All the best board games to play during coronavirus isolation

My family and I typically get together once a week for coffee and treats and so we can check in on each other. Most of us live within minutes of each other but we had trouble getting together for proper catch ups so scheduled Saturday afternoons at my parent's house.

Food and board games both feature heavily at these catch ups.

As my dad's health began declining we had to put him into aged care, and so transferred our visits to the Visitors Room at his facility and they have a great selection of board games there for us to use.

Now that coronavirus has hit, we aren't allowed to visit my dad in groups anymore so are back to my parent's house, but this is probably the last weekend we are able to do it due to tighter restrictions that are about to be implemented.

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Even at my parent's house it's all about the board games! I love watching the kids play them together, some of them the same games I played as a child. Oldies but goodies like those I consider 'staples' - Monopoly, Scrabble and UNO.

If you have all of these, you are set!

And Mattel - the company responsible for most of our favourite games - has so many newer versions of our old favourites including UNO FLIP! and Pictionary Air.

Others that are worth the investment are Jenga, Pictionary, Guess Who, Connect Four, Dominos, Trivial Pursuit and for those with older children, Cards Against Humanity.

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Creating the perfect board game collection doesn't have to be a costly exercise. Even after the coronavirus crisis is over you'll find yourself playing them for years, a worthy investment for hours and hours of fun and sometimes educational entertainment.

How to create the perfect board game collection for a fraction of the cost

1. Call out for freebies

You'd be surprised how many people have board games lying around their houses unused. Perhaps they aged out of them. Maybe the bought updated versions. Regardless, it's worth asking your inner circle if they have any they'd like to gift you. And don't worry about germs.

Sometimes the older, retro versions are THE BEST. I recently came across a very old version of the card game UNO and I can't tell you how thrilled I was and how many childhood memories they triggered.

2. Create a dream list

Now that you have dusted off any board games you and your loved ones have found lying around your homes, you can see what you don't have, and make a list of games you'd like to add to your collection.

By creating a list you can focus your search.

3. Hit up the local discount stores

Some stores remain open and you can pop on a mask and have a wander around to see if you can find some of the games you'd like to own. You may even find some affordable games you hadn't considered.

Even supermarkets sell some of the more basic games such as cards and UNO.

4. Go online

Shops like Kmart and Big W sell board games at low prices and by going online you can easily compare prices and make the best choices. Don't worry too much about postal costs. They tend to be low and even free if you choose longer postal times.

You don't need everything straight away.

5. Make it interesting

We don't know how long we are going to be in isolation for and while board games are heaps and heaps of fun to play, if you are anything like my family, you'll want to raise the stakes.

Enter the Board Game Tournament which sees you playing best out of five UNO rounds or best out of five Monopoly rounds. For the extra competitive families, you can play best out of five rounds of every game you own to decide the ULTIMATE WINNER.

But I digress.

There's a reasons some of these games have been around for hundreds of years and that's because they are so much fun.

So get busy and look after yourselves

See you on the flip side of this crazy, crazy life we are currently living.

Share your tips for staying entertained at home at 9Honey@nine.com.au.