Who doesn’t love to play games?
I know I do. My family is a huge supporter of all varieties of entertainment, from digital gaming consoles to board games to in-person action games. If you’re like me and find playing games essential to any in-home social gathering, I have some favorites to share with you.
It took me forever to narrow down a list of games into my top ten favorites, but here it is:
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Cards Against Humanities/ Apples to Apples
If you love regretting every decision you ever made, then these two games are for you. No, but really, both are card games that offer “fill in the blank” spaces. The person with the funniest response wins that round. The regret part comes from realizing too late that you had a perfect answer for that round after the turn was up. The Cards Against Humanities game is the adult version of Apples to Apples. So, depending on the crowd, you can choose the censored version or the free for all version.
To Buy: https://www.target.com/p/apples-to-apples-game/-/A-15745307
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Heads Up!
Want to jump around like your crazy and get in a heated battle of charades? Then play Heads Up!. This game can be played on from an App or the card game version. You start by picking a category. Then someone is chosen to be “it.” Whoever is it will shake the phone or pick a card, allowing a specific topic, item, character, etc. to pop up. Without looking at the answer, the person that is “it” places the phone or card on their forehead, revealing the answer to everyone else. Then, it becomes a heated battle of charades to get the person who is “it” to guess the answer stuck to their forehead.
You can also play this game with sheets of paper if you don’t have a smartphone. Have everyone write topics down on small pieces of paper and draw from a pile to play.
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Clue
Get ready to suspect everyone in this game of murder mystery. I love guessing games, especially if a little detective work goes into it. For this game, a series of characters, weapons, and rooms are divided amongst all players, and one card from each category is placed in a center manila envelope. The cards in the center of the board are the answers to who killed someone, with what weapon, and in which room. Each player is given a sheet of paper with all cards listed out, and they get to go around asking who has which cards during their turn. By the end of the game, someone has deduced which cards are in the center.
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Mario Kart 8
My family lives for this game. Whether it is the original Mario Kart of the latest version (Mario Kart 8 for Nintendo Switch). Each player gets to choose which character from the Mario world and races the other players in the game. If you’re not that into racing games, there are also battle segments you can play in. For battles, you get to drive around either stealing balloons, throwing explosives, or avoiding being captured by giant plants.
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Scene It: Disney 2nd Edition
Every year for Christmas, Santa would leave a Scene It board game on our piano. This was the beginning of our family game night obsession. This game is a great mix of a board game, card game, and television game. Each player rolls the dice and has a chance to be asked trivia questions from cards, have to watch a small clip from a Disney movie, play against the other players during “All Play”, and many other things. It’s always fun to see who remembers the most Disney related material. Unfortunately, the Scene It games were discontinued, but can still be purchased through second-hand suppliers.
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Trivial Pursuit
This game requires the brain of someone who reads encyclopedias for a living. There are questions ranging from the late 1960s to the late 2000s. One card could ask a question about a Disney Character, the next one could be about who created the General Motors car company. Good luck with this one!
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Monopoly
I’m sure you know by now that you aren’t supposed to play this game with loved ones. It ruins relations. You have to be willing to steal land and money from your family and friends. But luckily, it’s just a board game so eventually, they’ll forgive you. Or not. Who knows?
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Wii Sports
I’m throwing it back to mid-2000s with this one. My family still plays the Wii gaming console to this day, especially to throw some tennis balls around and see who can pretend hit a baseball across a field. Who doesn’t love sports where you don’t actually have to be physical? In all seriousness, this game does require some physical exertion if you don’t cheat, but it is still a fun game.
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Super Mario Party
The Mario universe is a gold mine. The company who created it really knew what they were doing. This is the second Mario game on this list, and I failed to mention that we also have a Mario version of Monopoly. In Super Mario Party, there are several gaming options with the main one being a digital board game to compete on against other players. The goal is to get the most starts by the end, which can be pretty tricky when the board changes every on occasion.
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Scrabble
Last, but not least, Scrabble. This is my all-time favorite game. Whether it be a board game or a digital version, I love playing it. You get to test the limits of your vocabulary by connecting opposing players words to your own. If you have never played before, I recommend doing so.
