Gift Recommendations for Gifted Kids, Teens, and Adults, including those who are twice exceptional: Board Games

Note: This is adapted and updated from a resource that was previously available on the Twice Exceptional Children’s Advocacy website.

As the holidays are approaching, many may wonder what gifts to get for neurodivergent people, particularly those who are gifted and twice exceptional. Below, we’ve listed some of our favorite board game recommendations that make fantastic holiday gifts. 

The recommendations today are board games that are cooperative rather than competitive. This is because, for many neurodivergent people, especially those who are gifted and twice-exceptional, competitive games may cause a great deal of stress or strong negative emotions. As such, collaborative games make engaging and enjoying fun with others more manageable, which is why they can make great gifts. We’ve separated our recommendations into ones for children seven and under, eight and above, and for teens and adults (roughly 13-14+) to help you determine what game would be the best fit for the neurodivergent people in your life.

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Ages 7 and under:

Mental Blox Critical Thinking Game (3+ players, ages 5+)

These fun, brightly colored blocks help children practice following verbal instructions, asking questions, and building critical thinking skills.

Rivers, Roads And Rails (1-8 players, ages 5+) 

One to eight players can play this Parent’s Choice Gold Seal Award winner. In this easy-to-learn game, an ever-changing matching game, players will develop strategic gaming techniques for building their networks while enhancing skills such as memory, creativity, imagination, sequencing, turn-taking, and patience.

Totem Junior: The Feel Good Game, Self-Esteem Game (1-8 players, ages 5+) 

Adapted from the original game for a younger audience, Totem Junior is a fun, therapeutic tool that teachers, parents, and psychologists can use with groups or individuals. This game will help players connect more deeply with family and friends by looking at their bright side. Warning: It could severely lift self-esteem!

Go Go Gelato (2-4 players, ages 6+)

Fill your customers’ orders as quickly as you can! Pass scoops back and forth between the cones, being careful not to touch or drop them. Work quickly to figure out the best way to satisfy your customers before your opponents do.

Set: The Family Game Of Visual Perception (1+ players, ages 6+)

This award-winning, fast-paced, collaborative family game is easy to learn and will provide fun for players of all ages.

Space Escape: Mole Rats in Space (2-4 players, ages 7+)

Designed to be frustration-free, this is a fun game that can help children learn strategy, problem-solving, communication, and cooperation.

Tenzi (2-4 players, ages 7+) 

Can you count to ten? That’s all you need to play this dice game. Anywhere. It is fast-paced, competitive, and modifiable for younger players–Instant social fun.

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Ages 8+:

Thinkfun Gravity Maze Marble Run Logic Game (1+ players, ages 8+)

Playing your way through the challenges builds spatial reasoning and planning skills and is partly an engineering and building toy that provides a great stealth learning experience for young players.

Prime Climb (2-4 players, ages 8+)

This multi-award-winning and MENSA-recommended mathematical board game is endlessly replayable, thanks to a dynamic mix of strategy and luck.

Q-Bitz (2-4 players, ages 8+) 

This award-winning game is a great way to say goodbye to boredom and challenge young minds. Players practice their symmetry, visual dexterity, quick thinking, and competitive nature. Q-bitz stimulates the brain to use spatial reasoning and memory skills, making it perfect for both the classroom and at home.

5-Minute Dungeon (2-5 players, ages: 8+) 

Get the fun of Dungeons and Dragons in just five minutes. Play a unique hero and collaborate with your team to defeat as many monsters and obstacles as possible within the five-minute limit.

Suspend (players 1-4, ages 8+) 

This super-fun, easy-to-learn game helps children develop hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills, and interpersonal skills by trying to balance pieces on a standup structure!

Totem: The Feel Good Game, Self-Esteem Game (3-8 players, ages 8+) 

Totem is a fun, therapeutic tool that teachers, parents, and psychologists can use with groups or individuals. This game will help players connect more deeply with family and friends by looking at their bright side. Warning: It could severely lift self-esteem!

The Mind (1-4 players, ages 8+) 

This game has limited communication, requiring you to work together by reading the intention of the other players based on their moves. Build teamwork as you collaborate to beat all the levels and win the game.

