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There’s nothing like a family game night to bring a family together. But if you’re just tired of playing the same old games, I have some out-of-the-ordinary suggestions for you. With plenty of competition and a whole bunch of laughs, these games are sure to be winners at your next family game night!
Suspend
This game says it’s recommended for ages 8 and up but even the littles could get in on it. It’s a game that requires a steady hand and some creativity. It includes 24 notched wire pieces of varying sizes. The goal is to manage to get all of your pieces balanced on the tabletop stand. With 3 other people competing for the same goal, it can get quite tricky! If any of the pieces fall on your turn, you have to add them to your pile. There are a few different ways to go about playing this game, making it a game you’ll keep coming back to!
The Game of Things
Maybe you’ve heard of this fantastic large group game, but if you don’t own it yet, it’s time! The laughs alone make this game a must-have. The object of the game is each player writes a response to a topic, then you each take turns trying to guess who said what. It only takes a couple of rounds to begin to develop some pretty outrageous and hilarious responses that will still have you giggling days later.
Forbidden Island
This is a cooperative board game which is perfect for the family that may struggle a little with being kind during competition. In order to win the game, everyone needs to work together. The game begins by building an island with the cards provided. The goal is to prevent the island from sinking by collecting all the necessary treasures before all the cards are removed from the table. As each card is removed, the play gets more intense and sometimes sacrifices have to be made. It’s a nice change from the usual competition, allowing your family to come together with a common goal.
Really Bad Art
Think Pictionary but harder and faster and a little bit ridiculous. Each player draws a card with a word or phrase on it. You have exactly 6 seconds to turn the card over, read it, and draw it. When the buzzer goes off, pencils down! Then you grab a dummy card and shuffle it in with all of your cards and lay them out so everyone can see the phrases. You also lay out your drawing. Each person uses tokens to guess who’s picture goes with which card. You earn points when you guess correctly and when others guess yours correctly. With only 6 seconds to draw, everyone’s drawing skills look just about the same – really bad!
Quelf
This game takes hilarious to a whole new level. There is no room for being shy in this game! You’re trying to get from one end of the board to the next, but along the way you will find yourself and the rest of your family doing seriously zany things. You might have to perform a ridiculous stunt or obey crazy rules or answer hilarious trivia. Sometimes you won’t know what the other player has to do until suddenly they’re talking in an accent or acting like a monkey. You’ll have plenty of blackmail material with this one so you might want to have everyone leave any recording devices at the door!
Carcassonne
If you’re more of a strategy game type of family, this one is for you. It’s skill that wins this game. Each player will develop an area as they place tiles turn by turn. You will deploy followers, known as meeples, who are key to earning more points. It takes strategy. It takes focus. But everyone still has a chance to win it all. If you’re a Settlers of Catan fan, this game needs to be on your list.
From loud and crazy, to quiet and focused, this list has it all. Go ahead and amp up game night with these must-have games!
