Top Medieval Board Games for Kids (Educational Gift Guide)

Published:
July 13, 2022

Carrie Fernandez

Contributor:
Carrie

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Are you studying the middle ages in your homeschool? Perhaps your child is just fascinated with the medieval period? There are some great medieval board games, as well as card games and dice games that will immerse players into the medieval age. Read on to learn about the best board games for the medieval times.

Medieval Board Games

Medieval Board Games

The Medieval period is also known as the Middle Ages. This was a time in history from the 5th century when the Roman empire collapsed to the Renaissance, which was until around the 15th century. Our favorite history curriculum for studying the medieval period is The Mystery of History

Are you ready for some medieval fun? Explore medieval England, build a new castle, fight armies, and expand your lands. Check out our list of the best medieval games to bring some fun into your history lessons.

Dominion Board Game

Dominion (10+)

Subject: Medieval Card Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Card Game/Strategy

Get together and enjoy a fun game of Dominion with your kids. This game is an addictive card game perfect for kids around the age of 13. In Dominion, kids can be emperors of their own lands and have goals to improve upon them with rivers and trees. They can also expand their lands to make the best city they can for the people living within them. Players are handed identical sets of cards and the goal is to gain points to expand their lands.

There is a finite amount of point cards so players are challenged to obtain as many as they can while also being wise when to spend their points on new land improvements. The cards in their deck vary but are used to exchange for better qualities. Buying up point cards too early will leave them with less land improvements, so spend wisely! With two to four players, this game is bound to get competitive and be a fun time for your children. This game is great for the kids at home and fun for kids in a school setting as well. 

Battle For Middle Earth

Lord of the Rings Games (Battle For Middle Earth & Journey to Mordor) (8+)

Subject: Medieval board Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Card Game/Adventure

Do you have any children that enjoy the Lord of the Rings series? Based on the mega popular novels and films, these are a couple of games that will give players the experience of those books right at home. These two games are fun and short for kids to enjoy many rounds together. Battle for Middle Earth allows players to take control of a clan and challenge the armies of Mordor! Each player has to build the best clan and the player who defeats the most enemies wins the game.

Journey to Mordor

Journey to Mordor is a dice rolling game where players take the role of the Hobbits. With each role of the dice, players make decisions in order to be the first to climb Mount Doom. The first player to reach the summit and destroy the ring Wins! Both games support two to four players. Pick up these games for your children to experience the ever popular series right at home! 

Dragon Realm Game

Dragonwood / Dragonrealm (8+)

Subject: Medieval Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Card Game/Adventure

Are your children interested in playing games with dragons and war? In this fantasy game, players must be bold enough to enter Dragonwood, the enchanted forest. Picking up adventure cards from a deck, players need to build up a handful of enchantments and attacks in order to survive the enemies of the forest. Just when players have it all figured out, the landscape in the forest alters, making it challenging all over again.

With each victory over an enemy, players gain victory points. Their goal is to gain as many as they can and whoever has the most victory points wins the game! It offers challenge, strategy, and quick decision making to build problem solving skills with your children. They are bound to enjoy this game with their friends at home. Kids can play this game time and time again with a play time of only twenty minutes. This game supports two to four players. 

Medieval Board Games

Keep reading for more of the best medieval board games for your family to play together. Perhaps you can even ease your children off of playing video games and get them engaged with historical board games instead!

Castles of Mad King Ludwig

Castles of Mad King Ludwig (12+)

Subject: Medieval Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Tile Game/Puzzle

Great for those interested in architecture, this game is a challenge to build the best one-of-a-kind castle for the King! King Ludwig II of Bavaria is looking for the best contractors to design the biggest and most extravagant castle for him and his land. In each round one player is the Master Builder. The other players need to purchase rooms and set pieces from him to place in their castle.

With all types of rooms and areas, each player will have a unique build. Points are earned by having bigger spaces and more complete areas. Achieving a complete room or space unlocks special rewards as the game progresses. There are also other challenges that players can complete to earn more points. At the end players tally points together and the player with the most and the best castle wins! At around 90 minutes of game time, children will love playing this game in an attempt to be chosen by the great King Ludwig as his new contractor. 

Keys to The Castle

Keys to The Castle (8+)

Subject: Medieval Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Card Game/Puzzle

Keys to the castle is an interesting race to the finish. You are a knight looking to make it through the maze of locked doors in this castle that you stumbled upon. There are other knights trying to make through before you which makes this a race to the finish! 2-4 players make their way through the castle by drawing cards and making decisions on what they find. Cards may be color-coded keys to get through certain doors or may be helpful items to help them along the journey.

