This pandemic has increased everyone’s screen time — since most of us are now working from home or taking online classes, most of our days are spent staring at a screen in order to get our work done. It’s always a good idea to spend time away from a screen and one of the best ways to do so is by playing board games.
No, we’re not talking about your standard board games like Monopoly and Scrabble. Board gaming has evolved into quite the niche hobby — there are multiple board and card game options that’ll have your family rolling on the floor laughing from how much fun you’re having. While there are games for every type of group, we’re here to talk about the best games for your family, ones that everyone in your household will enjoy; whether it be the youngest kid, the parent, or the grandparent.
Weekend nights will never be the same after you have these games in your living room. Here are our picks for the best games for family game night:
1. Dixit
If there’s someone out there who doesn’t like Dixit, we’ve never met them — every one we’ve introduced this game to has had a blast playing it. Dixit is the 3 to 6 player game with incredibly simple rules: everyone gets a hand of cards with beautiful artwork, the active player chooses one card and gives a clue about it with as much freedom as they please, all the other players submit a card that matches the clue, all the cards are revealed, and every other player has to guess which card is the active player’s card.
Because of the rules’ simplicity, players can do nearly anything — they can recite poems, sing songs, even tell a story — and it’s this freedom that makes the game so much fun. Everyone will enjoy looking at their cards and trying to pick the right one to give a clue about so that their clue isn’t too vague but also isn’t too specific. This game can get really funny at times, too, and you’ll often find yourself laughing at how out there or how obvious a clue can get. Oh, and did we mention this game has gorgeous artwork as well?
2. Cranium
A game for 4 or more players, Cranium is the best party game because really, it’s all the party games we know and love rolled into one. Teams compete in a race to reach the end of the board first, and in order to do so, must complete challenges that range from charades to Pictionary to even trivia questions.
Whichever challenge you get, you can be sure you’ll have fun with every single one of them. The challenges can get really silly at times as well, so you better be comfortable with looking like a fool in order to get your teammate to guess the movie you’re acting. Don’t worry, everyone will be too busy laughing, especially since they’ll have to do a similar challenge soon as well.
3. Codenames
Another team game for 4 or more players, two spymasters will compete to see who can get their teammates to guess their words from a grid of 25 words first. The catch? You can only use one word each turn to describe as many words as you can, and because you’re trying to be the first to complete all the words, you’re going to want to describe as many words as possible. Good luck trying to find one word that can connect the words tunnel, cheesecake, and piano.
Codenames is an absolute blast both during and after the game because after one game is over, you’re going to be arguing with your spymasters going, “How is AIR possibly a hint for PINE?” And your spymaster just goes, “Well, air fresheners often come in the shape of pine trees!” But that’s alright, because a game of Codenames is relatively short, which means you can play multiple games in a session; which you’re going to want to do because of how addictive the game is!
4. Exploding Kittens
For 2 to 5 players, this game comes with a ridiculously simple premise — everyone draws from a deck of cards one by one and whoever draws the Exploding Kitten card is out of the game. Sounds easy enough, right? But wait, this game comes with all sorts of cards – from Shuffle to Skip to See the Future – which allow players to manipulate the order of who draws next, making each game fun, unpredictable, and exciting.
Exploding Kittens is a game your kids will especially love, but don’t be surprised if you find the older members of the family enjoying it as well! There’s so much fun to be had in playing your cards, trying to figure out the best strategy in order to make sure you don’t get the Exploding Kitten card, and drawing from the deck hoping, just hoping, that it isn’t an Exploding Kitten card.
5. Pandemic
Is there a more appropriate game to play during these times? For 2 to 4 players, Pandemic is a cooperative game (which means you’ll be working with your family and not against them) in which your team has to do whatever it takes to stop four diseases and find a cure for each of them before it’s too late.
While we love competitive, and team vs. team games, cooperative games are a unique kind of fun — there’s something exciting about the whole family working together in order to either win or lose together. Whichever one your result ends up being, you’ll always have a blast getting really into the game and finding yourself stressed out over whether you can find a cure for all the diseases or not.
CONCLUSION
In a time like this, there’s no reason why we can’t still bond with our loved ones; even if we’re stuck inside and have nowhere else to go. Board and card games have come a long way since Chess and Crazy Eights, and these five games are sure to create treasured memories with your family members no matter how old or young they are. If anything, they’ll at least get everyone to spend less time staring at a laptop or phone screen, and in our book, that’s more than enough reason to get them.
However, playing games can be tough when the environment you’re in isn’t the tidiest or cleanest. It’s always better to play a game in a clean and well-organized living room than it is to play in a messy and untidy one.
Because of that, we recommend Cleaning Lady’s All-Purpose Cleaner. This cleaning spray can take on any mess, ensuring your play area stays clean and well-sanitized. This cleaner effectively cleans many different surfaces, removing stubborn grease, dirt, and grime and leaving surfaces clean and spot-free.