Fun Family Board Games

Family board games. They have been a wholesome source of family entertainment for centuries now and it is not hard to see why. They are cheap, they are fun and what’s wrong with a little friendly (and, ok, sometimes not so friendly) competition? From silly to quirky, challenging or simple, below are our top family boardgames to play together.

Exploding Kittens

Since the debut of Exploding Kittens in 2015, the game has rocketed to popularity with over 11 million games sold to date. This family card game strikes a perfect balance between strategy and chance, with rules that are easy to grasp for kids of school age. It’s a great choice for casual gamers, yet its unpredictable nature ensures even seasoned players remain engaged. Because it’s a compact game, we keep a deck in the car to play when we head out to eat, and this is always an easy choice to take away on school holidays. 

In Exploding Kittens players aim to survive by strategically playing cards, defusing explosive felines, and sabotaging their opponents and trying to avoid the dreaded exploding kitten card. 

Victory is achieved by being the last player standing after all others have fallen victim to the Exploding Kittens. 

Number of Players: 2 to 5 (standard); up to 9 (with expansions)

Suitable Age: 7+

Average Cost: $30.00

Block Party

Block Party is a delightful, family-friendly game that brings the fun and vibrant atmosphere of a neighborhood get-together right to your tabletop. I found this game especially engaging for my teenagers who seemed to enjoy the tactile nature of the game and the synergies to Tetris.

It is a colourful game with real blocks that challenges players to strategically build their own 3D creations before the timer runs out. 

Number of players: 2-6

Suitable Age: 8+

Average Cost: $30

Quirkle

The concept of Qwirkle is most easily related to that of Scrabble, except it is not on a board and instead of making words you are joining colours and shapes to score points. It is highly engaging and with young children being able to easily join in, this game is a great addition that leaves no one in the family out.

Qwirkle is as simple as matching colours and shapes, but this game also requires tactical manoeuvres and well-planned strategy. Earn points by building rows and columns of blocks that share a common shape or colour. Look for opportunities to score big by placing a tile that touches multiple pieces with matching attributes. The player with the most points wins! This is a huge favourite in our house with kids of all ages!

Number of Players: 2 – 4 players

Suitable Age: 6+

Average Cost: $30.00

Monopoly

Monopoly is a multi-player economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents, aiming to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares.

It’s an age-old game that everyone has been roped into playing at least once in their lifetime. And a lifetime is what you need to finish the game too! Known for the length of time one round can take, families quite often get so far and then set the game aside until they can return to their buying and bankrupting later.

With a whole range of different themed boards, like the Brisbane, Friends, Harry Potter and Pokemon versions, there now seems to be a board theme for every member of the family. For this writer, the original UK version will always be the best.

For those with younger kids, there is also Monopoly Junior as well, which is perfect for the youngest of players. Our kids also like the Monopoly Card Game which as easy card game for kids to play while out and about.

Number of Players: 2 – 8 players

Suitable Age: 8+

Average Cost: $30.00

Barricade

Barricade’s basic set of rules is based on the concepts of attack and defense. During gameplay, you must stop your opponent from being the first to reach the endpoint by placing barricades along their path. Otherwise, you might find that “It’s a long hard road / when your friends start / to leave you behind” (Neil Young). As you progress along the board, players can also land on their opponent’s pegs to send them back to the start. How kind will you be to your competition?  

This game is an absolute huge hit with our family, from our youngest who is 7 all the way up to the grandparents who visit. Be warned – it is highly addictive and although it is easy for kids to pick up and play there is definitely a good deal of strategy and planning that can go behind each maneuver. 

Fun to play with two, but a more challenging game with 4, this is probably our family favourite right now.

Number of Players: 2 – 4 players

Suitable Age: 7+

Average Cost: $50.00

Sequence

Sequence is a board and card game. The board shows all the cards (except for the Jacks) of two standard 52-card decks, laid in a 10 x 10 pattern. The four corners are free spaces and count for all players equally.

The players compete to create rows, columns or diagonals of 5 connected checkers placed on the cards that the player has laid down. Two-eyed Jacks are wild, while one-eyed Jacks allow an opponent’s checker to be removed. The game ends when someone has reached a specified number of connections.

Although this may seem pretty basic, our family have actually set up group Sequence competition days within our extended family as we all enjoy it so much.  Simple and quick to play, it is most enjoyable when you play in teams and made even more fun by the fact you are not allowed to talk or plan with your partner as you work together silently to achieve the same goal – great for teamwork!

