Listmania! Best Family Games You’ve Never Heard Of
By GlindaEr, well, maybe these are just games I’ve never heard of before. These games are fun for the whole family, and perfect for those game nights! They all promise to not be boring for the older set, as there comes a point when you can play Candyland or Monopoly only so many times.
Quiddler Ages 8+ Sort of like Scrabble, but with cards. And a little more complicated.
Five Crowns Ages 10+ It comes closest to rummy, with five suits. Start with 3’s, and they are wild. Go on to 4’s and 4’s are wild, and so on…
Blokus Ages 5+ A game of strategy, in which your blocks may not be adjacent to anyone else’s blocks, but yet touch at least one corner of one of your other blocks. And once the block is down, that’s it!
SET Game Ages 6+ A card game where the object is to find specific sets.
Pass the Pigs Ages 7+ A game of chance in which you accumulate points by rolling two cute pink piglets.
Wild Planet Hyper Dash Ages 7+ An electronic game that gets the players moving! The game gives commands as to specific targets, and you have to run around the house or yard to get them! Has four different levels and four different game modes to challenge memory, coordination, and teamwork.
Mayfair The Settlers of Catan Board Game Ages 12+ Catan is an imaginary island that is different every time you play the game! The players are explorers and settlers who develop things on the island.
ThinkFun Rush Hour Ages 7+ Set up cars and trucks and try to maneuver your way through rush hour! Forty “road block” cards and four difficulty levels keep this game challenging!
Ticket to Ride Ages 8+ Claim your own railway route across the United States before your opponents get there first!
Deluxe Pit Ages 8+ A card game where you “corner the market” of a certain commodity. You’ll feel just like a stockbroker. But you’ll still be able to feel good about yourself in the morning.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:25 am
One holiday season years ago, we got hooked on Pass the Pigs after playing it at my in-laws’ house. I think I might need to go dig this one out of the game closet! Great list.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
The sons of the Annalucia (both the 10-year-old and the 23-year-old) are great fans of the Settlers of Catan. The Annalucia would be a greater fan if she did not so often roll the Sevens 😉
June 1st, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Great suggestsions for family fun. Another one you might want to consider is ‘Shear Panic’ – very cute board with sheep and relatively simple rules but lots of fun.
June 1st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
We were introduced to Set just in the past month – and I can say for fact that kids LOVE IT. It’s like watching grownups play Texas Hold ‘Em.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
we love Set and Quiddler here. So much so that we’ve had to buy them both at least twice (’cause with a little one, cards eventually get torn or lost or chewed).
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Take a look at a quick little game called BLINK. It is a card game, easy to handicap (by changing the amount of cards in respective hands) so adults can play with kiddos, and each game takes about 2 minutes. Perfect for waiting at restaurants or for the airplane, etc. My college age son still likes it and we still play!
June 6th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Boo has Hyper Dash. He got it for Christmas. He still sleeps with the freaking thing.
I actually did a whole series of posts about my search and ultimate acquisition of said toy before Christmas.
I mean ‘Isn’t Santa wonderful!”