A fun twist to the game is that players can choose to use their keys to lock the doors behind them making it harder for other players to get through! Other items include padlocks to further block someone’s path, a hacksaw to get through barred doors, and items to help you find secret passages making your progress quicker. This game is sure to be a blast for your children to play. 

Castle Panic

Castle Panic (8+)

Subject: Fantasy/Medieval
Players: 1-6
Game Type: Board Game/Duel

Castle Panic is a fun card based game where players draw four to six cards and utilize what they have to defend the castle before it gets invaded! There are four primary enemies in the game. There are swordsmen, Knights, Archers, and monsters of the forest. With each turn players choose to draw new cards, rebuild walls, or attack the beasts from destroying the castle.

After each turn, enemies move forward on the board. If they are close enough they will destroy walls. Behind them are more waves of enemies coming after the castle. It is up to you and your fellow players to work with all these resources to defend the castle and keep it standing.

A fun game for any game night, Castle Panic is an exciting cooperative game for your children to work together and develop teamwork skills with their friends or classmates. Each game can last up to an hour and can play up to 6 players. There is enough room for everyone to get in on the action. 

70 Sleeping Queens

70 Sleeping Queens (8+)

Subject: Fantasy/Medieval
Players: 2-5
Game Type: Card Game

This competitive game is perfect for any fan of the fantasy genre with its queens and dragons! The goal here is to save as many queens as you can before they get taken by your opponents. Your opponent has sent their knights in to awake the queens. It is up to you to use dragons for your defense, use potions to put the queen back to sleep, or defend yourself with a magic wand from your opponents.

Collect the queens and the player who rescued the most queens wins. This game is simple and fun for those interested in a more fantasy based game. The rounds are action packed and do not take long at all. It is sure to be a blast for your children to play against each other during game night. It plays two to five players so everyone can get in on the action. 

Root Game

Root Game (10+)

Subject: Medieval Board Game
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Strategy Board Game

Are your kids interested in role playing games and challenging their friends? In this awesome role playing game, your children can compete to take control of the vast wilderness. Playing the role of one of four factions, players utilize their faction’s unique abilities to obtain wood, resources, and riches to build upon their properties. Each faction has different abilities throughout the game. The challenge is to build more structures and focus on the goals of your faction. With each card played, players move around the board, collect resources, and fight against the armies of their opposing players.

Each faction has unique challenges that play into the overall game, and depending on what those are, you work with or against other players. This game is very detailed and challenging and is perfect for your older children of ten years or older. With a sixty to ninety minute game time, Root is sure to be a fun game night for you and your children. 

Medieval Board Games

Playing medieval board games is not only fun, it can be educational too! When you are learning about the Middle Ages, game play can make it more exciting. 

Historical Conquest

Historical Conquest (8+)

Subject: Fantasy / Medieval
Players: 2-6
Game Type: Card Game/Strategy

This historical game is perfect for children interested in history or even a fun game about conquering their colony. Each player begins with a number of colony cards. There is one colony card for each continent around the world. There are other cards that are faced down that players must draw one card from. These cards can be any member of society including leaders, knights, and even musicians.

There are also bigger things on cards such as armies, and historical events like the black plague or the great depression. Their goal is to create a good morale for their colonies in order to bring about expansion. Things get competitive when players must take over all of their opponents’ land. This game is great for players interested in world building while having an educational and historical element to the game. At such a low cost, this game is a great addition and kids will enjoy how intuitive it is. 

Castles of Burgundy Medieval Game

Castles of Burgundy Medieval Game (12+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 2-4
Game Type: Board Game/Strategy

A fun and challenging strategy game that lets you play out history as you see fit. You will become the ruler of a medieval kingdom, and must manage its economy, military, and diplomatic affairs. Your decisions will affect the fate of your country, and the lives of thousands of citizens. Will you be a wise king? A benevolent leader? Or perhaps something else entirely?

layers must carefully plan their strategy and manage resources to ensure their success. Trade routes along the rivers will help players prosper, while mining operations will provide income. Farming and ranching will allow players to produce goods and sell them at marketplaces.

A Feast For Odin Medieval Board Game

A Feast For Odin Medieval Board Game (14+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 4
Game Type: Board Game/Strategy

In this epic game, you’ll lead a band of Vikings to explore new lands and raid the villages they find there. As you explore the land, you’ll gain wealth and glory, while taking part in daily activities like gathering food to feed your hungry Vikings. 

