10 Fun Family Board and Card Games

My family has long enjoyed playing games, and we have quite a few favorites. It’s always fun for me to do some research to find something new for us to try each year, I try to have at least one or two under our Christmas tree. Although we have mostly teens and adults in our group, this list also has some that we have been playing since the kids were young. Fortunately, many games now have family versions so the games can grow with your family.

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Coup

Original deck is for 2-6 players (much better with more than 2 people), expansion deck adds teams or expands to up to 10 players, Ages 8 and up

This is our family vote for best game. We started playing it last year at Thanksgiving, and it has just continued from there. On our family cruise in June, the teens went to the ship game room and played for hours. You have characters in your hand and the point is to get the most “power” and money in the game. You have certain characters in your hand, but you can lie about who they are and others can call you out on your lies…or not. There’s a ton of strategy, but you can also play straightforward and sometimes that works too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recommended this game to people–just buy it already, it’s not expensive and you won’t regret it.

Qwirkle

2-4 players, Ages 6 and up.

Qwirkle is easy to learn and very fun to play. If you have ever played Sequence, Qwirkle employs the same strategy and is also similar to dominoes. You match colors or shapes to form lines. Although it is relatively simple, there is some complexity when you figure out strategy for how to play your tiles.

Five Crowns

1-7 players (there is a solitaire version), Regular game ages 8 and up (10 is probably better). Junior version 2-4 players, ages 5 and up

This is a rummy-type game that is really entertaining to play with a group. It’s pretty easy to learn, yet has endless possibilities. It’s one of the only games I’ve played where it is just as much fun with two people as it is with a large group.

Labyrinth

2-4 players, Ages 8 and up

We have been playing this game in our family for years (and years!), and even though my kids are now 18 and 20, we still bring this out and play it. It consists of maze cards that you slide from both sides in order to move your game piece toward treasures. A fun strategy game!

Blokus

2-4 players, ages 5 and up

My son is excellent at this game, because somehow he can always seem to find ways to block me from putting in my pieces. Each person has their own color of differently shaped pieces, and the only rule is that your piece has to fit in corner to corner with another one of your pieces (not overlapping any squares). Sometimes I try to put my big pieces in first and then I get stuck with strange shapes, sometimes I start with the strange shapes only to get blocked with others. It’s definitely more challenging with more people, but it’s great to try to complete your pieces and block other players.

PicWits

3 or more players (better with more), Box says ages 10 and up and I think it’s probably fine for younger as long as they can read, probably better for 6+ 

I’d say this is similar to Apples to Apples, but with pictures rather than nouns. You get a phrase or word on the card, like “Bad Hair Day”, and you pick a picture from your hand that you think matches the phrase, and the judge that round decided which is the best fit. We have had many laughs with this game because it’s so visual.

Telestrations

8 players, ages 6 and up (need to be able to read)

This is a hilarious game that combines Pictionary with Telephone and never fails to create a ton of laughs. It can be played with 4 people, but it’s so much better with 8 and there is a version for 12 as well.

Wits & Wagers

4 or more players, Ages 10+ for the regular edition, 6+ for family edition

This game takes random trivia that you probably don’t know the answer to, like “What is the average number of pieces of pizza eaten in America each day?” Each person chooses an answer, and then you make guesses (or bets, depending on the version of the game you are playing) based on how confident you are with your answer or whether you think another player’s answer is closer to the right one. It’s fascinating and you don’t need to actually know trivia, you just have to figure out how confident you are in the guesses.

Munchkin Deluxe

3-6 players, ages 10+ 

This game has a bit of a learning curve, and watching YouTube videos really helped us get the general idea before we started. Even then, we discovered we were WAY too nice to each other the first time through. It’s much better if you’re a more cutthroat player, and the game gets better and better the more you play and learn the nuances of the game.

Quelf

3-6 players, Ages 10+

I’m not even sure how exactly to describe this game, except that it’s silly, you sometimes have to do things that make a fool of yourself, but I’ve never laughed harder than when I was playing! Throw your self-importance and insecurities to the wind and go with the flow. There’s some trivia, some stunts, some rules, some general randomness.

What games does your family like to play? Any that you recommend?