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Family Game Night is so much fun…until it isn’t. Kids start arguing or get highly competitive. You begin to feel like a referee. It is no longer fun.

Sound familiar?

It is something we have faced around here. We love to play games. It is such a great way to spend time together as a family. But when the kids start getting highly competitive, it can kill the fun.

So what can you do?

We found a fun and highly entertaining game called Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters. It is meant for ages eight and up. What makes the game so great is that everyone works together! Yep, you heard me. It is a cooperative game. If you don’t, it is hard to win the game.

Sounds great, huh?! It is.

The Object of the Game

The object of the game is to remove all the jewels from the house before the house becomes haunted. Pretty simple concept, but it sounds easier than it is.

We have played many games and have lost a good portion of the time. It is a challenge and takes some strategy. We always end up playing several games because we want to win.

How to Play Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters

Set-Up:

• Eight jewels and four ghosts are placed in specific rooms on the board.
• The cards should be shuffled and put on the board.
• Each player chooses a treasure hunter as their token and puts the piece outside of the house.

Playing the Game:

• The first player rolls the numbered dice.
• The player flips a card. The card will have a ghost with a room letter on it. A ghost goes in that room. (There is also a reshuffle card in the deck. You shuffle the cards and move.)
• Now the player moves along the board the number indicated on the dice.
• If you enter a room with a jewel, you put it in your backpack. You must leave the house and re-enter before you can collect another jewel.
• If there is a ghost in your room, you may roll one of the ghost dice. If you roll a ghost, you can remove one from the room.
• It is the next player’s turn.

The Catch:

A room will become haunted once it has three ghosts in it. Hauntings complicate things. First off, two people have to work together to get rid of a haunting. Second, you can’t remove jewels from a haunted room.

How You Win:

If all the jewels are removed from the house before you get six haunted rooms, you win. All the players must be out of the house, too. Hauntings creep up fast, so it is a challenge to accomplish.

Additional Challenge Game:

The game comes with a more challenging level. It is played similarly but with some changes.

1. When removing jewels from the house, you have to take them out in order.
2. Now there are draw two and draw three cards along with locked doors in the deck.

We don’t play this version often because we have a tough enough time with the regular version. It is perfect for when you want a change, though.

Cooperative Fun

This game is purely a cooperative game. Everyone needs to work together to defeat the ghosts or else the house will get overrun quickly. The players need to work out a strategy together on how they are going to tackle the game.

Sometimes we divide the jobs. Some may fight ghosts while others concentrate on getting jewels out of the house. We are constantly talking to each other during the game. One strategy isn’t working so someone comes up with another.

If you have a highly competitive kid, this is great for them. However, now they are competing and driven to beat the ghosts. They are forced to cooperate with others to accomplish this.

For the most part, fighting is kept to a minimum. No one is accusing another of cheating. You don’t have a kid bragging he is winning. It is great. Everyone has a common goal and is working on it together.

Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters is fun for the whole family. It is a good way for families to learn to cooperate and communicate with one another. If you don’t, you won’t get far in the game. Best of all it is so much fun!

If you would like to find other games, check out Fun Strategy Games to Include in Your Homeschool and Family Game Night: Games for ages 8+.

Do you have any cooperative games your family plays together? I’d love to know.