Best Games for Families

I love so much that my boys are at the age that we can enjoy playing games together that isn’t just matching or go fish. After a couple of years of learning tons of different games, we have built up a pretty good collection of board games. We have played some really fun games and some games that we didn’t love as much. So today I am sharing our favorite games for families. These are games that won’t take all day, don’t involve poop (what is up with all the poop-themed games?!) and are actually really fun for the parents, too!

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BEST GAMES FOR FAMILIES

Uno This is probably one of our most played card games lately. It’s easy for the kids to learn and simple to play. This a great option to have in your game cabinet.

Skip-Bo Junior: I remember playing Skip-Bo all day every day all summer long with my friend Megan when we were younger. It’s been so much fun to teach this card game to my husband and our boys.

Spoons: This is a really fun classic card game that your family will love. Race to get four cards of a kind and snag a spoon as fast as you can to stay in the game.

If your kiddos have a hard time holding their cards, check out these cardholders.

Sequence for Kids We love this game! To play: Play a card from your hand, and place your chip on the corresponding letter on the board. The first player with four chips in a row wins! This is a strategy game that helps develop logical thinking skills.

Sequence This is the original version of Sequence and is geared towards ages 7 and up. Playing this game is similar to the kids’ version with just a couple of differences- a bigger board with more spaces and you need to get 2 sets of four in a row to win. And this version can be played in teams if you have more players.

Sorry A classic family game for kids ages 6 and up. “Draw a card to see how far you get to move one of your pawns on the board. If you land on a Slide you can zip to the end and bump your opponents’ pawns – or your own! Jump over pawns and hide in your Safety zone while getting powers with the 2 power-up tokens. Keep on moving and bumping until you get all three of your pawns from your color Start to your color Home. But watch out, because if you get bumped, Sorry! It’s all the way back to Start!”

Qwirkle I picked this game up a few weeks ago not knowing anything about it. I am happy to report it has quickly become a family favorite. To play, simply build lines by matching tiles based on either color or shape and score points for doing so. However, the ability to build complex combinations will keep children interested and engaged, and challenge them mentally. Qwirkle is playable from early ages up, allowing young children and older individuals alike to develop and hone their spatial recognition, planning, and problem-solving skills. Plan, win, and learn simultaneously! The boys have learned how to be strategic with their moves and can get pretty competitive. In a good way 🙂

Zingo Another one that is geared towards younger kids but still gets played a ton at our house. This game is perfect for pre-readers and early readers and builds language and matching skills in preschool kids. Even though both boys are older than the recommended age, we still play this game.

5 Second Rule Jr. We love playing the regular version of this game with my family so I was super excited to see they created a version for kids. All you have to do is read a card and give an answer. But you have to do it in 5 seconds! The junior version includes cards that are easier for the kids to answer but still fun for the adults playing, too.

Quick Cups The boys played this game for the first time at my parent’s house and they loved it. The object of the game is super simple. Flip over a card and then race to arrange your multi-colored cups into the same order shown on the card. Ring the bell once you do and you win the card! Collect the most cards and you’ll be the Quick Cups champ!

Connect 4 Blast: This one is so much fun! Get ready for a game of exciting competition! Players shoot their Nerf blaster at the discs in the target grid at the same time, trying to be the first one to line up 4 discs of their color to win.

Rack-O: This is another game from my childhood that has been so much fun to teach to my husband and kids. ” Players randomly slot ten cards on their rack. The race then begins to draw and discard until one player positions ten cards in numerical sequence. Sound simple? It is but you will need skillful play, concentration, and just a little luck to win.”

FAMILY GAMES ON OUR WISHLIST

Kings in the Corner: This game sounds like a lot of fun! “Kings in the Corner uses the traditional gameplay of Solitaire with a twist, making it an exciting group game. Players use the unique fold-away control center to set up the game, placing the cards in the tabbed stalls and leaving the corner stalls for the Kings. At the beginning of each hand, each player places one chip in the chip pot, which the winner will earn at the end of the round. After the chips are in the pot, the first player places any playable cards from his hand into the tabbed stalls or the Kings stalls and makes any other moves available. Cards played in all stalls must be played in alternate colors as in Solitaire and must be lower in sequence than the card on which it is played. If a player can’t make at least one play, he must place one chip into the pot. Once a player wins the hand by being first to get rid of all his cards, the other players put one chip in the pot for each of the cards remaining in their hand. The winner of the hand receives all the chips in the pot and records the number for his score. All the chips are collected and redistributed for a new round of play. The first player to accumulate 100 points wins the game!”

Watch Ya Mouth

Your turn!

Did you see some of your favorites on this list? Is there a game that your family loves that didn’t make our list? Share it with me! We are always looking for more games to add to our stash.

Do you have younger kids? Check out this post for our favorite games for preschoolers.