When we aren’t reading (or writing) we love playing games together. Raise your hand if you’re a game playing family too? It’s fun, right? Sitting around laughing, enjoying one another’s company while you try and win.
Here are a few of our favorites in no particular order.
Grandpa Beck’s Games– My uncle is the Grandpa Beck of these card games. I LOVE my uncle and his family but that’s not why I recommend their games. We’ve played them for years now and they’re so fun. Don’t believe me? Check the reviews!!! We love Cover your Assets and Skull King best.
Rubik’s Race– I am the reigning champion in the family. It’s a two person game that we pull out from time to time and when we do, we race over and over. It’s not as much fun if you are not somewhat evenly matched but like I tell the kids, “That’s how you get better.”
Settlers of Catan– Fun, easy strategy game that’s different every time. This ones been around for several years now and everyone still enjoys it when it’s pulled out. There are lots of versions. We just have the classic game and it keeps us entertained.
Ticket to Ride– Another simple strategy game. I love that youngish kids can play and enjoy or a group of adults can play it and really get into it. We have the original version and the Europe. The rules are only slightly different. I can’t say I have a favorite but I’m more familiar with the U.S. board so it’s easier to find my routes.
The Great Dalmuti– This is a fun card game for bigger groups. My kids get really silly playing this and whoever is king bosses the peons around. It’s easy to learn which is a good thing when we have lots of people over that aren’t used to playing games.
Chess, cribbage, jacks, and marbles are some of the classic favorites around here. I’m not a huge chess fan but my kids will play it for hours on end. Cribbage was one of the games I played a lot growing up and I’ve enjoyed passing it on to my kids. I like some of these simple old games for reinforcing basic math skills while having fun together.
Splendor and Azul are fairly new favorites that my older kids love picking. Some of them are restrictive by number of players which can be tricky since there are eight in our family but we will just get two games going at the same time and mix up who is playing.
What are some of your favorites? We are always looking for new ones.
Telestrations is a super fun one we’ve discovered lately. It’s what would happen if pictionary and telephone had a baby. Having younger kids actually makes it more fun, but they do have to be able to read.
I forgot that one! It’s another favorite.