Having fun on the homestead is an essential part of life! At least, in my opinion, it is. I see the truth in the proverb that says, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!”
We all need a little downtime, and for those of you who enjoy board games and/or video games, this one is for you. If you keep reading until the end you might just find a few live action indoor/outdoor games, too! (Just saying!)
Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Homesteading Board Games
1. Wildcraft
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXRCckPDl71/?tagged=wildcraftgame
This nature-based cooperative board game allows players to explore healing herbs through gameplay. The story played out starts with the players trying to help a relative by searching and harvesting some berries. Together players make their way around the board encountering various problems such as an injury or sudden illness that requires a natural herb or plant to help heal. Teamwork is essential in this game, eliminating competition and incorporating positive team building skills. Wildcraft is designed for children ages 4 and up. The game is made for up to four players at one time.
2. Agricola
Agricola is for the older kids, ages 12 and up. This family farm game takes place in the 17th century, and even the pieces are carved out of wood – it’s awesome! It’s for 1-4 players, and you start out with two family members and some land. The story plays out as you go. The larger your family becomes, the more food needs to be grown and so on. The goal is to grow your family and farm bringing them to health, wealth, and prosperity.
3. The Farm Game
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The Farm Game was created by Weekend Farmer who has several homesteading, farming, and construction games. For kids ages 10 and up, 2-6 players can play at one time. The point of the game is to create and build your farm. A roll of the dice predicts the possible outcomes of your crops, cattle, and more. For instance, if you roll one number your crops might deal with a drought but a different number results in an abundance of healthy crops. I think the best description of the game is that it’s Monopoly meets farming. Whoever has the better farm and situation at the end is the winner.
4. Let’s Go Hiking
This is another cooperative game for ages 8 to adult and for 2-6 players. As a team of players, you start out on a hiking and camping trip. Along the way you encounter animal tracks which you follow in order to capture pictures of the animal you tracked.
You begin with some basic supplies and make your way around the board playing it out and solving problems as you go. Your family can learn all about tracking wild animals and have fun doing it!
5. Farmopoly
A twist on the classic Monopoly, Farmopoly is designed for 2-6 people and features farm-themed pieces and properties. Some Amazon reviewers even mention that its a great way to introduce kids to farm life!
Homesteading Video Games
6. Story Of Seasons
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Story of Seasons, formerly known as Harvest Moon, is an agricultural simulation role-playing game (RPG). Your character in the game grows crops, raises pets and livestock, does ranch work, and even has relationships with other characters.
Eventually, you can choose if you’d like your character to get married and raise a family. You get to buy, sell, and trade all sorts of goods. It’s pretty interesting! Can be played on the Nintendo DS game system.
7. Harvest Moon: Save The Homeland
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Harvest Moon is actually a spin-off of Story of Seasons! The Harvest Moon series has several different games, but one of my all-time favorites so far is Save The Homeland. A boy takes over his father’s farm, and the main point of the game is to restore and keep up the farm successfully.
The farm was falling into despair, so you rebuild it making relationships with the townspeople surrounding you. There are various missions you can play out. Care for your animals, tend the gardens, sell and trade crops and goods. Learn different recipes and cook your own meals. The Harvest Moon Series can be found on various SNES systems such as Nintendo DS, Super Nintendo, as well as Sony PlayStation 2.
8. Stardew Valley
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I haven’t played this one, but I would like to – it’s available for the Xbox One system. Once again, an inherited family farm needs some TLC, and your character is the one who is responsible for turning it into something more prosperous. Develop relationships, cook, craft, farm, mine, combat, forage, and fish in Stardew Valley. This game is also available for PS4.
Live Action/Outdoor Games
For those of you who prefer live-action gaming, here are a couple of games for you readers. These games are best to be played outdoors, and they don’t have much to do with homesteading. It’s more about having a good time together. So here are the bonus games:
9. Ladder Golf
Ladder golf takes a little bit of skill, but it’s a lot of fun. Ladder Golf is designed for 2-4 players. You can buy a ladder golf game set or you can make one yourself. If you want to make it yourself, you’ll need some PVC piping, golf balls, rope, and a few more items.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU5HRBylbM8/?tagged=laddergolf
Players have three sets of bolas each. Bolas are two golf balls with a rope connecting them end to end. The ladder has three rungs, players toss their bolas and try to get them onto one of the rails. Every rail has a different point score. The player with the highest score is the winner.
10. Giant Tumbling Tower
This game can be played either indoors or outdoors, but of course, it’s just neat to play it outside! This game is a massive Jenga-style block game. The goal is the same – you remove one block and add it to the top until it tumbles over. The first player to knock over the tower is the tower tumbler!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcdyRFMFZow/?tagged=giantjenga
All of these games are really awesome! Whether you’re a homesteader, are interested in the lifestyle, or maybe you just like new, interesting games, check out this list. Family/friend game night can get boring, so maybe one of these games will be the new game for your family’s game night this week!
Today’s Homesteading story is brought to you by Elaina Garcia. Healing and Health is an important part of life. Elaina has been practicing natural healing for almost 15 years and finds wildcrafting medicine to be extremely important, especially on the homestead.
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