Popular Family Games

Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by Michelle

To ask if our family love games, well that’s like asking if our barn cats love catching a squirrel, our chicken like to free-range, or Bixby wants to go for a walk.

It’s indisputable & undeniable; games are inherent to who we are. Today we’re describing the most popular family games around this house… all linked to below.

This post contains affiliate links. Go here to read the full (ultra fun) legal disclosure about that.

 

I love playing games together as a family, because it’s a great excuse to all huddle around a table and enjoy hanging out together.

Phones get left to the side. And we all have each other’s full attention.

Games leads to laughter and conversation that often would never happen any other way.

If you’d rather, listen in to a recent podcast all about this topic right here:

 

 

Our family must own well over 50 games, and don’t even get me started about decks of cards. We have drawers full of various ones. We don’t include standard card games in this article, like Rummey, and Hearts, and Presidents (all favorites over here as well) but this book gives directions for those and 98 other games to get your decks of cards into full-force use.

And, no, you don’t need to own 37 different decks. Cause who would do that? cough. cough.

 

The Most Popular Family Games in our House

It’s hard to choose which ones are our favorites. Obviously, we go through seasons that our choices would change, and of course new games are always entering the scene around here. But after great thought and heated debates we compiled this list for you of our favorite games.

Azul–This game is not only my current absolute favorite, but it’s also drop dead gorgeous. If aesthetics matter to you in a game this will be your lifetime favorite. While Azul is a little more quiet/contemplative than i like in a family game, there is definitely still room for a nice conversation while you play this game. I should mention that I did a lot of research on this one before purchasing it for my daughter and new son-in-law on their first Christmas. (Yes, in this family games are very important. It was a given that the newlyweds needed a closet full of popular family games to start off their new life together.) I learned that there are other versions of this game that are far less appealing, so definitely stick with this version right here. Oh, and bonus for a newlywed couple, it’s a great game for just 2 players. Negative for a family of 6, who often has extra friends over on game nights, it only allows for 4 players. So we’ve decided we’ll soon be getting a second copy so we can double our playing capacity. We love it that much.

Cover Your Assets–Don’t let the simplistic nature of this card game that fits in a little box fool you. It’s fast paced and addicting. And it’s perfect for this competitive family. (We also own a cute limited edition of this featuring Crumbl cookies, but I don’t think you can find it anymore, which is fine, Cover Your Assets is more to-the-point and more competitive.)

Skyjo–Don’t let the weird name fool you. This is one of my favorite games these days. In fact, it’s the favorite of everyone in our family. I love it because you can totally talk with each other and enjoy your conversation while you play. There is enough “chance’ involved that you just laugh and keep talking (and the game keeps moving) if you choose wrong. Yet there is a decent amount of strategy, so it’s a perfect balance really.

Brain Games–Don’t let this name fool you either. I was worried it’d be only for brainiacs or only all about optical illusions. I was totally wrong, on both counts. And we’ve never played this without loving every minute of it.

Cabo–This simple card game, played with an average deck of cards– is one we come back to often. Find the rules here.

 

Qwirkle–I think one reason I love this game is that it’s truly great for all ages. Well, they recommend 6+ but I’m certain younger could thrive at this game and yet it’s one of Bill’s absolute favorites. I also love that it makes me examine the playing area closely and think outside of my usual “box,” yet we seem to be able to hold great conversations while playing this family favorite. But a few members of our family are extremely tactile kind of people and I’m sure this game would be a favorite of theirs even if it wasn’t so fun to play.

Phase 10–A great game for all ages, this has been played in our house as long as I can remember, and we still truly love it. Phase Ten is a great game for a long, gray, rainy day. Or it’s a great option if you’re in the mood to challenge each other to a long-standing competition… it’s easy to just play a round or two and pick the game back up right where you left off night after night.

Code Names–I love this game because it really makes you think outside of the box but I never suggest this as a game option if it’s a night I want to just soak up each other’s company or if we’re with new friends we really want to get to know. With Code Names, you’re thinking hard all the time and there is no extra talking at all. But it is a really fun game of thinking.

WhooNu–THIS is the game I always pull out when we’re playing with new friends because it’s a fun way to get to know each other. Yet it’s also a tried-and-true favorite, popular family game in our house. It always will be. Your friend likes chewing bubble gum more than making snowmen? Who knew!

 

Taboo–Taboo came out when I was a teen, and I’m super glad it’s still around, because it will always be one of my favorites. But if you can find a version from the 1980s you will love the battery-powered buzzer more than today’s little squeaky thing. Or you’ll hate it. If your husband is in charge of it and won’t. stop. beeping. it. non-stop. It could go either way.

