Whether you’re a gamer looking to introduce your family to the world of tabletop games, or a family looking to spend a little more quality time together away from those devices, these are some of our favourite family games that are a hit with all experiences and ages, from kids to grandparents! In part 3 we take a look at the best games for large family gatherings.
(I have included the recommended age for each game as well as the Board Game Geek community age rating where this differs from the publishers rating.)
Party games
Bored of Trivial Pursuit? Here are some great family friendly games for bigger gatherings!
Concept
4-12 Players | age 10+ | 40 minutes | Repos Production
Concept is a ‘describe and guess’ game, but with a completely unique mechanic! Rather than using words, drawing or acting, you must silently describe your movie/book/phase/etc. using only the available icons on the player board.
The board has a whole host of icons, from colours, shapes, objects and so on. Here’s an example…
The green question mark denotes the main concept with green cubes adding to this concept. The red exclamation mark and matching cubes represent a secondary thread relating to the main concept. So in this example the main concept in an animal, which is fictional/mythical. The secondary thread is fire and mouth… The answer is a Dragon!
The Chameleon
3-8 Players | age 14+ | 10 minutes | Big Potato
The Chameleon is a sneaky game of deception and deduction, best aimed at older children and adults. One player is secretly assigned the role of the Chameleon whilst the other players are all given a word from a grid of 16 possible words. Each grid has a theme such as Musicals or Movies and while everyone else knows exactly which one is the correct word, the Chameleon does not!
In turn order each person gives a one word clue relating to the word to convince other players that they know which word is correct and are therefore not the Chameleon. However if your clue is too obvious, the Chameleon might be able to guess which word is correct. Give too vague a clue and your fellow players may believe you don’t know the correct word, branding you the Chameleon!
The Chameleon’s job is to blend in and not be found out! Use deduction to work out which word is the correct one from the clues given by the previous players and try to give a clue on your go that doesn’t give you away!
Wits & Wagers
3-7 Players | age 10+ | 25 minutes | North Star
Wits & Wagers is a trivia game where knowing the answers isn’t necessary, in fact, it’s often highly unlikely! All the questions have numbers for answers and each player writes down their guess on their board which are then arranged on the play mat from smallest to largest. The number that’s closest without going over wins the round, so it’s entirely possible to win the game without getting a single ‘correct’ answer!
But the games not just called Wits… There’s also Wagers to make! Will you double down on your own answer, or after seeing everyone else’s, change your mind and bet on another answer? The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game so place your bets wisely!
(BGG community age rating 8+)
When I Dream
4-10 Players | age 8+ | 20-40 minutes | Repos Production
When I Dream is a very fun and unique game! Each player takes it in turns to be the ‘dreamer’, wearing the eye mask so they cannot see the cards displayed on the bed.
The other players are secretly dealt roles of Fairy, Sandman or Boogeyman, who all have their own objectives in the game. The player’s then take it in turns to say a single word clue to help the dreamer guess the word on the bed, the dreamer has a set amount of time to guess as many of the cards as they can.
Things are never quite that simple though because while the fairy’s want to help the dreamer get it right, the Boogeyman is trying the lead the dreamer astray. The Sandman wants the dreamer to get an equal number of correct and wrong guesses so you can never know which side they’re on!
Bonus Game!
Randomise
4+ Players | age 8+ | 30-60 minutes | Gamely Ltd
I’ve included this game as a bonus entry because it is a new take on games that will be very familiar with most families!
Randomise rolls three games into one – Pictionary, Charades and Articulate. But the beauty of Randomise is that it doesn’t require you to know every movie or book in existence! Instead you are describing, drawing or acting out an entirely random scenario.
Played in two teams of any number, on your turn you take a card from each of the three piles, A – Adjective , B – Noun, and C – Verb, so for example using the cards above, you may end up describing a ‘Giant butterfly building a sandcastle’. You can then choose to Draw (90 seconds), Act (60 seconds), or Describe (30 seconds) in order to convey your scenario to your team within the allowed time.
This flexibility is great for kids who might not feel confident drawing and would rather act or use their words, or vice versa. Everybody has their strengths and Randomise allows each person to play to theirs! There are also Easy and Hard words on each card, which can be used for increasing the difficulty for adults.
Missed part 1 and 2? You can find them here:
Family games for beginners – part 1, co-operative games
Family games for beginners – part 2, competitive games
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