Family Board Game Ideas

[weHEARTmickey]

We love SCATTERGORIES...DD9 has gotten pretty good at it. This is a tradition when we have our big family get-togethers. (We use 3 different sets...it's pretty challenging with that many people playing at once!)

SPADES is another one we play (2 on 2) with some of DH's family.

We also love PHASE 10 , SKIP-BO, & PICTIONARY.

TABOO is a fun game & the teens we know like it.

On the Wii, we like to play BOOM BLOX as a family & just bought the new one for Christmas. They have "party modes" that are really fun.

Also bought SORRY SLIDERS & CONNECT 4x4 for DD9 & DS6 for Christmas. They love DISNEY SCENE-IT & DISNEY DVD BINGO. Can't wait to try Pit & Bananagram like some of you mentioned!

 

[muffyn]

NEW games that santa is delivering for under the tree. that I have read glowing reviews on :

Pandemic
bunny bunny moose moose
Bridge troll
&
run for your life candyman ( an older kid/adult version of candyland,, where you can use real gingerbread cookies & destroy them as you play the game)

these are supposed to be less than 1 hour of play time so I think they should fit into our diverse busy family group & hopefully get some game night in!!

 

[willoughbyclan]

Some of our favorites are:



Trouble
Sorry
Yahtzee
Bingo
Uno
Skipbo
Cranium
Battle of the Sexes

My family didn't play games much when I was young but I make a point to play with my family now and my kids love it!

They will be unwrapping 3 new ones tomorrow (I mean in a few hours):

Catchphrase
Monopoly (used to have years ago)
Wild Planet Hyperdash (heard good reviews of this one)

Hopefully Santa made a good choice.

 

[maslex]

We enjoy playing....

Scattergories (well, it's one of MY faves)
Mexican Train Dominoes
Toc
Imaginif (my boys like this one too)
Would you Rather


I just bought for Christmas....

Apples to Apples (cause I keep hearing how great it is)
Game of Things

 

[marcyinPA]

Bananagrams was a hit...especially for the crossword/scrabble lovers in the family. Would You Rather was hysterical, albeit a big long. We had fun playing it though and laughed so hard that I think I'll be sore tomorrow. My 10 year old was the youngest player, and he did pretty well with it....but it took him some time when he needed to write an explanation. This one will be a fun game on NYE when we get together with our friends (and drinks!)

 

[mominwestlake]

We just got finished playing Pictureka and everyone had a blast. It is definitely a good game for a group of mixed ages. We played in 2 teams.

 

[kfeuer]

If you're shopping on Amazon, Flinch (card game) is $4.99. It wouldn't get here in time for this Christmas, but it might be a good stocking stuffer for next year or something to set aside for Easter baskets. I haven't played it yet, but it looks like a good game with a lot of positive reviews.

I just bought this a few days ago myself--my family used to play Flinch when I was a kid and we all loved it. It's been years since I played, I'm looking forward to pulling it out with my kids. I picked up Five Crowns card game too, it has great reviews and we like card games.

 

[leahjade]

How do you play banagram? It sounds like one my family would like. The hit at our house this year (teens) was Loaded Questions -it was hilarious trying to figure out who said what!

 

[MiniGirl]

What a great thread!!! We have started a family game night in an effort to keep the tv off, so we have not bought/tried any of the Scene It games and many of the games we have are tried and true -- Sorry, Trouble, etc. We do have Apples to Apples. I bought it many years ago and was wondering if the newer versions have more updated cards. I'm also thinking of getting the Jr version though. (Our girls are 10 and 7.) We just got Snorta and we've enjoyed it but I think it would be fun with more than just the 4 of us.

I will definitely be looking up some of these games. It is sometimes hard finding games that we all truly enjoy, so I'm always on the lookout.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

We have searched & searched for Bananagrams. (Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, the game kiosk in our mall) We can't find it anywhere! Where did you guys buy it & what does the box look like? TIA!!!!