Players can send some Vikings to produce goods like wool, spices, and metal. These goods can then be traded for other goods. If players need to expand their territory, they can send Vikings to raid neighboring tribes. At the end of the game, the player whose possessions hold the highest value wins.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg

The Quacks of Quedlinburg (10+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 4
Game Type: Board Game/Strategy

In The Quacks of Quedlinburg, players are charlatans (quack doctors/). Each player makes their own secret brew by adding ingredients one at a time. You must be careful what you add, because a pinch too much of this or that will ruin the whole mixture!

Each player starts with a bag of ingredient chips. Each round, players simultaneously draw chips from their bag and place them in their brewing pot. The higher the face-value of the drawn chip, or the closer it is to the center of the pot, the more potent the resulting brew. But beware, adding too many cherry bombs could blow your pot sky high!

At the end of each round players earn victory points and coins to buy new ingredients. If a player places an ingredient on a tile already containing another ingredient, he loses all his points and coins. However, if a player places an ingredient that explodes, he gets to keep all his points and coins, but must choose whether to spend them on more ingredients or on points. The player with the most points at the end of the ninth round wins the game.

Paladins of The West Kingdom

Paladins of The West Kingdom (12+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 1-4
Game Type: Turn-Based Strategy

Paladinds of the West Kingdom is a turn-based strategy game set during the turbulent times of West Francia circa 900 AD. Players will lead their own armies of knights, monks and peasants to fight against other players and the forces of evil. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach 1000 VP. To achieve this, players will need to recruit workers, build outposts and fortifications and commission monks to gain influence and faith. A key aspect of the game is the ability to change your character’s abilities and traits mid-game. These changes will affect your overall strategy and ultimately your chances of winning.

Carcassonne Medieval Strategy Game

Carcassonne Medieval Strategy Game (7+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 2-5
Game Type: Board Game/Strategy

Carcasonne is a strategy game that takes place in a small village. There are lots of buildings you can construct, like houses, farms, castles, roads and cities. Each player starts with a few tiles and tries to get the most points by placing them on the board. The goal is to connect your own city with other players’ cities. To win, you must capture the opponent’s last tile.

This is a simple game that requires very little strategy. You start with one tile and each turn you draw a tile and place it anywhere on the board. If you land on an empty space then you claim it. If there is already someone else claiming it then you lose your turn. There are two ways to win: if you claim all tiles before anyone else does or if you manage to block everyone else out. Games usually last around 30 – 45 minutes.

Troyes Board Game

Troyes Board Game (14+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 2-4
Game Type: War Game/Strategy

Troyes is a game about survival in a medieval French city. Players compete to build the greatest cathedral while fending off religious wars, political intrigue, and other threats. The game features a unique economic system that rewards players for helping each other out, and a dynamic map that changes throughout the game.

Players start with a small amount of money and resources, and must manage their finances carefully to avoid bankruptcy. Each round, players draw cards, play actions, and resolve conflicts. Players may spend resources to buy additional cards, actions, and victory points, and also gain influence over the mayor and other leaders. Players may also choose to attack other players, steal their resources, or even declare war on them.

Caylus

Caylus (10+)

Subject: Medieval
Players: 2-5
Game Type: Board Game/Strategy

This game is set in the year 1289. Players will build farms, mills, market guilds, and other buildings in Caylus, a small town in the south of France. You’ll need to hire workers to collect the necessary resources, and you’ll need to construct the best castle to earn the favor of the town’s ruler.

As the game progresses, players must spend their coins to buy cards, which represent different types of resources. Some cards give you extra coins, while others let you build structures. You can also earn favor tokens from the King, which grant you special abilities. At the end of each round, players bid for the right to play a card, and then draw two cards at random. If you have enough coins, you can purchase a card. Otherwise, you must wait until the next round. A full game round lasts between 60–150 minutes.

Medieval Times Resources

You can design your own coat of arms using our free coat of arms template. You can also check out YouTube for videos on the middle ages for kids. Find dragons fascinating? Check out these free dragon worksheets.

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In Conclusion

Playing strategy games that cover a period of history, such as the Middle ages or the Viking age can make history more exciting for your kids. Whether you are pretending to be medieval people who construct city walls, or the object of the game is to trade goods with other players, family board games can be an enjoyable way to learn about history.

Whether you want to dive into the 11th century, 14th century, 16th century, or any time period during the medieval ages, playing a popular board game can make it all come alive!

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