In December, my daughter Juliet arrived on the planet, and my life as I know it turned upside down.
For instance, I went from being able to waste time playing any game I was so-so about, to having to make every play count.
It is possible to play board games with a baby around… just not any game you like. So here is my list of games that I’ve found you can play with a small baby around, and some that you absolutely cannot!
Note: Juliet is generally a pretty chilled out baby. I have played all of the can-play games while she, or another friend’s baby of a similar age, was awake and with me. Juliet is currently 5 months old, so the advice may be different for older babies.
Can play – Scout
This quick competitive card game is almost perfect to play with a little one around, as well as similar ones such as Love Letter. You can hold your hand of cards with one hand and the baby with another, and since each round is short and completely separate from each other, you can take breaks to feed, change or put baby down for a nap as you need to.
Or if the baby starts kicking off part-way through the game, you can finish your current round and tot up the points, rather than playing all the rounds you’re “supposed to”. We even managed to play this game with two babies in the room!
Can’t play – Cryptid
While this game is short enough to fit into a nap, it’s not great to play while baby is awake for one simple reason – whoever is looking after the baby is at a distinct disadvantage.
Cryptid is a logical deduction game that I absolutely adore and am astoundingly good at, if I do say so myself. However, it requires a lot of concentration for you to play well, and even looking away for a few minutes and missing one other player’s turn can make it harder for you to piece together the solution.
To be honest, sleep deprivation also makes this game a lot harder, so there are a few reasons this game might not be ideal with a little one around!
Can play – Wavelength
This is a fairly obvious yes, but Wavelength (and probably any any-size-team casual game, such as Codenames or Poetry for Neanderthals) is fairly straight-forward to play with a baby.
These sorts of games only need one person to be hands-on with the game materials at any time – and there’s no need to be strict about taking turns if someone is busy breastfeeding or wrangling a child. This is also fine to play with multiple babies in the room, so why not invite your NCT group round to play!
Can’t play – Blood on the Clocktower
Casual social games are great with a baby, but intense social deduction games less so. I haven’t even tried to play in-person BotC with Juliet around (although I have taken some evenings off and even a whole weekend day away to play it, since its my current obsession).
The nature of a game where you need to talk to people, keep track of a lot of information and weigh in at the right moment, just doesn’t work when you may be feeding, entertaining a baby or dashing off for a nappy change!
Can play – Black Orchestra
While the theme of this game isn’t the most baby friendly – it’s about plotting to assassinate Hitler, after all – the play style certainly is. That’s largely down to the cooperative nature of the game, and I’m sure similar coop games such as Pandemic would fare well too.
We played this with our friends Annika and Ralph and their then 10-week old baby. We passed him round as needed to let each player take their turn, and when he needed feeding it was easy for another player to do the hands-on parts for the player who was feeding.
Can’t play – Heat: Pedal to the Metal
We tried to play this while visiting our friends Ellie and Callum with their own small baby. It did not go well – while we technically finished the game, it was challenging to do the simultaneous play element of this board game where you select your gear and play cards, with a baby who needed feeding or comforting at various points.
It is a fairly quick game, however, so if your baby usually naps for more than an hour, you may be able to squeeze it in – we did exactly that recently, though she woke up and someone who wasn’t playing needed to hold her!
Can sort of play – Bureau of Investigation
Along with Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, his choose-your-own-adventure mystery game was one of my favourites pre-baby, but it’s tricky to get to the table.
Tim and I always used to play this two-player, and with two of you, you both need your hands free (one for reading out the information and one for taking notes). However, while on holiday with our friends with a baby, we had enough hands to go round for notes, booklets and babies!
The game is also quite long – we frequently play for over 3 hours – which is longer than our baby’s current wake windows. Instead, we started the game during the babies’ morning nap, and then only needed to play for about 45 minutes after they got up.
How to choose a game
The best games for playing with a baby present have a few key elements, and the more of these the game has, the easier you’ll find it:
- Short game, or short game rounds – easier to call the game to an end if the baby gets fussy
- Cooperative or team play – so whoever is on baby duty doesn’t feel disadvantaged
- No simultaneous play – taking it in turns means you can pass the baby off between you
- No timed elements – this is a big roadblock if the baby needs tending to at the wrong moment
But go forth and play games while holding your baby! Juggle feeding with card plays, nappy changes with dice rolls and break out the focused stuff while they’re down for a nap!
What games have you played with a baby around?