What board games has your family had the most success with?

We seem to have quite a stash now :)

I've had a lot of success with the more modern board games. We play a lot of Catan, Carcassonne, Dominion, Ticket To Ride, and Small World. My 8 year old daughter can play these games rather well, but we limit the selection a with my 6 year old son. He tends to like Sorry Sliders because it isn't as complicated. Albeit the games that we play are a little more expensive, so I recommend either Carcassonne or Ticket to Ride as a starter to see if you like it before getting into some of the others.

Yeah most board games you find at Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, etc. are stocked mostly with spinoff theme games (i.e. Toy Story Monopoly, Halo Risk, NFL Uno, etc.). For an 11 year old, Catan, Carcassonne, or Ticket To Ride would work well. If he's into collectable card games (Magic The Gathering, Pokemon, Yugioh) Dominion is likely to be a huge hit too, but that's a card game.

Here are some video reviews:

-Catan : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTV03kCoDIw
-Carcassonne : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgEvEKIJnk0
-Ticket To Ride : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A90q3salKeI
-Dominion : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ENsEhRbVIM

Again, they're much more expensive than your $10-$12 Monopoly set, but if properly taken care of, they're the type of games that will be a big hit when you take it to college.

Another couple games worth mentioning. If your 11 year old likes more confrontational or tactical games, then you might want to take a look at Small World or Neuroshima Hex. Small World is a little more comparable to Risk, only it doesn't take as long to play and has more variation to it. Neuroshima Hex is more comparable to a much simpler and shorter Axis and Allies. Both games are about the same. My 8 year old can play both though she didn't pick up on the subtle strategies right away.

I really want to get the kids the game "Operation" but see there are many varieties now???

Kimm