Turn off the TV/tablet/phone/LeapFrog and play face to face with these 12 awesome, family-friendly games.
Zoo on the Loose
Objective: Lead five cuddly animal escapees on a playful adventure by following the directions on the cards. When the zookeeper card pops up, players must get the animals back in place as quickly as possible.
Ages: 4 and up
Players: 1 or more
Why you’ll love it: Kids who dig stuffed animals will adore this simple game, which includes a large play-mat-style game board to help children recognize colors, understand spatial relationships and pay attention to details. It also encourages memory skills and vocabulary.
Where to buy it: Amazon & MindWare.com
E-I-E-I-Go
Objective: Each player repeatedly rolls three animal-sided dice in a race to match a specific farm animal. The first player to roll three matching animals wins the round (and a token). The first player to collect all four animal tokens (pig, cow, horse, sheep) wins the game.
Ages: 4 and up
Players: 2 to 4 players
Why you’ll love it: This preschooler-friendly game is like a cross between Yahtzee and Tenzi with a dash of Old MacDonald trivia.
Where to buy it: Walmart.com
Pengoloo
Objective: Collect the penguin’s eggs by remembering their colors when your turn rolls around.
Ages: 4 and up
Players: 2 to 4
Why you’ll love it: This imaginative twist on the classic Memory game helps little ones develop recall skills. Additional rules for older players allow for more complex play. And you can feel eco-friendly about this one because the manufacturer has vowed to plant two trees for every tree used to create the game’s ultra-cute wooden pieces.
Where to buy it: Amazon & Marbles the Brain Store
HEXBUG Flash Nano Nano Land
Objective: What is HEXBUG? HEXBUG is a brand of tech toys for kids with roots in creating innovative children’s toys based around insects. Now, HEXBUG has a range of entertaining kids toys and other creative products to help aspiring children cultivate a love for STEM and STEM products.
Ages: 3 and up
Players: 1 to 2
Why you’ll love it: Our son didn’t even know they made these so he was very happy! It comes with a couple of the nano bugs and my son got right to assembling and re-assembling the course.
Where to buy it: Amazon
Qwirkle
Objective: Earn points by building rows and columns of tiles that share a common color or shape without allowing duplicates. The player with the most points wins.
Ages: 6 and up, but we think preschoolers could get an early start on this game, too.
Players: 2 to 4
Why you’ll love it: This game mixes the matching fun of Dominoes with the excitement, scoring and strategy of Scrabble with 108 colorful, kid-friendly, wooden tiles. This 10th-anniversary edition includes four tile racks to help players organize their pieces.
Where to buy it: Amazon & MindWare.com
Bounce-Off
Objective: Bounce ping-pong balls into the grid to create the required patterns.
Ages: 7 and up, but younger kids can play too
Players: 2 to 4
Why you’ll love it: This game is addictive and fast-paced, and the challenge of bouncing the ping-pong balls perfectly into place is surprisingly fun. It’s like a more precise version of beer pong (sans beer).
Where to buy it: Amazon
Slapzi
Objective: Match your picture cards to the right clue cards as fast as you can.
Ages: 8 and up
Players: 2 to 10 players
Why you’ll love it: This pictorial game merges the urgency of the card game Speed, the tricky matching of Spot It! and even the judgment calls of Apples to Apples. And it has staying power, thanks to 65 clue cards, 120 double-sided picture cards and numerous ways to vary play. Also, it’s from the makers of the must-have dice game, Tenzi (which we also highly recommend for families).
Where to buy it: Amazon & Kiddywampus
Ticket to Ride
Objective: Create railways between destinations according to your drawn cards.
Ages: 8 and up
Players: 2 to 5
Why you’ll love it: A board game doesn’t win Game of the Year awards in eight countries unless it’s really something special. This game boasts a perfect blend of “luck of the draw,” strategy and competition as players race to connect train routes throughout the U.S. and Canada before other players capitalize on the same limited track space. Players who want to explore other eras and parts of the world should check out special editions and expansion packs dedicated to certain eras as well as geographic areas such as Asia, Europe, Africa, India and Nordic countries.
Where to buy it: Amazon & Games by James
Rock Me Archimedes
Objective: Move your marbles from the center of the teetering platform to your end without letting either end touch the ground or tabletop.
Ages: 8 and up
Players: 2
Why you’ll love it: This game helps kids develop strategizing and estimation skills. But it also incorporates the often-neglected idea that sometimes one must retreat in order to ultimately move forward. And the finished real-wood and polished marbles of the game are pleasing enough to the eye that you won’t mind leaving the game out on a table.
Where to buy it: Amazon & Marbles the Brain Store
Charades for Kids
Objective: Cards have clues with pictures, making this easy for non-readers, but also reinforces early reading skills.
Ages: 4 and up
Players: 3 to 6
Why you’ll love it: Older children can read the simple words and phrases and act out actions like eating spaghetti or playing guitar! It’s great fun for the whole family as they try to guess the charade before time runs out!
Where to buy it: Amazon
Suspend and Suspend Jr.
Objective: Hang all your pieces, suspended only by other pieces, without causing the whole structure to fall down.
Ages: Ages 4 and up for Suspend Jr. and ages 8 and up for Suspend
Players: 1 to 4
Why you’ll love it: This game is simple enough for anyone with sufficient fine-motor skills to play, but it’s endlessly entertaining. Similar to games like Jenga, the goal of not being the one to cause the structure to fall down adds excitement and dramatic tension. Each player strategizes over where to balance each next piece. But with every turn, the entire structure changes.
Where to buy it: Amazon, Games by James, melissaanddoug.com
Spot It! Marvel
Objective: Race to spot matches featuring some of the most iconic Marvel Super Heroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow!
Ages: 13 and up, but come on: Any kid who won’t eat the cards can at least try to play any version of this game.
Players: 2 to 8
Why you’ll love it: Though there’s only one matching object between any two cards, the objects’ varying sizes make it surprisingly hard to spot them. Plus: Like all versions of this game, these circular cards come in a cute tin, not a flimsy box.
Where to buy it: Amazon.com
See our other article about the benefits of playing board games as a family here.
Amy Sutton is a St. Paul-based freelance writer and an avid player of board games, party games, and card games.
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