One of your New year Resolutions might be to spend more quality time with the family. Want some suggestions for games that don't involve screens, won't evoke crying, are appropriate for a range of ages, and generally have everyone in a great mood? See below. We have games that run longer, or don't necessarily work to play during dinner. The ones below are the ones we play regularly, every week.
(I've linked the games to Amazon because it is generally available to see from anywhere in the globe. No, I don't get any perks or points for the clicks. Please feel free to find them at your favorite brick-and-mortar or wherever else you look for games).
Favorites for home:
Hues and Cues - Colors like you've never seen before. Definitely an interesting way to figure out how to explain what you're thinking without using more than one or two words.
Code Names - Another game to get your team to guess what you're thinking before the other team gets their guesses.
Triominoes - like Dominoes but with an added side to match ... or complicate things.
Rummikub - like Rummy but with tiles and with an added layer of competition with the swapping.
Favorites for on-the-go:
The Game - Play it by yourself, play it with others, but the general idea is to try to get the cards into 4 piles.
Phase 10 - Everyone is working to complete 10 phases, in a specific order. Some are harder than others, but you still only get the hand you are dealt.
Farkle - A dice throwing game that illuminates your love of risk-taking (or lack there of).
Favorites for the yard:
Bottle Bash - How good is your aim? And your catching skills? And your communication skills?
Kan Jam - Simple: get the frisbee into the can.
Kubb - Also known as Viking chess, this is a game that requires a bit of space, but it comes down to which team can knock down the pins and then the castle. It's as simple and as complicated as that.
Bocce - There's something about a yard that begs folks to have a drink in one hand and throw things with the other.
Molkky - Yep, another to throw things, but this time you've added some elements of bowling to the mix and some magic math.
Rollers - we just got this one. Rolling things, not throwing them and a lot more fun than we imagined it would be. Quicker games, too, as gaining points is not as hard.
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