Jungle Treasure (Dschungelschatz in German) packs a lot of silliness into a small box for your enjoyment... and the enjoyment of your kids. The players are jungle explorers, searching for treasure in Mayan temples. In his review of Jungle Treasure, Mark Jackson says this game makes it fun to fight through the jungle and take on a variety of tasks, including rebuilding ancient ruins, finding needed supplies, and reassembling jeweled masks.

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^{Image courtesy of Haba}

Dexterity games are tough with kids. They like the chunky bits and the whole "stack stuff and watch it fall over" aspect -- but younger kids just do not have the proper fine motor skills to compete with adults successfully. But Mark Jackson says that Gulo Gulo is an exception to that rule. This is a dexterity game in which the smaller the hand, the better the player.

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^{Image courtesy of Rio Grande Games}

I'm regularly asked by reporters why board games and card games remain popular despite the availability of more modern entertainment options, especially video games. My answer is that video games (many of which I also enjoy) will never replace board games because the two experiences are so different. I then go on to explain that there has never been a better time to be a fan of board games and card games, because so many designers and publishers are producing excellent and creative games. (Check out my lists of the best board games and best card games of 2009 to see some evidence of that.)

So that's my answer. But what do you say? Why do you still play board games and card games? Share your thoughts, and tell us about a few of your favorite games.

This was an interesting year for card games. Not many completely original designs appear on my list of the top 10 card games of 2009, but a number of modern classics were republished and given new life in 2009. Two of the new games on the list are based on board games, and for the second straight year, a Dominion game is my top pick. Of course, the real bottom line is that every one of these games is fun to play.

^{Image courtesy of Rio Grande Games}

While my list of the best board games of 2008 was top-heavy with cooperative games, this year's list includes just one of that genre. But the games included here are just as fun as those from last year, as players hunt for treasure, create civilizations, run an automobile manufacturer, race ostriches, catch Jack the Ripper, and much more. Here are my picks for the Top 10 Board Games of 2009.

^{Image courtesy of Rio Grande Games}

Imagine if Sid Sackson's classic game, Can't Stop, actually had a theme... and the theme was polar bear cubs covered in paint (from helping the Inuits paint their igloos) trying to get across the ice floes to the bathtub so they can be the first to get cleaned up. OK, you can stop imagining -- that's Daddy Cool in a nutshell. And in his review of Daddy Cool, Mark Jackson says the game reaches "the edge of kid-gaming perfection."

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^{Image courtesy of Huch & Friends}

Mark Jackson has owned a number of games with large boards. But he says that nothing compares nothing to the beautiful and massive roll-out seascape that greets you each time you open the huge box that contains Pirates on the High Seas. In his review of Pirates on the High Seas, Mark says this board game is "a whole treasure chest full of fun."

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^{Photo © Erik Arneson}

In The Secret Door, a cooperative children's board game, all of the players work together to stop a gang of thieves from stealing various items. It plays quickly (about 15 minutes per game), it works for children as young as four years old, and Mark Jackson says in his review of The Secret Door that it "creates a playing experience that my kids ask for over and over again."

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^{Image courtesy of Family Pastimes}

Pakorn Nemitrmansuk of Bangkok, Thailand, is the new Scrabble World Champion. Nemitrmansuk defeated reigning champion Nigel Richards of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the best-of-five finals today, three games to one (425-419, 670-303, 394-443 and 499-480). For his victory at the 2009 World Scrabble Championship, Nemitrmansuk won $15,000; Richards took $6,000 as the runner-up.

The final game was a back-and-forth affair which started with two consecutive bingos, as Nemitrmansuk played ADVENES and Richards followed with GRIFTERS (which was also a triple word score). At that point, Richards led 98 to 80. Just a few players later, Nemitrmansuk used the "g" in grifters to build GENETRIX, earning a bingo and a triple word score. That put him in the lead, 197 to 124.

Richards came back and led 382 to 329 after playing the bingos FrEEHOLD and BOHEMIAN, but Nemitrmansuk played BOWATs as a triple word score to claim the lead for good. (Bowat is a 19th-century word meaning lantern.)

A new expansion for BattleLore (my pick as the best board game of 2006) is now available from publisher Fantasy Flight Games. BattleLore Heroes adds 10 unique hero figures, five hero banners, seven new adventures, two landmark tiles, 40 tokens, and more than 100 cards. Fantasy Flight says this expansion "take(s) the game to a new level of strategy, as you must balance your desire to have a powerful war council with the necessity of having mighty figures lead your forces."

Fantasy Flight is also selling sets of Battle Dice for serious players who need extra components, and the company has announced two additional upcoming expansions: Dragons and Creatures.

^{Image courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games}