25 board and card games for the ultimate family game night

This fast-paced game is basically a baking show in card form–players race to build the perfect layered cake while everyone else tries to mess with their creation! The fun comes from trying to collect the right ingredients for your cake while action cards keep throwing chaos into the mix, like making you swap layers with other players or lose your perfect frosting. Kids as young as 6 can totally get into matching the colors and ingredients, but there’s enough strategy with the special cards that older players stay hooked too. It’s super energetic, surprisingly competitive, and somehow captures all the drama of a baking show without leaving your kitchen a disaster zone!

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!

In Outfoxed, the whole family works together to catch the pie-stealing fox, making it perfect for ages 5 and up with absolutely no sibling rivalry. (Well, not by design anyway. But you never know.) The real magic is in the special evidence scanner that kids use to gather clues about what each suspicious fox is wearing, helping them develop problem-solving skills while having a blast. Since everyone plays as a team and you only lose if the sneaky culprit escapes, it’s perfect for building confidence in younger players while creating those special family game night moments.

Looking for another cooperative winner? Hoot Owl Hoot is a sweet game where kids team up to fly their baby owls home before the sun comes up–it’s pure magic for the preschool crowd since there’s zero drama over who wins. The gameplay is beautifully simple: kids get to pick which owl to move using their color cards, but they have to think ahead and work together to make sure no owls get left behind. When that sun starts creeping up the board, you should see how excited kids get cheering each other on and working out the perfect path to get their feathered friends safely home!

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.

Seriously the perfect game to toss in your bag for anywhere, anytime fun. Spot It is a brilliantly simple matching game where every single card somehow magically has exactly one match with any other card–it sounds basic but it turns into this hilarious lightning-fast race to spot the matches first. Kids as young as 4 can jump right in with older siblings and even adults since it’s all about quick eyes rather than age or skill, and the best part is you can bust it out anywhere since it comes in a cute little tin. The games are super quick and there are tons of different ways to play, so it’s perfect for everything from restaurant waits to full-on family game nights when you need something that’ll get everyone laughing and engaged!

Getting kids excited about math is no easy task, but sneaking it into an actually fun game they want to play can help. Sum Swamp is a clever adventure where kids zip around a magical swamp solving simple math problems to move forward–but they’re having so much fun rolling dice and taking shortcuts past crocodiles that they don’t even realize they’re mastering addition and subtraction. The board is full of silly surprises like getting stuck in the “endless loop” (which kids find hilarious) and secret paths that make the game different every time. It’s perfect for ages 5 and up, and since kids are too busy trying to navigate through the swamp to stress about the math, it’s a sneaky-brilliant way to build their confidence with numbers!

There’s a good chance you grew up playing this classic. And if you’re like me, you’ll be relieved to see it has gotten some long-overdue updates since the 90s. (As in it’s not just a sea of white dudes with a few women and people of color mixed in.) That said, it’s still the same addictively fun detective game where you have to figure out which quirky character your opponent picked by asking clever yes-or-no questions about how they look – from “Does your person wear glasses?” to “Do they have a mustache?” Kids love the satisfying snap of flipping down faces as they eliminate suspects, and it’s perfect for teaching them how to ask strategic questions that’ll help them zero in on the mystery person fast. Since games are quick and kids naturally get better at coming up with smart questions, it’s one of those rare finds that works great for both playdates and family game night with kids 6 and up!

All the fun of Bingo but with way more excitement for the little ones. The matching game Zingo lets kids slide the special “Zinger” machine to reveal picture tiles, and then race to spot if the images match their cards. The genius is in that snazzy tile dispenser – kids absolutely love being the one to pull the slider and reveal new tiles, plus it keeps all the pieces contained (goodbye missing pieces!). Perfect for ages 4 and up, it teaches kids to recognize words and pictures super quickly while they’re caught up in the excitement of yelling “Zingo!” when they fill their card first!

Qwirkle is a game that’s both kid-friendly and genuinely challenging for adults. The wooden tile game lets players build gorgeous patterns by matching colors and shapes across the table–think Scrabble meets dominoes. The real beauty is how it works for different ages and styles: younger kids can focus on simple matches while adults can get super strategic about blocking moves and setting up big scoring opportunities. Even first graders can jump right in, but don’t be surprised when the grown-ups start asking to play just one more round!

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!

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza starts simple with players just chanting those five silly words while flipping cards, but it turns into total mayhem when matches pop up and everyone dives to slap the pile first. The real fun kicks in with the special action cards that get everyone acting like gorillas or making high-fives, and since there’s no taking turns or complicated rules, kids as young as 6 can jump right in with teens and adults. Perfect for anywhere you need instant entertainment – it’s compact, takes 30 seconds to explain, and pretty much guarantees uncontrollable laughter (just keep it away from your drinks)!

