21 board and card games for the ultimate family game night

This highly-rated game is one of the absolute best for preschoolers. (And fun enough that older kids will want to play too!)  Spin the spinner and use the squeezer to pick up matching acorns. It’s perfect for teaching your littles matching and sorting skills.

Yeti in My Spaghetti is like Jenga for littles. The concept is the same — each player pulls a piece of “spaghetti” and if the Yeti falls into the bowl on your turn, you’ve lost. This one is a great option for families with young kids as it’s suitable for ages 4+ (but I can speak from experience that older kids love it too!)

Geared toward kids ages 5+, Outfoxed! is more collaborative than competitive as team members work together to solve the mystery of who stole Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie! Will you crack the case or be “outfoxed”?

Hoot Owl Hoot! is another cooperative game for ages 4+. Players use brightly colored cards and a game board to help all the owls fly back to their nest before the sun comes up.

Nothing beats a good old family game of charades, but sometimes you can be stuck for ideas or have young kids playing who aren’t reading yet. Best for ages 4+, Charades for Kids offers three different levels of play—from pictures all the way up to the most challenging of choices—so that kids of all ages can participate and feel engaged in this game night classic.

Looking for an easy to play game that’s around ten bucks? Here you go. Spot It! is best for ages 6+ and can be played with 2-8 players. The concept is simple—be the first to “spot” the matching picture on the card!

Great for kids who enjoy math games (and board games!) Sum Swamp is the perfect choice for kid ages 5+ who might enjoy doing a little addition and subtraction while trying to get across the swamp before anyone else!

An oldie but a goodie, Guess Who? is an excellent choice for kids still honing their reading skills. You remember this one—”Does your person… have brown hair? Glasses? A hat?” and down the list you go.

Who doesn’t love Bingo? No one, that’s who. So try out Zingo! (Bingo with a Zing!) for ages 4+ and help kids develop their language and matching skills while playing a game that’s been around since their grandparents were kids.

If dominoes and scrabble had a baby, you’d end up with something like Qwirkle. The fun and simple strategy game is great for a wide range of ages since you can dial the sophistication of play up or down. We started playing when our youngest was about five and she could still pull out a winning move now and then!

This strategy game is easy enough for kids ages 8 and up to get the hang of, and as a bonus it’s really pretty to look at! It strikes a perfect balance between simplicity and engaging strategy. It’s easy enough for kids to understand but still keeps adults on their toes with its blend of luck and tactical moves. The game’s beautiful tiles and quick rounds make it a hit for a fun, interactive evening that brings everyone together for some friendly competition and plenty of laughs.

Okay, not technically a “board” or “card” game, but as a mom to teens, I had to include Jackbox as some of our best family game nights include it. Each player needs their own device like a phone, iPad, or computer, and the rest is easy to follow along. There are endless game choices to play in the various party packs that Jackbox offers, but trust me, between the drawing competitions, trivia games, and games like Fibbage and Faking It where you have to figure out who is lying and who isn’t, there’s something for everyone!

Want a face-paced card game that is super easy to learn and 100% guaranteed to bring on lots of laughter? Try Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (which is as hilarious as it sounds). Suitable for ages 8+, this one is an easy choice for some good, light-hearted family fun.

Harder that it sounds and way more fun than you might expect, this game requires some fast thinking. You’ve got just five seconds to name three things that fit the topic on your card. Three flavors of ice cream? No problem. Three breeds of dogs? Ehhhh, maybe not. Some cards may be a bit out of the scope of knowledge for kids under 10, but we’ve played with kids as young as eight and had a blast!

Rather than games like Jenga and Yeti in My Spaghetti where you take objects away until the structure falls, Suspend flips it the other way—here, you build as you go. Keep adding, balancing, and sculpting your creation and see how big, how high, how intricate you can get before the whole thing topples down.

For families who love longer strategy and building style games, Catan is a fan favorite. Suitable for ages 10+, Catan comes with 19 hexagonal terrain tiles, 20 wooden settlements, and 60 wooden roads (among many, many other pieces) so settle in for a good time with this one because you’re about to build a whole new civilization.

Get ready for some fart jokes because Cards Against Maturity has alllll the potty humor. As the kid-appropriate version of Cards Against Humanity, this game for ages 10+ is seriously funny and will have everyone ROTF in no time.

Whether you love sushi or not, this face-paced, easy to understand card game for ages 8+ is a winner for family game night. And since it only takes about 15 minutes to play, you’ll have so much fun you’ll probably want to play again.

Best for ages 8+, Ticket to Ride is a great introduction to the more challenging strategy / building game style geared toward older kids. The idea is to build your railroad between cities, but be careful because you’ll lose points if you don’t successfully complete the route on your destination ticket!

UNO has been around forever, but somehow never gets old. Kids ages 7+ will enjoy dropping a “reverse” or a “wild card” and changing the game as they get ready to yell UNO! and take the win.

Another game focused on strategy and building, Carcassone is geared toward kids 7+. Set in medieval times, each player will add tiles to the countryside around a fortified city, building roads, extending rivers, adding farmers and even monasteries as they try to outsmart their opponents by the end.

By far the most challenging of board games on the list, Scythe is best suited for kids 14+, and, having played it with my teenager, I can you it’s a time commitment and only for the true game-lovers among us. Set in 1920s Europe, each player represents a faction that’s trying to protect their territory while warring with others. This one takes a couple hours to play, so get comfy, take no prisoners, and you might just end up ruling the world.