Family game night is one of the best ways to bond and create happy times together. With a bazillion games to pick from, the following top 10 family games gives easy-to-learn and play game ideas that grownups and kids find incredibly fun to play too.
1. Gather Round Dinner Game
Ages 5 and up, 2 or more players, by Family Time Fun Games
This fun family game gets everyone talking and laughing around the dinner table. A push button lights up one of 132 possible activities. Quick and easy bursts of fun include “hum a song for everyone to guess,” or “take a bite and everyone say yum-yum”.
2. Escapades Game
Ages 5 and up, 2 or more players, by Marco Products
Escapades is a box set of 300 games on separate cards. Each card includes game directions, rules, and materials needed for play. Color codes show low, moderate, or high physical activity level. The variety makes it the most useful and creative family night game.
3. Qwirkle
Ages 6 and up, 2 to 4 players, by Mindware
This wildly popular Parents’ Gold Choice Award and Mensa Select Award winner is deceptively simple to learn and play. With game moves that look like a Scrabble game, matching shapes and color tiles line up in crossword fashion instead of letters. Skill and extra points come from strategy moves.
4. Family Scavenger Hunt Board Game
Ages 6 and up, 2 or more players, Outset Media
Enjoy the fun of a scavenger hunt without all the time-consuming prep work with this board game. Four decks of cards with clues of items to find on each card separate indoor and outdoor hunts. Even better, the decks separate kids and adults difficulty levels for fairness of point scoring.
5. Jenga
Ages 6 and up, 1 or more players, by Hasbro
The classic best-selling game of stacking tower blocks until they topple offers family fun for all. Each player pulls a lower block from the stack and places it back onto the top of the tower — until it crashes. Find special editions like large backyard sets through auction sites like ebay or Amazon for a fun twist.
6. Uno Card Game
Ages 7 and up, 2 to 10 players, by Mattel
A long-time family favorite, this fast-paced card game takes some luck to win. Players discard their dealt hand with each turn by matching a color or number of the center stack card. Special cards can help or hurt with directions to skip or reverse a play along with two wild cards. The first player to have one card left declares “Uno” to win the round.
7. Cranium Family Edition Board Game
Ages 8 and up, 4 or more players, by Cranium, Inc.
Another Parents’ Choice Award winner, the family edition pairs kids and parents in teams, speeds up the game from the classic version, and adds more wacky activities that grownups enjoy doing too. Find the 2008 family edition on Amazon or auction sites.
8. SiNG Party with WiiU Microphone Video Game
Ages 10 and up, 1 or more players, by Nintendo
Going electronic improves reluctant kids’ attitudes towards family night. The audience prompts to clap, sing, or dance along gives everyone a chance to join in the fun. Song choices range from the 60s to current hits.
9. MindTrap Board Game
Ages 12 and up, 2 or more players, by Outset Media
A bestselling game for decades with a variety of quirky, brainteaser fun appeals to families with a yen for puzzle solving.
10. Angry Birds Star Wars Edition Video Game
Rated Everyone, 2 to 4 players, by Activision
A mashup of the epic Star Wars and Angry Birds franchises make this a top choice for family game night. Multiplayer modes available for several TV screen based platforms bring the game from smart phones and tablets into the living room.
Be sure to let everyone take turns picking the game. To crank up the family night fun even more, add prizes like favorite treats or chore relief to get the competitive spirit going!
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