Fact or Crap–Full disclosure… this one wouldn’t have made my list, but my teen daughters stood over my shoulder and insisted I add this one. If your friends and family would enjoy making random guesses on stupid things you could never be expected to know you too would love this one. But the real joy sets in once in a while when you indeed know a random fact and you feel “pretty freakin smart,” to quote Kayla, like when the “dendrochronoly” card came up for her and she knew the definition by heart from 8th grade science while everyone else thought she was a brilliant scholar of all things tree-rings.

Wits & Wagers–this is a game of randomly betting on useless information that you really have no idea about, yet somehow it’s one everyone loves around here.

Imaginiff–I wouldn’t say this one is top on our list of popular family games, but suprizingly we always enjoy it when we bring it out. I do feel like there aren’t really enough cards after you’ve played it a lot. You’ll start recognizing the cards and maybe even remember how someone chose on that same card in the past. I really like the way the game works though, that you get more points the more that others guess your guess. So there’s a bit of strategy involved in choosing the right answer.

Dutch Blitz–this game has been around way longer than I have yet it’s super fun. It’s a nice fast-paced game with never a need to wait a turn. It is total chaos as everyone works at the same time to build sets in order to get rid of all the cards in their hand first, but it’s fun chaos. We own this option, which includes an awesome expansion pack so 8 people can join in on the crazy chaos all at once.

Five Crowns–This card game works well with a small or larger group and it’s good for a wide age range to all enjoy playing together. It’s strategic but not too hard, so the family can enjoy talking while playing. Bonus: it’s a sneaky way for kids to practice addition skills.

Sequence–my father-in-law gave us a homemade version of this back before I even knew you could buy this game and it’s been a staple in our game closet ever since.

Then, last but definitely not least…

Cranium Turbo Edition–we just recently discovered this game. Apparently it was first made 20 years ago, but we seriously had never heard of it. (I have no idea how this happened.) We have played a slew of varieties of Cranium games, and while we’ve liked them for different reasons, in their own right, you may have noticed that none made the list. They seem to grow kind of wearisome and tiring after playing them a handful of times. And if you’ve played one Cranium game you’ve played them all, in some fashion… or so we thought… Then we tried this one. There are so many things to love about this game! I’ll name just a few:

• There seems to be an unlimited number of players. Super fun if you have a big crowd and want some pretty mindless, super fun entertainment.
• There is such a great variety of activities! 16 to be exact, and 6 of these you won’t find in any other Cranium game. I think the ones that makes us crack up the most are the Puppeteer cards, kind of a charades on people-as-a-puppet steroids.
• The electronic timer with music and lights is unlike any timer we’ve seen in any game and it seriously makes us break out in goofy dance sometimes it’s so fun.
• With 1,000 game cards I can’t imagine we will ever get sick of this or see repeat cards.
• It comes with many fun options of cards we can design ourselves for our own personalized game.
• We’ve never played this without laughing uncontrollably time and again.

 

Honorable mentions

The Bible is Funny is kind of like a PG-rated Cards Against Humanity and we crack up every time we play it.

Inklings, Scattergories, Balderdash, and the silliest game my daughters love to still drag out and play, like they’re 8 again? Mall Madness.

Then there’s Carrom–kind of a table-top version of pool, using your fingers and circular playing pieces instead of pool sticks and balls. This one doesn’t come out often (probably because it is stored in the barn attic, just because of the size of the game, so it’s just not as convenient to grab when game mood hits. But when it does come out, it’s played for days on end.

 

Our favorite games when the kids were younger…

Blink

Hi Ho Cherry O

Hungry Hippo

Trouble

Sorry

Connect Four

Uno Attack

Battleship

Rummy Roots

 

And the girls loved these favorite single-person “games,” for lack of a better word:

Tangrams

Rush Hour

 

Then there are these adorable games that my girls would have LOVED when they were younger, if only they existed then!

The Uno Moo Game (Look at that cuteness! Complete with a BARN!)

Zingo (Bingo with a Zing? Yes, please!)

 

Here are some other links that might interest you:

9 Perfect Things to do on a Long Winter Evening, many of which are good to do as a family in every season.

The secret to making the perfect (giant!) cookie that makes every game night just about perfect.

Four Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves

When Parents Feel Like Failures (and why it’s okay to fail)

 

Now it’s YOUR turn! Please help me find our family’s NEW favorite game by recommending YOUR favorite game(s) in the comments! I can’t wait to hear!

Listen in to my thoughts on these family games (& COVID quarantine for our family) in a recent podcast and catch a little fb live where I share more information:

 

 

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Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands. I Thessalonians 4:11

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