KIMBERLY — Nate Fortner is feeling a little huffy at his parents and his sister. “I’m mad at all of you! As soon as I get a bunny, you’re going down!” he says, slumping in his kitchen chair and downing a mouthful of chicken noodle soup.

He doesn’t mean an actual rabbit, of course, but a playing card in Killer Bunnies, one of the family’s favorite table games. At least once a week, they play it or another of the dozens of games that fill a bookshelf in their dining room, sometimes just with each other and sometimes with visiting friends or family.

“It gives us a chance to talk,” said Sylvia, 17, who has a quieter, more defensive strategy in Bunnies than her little brother. “When we play games we get to chat and tease and build relationships.”

And have fun, of course.

Board games — from the classics like Sorry!, Monopoly and chess, to modern favorites like How to Host a Murder, Munchkin or Rush Hour — are a popular entertainment for all ages. They are cheaper than a movie, get teenagers talking and help keep brains busy and learning.

That’s one thing Myrtle Harmaning likes about Rummikub (variations are called Rummy Que, Rummy-O or other names), which features tiles with numbers of various colors that must be matched into runs or of-a-kinds, much like the rummy card game.

“It takes a lot of brain work to figure out what you’re going to do,” said the 96-year-old Twin Falls woman, who has been playing the game at least weekly since she was introduced to it a quarter-century ago. “I got into it years ago, with my friend and her husband and my husband, a bunch of us, we would get together and play. … We played for years until one by one they’re gone.”

Now she plays with other friends and her daughter and son-in-law (who is so competitive, Harmaning said, that because she wins so much he now refuses to play with her).

Though her vision has faded enough over the years that she needs an extra-bright light shone on her tiles, Harmaning loves it.

“I keep busy, but the board game is a recreation, it’s kind of restful,” she said. “It’s a relaxation to me, when we do it of an evening.”

At the other end of the spectrum, both age-wise and energy-wise, is Scott Belnap’s 3-year-old. The boy received Battleground for Christmas last year, a game that has players shoot gentle catapults to knock down plastic figurines. Because his parents made him wait for a count of five each turn to shoot, the toddler can now do the counting on his own.

Belnap has long been a board game lover, since he worked for store credit at a friend’s game shop in Rexburg. That morphed into a game club in Rexburg and then in Idaho Falls, and Belnap would like to find like-minded gamers to start one in Twin Falls.

“It’s a lot of fun if we ever get someone who wants to join us,” the Jerome man said with a laugh. In addition to his family’s regular Monday-night gaming at home, friends come over to play — sometimes just adults and sometimes entire families, toddlers and all.

“It’s a very wholesome activity. You don’t have to worry, ‘Is this something that’s going to be OK to show my family?’ with very few exceptions. They’re a great way to spend an evening.”

Belnap is discerning about the games he plays, and he likes to try them out before buying new ones. He often goes to The Imagination Station in Twin Falls to ask the salespeople’s opinions — as they test-play all the games they sell — or he’ll check out reviews on specialty websites like Boardgamegeek.com.

“Start talking to some of those people, and you will start finding out what kind of experiences they’ve had with different games, and that’s a really great way to prevent getting a game you don’t like,” he said.

Salespeople at the Station take pride in their ability to recommend a game that customers will like after asking just a few questions.

“We aren’t going to sell you a game that’s going to sit on your shelf,” said Rose Pilcher, a Station employee.

Pilcher said her own kids will rush to finish their chores and homework so they can play games as a family.

“It’s the interaction, the communication. They might not talk to you after school, but when you’re playing, you can slip (a question) in,” she said. “You make a memory; you never forget a good game.”

And games are a good way to get to know potential friends, new in-laws or even someone you’re dating.

“You can learn how competitive they are, how well they can work as a team, you learn if they’re a good sport or not,” Belnap said, also mentioning how people learn new concepts or adapt to unusual situations. “Surprisingly enough, how they deal with things when they’re not going their way, whether they joke about it or get upset. It’s a good way to decide if this is a type of person you want to spend a lot of time with.”

Of course, sometimes you’re stuck playing with someone — say, a 9-year-old boy.

“That one’s the most ruthless, right there,” Maggi Fortner said, pointing at her son over Killer Bunnies. “You realize what we’re going to do if you win, right? Hold you down and tickle you!”

Nate escaped that fate when his dad drew the winning card. He took it in stride, though … because thanks to the family’s favorite game, the Bunnies survive to kill another day.

Ariel Hansen may be reached at 788-3475 or ahansen@magicvalley.com.