The Best Family Games: 50+ Games Your Family Will Love
It literally took me all of quarantine to put this list of family games together, but here it is!
Like most of you, our family is in quarantine. Not even self-isolation, but legit quarantine. After coming home from Europe on March 1, I got really sick, then my daughter got really sick! Fevers, aches, chills, cough…not fun at all, but we are on the mend now.
We’ve had our moments of despair, but we’ve really come to terms with the current situation, and we’re now going into our FOURTH month of quarantine!
We are bored, but one upside to quarantine is that we have had a lot of time to bond, and our favorite way to do that is by playing games as a family. Our kids range in ages between 7 and 13, so we have to make sure we find games that the whole family can play. I wanted to round up our favorites since we’ve had a lot of questions about which games we love.
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221 B Baker Street
221B Baker Street is like a really intense game of clue. We put the younger kids on teams with the parents. It’s really fun, and a longer game, if you’re looking for more time to kill.
Antiquity Quest
We are obsessed with Grandpa Becks Game company! Their games are super fun, and easy enough for the whole family to play. Antiquity Quest is one of their newest games, and we love it!
Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples is great for all ages and is always good for a laugh at our house! We prefer the Junior version, especially when playing with younger elementary or preschool-aged kids.
Azul
Azul is a really interesting Portuguese Tile game. It’s complicated and methodical and best for older elementary and up.
Banana Grams
Bananagrams is an awesome game that is good for kids who can read and spell. I love My First Bananagrams for my younger kids, it combines a few letters to help them form words quicker. It’s educational and much more portable than Scrabble.
Bang
Bang is a cool mystery, who done it game that is fun to play in a group. Definitely for older kids, but you could put little kids in teams.
Battleship
Battleship is a classic game that my younger kids love to play. To be honest, I find it a bit tedious, but it’s a good game if you’ve only got two people to play.
Bears and the Bees
Another great game from Grandpa Beck, we love this cute Birds and Bees tile placement card game. It’s great for ages 8+, but my 6 year old can do it too.
Bingo- Bug Bingo, Cat Bingo, Bird Bingo
A personal requirement that I have for family games is that they are well made! I despise cheaply made games that fall apart and are made of cheap plastic. We love all the Animal Bingos. They have beautiful illustrations, cloth bags to hold the tiles and chips, and they are sturdy and well-made. This comes in about every animal possible, but we have Bug, Cat, and Bird. Our next purchase will be Dog Bingo for sure! And I just saw that they have Ocean Bingo which looks beautiful!
Can’t Catch Harry
Can’t Catch Harry was a Christmas gift request from my tweens. Apparently it was created by a YouTuber? I don’t know. I know nothing about this guy, but the game is actually really fun and really well-made. Yay! This is a game for all ages. It’s super simple to play, but exciting enough to keep adults playing!
Cards Against Humanity
Ok, don’t judge me, but my kids love Cards Against Humanity. WARNING this is an adult game, so you need to go through all of the cards and throw away (or save) the ones that are inappropriate, which are about 1/3 of them. But I still think it’s worth playing. All of my kids love this game so much!
Settlers of Catan
Settlers of Catan has been one of our family’s favorite games for years. This is definitely for older kids and takes a little while to figure out how to play, but once you figure it out, you’ll be hooked. It’s a long game, which can be good if you’ve got quarantine time to fill!
Cauldron Quest
Cauldron Quest is a really fun cooperative game that is good for younger children. I like that you work together during this game and it takes a decent amount of time to play.
Clue
CLUE is a great classic game of who done it from my childhood. My kids love this game too and the whole family can play.
Cobra Paw
Cobra Paw is really fun! Everyone can play. This game is really well made. The tiles and dice are really beautiful! It’s a good memory and speed game.
Color Pop
Color Pop is a game that we picked up in Switzerland (so many awesome European games out there). But luckily, it’s also available on Amazon. It’s great for any age.
Cover Your Assets
Cover Your Assets is another amazing game from Grandpa Becks Games! All of my kids love this game and they have several versions of it, like Cover your Kingdom below.
Cover Your Kingdom
Cover Your Kingdom is a lot like Cover Your Assets. I love the card descriptions though. They’re super hilarious.
Dixit
A friend recommended Dixit to me and I’m so glad we got it. It’s a gorgeous game full of beautiful artwork. It can be played by kids of any age, but it’s fun for grown-ups too.
Dobble- Harry Potter
Dobble is a game that we got in England over Christmas this last year. If you like Spot It, it’s the same thing, but Harry Potter themed. So if you’ve got any Harry Potter fans in your family, this is a must! The little characters are super cute.
Dutch Blitz
Dutch Blitz has been a family favorite of ours forever! It’s an Amish card game and so much fun. I’d say it’s a good game for around 6 years old and up. It’s for 4 players, but if you get the 2-pack (different color boxes) you can play with up to 8 players. It’s insane and so much fun!
Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens is a super fun card game. It’s a bit confusing to figure it out in the beginning and it’s not my favorite game, but I know a lot of people love it!
