If you want to find an activity to bond with your loved ones that does not revolve around watching a movie or tv, then having a game night is a viable, fun-filled idea. Fun for every age, most games are an excellent way to elicit tons of laughter while having a friendly competition and creating lasting memories.
We have rounded up some of the best games you can play with your family- games that are sure to yield hours of entertainment and bring your clan closer together.
Scrabble
Our top pick for the ultimate family game is the classic Scrabble, and for good reasons. Perhaps one of the best word games out there that brings highly competitive fun to the household, playing Scrabble extends beyond simply having a fun time. This versatile board game is an excellent tool to build great vocabulary skills, strengthen memory, and enhance creativity and problem-solving skills amongst everyone, especially your children.
However, Scrabble can often get difficult when players, mainly kids, are left with a limiting number of tricky scrambled tiles. A word unscrambler, like the one at unscramble.me, can serve as a handy helping hand during those crunch situations. The tool can generate many unique words from the most challenging letter combinations, helping bolster your vocabulary skillset.
Another word unscrambler tool available is Unscrambled-words.com. Choose from different modes like Wordle Solver, Starts with, Ends with, Contains, or Anagram Solver. By testing out different modes, you kids can try to specify the order of the letters or work to improve their Scrabble score by landing on a double or triple letter tile!
A firm favorite in many households, Scrabble is not only an entertaining game that kills and creates some great family bonding moments but a rigorous brain exercise where you are constantly thinking on your feet to come up with new words.
Exploding Kittens
Exploding kittens is a Russian roulette-style card game that is based on luck and some strategic thinking. You may think it has a silly, ridiculous name. But with hilarious cards and inappropriately funny illustrations like bats farting, it is a fun game for anyone with a cheeky sense of humor.
The idea behind the game is simple. Players take turns to draw cards from the pile, and the one who pulls out an exploding kitten is out of the game. However, there are ways to stay in the game and avoid death. You can use other cards in the deck to your advantage, such as a defuse card, which counteracts the dreaded exploding kitten card and brings you back in the game. Likewise, you can skip your turn and attack your opponents with special cards. The game continues to get intense as players draw cards, and fewer cards are left in the deck, increasing the likelihood of drawing the kitten.
With a warped, yet light-hearted sense of humor, the game also requires a bit of strategy, concentration, and patience, making it best suited for children aged seven and above.
Charades
Want a game night full of fun and laughter? You can not go wrong with this all-time classic game of Charades. An excellent way for the entire family to exhibit their acting skills, this good old-fashioned game makes for an epic family game night where players must act out words to their team with hand gestures or bodily movement, but without talking or pointing towards anything. However, you are free to let your laughs roar!
Charades come with many versions for different ages, which means even young ones can get in on the action and guess some easy subjects. Whether it is mimicking funny acts by Disney characters, a tv artist, or acting out a book or song title, the game is an enjoyable experience for kids and adults alike, which will surely make the family game night one to remember.
Sequence
Sequence is an exciting yet strategic family board game that can accommodate a large number of players. Accordingly, it is one of the games well suited for large families with lots of kids where everyone can join in on the fun without feeling left out.
The goal of this classic game is to score a sequence of five identical colored poker chips in a row before your opponents. Players put a chip on the corresponding space on the game board as they play their cards. When they form a row of five in any direction, it becomes a sequence. A must-have, Sequence is a challenging enough game for adults while simple enough to learn and play for children simultaneously.
Rummikub
Considered one of the greatest games for the whole family, Rummikub is similar to Rummy, where players take turns to lay tiles in runs and groups. The objective is to be the first player to play every tile on their rack and create groups (same number sets in different colors) or runs (sets of consecutive numbers in the same colors). You can rearrange the existing tiles on the table to your advantage.
Easy to grasp and fast-moving, it is a popular game for people of all ages, from grandparents to elementary-school children. Rummikub combines elements of luck and strategic thinking. It reinforces early math skills, like sequencing and pattern recognition, making it an ideal game for kids and adults alike.
30 Seconds
A straightforward and fiercely entertaining game for all age groups, 30 seconds is a general knowledge board game where players get split into two teams. One player must guess the five things written on the card from their teammates’ hints. The rule is that you can not say the actual word or part of it when explaining it to the other person. The goal is to guess as many names on the card against the timer, set to 30 seconds. The names or topics that appear on the cards could be anything from celebrities and movies to landmarks or famous brands.
While the game requires a minimum of 4 players, it is simple enough to grasp and play for older kids and teens, making it an enjoyable experience for the entire household.
UNO
A classic and beloved family card game, the goal for players in UNO is to get rid of all their cards before their opponents by matching them by number or color. With special action cards like skip and reverse turns and draw 4’s for some unexpected and game-changing fun, this exciting game ranks high on the “let’s play another round” meter.
A favorite amongst many, this fast-paced game makes a good choice for some family entertainment after dinner. Whatever you do, do not forget to shout UNO when left with your last card!
If you want to spend some quality family time together within the comfort of your home, then busting out a board or card game is a viable way to get everyone on the table for some laughter, talking, and of their smartphones.
