Bored? How about a board game!
Board Games
“If you aren’t prepared to lose a friend over a board game, you aren’t playing hard enough!”
I absolutely love board games, so much that it was my 30th birthday party theme (yes, I made that a thing). Whenever my boys tell me they are bored, board games are always a great solution (especially on rainy days)! I have so many fond memories playing games with family and friends. Most of the games listed below are attached to a memory playing this game with someone special that I will hold onto forever. I now I get the opportunity to make new memories playing these games with my boys (a lot came from the recent quarantine). Perhaps some of these suggestions will spark new traditions and memories with your loved ones!
P.S. If you have the brilliant solution to storing boardgames, please fill me in. My board games closet is basically Jenga.
Strategy Games
Settlers of Catan: This one sits at the top of my list, as I’m sure it does for many others! It is a great game that only takes an hour or so depending who you are playing with. If you are a Parks and Rec fan, this game might be familiar to you because Ben is a nationally ranked “Setter.” It is filled with probability, trading and building and is sure to get any game enthusiast hooked. There are so many expansion packs to this game: Seafarers and Cities and Knights to name a few! Out of obligation, I feel it necessary to disclose that I am currently playing the online app game while writing this blog.
Splendor: This game is easy set up and can be relatively quick. The goal of the game is to earn points by collecting coins to purchase cards. This can be a fun 2-player game. which is always a good pick for a date night!
Ticket To Ride: Okay, this one took me way too long to hop on board. I love it and have only been playing for a few months. I am still learning the different strategies, but it reminds me a bit of a Splendor/Catan hybrid where you can only make one move per turn (like Splendor) but you are building tracks which reminds me a bit of Catan. Highly recommend it!
The Classics:
Clue: Who doesn’t love a good game of Clue? A game revolved around solving a murder mystery but collecting clues - I personally loved being Miss Scarlet because she always gets to go first. I recently played The Office Clue edition to it and had an anxiety-filled BLAST (I lost if you were curious). It has a few varying rules to the original which gives it a little twist!
Risk: Not my favorite, but I put it on here out of obligation. Maybe I should give it another chance… Any Game of Thrones Fans? This is the latest edition I’ve played. We never finished because this game goes on forever.
Kid Friendly Games
Rapidoodle: This game is basically scattegories and Pictionary combined and my kids love it!
Sequence for kids: This is Nathan’s favorite pick. The idea of this game is get 4 tokens in a row by using cards you pick up. It has cute animal pictures for the kids edition, but you can also purchase the Sequence Adult Edition where they use a deck of cards and the object of the game is to get 5 in a row.
Qwirkle: This is a family favorite with young ones. It is easy to explain, and the kids catch on quick!
The Classics
Chutes and Ladders: This is another Nathan pick. We played it roughly 100 times during quarantine, so much that the spinner broke and the box has seen better days. The only downfall to this game are the chutes (which is half the game). Nathan likes to cheat and I don’t blame him.
Sorry: Speaking of cheating, my sister and I would take out the ‘Sorry’ cards in this game because it would involve too many tears otherwise.
Candyland: This one was my favorite growing up and I had dreams of becoming Queen Frostine one day.
2 Player Games
I think these are all classics …
Mastermind: This game is a fun yet frustrating game. It requires a lot of thinking! If you love solving codes, this is your game. Warning: when the boys get it out, I find the little pegs everywhere for the next couple days.
Battle Ship: Braedon played this game a lot during quarantine with friends over Zoom. Honestly, I just learned how to play this year! I attached the link to the travel-size game since it was a bit difficult to find any of the original games.
Connect 4: Who doesn’t love and know this game? Does it even need a description? Still felt it necessary to include.
Mancala: I loved this one growing up simply because of the smooth beautiful stones you played with that came in a velvet bag. I had to refresh my memory on how to play when I taught Braedon, but he picked up the game quickly!
Guess Who: Add an element of fun to this game by switching out the typical pictures and cards for pictures of TV characters or Disney characters or even family members!
Big Group Games
Code Names: This is a great party game; it doesn’t require a long narrative of rules and “how to play,” and each round doesn’t take too long (although I guess it depends on who is playing… some people take the guessing and clue giving very seriously).
Like Minds: This game requires an even amount of people teamed up in pairs to come up with a similar list of items based on a category given. I like to think Mike and I are masters of this game after being married for over 10 years, but that hasn’t proven to be true.
Things: This game is really fun and can be played with a large group of any number. A topic is given, everyone writes their response in secret and the reader has to pick who said what. It’s a really fun and funny game.
Apples to Apples: If you haven’t played this game, it is really easy to learn! If you are a person who doesn’t enjoy games where rules are a tad subjective, this one might not be for you. However, there is a Disney Edition, and who doesn’t love Disney characters?
The Classic:
Taboo: I will never be able to play this game without thinking of the movie “4 Christmases,” but it makes the game even better. Plus, is there any greater power than holding that buzzer?
Dice Games
Farkle: This is a great choice for two or more players. It is a simple game of rolling dice and collecting points with the element of risk involved!
Tenzi: This Tenzi set has a bunch of different ways to play the game. My kids love it - it is super easy and a bit addicting.
Pass the Pigs (does this count?): Okay, you aren’t rolling dice but you are rolling something: pigs. It’s a silly game and loads of fun.
The Classic:
Yahtzee: This is the obvious one, right? I love Yahtzee but don’t typically win. What is your strategy? Do you go for the top bonus score or do you try to fill up the bottom?
Card Games
Sushi Go This is a super fast card game with adorable pictures and a cute concept. It has the ‘pick and pass’ component and can become an exciting game with the different scoring possibilities!
The classics:
Dutch Blitz This is another fast pace game with a lot going on.
Phase Ten I love Phase Ten, but settle in: it can take a while to play. You do have to hold 10 cards in your hand at a time which can be tricky for the younger kids, but these card holders or card racks can be helpful! Also beware: when you get stuck on a phase (and if you are like me, it will happen) it is the absolute worst. The skips are in there to seek revenge and ruin friendships. I swear I love the game … did I fail at making it sound appealing?
Uno Match the colors or numbers and get rid of your cards, and don’t forget to call out “Uno” when you are down to one card left! This is a kid favorite. I would be surprised if you have never played it.
Skipbo My sister and I played this game a lot as kids. The goal is to get rid of your ‘Skipbo’ pile by playing cards on numerical piles in the middle. Super simple.
Pit This is my favorite card game for a big group. It requires trading and collecting cards. It gets loud and a tad overwhelming if everyone is playing to the intensity this game requires.
Word Games
Bananagrams: Basically fast scrabble without a board or points. The idea is to get rid of your letter tiles first. It also comes in a cute banana pouch. I’m not sure if that adds to the game, but bonus points for creativity.
The Classics:
Boggle: Love the game but hate the loud noise it takes to shake all the letter dice right before you need to concentrate.
Scrabble: This game is my mom’s favorite. I stink at it because spelling is far from my strong suit.
Puzzling Games
Blokus: The idea of this game is to place as many of your pieces on the board as possible, but your pieces can only touch corners. As the game goes on, the board fills up and it becomes harder and harder to find spots for your pieces to fit. Hint: play your biggest pieces first!
Kanoodle: This is a solitary game and a bit of a brainteaser!
Otrio: I just learned to play this game recently and it is so much fun. It is basically tic-tac-toe for grown ups. Sounds lame, I know, but it is absolutely worth the try and totally addicting.
New games to learn on my list:
This is life in my lane, I hope it help you navigate yours!
-Christy Smith