike

  • About
  • Style
  • Life
  • Books
  • Food
  • Beauty
  • Shop
  • Contact

Ask the Spike

Send your Question

Dobble

Screen Shot 2016-12-13 at 10.06.31.png

Ought to be about £10, available all over the place

 

I am always astonished at what parents find to be the most tedious games to play with their children. I know a woman who finds playing cards with her kids so dull she sneaks off for a line of cocaine, actual cocaine, during sessions. Other parents say that they would rather play “shops” or “at the doctors” or “monster chase” for hours rather than, e.g., Snakes and Ladders.

Me? I love playing cards and board games. But finding one that all my children can understand and that doesn’t descend into a full-on fist fight after three minutes is tricky.

But behold: Dobble! Many of you will know about Dobble already – it’s kind of like snap and it’s easy but also a bit tricky and even Little Sam, who has no patience for this sort of caper, can understand it and enjoys playing it and screaming DOBBLE!!!

A terrific stocking-filler.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

« Adrian
Lamb stew for the grieving »

Comments

  1. Flora40 says

    December 13, 2016 at 11:24 am

    I love dobble. UNO is also brilliant. I hate Happy Families and would rather stick pins in my eyes than play it

    Reply
  2. Aimee says

    December 13, 2016 at 11:26 am

    Dobble’s so popular! Cool 🙂

    I used to work at a board game shop. If you want to flesh out your collection, try things from Peaceable Kingdom (http://www.peaceablekingdom.com/) – Feed the Woozle is very popular – and Gamewright (http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=index) – can normally pick up directly from Amazon, or maybe price check with https://boardgameprices.co.uk/

    Also the “Tell Me A Story” cards from eeBoo often go down very well with preschoolers – easier than story dice when they’re little.

    Reply
  3. Italia.sam says

    December 13, 2016 at 11:48 am

    My kids and I love dobble …I frequently buy it for school friends’ gifting. And I find I can get through a game of dobble without having to sneak off to powder my nose 🙂

    Reply
  4. Cindy says

    December 13, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    Thanks will take a look at this. I like games, puzzles and Lego. Don’t mind dolls. I hate playing shops. I had a week over the summer where it was real shop/pretend shop/real shop/pretend shop/ and cocaine wouldn’t have left a dent in the tedium. (I think we’ve reached a peak/nadir of cool, non-mumsy, I-don’t-give-a-shit parenting with that one though, and maybe it’s time for us to all talk about how wonderful we find it again) Also those lunacy-inducing imaginary games where you just can’t do anything right – “we’re playing Thunderbirds and you’re Virgil, no, wait you’re John. You’ve got to float in your satellite. Float John! John, you’re not floating!!”. Magical.

    Reply
  5. Cindy says

    December 13, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    Oh and my five year old enjoys Top Trumps now, that’s ok.

    Reply
  6. Nikki Ford says

    December 13, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    I can highly recommend a game called Zingo. It’s basically Bingo, but in a format very little children can get into. My three and a half year old and five year old are perfectly capable of sitting and playing it together, and if the four of us play it’s one of the few games that doesn’t drive either me or my husband completely crazy. The downside is you usually need to order it in somewhere, it doesn’t seem to be stocked regularly.

    Reply
  7. Sarah says

    December 13, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    It does get more interesting (stressful) dw my teenagers now watch Dexter and Prison Break and we have to check one of their bedrooms when we remember for illegal substances. I did catch my eldest watching Fawlty Towers on Netflix the other day, I was really shocked as he is usually engrossed in something gross and xxx rated, so there is hope! Maybe the lady you know has a bit more of a problem than she is letting on me thinks. When they were little I usually found a glass of wine did the trick, call me old fashioned!

    Reply
  8. Elena says

    December 13, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    C’mon birdies EAT MY BIRDSEEDS.

    However many times I think of that, I am always reduced to helpless laughter.

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      December 13, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      C’MON BIRDIES!!! COME AND EAT YOUR BIIIIIRDSEEEEEEEED!!!!

      Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      December 13, 2016 at 1:19 pm

      *brrrrr* at the memory of that. I might suggest to her that we play it later

      Reply
  9. Elizabeth says

    December 13, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    I love Dobble- also it’s so short that I can actually agree to play it with my children when the ask (unlike when they ask to play something like Monopoly and I want to screech, “do I look like the sort of person who can just drop everything for three hours??!”)

    Reply
  10. Nicole says

    December 13, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    Also, Shopping Basket. My 3 year old quickly grasped this and now regularly beats us.

    Reply
  11. Cindy says

    December 13, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Junior monopoly is good for younger children, half an hour maximum.

    Reply
  12. thestarter1978 says

    December 13, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    Super, thanks! Have just ordered it.

    Reply
  13. Elaine says

    December 13, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    I am kinda looking forward to being able to play games with my son. He’s two in a couple of weeks and although we can read stories together, do play dough, etc. he’s too wee really to play actual games, be that games he’s made up in his wee head or actual games I played as a child, and I’m looking forward to it. Is that incredibly naive of me? Elaine x

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      December 13, 2016 at 9:24 pm

      no

      Reply
  14. Cindy says

    December 13, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    No Elaine, I’ve had brilliant fun playing with my kids, I can reach a zen state arranging tiny Playmobil furniture, being a patient, voicing dinosaurs, building LEGO to exact specifications, I’ve even occasionally enjoyed being Optimus Prime, but there will be times where you’ll be thinking “Do you really need me for this?” and that’s ok too xx

    Reply
  15. Michelle says

    December 13, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    My kids are getting a bit old for board games now (sob) but our enduring family favorite is Tier auf Tier.

    Reply
  16. laurawelsh says

    December 13, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    Count yourself lucky you are at the Dobble stage (I LOVE Dobble) – I recently had to endure a 4 day ‘Risk’ marathon against the 11yr old son. I honestly thought at one point I would die at the table and he wouldn’t notice he was so engrossed.

    Reply
  17. melbournista says

    December 14, 2016 at 11:29 am

    My four year old loves monkey bingo

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2023 · Design by Gatto

  • About
  • Style
  • Life
  • Books
  • Food
  • Beauty
  • Shop
  • Contact
 

Loading Comments...