For those with younger kids, there is also Sequence for Kids as well, which is perfect for the youngest of players.

Number of Players: 2 – 12 players

Suitable Age: 7+

Average Cost: $30.00

Catan

Since the release of Catan in 1995, the game has developed into a modern classic that is available worldwide in over 40 languages. To date, over 40 million games have been sold. The reason it is so popular? The game is one of strategy but is also easy to learn and easy to play. And while it is great for beginners, it is also challenging enough for those more experienced players. It’s a game for everyone and that is why it is on our list.

In Catan, players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn, dice are rolled to determine what resources the island produces. Players collect these resources (cards) – wood, grain, brick, sheep, or stone – to build up their civilizations to get to 10 victory points and win the game.

Number of Players: 3 to 4 (standard); 5, or 6 (with expansions); 5–12 (movie edition)

Suitable Age: 10+

Average Cost: $50.00

Articulate

‘Describe a word without actually saying it’. It might sound very simple, but when you’re racing the timer and being heckled mercilessly by the other team then well, let’s just say that it isn’t!

This is not a game for those who like peace and quiet. It is absolutely hilarious and quite often when we play we have a range of excitable and anxious team mates screaming out answers simultaneously as their fevered reader is trying desperately to give them clues to what the word is, without saying it or the key words listed on the card.

It is fast. It is loud. It is hilarious. It is the perfect family board game to play that often ends in explosive laughter and cheers.

Number of Players: 4 – 20 players

Suitable Age: 12+

Average Cost: $25.00

Codenames

In Codenames, the players are split into two teams, red and blue. Each team will have a spymaster and the other members stand as field operatives. At the start of the game, there will be 25 cards on the board with various words. Each of the cards corresponds to position, representing different colours. The spymaster must give one-word clues that can point out multiple words on the team’s board. The other players must guess their team’s words but should avoid the words of the opposing team. To win, the team must find out all the cards of their colours.

This is another highly addictive game that is also challenging and fun for the whole family to play. It’s great for those kids who like to use their wit as they help lead their team to their words and, ultimately, a win.

Number of Players: 4 – 8+ players

Suitable Age: 8+

Average Cost: $30.00

Cluedo

Cluedo is a family staple that has been around forever and loved just as long. The ultimate detective game, players are on the hunt to find out who has killed who, in what room and with what murder weapon. Players must move their character from room to room, ask questions and look at cards they have to eliminate people, places, and weapons. The player who correctly accuses Who, What, and Where wins. No players are allowed to look at the three cards inside the Solution Cards envelope until they are out of the game.

Number of Players: 2 – 6 players

Suitable Age: 8+

Average Cost: $30.00

Cranium

Cranium is on this list as it is the perfect combination of a whole heap of very popular games all rolled in to one. Billed as a “whole brain game”, teams of players work their way around the board, taking turns to get their team mates to guess answers, i ways that depend on which card they land on. If it is Creative Cat, the player must clue a word to his or her teammates by drawing it, sculpting it in clay, or drawing it with his or her eyes closed. If it is Data Head they must answer a variety of trivia questions. Word Worm (my personal favourite) has players unscramble words, spell challenging words, guess definitions, identify words with letters left out, or spell words backwords. And finally, for all those extraverts out there, Star Performer has players whistle a song, impersonate a celebrity, or act out a clue.

This game is so much fun, uses so many different mediums and methods of play, and is seriously hilarious!  

Number of Players: 4+ players

Suitable Age: 16+ (although we think much younger players can join in.  Possibly from as young as 8)

Average Cost: $30.00

Scrabble

Last but definitely not least is Scrabble. Hugely popular and a family favourite for nearly a century, the game is sold in 121 countries, is available in more than 30 languages and over 150 million sets have been sold worldwide. I’d say its a winner.

Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns and are included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.

This game is fun but is also the perfect way to learn spelling and encourage a more expansive vocabulary in kids. Great wordsmiths love to outwit each other in a game, but it is also enjoyable for the younger players too. Just make sure you have a dictionary nearby as some obscure words that come out may actually exist!

Number of Players: 2 – 4 players

Suitable Age: 10+ 

Average Cost: $25.00

That is our top ten, but we would love to hear which boardgames always draw your family to the dining room table! Any favourites you can recommend? Let uis know if the comments below!