Pandemic
(2-4 players; 45 minutes; ages 8+)
Not all children like competition, but up until the release of Pandemic in 2009, there were no great cooperative games.
Pandemic (2-4 players; 60 minutes; ages 10+) has all players join in a fight to save humanity from four virulent diseases.
I think the universe is pure geometry – basically, a beautiful shape twisting around and dancing over space-time.