Game On

We love to play games in our house and enjoy entertaining guests by bringing out favorites. If relatives are in town, especially for extended periods over the holidays, bringing out board games and card games is a great way to entertain and offer something to focus on and pass the time. They provide an interesting way to engage with those around you and spark all sorts of lively conversations – and to unplug from technology and engage with one another.

We stick with the easy-to-learn but hard-to-master games that usually require strategy and remain fun to play whether it is the first time or the 100th time you have played. My kids are now young adults and when we are all together now, gathering around the game table remains a favorite way for us to connect.

I am frequently on the lookout for new games for us to play. Mensa’s annual game awards, the Tabletop Family, and Barnes & Noble are the places that I find the new games that are hits for our family. Also, as the holidays approach, I am on the lookout for gift ideas for family and friends, and games make great gifts for different kinds of people. 

To help you find games that best suit what you are looking for, I separate suggestions into categories below:

Qwirkle and Rummikub are perennial favorites in the Burnett household. (Photo: Cindy Burnett)

Board games

Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder (8+, 2-5 players) – Embark on a journey across early 20th-century North America, collecting train cards and claiming routes to expand your network and connect cities. It is very easy to learn but does require a fair amount of planning and skill. Game play lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and this is one that my kids have liked to play since they were young and still ask for when we are all together.

Rummikub by Pressman (8+, 2-4 players) – Players use the tiles on their racks and the tiles already in play to form runs of the same color and sets of the same number in different colors. The jokers can be any number and color. What makes the game engaging is that players can pull apart runs and sets and add to them, so the game is always shifting and changing. The first player to empty their rack wins. This is an easy game to learn and usually takes 5-10 minutes per round.

We did not start playing this game until recently. When I was learning to play American Mah Jongg in June, everyone at the event was talking about this game and how often they play it. I immediately purchased it, and it is now part of the regular rotation of games my family plays. We play the original Rummikub, and that is the one I recommend. There are other editions that allow for more players, and some that have different types of jokers. We love the original. The game is so popular that some companies make fancier tile sets if people really want to up their game.

Qwirkle by MindWare (6+, 2-4 people) – Qwirkle requires tile matching of colors and shapes. Players score points by building lines of tiles that share a common attribute, either color or shape, and while it sounds simple, it quickly becomes tricky and requires strategical thinking as well as some planning ahead as players watch where their opponents play. This is a great game for people of all ages, and people are frequently surprised by how much more complicated it is to play than it first appears. 

Qwirkle and Rummikub are perennial favorites in the Burnett household. (Photo: Cindy Burnett)

Card and dice games

Five Crowns by Play Monster Games (8+, 1-7 people) – Five Crowns’ motto is “The Game Isn’t Over ’til the Kings Go Wild.” It is a five-suited rummy-style game with rotating wild cards where the player with the lowest score at the end wins. This card game consists of 11 rounds, starting with three cards and the threes are wild, then moves to four cards and the fours are wild, and continues until each player has 13 cards and the Kings go wild. Five Crowns usually takes between 30-40 minutes to play a full game, depending on the number of people playing. One benefit of this one is that it is just as much fun with two people as it is with seven.

This card game has stayed in our regular game rotation for several decades – it is hands down one of my family’s top two games (the other is Qwixx). We play it constantly and always take it with us when we travel. Score pads are sold for the game, and I highly recommend them. They make it much easier to keep score, and we love looking back at previous games and revisiting the various places we played and with whom. I have gifted this game countless times and have received great feedback on it. We have worn out numerous decks and had to repurchase the game more times than I can count.

Qwixx by Gamewright (8+, 2-5 players) – The rules for this dice game are misleadingly simple – the more numbers you cross off, the more points you score. With no downtime between turns, players have to decide when to cross off numbers and when to wait. This is another game that we always take with us when we travel, and we never seem to tire of it. The rounds are decently fast; it usually takes 10-15 minutes to play through. It is easy to learn, but hard to master. Qwixx makes a great gift and engages people across all ages.

GAME NIGHTS John Burnett, Michael Burnett, and Braden Riley intensely compete in a game of Rummikub. (Photo: Cindy Burnett)

Games for more than 4 players

SET by PlayMonster (6+, 1 or more players) – The object of SET is to identify SETs of three cards. Each card is unique in its four features: color (red, green, or purple), symbol (diamond, squiggle, or oval), shading (solid, striped, or open), and number (1, 2, or 3 symbols). A SET consists of three cards on which each individual feature is either all the same or all different on all three cards. This game has a bit of a learning curve when first starting out, but once people catch on, it is very fast-moving and requires quick thinking. It is a great party game that can be played many times because each round lasts between five and seven minutes once players understand game play.

Sequence by Jax (7+, 2-12 players) – Play a card from your hand, and place a chip on a corresponding space on the game board. When you have five in a row in any direction, you have a Sequence. Each player or team tries to score the required number of Sequences before their opponents. This is another game that works well for all ages. It is easy to learn but requires strategy and thinking skills. Team play operates differently than it does for most games, which also requires calculated moves. We have played this game for over two decades, and we love that it can be played with two people or a larger group.

Five Crowns – I mention this one above. One of its benefits is that it can be played with up to 7 people, so it works well for larger family or friend gatherings.

Anomia by Everest (10+, 3-6 players) – Normally, it is easy to come up with an example of a dog breed or a frozen food, but can you do it before your opponent has the chance to blurt out their answer? The ability to quickly conjure an answer is what this game tests, and you have to be ready for a turn anytime. Anomia is defined as a problem with word finding or recall and this game meets that definition exactly. There is a standard edition, a party edition, and a pop culture edition, and all three will keep a group engaged and entertained. It is a great choice for a family game night, and one my kids always clamor to play.

Chunky Monkey Business by The Good Game Company (Ages 10+, 3-8 players) – Chunky Monkey Business is a fast-paced party game where players try to be the first to complete the fill-in-the-blank riddle. You have to collect a certain number of cards to be declared the winner and have to think fast on your feet. It is the perfect mix of quick thinking, creativity, and friendly competition. It is often a louder game with lots of shouting out of answers and can last anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes.

I hope if you decide to pick up any one or more of these games that they provide you with hours of entertainment and fun just as they have for my family.

Find book recommendations from reviewer Cindy Burnett in our monthly Buzz Reads column in print and our weekly Page Turners column online.