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. It definitely takes a delicate hand but it’s a great one for kids and adults of all ages.

If you’re looking to graduate your family to their first truly strategic board game, try Catan. Catan takes over game nights with its clever mix of resource collecting, trading, and city building– where every roll of the dice can change your fortunes as you race to build the biggest settlements on a modular island board that’s different every time you play. You’ll be amazed at how quickly players get caught up in making deals for bricks and wood, plotting their expansion across the island, and groaning when someone plays the dreaded robber to mess with their plans. While it’s built for ages 10 and up, even younger strategy-minded kids can get into it with a little guidance, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself planning your next moves long after the game is over!

If your kid can’t stop making fart jokes, this might be the game for them. Kids Against Maturity brings the fill-in-the-blank card game format to the family table with perfectly kid-level goofiness – think potty humor and silly sounds rather than anything truly crude. Parents love that it gets kids reading and creative while keeping the jokes firmly in elementary-school territory, and kids feel like they’re playing something cool and edgy while staying totally age-appropriate. It’s perfect for ages 8 and up, and it’s one of those rare games that actually gets kids to put down their screens without complaint because they’re too busy trying to make everyone laugh with their card combinations!

Sushi Go has players collecting adorable sushi characters in an attempt to create the perfect meal–you pick one card and pass the rest, but the real strategy comes from watching what other players are collecting while trying to snag sets of tempura and sashimi before they grab them first. The genius is in how easy it is to start (even 7-year-olds can jump right in), but there’s enough depth with the different scoring combinations that parents and older kids stay totally engaged trying to optimize their plates. Plus, with rounds taking just 15 minutes and everything packed in a cute tin shaped like a takeout container, it’s perfect for quick games at restaurants or full family game sessions!

Want a board game that turns family game night into an epic cross-country adventure? Ticket to Ride has players collecting colorful train cards to build railway routes across a gorgeous map, racing to connect cities while trying to create the longest continuous track –but watch out, because someone might snag that crucial route through Chicago before you can claim it! We love how it balances luck and strategy in a way that makes it accessible to a variety of ages. Younger players (8+) can focus on simply completing their ticket routes, while more experienced conductors plot elaborate paths and try to block their opponents’ connections. It’s one of those rare games that scales perfectly from casual family fun to serious strategy sessions.

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.

Carcassonne brings the medieval French countryside to life, one tile at a time–and watching the map unfold as players build cities, connect roads, and place monasteries is half the fun. Players get hooked on strategically placing their little wooden followers (fondly called “meeples”) to claim these features, and the game shines in how it works for different play styles: newer players or kids around 7 can simply enjoy matching the beautiful artwork and building the landscape, while strategy fans plot to steal massive cities or sneak farmers into valuable fields. It’s remarkably elegant–just place a tile and maybe a meeple each turn–but those simple moves create deliciously tense moments when someone places exactly the piece that changes everything!

Bananagrams takes everything fun about making words and strips away all the waiting around–just dump out the letter tiles from that adorable banana pouch and race to create your own crossword grid as fast as you can! The real thrill kicks in when someone yells “PEEL” and everyone has to grab new letters, sending carefully planned word arrangements into delightful chaos as players scramble to fit in those tricky new tiles. What makes it so addictive is how it works for mixed groups: strong spellers can build complex words while younger players (7+) focus on shorter ones, and since everyone’s building their own grid at their own pace, there’s none of that Scrabble-style analysis paralysis–just pure word-building energy! (There is also a My First Banangrams for the 4+ set.)

This food-themed card battle puts a hilarious twist on building the ultimate meal–players stack wild combinations of ingredients and powers to create either the most amazing (or disastrously awful) tacos and burritos possible. The game keeps everyone on their toes with action cards that let you swap ingredients, steal from other players, or unleash food fights, creating those laugh-out-loud moments when someone’s perfect burrito suddenly gets hit with “extra spicy” or “dropped in sand.” Kids around 7 and up love the silly food combinations and bright artwork, but there’s enough strategy in timing your action cards that older players get totally caught up in the competition–plus, don’t be surprised when playing makes everyone hungry for actual tacos!

Just One features a twist that gets everyone’s creative juices flowing: players silently write down one-word clues to help someone guess a mystery word, but any matching clues cancel each other out. The room fills with groans and laughs when three people thought “water” was the perfect hint for “ocean” – and now the guesser gets no help at all! What makes it truly special is how it brings everyone into the fun: shy players can contribute without being put on the spot, word-game-haters get caught up in the strategy of picking unique clues, and kids (around 8+) can play right alongside adults since sometimes their out-of-the-box thinking leads to the perfect hint.