 

[tarheel618]

Its not in a box it is in a banana shape bag. I've seen it at Target and they do have it listed online

 

[Teacher03]

We love Apples to Apples...it's a quick game and alot of fun.

 

[marcyinPA]

We have searched & searched for Bananagrams. (Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, the game kiosk in our mall) We can't find it anywhere! Where did you guys buy it & what does the box look like? TIA!!!!

The only "chain" store I think that carries it is Target. You can find it in independent toy stores (like the high end type). And now that I think of it, I believe my MIL said she saw it in Barnes and Noble. It comes in a yellow banana shaped sack with a zipper.

 

[marcyinPA]

How do you play banagram? It sounds like one my family would like. The hit at our house this year (teens) was Loaded Questions -it was hilarious trying to figure out who said what!

Bananagrams is similar to Scrabble, but different in that everyone plays on their own grid, so to speak. There is no game board. You just create words using the tiles you have chosen. You can move words around and change things around as much as you want. The winner is the person who uses all of their tiles first at the end of the game.

The nice thing about it is that there is no point value to the words, so any word, big or small, will do. This makes it easier to play with different age levels.

 

[runwad]

Bananagrams is similar to Scrabble, but different in that everyone plays on their own grid, so to speak. There is no game board. You just create words using the tiles you have chosen. You can move words around and change things around as much as you want. The winner is the person who uses all of their tiles first at the end of the game.

The nice thing about it is that there is no point value to the words, so any word, big or small, will do. This makes it easier to play with different age levels.

eww I'm going to keep this in mind for next years christmas game. This sounds right up my families alley. This year we got Imagine If and we love it. We've been playing since Christmas.

 

[Astro Orbiter]

DD7 got Cranium Dice for Xmas and we've been playing it non-stop. It's marked 8+. It's great fun! She's not known for being a good sport about not winning, but with this game she almost doesn't care! It's got eighteen dice and a card deck; cards come in 4 categories - fill-in words, card/dice stunts, math, and match-the-picture. Every die has pictures, word parts, and numbers on it; you roll and roll until you do whatever the card tells you to do. Such as: Add to 7, find a flip flop, a chicken, and a cowboy boot, build a dice/card tower to match the picture, or fill in the blank of "When I'm on vacation I like to _____". I like it because it challenges me just as much as her!

Pit!!! I grew up waiting until I got old enough to join in the games at family holidays. It can get somewhat violent...scratches have been known to occur...

Your kids are definitely old enought for Carcassone and Settlers of Catan, though I prefer Carcassone. Rules on Settlers can be a bit confusing.

Then, there's old-fashioned card games. Rummy, Speed (2 players), Canasta.

Deb

The things I miss!!! DH won't play my childhood games with me...

 

[Danemom]

One of our favorites when the kids were a little younger was Break the Safe. It is a timed game (easier to get everyone to play when you know it's only 30 minutes) and you work as a team to break into a safe.
I guess they aren't selling it anymore (it's selling on amazon for $200!) but it's more reasonable on ebay and other sites, if anyone is looking for something a little different.

 

[leahjade]

They have bananagram at Amazon cheap!

 

[left210]

DS9 got several board games/card games for Xmas and by far Monopoly Deal has been his favorite. I bet we have played it 30 or more times already. This thread and getting new games has sparked a renewed interest in playing board games for all of us. We have really enjoyed it over the last few days and are going to get back on track for our weekly family game night.

 

[left210]

DD7 got Cranium Dice for Xmas and we've been playing it non-stop. It's marked 8+. It's great fun! She's not known for being a good sport about not winning, but with this game she almost doesn't care! It's got eighteen dice and a card deck; cards come in 4 categories - fill-in words, card/dice stunts, math, and match-the-picture. Every die has pictures, word parts, and numbers on it; you roll and roll until you do whatever the card tells you to do. Such as: Add to 7, find a flip flop, a chicken, and a cowboy boot, build a dice/card tower to match the picture, or fill in the blank of "When I'm on vacation I like to _____". I like it because it challenges me just as much as her!

Is it actually called Cranium Dice? I cannot find anything with that name.