This month we have been taking a break from media watching/consuming. We haven’t been perfect at it, but one thing we have cut out for the month is watching TV shows or movies in the evenings. Yes, it can get boring. But we’ve remembered that we love to play games, and have pulled out some of our favorites!
I guess playing board and card games is considered “nerdy”, but it’s funny because I don’t consider Theo or I very “nerdy”. Growing up, we had family game night every Saturday. When we lived in the village, my Mom would buy several candy bars on her bi-monthly grocery trips. Every Saturday night we would play games and then have a treat- half a candy bar! I will never forget those memories. Some of the games we played them have become family favorites now!
The following is a round-up of our favorite family games. On Wednesday, I will publish another post with a list of our kids favorite games, so stay tuned for that post! These games are all linked under affiliate links through Amazon. Basically, if you purchase one of these games through my link, Amazon will pay me a couple of pennies. Using affiliate links DOES NOT raise the price of the item for you and I am not receiving any compensation from you directly. Amazon is simply paying me since I am kinda sorta advertising for them. Btw, anyone can sign up for Amazon affiliates…you don’t have to have a blog!
Anyways, on to our favorite game night games!
Settlers of Catan: This classic game is best with 3-4 players. Our favorite part of this game is that every time you play, the setup and outcome is completely different. It involves some strategy, but enough luck of the draw that I feel like I can actually beat Theo– which is nearly impossible to do!
Ticket to Ride: The objective of this game is to lay continuous train sets across the board map and complete “destinations” across the board. Each completed destination is worth a certain amount of points. We love this game because we can actually play it with two people! Playing with two people makes it not overly competitive, so we often play with two train sets each. If you are bored of playing
Dutch Blitz: Fun fact. I’ve been banned from playing this game with the Hines family. Only because no one could beat me. The last time we all got together, the ban was lifted but they made me play left-handed as a handicap. I LOVE this game, probably because we all love things we are good at, don’t we? Ha! This is a FAST-PACED game that takes a lot of practice. All players play simultaneously- building up the numbered piles in the middle of the table, trying to get rid of their individual cards first. Only four people can play, but you can purchase an expansion pack or just play with a regular deck of cards (one deck per person playing, and the backs of the decks have to be different).
Sequence: This is a fun team game that even Tera (age 5) and Kiah (age 3) are able to play! It does not involved an immense amount of strategy, but enough to keep an adults attention, too! The objective of the game is to get five in a row and since you are on a team, you don’t know what cards your partner has, so it’s a game of guessing and strategizing and hoping for the best!
Tripoly: Have you ever wished you could play a game with ZERO strategy? Have you ever been at a party and just wished you could chat with your friends while only kinda-sorta playing a game, but not having to pay too much attention? Well, then Tripoly is the game for you! The box claims it’s a mix of poker, Michigan hearts and Rummy. This is an absolute favorite of mine because you can win by pure luck and you can talk to your friends the entire time you play.
Boggle: This is another fantastic brain game that gets you thinking and the more you play, the better you do! In this game, you shake up the letters and then spend a limited amount of time trying to find words in the letters. It’s a blast!
Skip-bo Golf: Skipbo is a classic deck of cards that you should always have on hand! There are SO MANY different games that can be played with a
Pandemic: Now, if you want strategy….this is the game for you. Pandemic is a cooperative game that involves working together to defeat the diseases that are threatening to take over the world. It’s kind of like a mix of Risk, Forbidden Island and Ticket to Ride. Lol. It can be extremely confusing to me, but the nice thing is that since it’s a cooperative game, I don’t have to carry my own strategy. As long as I’m playing with someone who can carry the entire game strategy, it works. This is a Hines family favorite!
Power Grid: Ok, I confess…I don’t think I’ve ever actually played this game! This is another high level strategy game that Theo loves to play with his brothers! If you have a lot of teenagers who need to get those brain gears moving, this is another great game to add to the list!
Forbidden Island: I LOVE the trends in cooperative games lately because it means that even if strategy is involved, I don’t have to have all the pressure on myself to win. As long as I am working with the team, the game can be won! This is a fun game that the outcome is always different and never predictable due to the different layout every time we play! It’s fun!
Backgammon: This is our favorite two-player game. Rolling the dice to move your pawns from one end of the board to the other sounds simple enough, but the fun part is that you can knock your partners pawns back into their space, while also trying to prevent your partner from knocking your pawns back into your space!. It’s a classic and we both love it!
Telestrations: To be honest, this game can be played without purchasing the actual game. It’s a combination of pictionary (which I hate) and a guessing game. Each player writes down one word or phrase, then passes it to the next person, who draws a picture of said phrase. The next person then writes what phrase or word they think the picture looks like, and then passes it on again for a picture to be drawn. This continues until it returns to the original person, and then hilarity ensues. It is seriously one of the best group games and I love that it leaves no pressure on anyone to GET IT RIGHT. I also love that kids all the way up through adults can play.
Apples to Apples: I am sure that we have all played this game at a party or two. It’s a great one to have on hand because many people are familiar with it, and as long as a child can read, they can play! It’s a fun, no-pressure game that involves a lot of laughter!
So there you have it! Our favorite family games! I know that right around the end of January, the winter seems to feel excessively long and we start to go a little stir crazy. It’s the perfect time to pull out some of these games and have a game night or two! What are some of your favorite family games?
We love to play Intervention (a zero strategy game that is HILARIOUS and so fun!) and we love Catch Phrase (you have to try to get your team to guess the word or phrase on the game without using any of the actual words, it’s our all time favorite group game!)