If you've ever wondered how to introduce people to the world of tile-laying games, you might be interested in Djeco's Jungle Panic. Christian Montenegro's artwork and the game's short and easy rules are ideal for the lower end of the suggested age range (6-99), tho' there's enough of a game in Flavien Dauphin's design to interest adults as well.
Gameplay consists of taking tiles and trying to arrange them in such a way as to create 2 x 3 rectangles of the same animal. There are just three animals, and a die is rolled each turn that determines which animal must appear on the tile chosen for that round, or which must not appear. The 2-4 players all choose at the same time, so it's a choice of grabbing fast or thinking carefully about what might be most useful. You could use house rules to make things easier for younger players, or you can just play turn-based if you prefer, but the frantic real-time element should be fun for most groups.
Scoring is very simple: one point for each 2 x 3 rectangle, plus a bonus point for the first person to get three rectangles of the same animal. It can be hard to achieve this at all in a four-player game so there will be a lot of ties, but each game is very short (about 10-15 minutes) so it's not too important. In spite of the simplicity, there's a fair amount of skill involved and even adults will find themselves doing better after repeated plays.
For a family-friendly introduction to the world of tile-laying games, check out Jungle Panic.
(Review by Matt Young)