Family co-ops suggestions - shortlist

Don't buy many games nowadays but - long story - I've got approximately £80 that I have to spend on board games.

My youngest child, 10, is fond of co-op games, but not competitive ones, so I thought I'd add a couple to the collection. One is going to be Tomb of Annihilation because I want the miniatures for D&D. But I'm tempted to get another.

What I'd really like is a classic, simple, Euro co-op like Hanabi or The Mind but those seem to be about the only really great games in that category and we already own both.

Candidates I've narrowed it down to after some research (not really after additional suggestions - I probably own them or can't get them) are -

Magic Maze.
Pros: Critical acclaim, love the way it deals with alpha players
Cons: The timer-pressure and relatively complexity aren't going to make it popular with the wider family.

Forbidden Sky
Pros: Cool electrical toys, easy to learn
Cons: Personally, not a fan of this series so far - too simplistic and mechanical - but not played Sky yet so it might be more interesting.

Port Royal w Expansion
Pros: This is new to me, and looks like quite a solid old-school Eurogame in its own right
Cons: The expansion looks to add a bunch of unnecessary faff, and I'm not clear on how good it is as a co-op.

Thoughts welcome?

Magic Maze is pretty neat, but I found I tired of it after a few plays and sold it off. It's real pull is slowly introducing new rules/challenges over time, but if you play with different groups you can't just dive into the deep end.

The central gimmick is enjoyable, but it's an odd one and certain people will just hate it. I ended up selling it off and moving on.

Forbidden Sky was met with pretty mellow reactions. It looks pretty, but I've seen a great deal of criticism for its gameplay.

Magic Maze you can just ditch the sandtimer and set a stopwatch for completing the game instead, use the timer spaces to instead spend tokens for time-outs where talking is allowed. It keeps the time pressure on but without the same intensity and you can be a little more generous with it depending on the players.

I felt that Forbidden Sky was a step back in Leacock’s series of games, we preferred his earlier ones.

Port Royal I’m dubious about as a coop but at least it’s cheap.

We had a lot of fun with Break The Safe, a game from 2003. It's on a timer so things get pretty intense when it starts going off.

Room 25 - I look forward to eventually playing more competitive scenarios, but the co-op one has been challenging enough so far. Players are trying to find an exit to a maze of death traps within a limited number of turns. Easy rules and plays in under an hour.

The kids at school love Forbidden Island. They have great discussions about the best plan and all love the cool looking treasures. Plus it sells for less than $20!

Oh! If you are fans of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Battles is excellent.

FORBIDDEN DESERT or ISLAND are better than SKY from what I have heard. My 7yo loves DESERT and plays ISLAND on iOS.

Is that DEATH ANGEL card game still in print? That was a cool co-op. Dad/Mom would need to manage all the fiddly junk, but shooting aliens as a family affair is good times.

Zombie kidz?

jeb wrote: Is that DEATH ANGEL card game still in print?

No, unfortunately it is OOP and selling for unreasonable prices. Great game though!