The Best Board Games for Big Family Fun
My family loves board games! We play them so much in my house that we have a whole shelf filled only with board games. I have such fond memories of playing them on Friday nights and on vacations with my family growing up, and I’m so glad my kids will have similar memories. So, if you are hoping to play more games with your kids or are looking to beef up your collection, I’ve got lots of suggestions for you listed by age below. I hope you find something you love!
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Families with kids 5 and under
Connect Four is a classic, but it’s still one of the best games for small kids. If you’ve never played, the premise is simple. Two players use two different colors of pieces and try to get four in a row. My three-year-old and my six-year-old can play this one for hours. It also helps with early counting skills and simple strategy. I played it as a kid and love playing now with mine.
Eye Found It is our favorite family game. Players spin and move characters up the game board to try and reach the castle before midnight. Now, the fun happens when someone lands on a Mickey space. Then you get to search for objects on the board and move an extra space for every one you find. I love this game for small kids because everyone wins or loses together. So you either all make it to the castle or midnight catches you. It’s fun for everyone!
My baby girl is two and her favorite is Yeti in Spaghetti. It’s such a simple game but it’s so much fun! You lay plastic spaghetti across a red bowl. Then, you place a cute little yeti on top. On each players turn, he or she tries to take a piece of spaghetti without making the yeti fall in the bowl. It’s fun for all kids, but easy enough even for your littlest little ones.
Don’t Step in It is my three-year-old son’s current favorite. It sounds gross and silly, but trust me on this, it’s fun. Essentially, you use a mold to make “poops” and place them on the game mat. Then each player tries to walk blindfolded across the map without stepping in a poop. There is an original along with this one with llama poop, but my favorite is the unicorn version with glitter poop.
Families with kids 10 and under
13 Dead End Drive was my favorite game to play with my brothers when we were young. Poor old Aunt Agatha has died and you have to assume the characters of those close to her. One of them will inherit her fortune. You move around the board and essentially try to take each other out. The game is complete with actual traps you get to spring on each other’s game pieces, so it’s so much fun to play for kids and adults!
Jumanji is a game that has resurfaced in the last few years because of the popularity of the recent movies. There is a board game based on that movie, but this original game is still the best one. My six-year-old loves this game. And one thing I like about it is that everyone wins or everyone loses. The goal is to play to the end. It’s complex and it takes a few play-throughs to really enjoy, but once you do, it’s a winner!
United States Bingo is a game that basically teaches kids about the 50 states. It’s great for helping kids learn geography and facts. And it’s a really fun take on bingo that my kids just love! If you’re planning any road trips soon, I fully recommend playing this a few times before hand.
My oldest son decided a few years ago he wanted to visit every national park. He got Trekking the National Parks as a gift and it’s taught him so much about the parks. And it’s really fun too! The game board is a map with all the parks marked and you have to visit them all to win. It’s another good one for geography and it teaches strategy as well. Think of it as risk for kids with national parks.
Families with teens
Catch Phrase is my all-time favorite game. My cousins and brothers and I used to play this one and it brings back so many fond memories. You team up and pass the game from one player to the next. When you have it, you have to describe the word on the screen until your team guesses. The team holding the game when the buzzer sounds loses that round. It’s simple and fun and there are so many versions that there is something for everone.
Scattergories is a great game for a word nerd like me, but anyone can play it. Each round, a letter is randomly selected. Each player has to come up with words starting with that letter based on the prompts for that round. It’s fast-paced and fun, and it helps kids to think outside the box and expand their vocabulary.
Whoonu is another game I played a lot with my cousins growing up. Each player has a certain number of cards representing things like sunrises, pickles, baseball, broadway musicals, etc.. Each round you have to pick a card for whoever’s turn it is. Then, that person has to rank the cards based on what they like most. It is the best game to play with a group of people you know really well.
Cranium is another classic that never becomes outdated. There are four types of challenges in this game so everyone is going to be good at something whether it’s trivia, word games, charades, or name that tune. And it will take your whole team working together to win, and you’ll really love all the things you learn and the funny things you get to do in this one.
Families with adult kids
One of my favorite memories of all time occurred when my whole family played this game. In Mafia, someone is chosen at random to be the mafia and they have to “take out” the civilians (everyone else) one by one to win the game. If they do it, they win. But if the civilians can agree on who the mafia is and “execute” them, the civilians win. Its a fun role-playing game. We used to play with just a deck of cards, but now there is a whole game! During my family’s game, my grandaddy was playing an excellent game when he took out my grandmother. When she realized he “killed” her, she was so mad, and it was hilarious!
Another game I played with my entire family was Trivial Pursuit. Specifically, we played this one on vacation. It’s a super traditional trivia game, but there is a reason it has been a bestseller for over 50 years. It’s fun and the categories are diverse enough that any adult can participate. This is the classic version, but there are more specialized versions too.
What’s Yours Like is a game my parents and brothers and I used to play often and it is both fun and hilarious. Basically, each round an object is chosen and everyone knows what it is except for the person whose turn it is. The other players have to describe the object by saying what theirs is like while the one person guesses. It’s such a simple premise, but it’s an awesome game we come back to over and over again.
All of Us is relatively new to me. I just bought it for a family trip we are taking this month and I can’t wait to try it out. It’s a trivia game, but the categories are generations. So there are questions for Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. It looks like so much fun.
Families with any ages
Headbandz is so easy to play and there are versions that work for any age. There is actually an app you can download that will allow you to play the game, but I like the traditional one with the silly headbands. Everyone else can see what you are based on the card on your head and you have to guess while they give you clues. The versions for small kids also have pictures on the cards for kids who can’t read yet, and there is also an adult version.
![Apples to Apples [Discontinued by Manufacturer]](https://whatagoodday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/51oISW18AfL._SL500_.webp)
Another favorite for all ages is Apples to Apples. With this one also, there are multiple versions that allow for play with small kids or with only adults. This basic one is in between. It’s a great family game or perfect for a game night with friends.
Funglish is my husband’s favorite. You have to work as a pair to get your team to guess a word by placing descriptive tiles on the game board. Teamwork and creative thinking are so important in this game, and it can lead to hilarious results!
Party Playoff is probably my brother’s favorite game. He loves a bracket, and this game is essentially March Madness in a board game. You draw words out of a bag and place them at random in a tournament bracket. Then everyone makes predictions about who will win. Then you draw cards to determine the terms of each matchup until you have one winner. Points are divvied out to players based on their predictions. It’s definitely a different kind of game and anyone can play.
Let the Games Begin!
I hope you all have fun checking out some of my favorite board games. And if you are looking for a different kind of family fun, check out these other posts below! Have a good day!
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Our family loves games too! These are great suggestions.
The current favorties of my 6 and 8 year old are Enchanted Forest, Labyrinth, and Guess Who. We also play a lot of Uno.
Love the blog! 🙂
Thanks for the recommendations! I haven’t heard of Enchanted Forest, so I’ll have to look that one up! And I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog 🙂