Pandemic (1-4 players, ages 8+)

Work to contain and cure infections before time runs out in this epidemiology-themed board game. Work together using each character’s unique skills to stop outbreaks of deadly diseases.

Just One (3-7 players, ages: 8+)

Using only one-word clues, try to lead the guesser to the correct answer without repeating clues. These simple rules can lead to lots of fun and chaos as you work together to win.

Hanabi (2-5 players, Ages 8+)

In another game with limited communication, Hanabi has players hold the cards facing away from themselves. You have to work together to play the cards to set off a simulated fireworks show.

Endangered (1-5 players, ages 10+)

For all animal lovers and conservationists-in-the-making, use each player’s unique deck of abilities to help endangered species and negotiate for their safety. Build teamwork and communication skills while learning about saving the environment.

Daybreak (1-4 players, Ages 10+)

Work together to decarbonize the planet and fight climate change with technology and societal changes in this cooperative game for the sustainably-minded. All packaging and game pieces are also made from sustainable, non-plastic components.

Paleo (1-4 players, ages 10+)

Help your Stone Age tribe survive by exploring and creating new technologies to complete missions. Develop cooperation skills in this high-tension, highly replayable game.

Proof (2-6 players, ages 9+) 

Proof is an award-winning math game loved by teachers, parents, kids, and grown-ups alike. It is excellent brain training to improve creative mental math skills, including multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and square roots.

Atlantis Rising (1-7 players, ages 10+)

Your island is flooding quickly, and escape is the only option. Working together, you must gather supplies and build devices before time runs out and the island floods.

Wingspan (1-5 players, ages 10+)

Build and grow a network of wildlife reserves by attracting over 100+ birds to your habitats. Gain food tokens, lay eggs, and expand your habitats to create the best home possible for your birds.

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Teens and Adults: 

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island (Players 1-4, ages 14+)  

Players must work together to survive after finding themselves stranded on a dangerous island by gathering resources and building a shelter in the face of unpredictable events, wild animals, and harsh weather.

Aeon’s End (1-4 players, ages 14+)

Players act as powerful mages defending their city from fantastical creatures. Players build and strategically use their abilities individually and in combination to keep from being swarmed.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (1-8 players, ages 13+)

Calling all mystery and escape room fans! Unravel complex mysteries in Victorian London using clues, interviews, and logic. Team members get to release their inner Sherlock Holmes to put together the pieces and solve the case.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion (1-4 players, ages 14+)

For those who like dungeon crawls, this is an ideal board game. Explore the world, fight enemies, and develop your character’s abilities to complete quests using a unique card-based action system.

Spirit Island (1-4 players, ages 13+)

Take on the role of powerful spirits and fend off invaders from your island using unique powers. This creative world will inspire players as they work together to protect the island’s inhabitants.

Too Many Bones (1-4 players, ages 12+)

Defeat monsters and tyrants in this unique dice game. Use their system to tweak your hero’s skills and maximize your team’s chances of getting through dangerous encounters.

Sleeping Gods (1-4 players, ages 13+)

Play as the crew of a skip lost in a strange world. A different story unfolds with each play as participants explore, complete quests, and combat enemies based on their choices.

Sky Team (2 players, ages 12+)

Only have two-players? Here is the perfect game for you. Work together as a pilot and co-pilot to land your plane. Each player has a unique role and controls different plane parts with their dice. Trust is essential, as players can only communicate with each other between rounds. With over twenty scenarios, this game can stay fresh no matter how often it is played. Additional modules are available to add on.

Vagrantsong (2-4 players, ages: 14+)

This horror board game isn’t for the faint of heart. You’ve stumbled onto a ghost train, the Silver Ferryman, and must find a way to escape before it’s too late. Adjust your skills, battle ghosts, and learn more about the train in this bone-chilling adventure game.

Burgle Bros.(1-4 players, ages 12+)

Ever wanted to infiltrate a high-security building to steal some treasure? Now you can in this cooperative heist. Using stealth and strategy, work together to evade guards, find your objective, and complete the mission without getting caught.