Fun Family Games

Here's the post I've been promising since Christmas! My family loves games. The girls and I are partial to board games and the boys are partial to video games. In this post I'll tell you about some of our favorite games.I've only played this once at Julie's but it was soooo much fun that I had to have the game for myself. I'm taking it on the trip and can't wait to play it with friends and family. Basically--everyone is given 5 cards that have random words on them. In your hand you might have: glitter, bananas, roller coasters, dolls, and playing in the sprinkler. One person does not have any cards and everyone has to look at the cards in their own hand and pick one that the person who doesn't have cards would like best. Each person puts the card they choose in an envelope and then the person who doesn't have cards rates the cards in the envelope in order of how much he or she likes those things. You receive points based on where your card falls in the ranking. The round is over and you pass your cards to the left, draw one and now a different person doesn't have cards and it starts over. Great fun and oh so funny at times!!! This is great with adults and kids.
I've also only played this once and it was at Julie's but I just bought it for my neice for her birthday and I'm wishing I had bought us a set too. It's not expensive--maybe $5. It's the same idea as the Phase 10 card game that I've mentioned many times but with dice. Sort of like Yahtzee.
Here's the token video game in my lineup of great games. We LOVE to play Nancy Drew mysteries as a family. Ollie hooks up the computer so that we see it on the TV and one person mans the mouse and we all work together to solve these mysteries. Basically, you have to explore, look for clues, take notes, and solve puzzles. Some are really hard like the one we recently did--"The Beast of Blackmoor Manor." Ollie and I pretty much did that one although the kids were involved. They couldn't do much so lost interest and we'd put them to bed and then keep playing. We just did one over the last week--"The Creature of Kapu Cave," and it was really easy. I recommend the "Junior Detective" setting. You get notes and a task list. When you get really stuck--go to the Universal Hint System on line and that will get you through. These are not one night activities--depending on how often you can work on them it can take weeks to finish. It's worth it for the fun and the logical thinking that it teaches.

This is a fun game that we got for Christmas. It's Tic-tac-toe/chess. You use 4 chess pieces--the rook, knight, pawn, and bishop. They move like chess pieces but your goal is to get tic-tac-toe-four-in-a-row. You can get taken just like in chess but you can put your piece right back in play. It's a fun idea for a game and we've really enjoyed it. I like it because it is a relatively short game--unlike Monopoly or Life.

These are Professor Noggin's card games. We got 5 sets for Christmas! They are really fun and educational. You roll a dice which determines which number question you ask. It's easy to play with multiple age groups because you can choose the easy or hard set of questions depending on the player.

I absolutely love this game and we don't get to play it enough because you need more than two players and you need to be able to read well to play. Hannah and I can talk Ollie into playing when we really want to. This is similar to Whoonu but a little different. One person puts down a green card and that card will say something like "Cute" or "Stinky." You then pick from 5 cards in your hand something that fits that description. The person who played the green card in that round picks his or her favorite and the person who placed that card gets to keep it. At the end of the game, the person with the most red cards wins.

We've only had a chance to play this once since Christmas but it is so fun! I can't believe we haven't played it again. This game incorporates geography so again we have fun and educational! You are given a mission--i.e. collect three countries that do not border each other and two items and 2 men. You then move around the board collecting and losing cards until you have solved your mission. This is another one where you really need to know how to read to play.

My logical, mathematical brain really loves the challenge of this game. It's called Mastermind. We also have a Mastermind for kids game that I recommend for kids. Ours have been playing the Mastermind for kids game for years and so were ready to move up to the real Mastermind. Basically, one person makes a code with colored pegs. The other person makes guesses as to the code and gets "scored." You find out if you have pegs either 1-in the right place and right color or 2--right color, wrong place. You really have to think logically to take your score and ultimately figure out the code. Hannah and I rule at this game. Just sayin'.

This game is called Bananagrams. It's basically Scrabble in a bag without a board. You start with 15 tiles and you have to make whatever grid you can make. Every time you use all your tiles you say, "Peel!" The game ends when all tiles are taken and one person has been able to use all his or her tiles. Marissa used to play this with scrabble tiles and called it Speed Scrabble.

This game is Mad Math--it's a dice game where you roll the dice and either multiply or add the numbers to place your pieces. Goal? Get three in a row!

Here's a classic--Parcheesi! We have had fun with this one. Beware--this game can go on and on and on if you have ruthless children who continually try to capture and send home his or her's opponents pieces.
This is a fancy version of the old "Perfection." A video says it all--

I forgot about Hannah's newest game that she got from my friend Leslie's husband. Farkel. It is a dice game where you try to score big points. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but am looking forward to learning this one. Are there any games that your family enjoys that I haven't mentioned?