2024 Gift Guide: Games for the Family
It’s Day 2 of gift guid week! Today I’m sharing my gift guide with games for the family. These are our absolute favorite games to break out for family game night.
Family game night is my favorite. Especially as the kids get older, it is so much fun to be able to play some of our favorite games with them. Plus, family games have become so great over the last few years. Gone are the days of parents having to sludge through Candyland or other games that bore you out of your mind. Now, there are endless options for kids that you’ll legitimately enjoy playing, too!
Games are one of my very favorite things to gift during the holiday season. I give them to our kids, I give them to our family, and Corey and I give them to each other. Games are also my top go-to gift when we are invited to kid birthday parties. Truly, you can’t go wrong with a good game.
Today, I’ve got a list of 25 awesome games that we love to play as a family. I’ve focused specifically on games that are really easy to learn and relatively quick to play. They’re games that my entire family (including our 6 year old) can play along with, but that you as the parent will enjoy too. These games have some strategy involved, which I love, but can be played with no strategy whatsoever if the kids want to join in. Basically, they’re the perfect games to bust out after dinner or on a chilly fall weekend.
Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Our Favorite Board Games for the Family
1. Sequence
This game is great for small family nights and bigger game nights alike! It takes minutes to learn, kids of all ages can play, and it’s a team game which is always a fun twist.
2. Azul
Corey and I LOVE to bust this game out for at-home date nights for just the two of us, but it’s simple enough that the kids can join in! I love the strategy involved in this one and, again, it’s really quick to learn.
3. The Game
This is one of my favorites of all time! Work together to try to play all of the cards, with some piles going in ascending order and some in descending. You’ll laugh, you’ll yell at each other, and you’ll quickly become addicted.
4. Splendor
We’ve been playing this game and recommending it for years and years. It’s a super simple game to learn but the strategy involved can go DEEP and it’s so fun to see how other people play. I never get tired of this one!
5. Telestrations
Imagine if the old slumber party game Telephone and Pictionary had a baby – that’s Telestrations. You’ll laugh until your stomach hurts, and it’s often even more hilarious when the kids are involved.
6. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
This is a fun twist on the old card game Slapjack, which was always one of my favorites. As you flip your cards you say the words in title one by one. If the word you say matches the card you flip, you have to be the first to slap the deck!
7. Happy Salmon
I love this game because it takes less than 90 seconds to play and always gets everyone giggling. It’s perfect to bust out when you want to do something fun but don’t want to commit to a full game, and kids of almost any age can learn it.
8. Quixx
Jackson and I can play this game on repeat forever. It’s a dice game with a fair amount of strategy involved, and it’s a blast for kids and adults.
9. Skip-Bo
This is a CLASSIC and I’ve loved it since I was probably 8 years old. We still play this game on the regular in our house and we never get bored with it. Perfect for the family that loves a classic, easy-to-learn game that takes more than 15 minutes to play.
10. Beat That
This is a fun game to bust out when everyone is feeling antsy and needs to shake things up. It’s basically a bunch of small minute to win it games – we never actually play the full game, just try the little challenges. It gets the kids moving and giggling, and this is ALWAYS my go to gift for kid birthday parties!
11. Monopoly Deal
This is what you would get if you turned Monopoly into a card game, made it way faster, and also made it way more fun. Only takes a few minutes to play, and is really easy to learn since it builds on a game we all know!
12. Rummikub
This is another one I played as a kid that I still love! This is my favorite kind of game – the kids can play it easily but there’s some SERIOUS strategy involved for the adults if you know what you’re doing! I love creating crazy combo play in this game – nothing feels better.
13. Play Nine
This is our newest addition – I never get tired of it! It’s the classic card game golf, with a slight twist. It takes 2 minutes to teach people how to play, and you’ll find yourself playing all night long.
14. Throw Throw Burrito
My kids are obsessed with this game – and I love anything that gets everyone giggling this hard! Who doesn’t love a game where you get to throw stuffed burritos at each other?!
15. Take 5
This is another one we’ve recently discovered that has become a go-to game for after dinner. It can play up to 10 people, which makes it a great party game, too!
16. Let’s Hit Each Other With Fake Swords
My best friend got this one for Grant for his birthday and the kids fell in love immediately. I expected to hate it, but chasing Jackson around the house with a sword very quickly changed my mind. It’s hilarious and might be even more fun as an adults-only game.
17. Yahtzee
You know I love the classics! Yahtzee is one of those games that is fun for all ages and all people. Even people who don’t love games can get into Yahtzee!
18. Sushi Go!
We LOVE the art on this adorable game, and it’s simple enough to learn that Grant has been playing since he was 5! However, like many others on this list, it has enough complexity that it often gets broken out at our grown up game nights too!
19. Escape & Solve Clue
I am getting Jackson two of these games for Christmas – he LOVES them. It’s a mini escape room in a box, themed to Clue. We had an absolute blast solving this one as a family, and it’s such a unique experience that you can’t get from any other game.
20. The Upside Down Challenge
This game always ends in fits of laughter. It’s another one that we don’t necessarily play as intended – we just do the challenges and laugh our heads off. It’s shocking how difficult it is to do anything with those glasses on. And it’s always fun to see who is surprisingly good at it (raising my hand, here!).
21. Ticket to Ride
This was one of the first board games we learned how to play (aside from the ones we grew up with) and we were quickly hooked. Everyone we’ve ever introduced it to absolutely loves it! The theming is fun and the kids love building their train tracks across the US!
22. Hand-to-Hand Wombat
This is a team game where you have on “evil wombat” secretly trying to sabotage everything. My kids aren’t sneaky enough to actually be very good at this game, but we always giggle while we play and they’re constantly asking for another round.
23. Mantis
A really simple card game that is surprisingly fun. It doesn’t take long to learn or to play, and it’s one of those games that the kids love and we never mind playing with them.
24. Uno
You can’t have a family game night list without Uno. It’s impossible. I love that every family has their own house rules (in our house, you draw ’til you can play and you absolutely can stack Draw 2’s), and I think it’s safe to say we play this game more than anything else.
25. Draftosaurus
And finally, a simple dinosaur-themed game that you’ll all quickly become addicted to! Draw dinosaurs out of a bag and place them in your own mini Jurassic Park, then score points based on how well you lay it all out.
I’m not gonna lie – there are at least 15-20 more games I’d love to recommend to you. Narrowing it down is hard! In fact, I’ve just realized I left one of my favorites of all time off the list. How could I?!
Not to worry – I’ve got a big Amazon list with all of these games plus even more. I’ll be adding to it as I remember more that I love, so be sure to check back as you do your shopping!