SPONSORED
It’s strange how something can disappear without you noticing; I hadn’t had a game night with my two kids in over a year. Like a lot of families, the iPad was our default until Board.fun brought back game night and lowered our screen time.
Maybe the apps have just become more addictive, or maybe it’s their ages (9 and 12). Either way, something had shifted and I wanted us all to feel more connected, like when we used to play Labyrinth all the time (sometimes before breakfast on school days). Around that time, I started noticing Board.fun coming up more often, and eventually decided to try it.
I’d first seen it mentioned on Instagram, and again in parenting subreddits. It actually has its own subreddit now, which says a lot about how quickly it’s spread. People were talking about it selling out in December and how hard it was to get, which makes sense for a small product that went viral. When it came back in stock in March, I bought one for us. It was $399 at the time, including games like Retro Arcade and Chop Chop.
When it arrived, the first thing that stood out was the size. It’s a 24-inch screen, which is a lot bigger than I expected – easily two and a half times the size of our iPad. The kids were immediately into it just from that.
11 inch iPad for scale, this thing is huge!
But what surprised me more was how well it’s made; it doesn’t feel like a typical piece of tech. The wooden frame is solid and it gives it a warmer, more permanent feel – like something that belongs on a table rather than something you put away in a drawer. You can tell it’s built properly because it’s got a bit of weight to it. Finally something that’s built to last!
One thing I’d seen people mention was that it needs to be plugged in – there’s no battery. Some people seemed unsure about that, but most of the comments I saw on Reddit were actually positive about it, and that’s what I found as well. It hasn’t been an issue at all.
If anything, it feels like the right call. We already have more than enough devices with batteries – phones, tablets, even cars now. Not adding another one to charge (and eventually replace) seems like a better approach, both practically and environmentally.
The real difference, though, is how it plays:
It’s not just a big screen but more like somewhere between a console and a traditional board game, if that makes sense.
You still use physical pieces but they interact directly with the screen. That part completely drew the kids in and probably the one thing I thought was most genius.
Some pieces respond to how you place them, even if they’re not perfectly aligned and others react to rotation. In some of the games, you’re literally playing around each other’s hands, which adds a kind of chaos you only really get from physical games.
It feels much more like a shared moment and much less passive.
We ended up playing a game called Chop Chop for most of a rainy Saturday afternoon. It’s a bit like Overcooked – you’re rushing to prep things, passing pieces back and forth, trying not to mess up – and it got pretty competitive, but in a good way. Lots of laughing, a bit of chaos and that kind of energy we used to have during game night.
What stood out was how physical it feels. You’re reaching across the board, reacting to each other, getting in each other’s way a bit – it’s not just staring at a screen, you’re actually interacting the whole time.
We also tried Retro Arcade, which is faster and more reaction-based. That one turned into a “just one more round” situation pretty quickly, especially for Hugo. It’s simpler, but because everyone plays at once, it stays engaging.
And there’s a puzzle-style game (Strata) we played for a bit where you have to move pieces together to solve challenges. Slower, but it ended up being a nice balance – less chaotic, more about figuring things out as a group.
You do need to download the games at first but after that it works offline, so that’s easy enough.
I’d seen it reviewed 4.96 out of 5 across Instagram and Reddit, which usually I’d take with a grain of salt, but in this case I get it; it’s built well, it’s fun and it gets kids off their iPads.
I still want the kids to be comfortable with technology but this feels like a better version of it. It brings everyone back to the same table instead of sending them off into their own corners.
And it’s not just me noticing it, the kids feel it too.
Last night, as we were packing things up after playing, Hugo looked up and asked:
“Do you think they’ll make Labyrinth for the board?”. I think that’s a 9-year old’s version of a five star review! As of late April, it’s still in stock on board.fun (I’d get it now before they sell out again).
