The Best Horse Board Games for Horse Lovers
Are you thinking about a horse themed party, birthday or classroom party? Is your child obsessed with horses and ponies? For animal-loving kids, nothing is better than incorporating horse-themed games into social events. This list contains some of the best equestrian based games to fill your party agenda.
These games are engaging and will entertain your guests for hours. Not only that. Some of the games will enhance their learning and cognitive skills. So reign in your excitement because some of these games will make you pony up and make you rather unstable with excitement.
For some inspiration, here are 6 horse-themed games you should consider playing.
1. Horses and Ponies Monopoly Board Game
Age: 8+
Players: 2+
Are you in search of the best family board games for family game nights? Then, you’re in luck. The Horses and Ponies Monopoly Board Game is a reimplementation of the classic Monopoly game.
Unlike the classic, in this game, players can purchase a set of ponies, own all baroque horses, invest in stables, stalls and much more. This fast-dealing game is suitable for two players or more and comes with special player tokens.
They include a feed bucket, riding boot, wheelbarrow, horse brush, jockey cap and more. Players have the choice of choosing their favourite equestrian token. While playing, players will encounter various breeds of ponies and horses.
However, you need to watch out for expensive taxes. To win the game, you must be the last player left who has yet to go bankrupt. Then, other players will declare you the winner, and the game is over. It’s Monopoly, but horse themed!
2. Horse Academy
Age: 7+
Players: 2+
Next, we have Horse Academy, a logic game with more than 70 challenges. Perfect for adults and children, the game comes with a game board and 10 puzzle pieces with paths and obstacles. You also have an exit gate, a horse with a rider and a booklet with 80 challenges.
The objective of Horse Academy is to build a horse jumping track which will enable your horse with a rider to canter the jumps in the correct order. The game board has openings in different places. This allows you and other players to make different combinations of start and end positions.
Players can place the horse with a rider at the starting and finish points by sliding in between the fences on the game board’s border. Once you set up your horse at the starting point, choose a challenge.
Then, select the puzzle pieces as indicated in the challenge. Each puzzle piece features an obstacle with a colour code. As such, you only need the puzzle pieces with obstacles indicated in the challenge.
Once you create a path, your horse should follow the path without changing course. By playing the Horse Academy, not only will you enhance your problem-solving skills. But your concentration, visual perception and spatial insight.
3. Spirit Top Trumps
Age: 4+
Players: 2+
This game is based on the hit animated show, Spirit! Join Spirit, Pru, Boomerang, Lucky and others in this new Spirit edition of Top Trumps Match. Simple and engaging, the game comes with 25 character cubes, 15 mini Top Trump cards and a game grid that folds into a stylish carry case. As such, the game is perfect for your travels. Whether you’re travelling by air or road, you can keep the kids entertained for hours.
To play, all you need to do is match five Spirit characters in a row. You can match the characters diagonally, vertically and horizontally. If you’re the first to match five of the amazing characters in a row, you win the game.
However, your opponent can snatch the match. To find out if your opponent can win and take the match, turn over the Top Trump card. This will reveal the answer. Remember for you to win the game, you need to knock out your opponent’s cubes from the grid. So, saddle up and enjoy the game!
4. Host Your Own Race Night
Age: 8+
Players: 2+
Great fun for family and friends on game night, Host Your Own Race Night comes with 32 nail-biting races available in two DVDs. The DVDs have 16 genuine races from British courses with race commentary by the king of racing commentaries, Mark Johnson.
Every player starts the game with 5,000 in cash and betting slips to bet. This version contains 25, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 notes which players can use to place bets on the outcome of the horse races.
The game includes a bookmarkers ledger and temporary markers to go with the ledger. You also have a wipe-clean board, race form guide and rules. To win, you must first study the form of the horses and then check the odds before placing your bets.
To play, you don’t need prior knowledge of betting or odds. So, if you want to gee up your dinner party or family gathering royally, this is the game for you.
5. Top Trumps Horses, Ponies and Unicorns
Age: 3+
Players: 2+
Duel your way to the top and become the Top Trump in Top Trumps Horses, Ponies and Unicorns. This is a card game that brings your favourite ponies, and horses to life. The game comes with cards each with beautiful pictures, statistics and amazing facts.
To play the game, simply deal the deck of 30 cards to every player, then flip the top card. Whoever starts the game picks a statistic from the card they know will beat their opponents. Examples of facts on the cards include speed, weight, height and others. Basically, a player picks the top card featuring a specific fact like how fast a Great White Shark can swim or how heavy a polar bear is.
When a player picks the top card, he calls out “Weight! My animal is 500 or 600 kg.” Other players will call out the weight on their top cards, and whoever has the highest value wins. The winner then collects from the round and the game continues.
While the game is fun and engaging, the stats and facts offer unparalleled educational value. For example, you can learn that a Great White Shark swims as deep as 300 metres or can swim at speeds of 56 km/h or 31 mph in short bursts.
6. Mattel Games Uno DreamWorks Spirit Untamed
Age: 3+
Players: 2+
If you love the traditional UNO game we all loved to play in our youth but with characters from Spirit Untamed, then this is for you. The Mattel Games Uno is a special edition UNO game with illustrations of characters from Dreamworks movie Spirit Untamed.
Like the traditional UNO game, the first player to get rid of his cards wins. Players accumulate points based on the total that opponents have after each round is over. Setting up the game is easy. Simply grab your deck of cards and shuffle them.
Then deal the cards to each player, Make sure each player receives 7 cards. After dealing out each player, place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table. Now, turn over the top card, then place it face up.
This will create a discard pile where other players will place their cards during the game. While gameplay is similar to the classic UNO game, this version has a wild card – the Wild Best Friends Card. This card allows a player to discard a matching number card if they only have a card in their hand. When players have only one card left, they must yell “UNO.”
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