For a hand-picked selection of brain teasers across easy, medium and fiendish levels, have a look at the adult puzzle range at educational games for kids.
If you want a shortlist of games tested for family play and grouped by how long they take, browse the family and party games chosen by family board games.
By eight to twelve, most children enjoy games with a little strategy or a competitive edge. Word and number games, such as WordSnap XL, and family favourites like Snakes and Ladders in its bigger 3D versions give them something to plan around and enjoy together. Mixed-age families get on best with games that scale, so older and younger siblings can play the same round.
The pace of a word game shapes who enjoys it. Fast tile and card games reward quick thinking and keep younger players in the mix, because rounds are short and nobody sits waiting. WordSnap XL, an exclusive title from The Happy Puzzle Company, is built around building and spotting words at speed, so it works for a mixed group where you want everyone reaching for letters at once.
Think about space and time too. A large jigsaw needs a table or board where it can stay out for days, which is not always practical. Puzzles can be a calming, screen-free way to spend a wet afternoon, and working on one together is a quiet way for a family to sit down side by side without a fixed finish time.
A good travel game earns its place in the bag by being compact and quick. You want something that sets up in seconds, plays in a few minutes and does not rely on a large board or dozens of loose pieces that scatter across a car footwell. Card games and self-contained escape room puzzle games games tend to win here, because everything stays in one small box or tin.