Family Games Gift Guide

Give the gift of games this year! We’re sharing our favorite games from our collection in our Family Games Gift Guide.

We LOVE games! A couple years ago I started ordering a new game every month for our family to play and learn. My kids love when a new game arrives and will spend hours just checking it out and then more and more hours playing. Family game nights are a favorite and I asked my kids for their best game recommendations for this year’s game guide.

Game Storage

Game Storage: We use a photo storage box to keep all of our cards games organized and together. It will hold 16 games. This would make an awesome family gift, for friends or siblings. I would gift it with a game or two to get their collection started. We love that it is grab and go, meaning we can quickly carry all of our card games to a different area of the house or take on trips with us. As a mom, I love that it keeps everything contained and I can quickly see if there is a game missing.

Favorites for Younger Kids

Sleeping Queens: Sleeping Queens is great for younger ages and moves quickly. It is our favorite before bed game because games don’t last long. Probably our most played game.

Spot It: Another game that is good for all ages. You just have to be able to pick out images, there is no strategy, reading or counting involved. We love Spot It!

TENZI: There are lots of games you can play with a set of TENZI dice and the only skill you need is to be able to roll. It is a really fun game for a group.

No Stress Chess: Great for beginning chess players. I got it for my boys because I had never played chess. This game taught them the foundations for chess and they quickly moved to a regular chess set.

Blink: Blink is a 2 player game that moves really fast! So fast they claim to be the world’s fastest game.

Kingdomino: I’d say this is a simpler version of Catan (although they aren’t related). You build your kingdom domino style, connecting like with like. This game is easy to play.

Wig Out: This is a fast pace game that is fun for adults and kids. Don’t be fooled by younger players. My youngest always seems to win.

Go Nuts for Donuts: This game has a bit of strategy to it but still ends up being fun for the whole family. Plus, everyone will want to snag donuts after.

Too Many Monkeys: Such a fun family game! Try to get all your cards in a number order to win.

Card Games

Cover Your Assets: Probably the most popular Grandpa Beck game, but we also love his Skull King, The Bears and the Bees, and Nuts About Mutts. They are all well done and great quality. You can’t go wrong with a Grandpa Beck game.

Monopoly Deal: Another game my kids love. The basics are the same as regular Monopoly, but easier to understand and faster moving.

Phase 10: The object of Phase 10 is to be the first player to complete all 10 phases. The rounds move quickly (and keep players engaged).

Rook: Beware of the Rook!

Happy Salmon: Another fast moving game. Also, there is no turn takin in Happy Salmon.

Five Crowns: A fast moving, easy to play game.

DOS: If your family enjoys UNO they’ll love playing DOS too! Just remember to yell DOS when you have 2 cards left.

Spoons: Keep your eye on the spoons, you don’t want to be the last one reaching!

Exploding Kittens: My boys love this game!

Trash Panda: A push your luck game that has you hoping for the highest score.

Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza: This little card game is lots of fun. This game reminds me a of War but with a lot of random things thrown in. It’s a fun easy game.

Games of Strategy

Ticket to Ride: A game of strategy. Build your train route to earn points. There’s also Ticket to Ride First Journey for younger players.

Catan: Start with Catan and then add Seafarers and Explorers and Pirates to your game. This is currently our family favorite.

Blokus: Blokus is easy to learn, and you use colorful Tetris like pieces to play. The goal is to get your pieces on while blocking opponents.

Other Favorites

Color Brain: A great test of your color memory. Each round you’ll be asked to pick the colors of the object in question. If you are a Disney lover check out Color Brain Disney. I thought I’d have the best advantage since I’ve seen basically every Disney movie, but my son owns us all at this version of the game.

Hues and Clues: Convince other players to see the world as you do! This is a fun game for a group.

Telestrations: Kind of like the telephone game, but fro drawing. It is fun to see what the drawings morph into and is filled with laughs each round.

Bananagrams: Practice spelling while connecting words. It kind of reminds me of Scrabble, so if you love Scrabble you’ll love Bananagrams.