Goblet
Goblet is a beautifully made game with sturdy wood pieces. It’s a great thinking game and is good for early elementary and up.
Guess Who
Guess Who is a great 2 player classic for all ages!
Hedbanz
Another great classic, you can also download the Hedbanz App if you have enough devices and don’t want to wear things on your head, but my kids cheat too much for that!
Jenga
I’m sure you’ve played Jenga. It’s a fun balance game that you can play while having a conversation, eating a meal, or at any time.
Katamino
Katamino is a brain game we picked up in Switzerland. Think of Tetris, but made out of wooden blocks. You must complete different patterns each round. It’s a fun and challenging game.
LIFE
You probably remember the classic Game of Life from your childhood. This was one of my favorite games as a kid, but now that I actually have a life, I kind of hate it. You have to do things like go to college, buy a house, pay bills, etc., which is just not any fun when you actually have to do those things in real life. But, my kids love this game, so we play it.
Machi Koro
Machi Koro is a new game to us and we absolutely love it! It’s hard to explain, but it’s so much fun. It reminds me a little of Settlers of Catan. You race to build a village. There are coins and cards. It’s great fun.
Mancala
Mancala is an old favorite of ours. Its an ancient game that dates back to between CE 500 to 700. The oldest version was found by archeologists in Ethiopia, but there are variations of this game all over the world. Even small kids can grasp this game.
Nuts About Mutts
This game is great. I love all of Grandpa Beck’s games, but my younger kids especially love this one!
On a Scale of 1 to T-Rex
If you have kids who love to perform, this is a great game. My shyer kids don’t love this one because it requires you to be loud and silly. It’s a lot of fun and a great party game to do in a group or a large family.
Pandemic
Ok, I know this one is ironic, but Pandemic has been our favorite board game for the older kids during this pandemic. It’s a cooperative game, which I love. You have to work together to find the cure and eradicate the disease. Wish it was that easy in real life!
Pickles to Penguins
Ring It
Ring It is a really fun game that is great for any age. My younger kids especially love this and it’s good at recognizing shapes and colors.
RISK
Rook
Rook is a long time family favorite card game that can be played multiple ways. Which is great because it can be tailored for younger or older kids.
Scattergories
Scattergories is really fun. The box says 12+ but my 7 and 9-year-olds can play it no problem. It’s a good game to get their brains going.
Scrabble
Scrabble is a long time favorite game for the parents in the family and we are slowly converting our kids. It’s a great educational game too.
Shut the Box
We got this game in old Williamsburg, Virginia years ago. It’s an old fashioned dice game that is also great math practice for younger kids. It’s easy and quick and can be played in a group or by yourself.
Skip-bo
Skip-bo is a game I’ve been playing since I was a little girl at girls camp. It’s a fun card game that can be played in a big group.
Skull King
Skull King is another great game from our favorite game makers, Grandpa Beck! I always love the artwork on their cards, and this one is no different.
Slapzi
Slapzi is one of our family’s very favorites. I love it because almost all ages can play it and the game can be played as quickly or as lengthy as you like, which is important to me!
Spot It
Spot It is another great game for all ages and a group of any size. There are many variations that you can play so its always fun and fresh.
Stack the Scoops
Stack the Scoops is really fun, and easy enough for the whole family to play. Kids will be able to practice simple math skills in a fun way. Make it really fun and combine this game with an ice cream sundae night!
Sushi Go
It took us a little while to figure out how to play this one, but once you get it, it’s a lot of fun. And the animations are just so cute!
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
This game was a new one for us and we absolutely love it! Anyone can play and it takes about 5 seconds to learn to play. It’s fast and fun!
Telestrations
Probably our top favorite party game, Telestrations can be played with any age, and I actually think it’s more fun to play with little kids because it makes it absolutely hilarious!
Throw Throw Burrito
This is a really fun and active game for all ages. Disclosure: it involves throwing things at people, so play at your own discretion.
Ticket to Ride
If you like strategy games, this one is for you. Ticket to Ride is best for older kids and it’s quite long. If you’re looking for a shorter version that’s just as fun, Ticket to Ride NYC or Ticket to Ride London are both great choices!
Timeline
I wasn’t sure my kids would like this game because it’s so obviously educational, but it’s actually really fun and it opens up a lot of great conversations about historical events. There are different versions, including Timeline Events and Timeline Inventions. This is also a great travel game because the cards are tiny.
Trash Pandas
We love this strategy card game. It’s a little too complicated for my little kids, but they can play it with some help. It involves cards and dice and is. a lot of fun.
UNO
No family game list would be complete without the classic game of UNO! We also love DOS for something a little different!
Utter Nonsense
Utter Nonsense is a fun game if you have kids or family members who love to act and be the center of attention. You win based on being able to do funny accents. My theater kids love this game.
What do you Meme
What do You Meme is like Cards Against Humanity, but with pictures. Use the picture cards and word cards to create your own meme. Whoever comes up with the funniest wins! I suggest getting the family version.
Games are such a great way to come together as a family and have a good time while creating memories and traditions. I hope this list helps you to build your own family game library!
