Looking to spend some quality time with your teens during the holiday break? Or perhaps you have a rare quiet night where your teens have no homework and you’re looking for a fun family-friendly activity that doesn’t involve looking at a screen? We asked hundreds of parents to share what they found are the best games for families and teen birthday parties. We got hundreds of responses and put them in this massive list! Check out this list of fun games you can play together on family game night.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Best Games to Play with Teens and Tweens
Family-Friendly Card Games.
Best Board Games for Teens
Party Card Games
Deck Building Games to Play with Teens
Video Games to Play with Family
Family Friendly Dice Games
Fun Outdoor Games
Bonus Family Games.
Family-Friendly Card Games
Family fun doesn’t have to cost a lot. All you need is a deck of cards! There are all sorts of card games for teenagers and parents to play with just a regular pack of cards from any dollar store. All of the card games on this list can be found in “Hoyle’s Rules of Games,” which contains instructions for 250 different card games.
1. Nerts/Nertz
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Nerts is a multiplayer version of Solitaire. Each player works to arrange their cards into a pile, much like Solitaire, but players don’t take turns. Instead, you race in real time to get as many points as you can until someone gives up and ends the game by shouting “Nerts!”
2. BS
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 3-10
How to Play: BS is a great party card game. The goal is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible. Players split the deck evenly, then everyone takes turns playing the cards in ascending order, facedown. If you don’t have the next card in the order, you lie, and hope nobody calls your bluff. But if someone calls your BS and the cards don’t match, you’re penalized and have to take all the cards in the pile. If you weren’t lying, then the one who called BS takes all the cards instead.
3. Six Card Golf
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Yup, golf is also a card game! Only, this one requires more luck than skill. Each player has a hand of six playing cards, most of which will be facedown on the table. As you draw cards, you decide to either discard them or use them to replace one of your mystery cards, trying for the lowest score. Once all players’ cards are face up, the game play stops. Everyone tallies their points and, because it’s golf rules, the lowest score wins!
4. Canasta
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 4
How to Play: My grandmother loved to play Canasta. She played it with friends and taught me and my brothers how to play it, too. Four players start the game with 11 cards in their hand. Players take turns melding cards into groups of 3 or 4. A Canasta is a meld of at least seven cards of the same rank. Players score points by making as many Canastas as possible. Once one of the players has no more cards, or the deck runs out, you tally up your points and start another round. Once someone reaches a total of five thousand points, you have a winner.
5. Poker/Texas Holdem
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 5+
How to Play: All you need is a regular deck of 52 cards and you can get started (though many players like to have a second deck ready for the next round). A dealer gives each player five cards. Players use chips to place bets on having the best hand. Each hand has a different value, ranking from a Straight Flush to No Pair, and whoever’s hand is the best wins all the chips. If a player doesn’t think they can win, they can fold and be out of the betting until the next round. If you bet on a good hand, you’re more likely to win. But if someone else has a better hand, you lose. You also lose if someone with a worse hand tricks you into folding. Poker face, baby.
6. Euchre
DECKS: 1 (Modified)
PLAYERS: 2 or 4
How to Play: Take a normal deck of 52 cards and remove the lower cards, using either 32 cards (discarding everything lower than a 7), 28 cards (discarding cards lower than an 8) or 24 cards (discarding cards lower than 9). Euchre usually requires partners of two against two.
7. A$$hole (or Scum or President)
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 4+
How to Play: WARNING, this one is normally a drinking game. However, it’s still a fun card game to play without alcohol. Maybe you could drink fancy sodas instead! Four players play roles ranking from President to A$$hole. Roles change every game, and each role has its own special abilities that players can invoke at any point. Players play their cards in order, trying to place a card of higher value until they cannot. (Note that in this game, 2 is the highest card, followed by Ace, then King, etc.) The first person to play in the round can also choose to play 2 cards at once, forcing everyone else to have to place pairs as well or lose the round. The game is over when all the cards are gone, and whoever wins gets to be the new President.
8. Kings Corner
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: This is another Solitaire-like card game. After dealing out seven cards per player, you set out four cards face up on the table to start foundation piles. Players take turns placing as many cards as they can in the common center area until they run out of valid moves. Each player is trying to make a pile of descending numbers in alternating colors. Once someone runs out of cards entirely, they win.
9. Cribbage
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2-3
How to Play: Another classic card game. You’re going to need a cribbage board to keep score. The first player to score 121 points wins. Players start with 6 cards in their hand face down and earn points for making various card combinations. I recommend having a rule book handy for this one or, better yet, ask another grownup who plays regularly to join you because the rules are a little complicated and when someone can guide you through it in person, it’s really fun!
10. Spoons
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 3+
How to Play: This card game uses a 52-card deck and one less spoon than the number of players. You play it a bit like musical chairs. Players attempt to collect four-of-a-kind cards by discarding cards from their hand and passing them to their left. When a player announces they have four-of-a-kind, all the players attempt to grab spoons. Each round, the person who doesn’t get a spoon gets a letter in the word “spoon” instead. If someone has all the letters, they’re out of the game. Last player remaining wins.
11. Michigan
DECKS: 2
PLAYERS: 3+
How to Play: Take the ace of hearts, king of clubs, queen of diamonds, and jack of spades from a deck and place them at the center of the table. These four cards are called the “boodle” or “money cards” and will remain there throughout the game. Before each deal, players place one chip on each boodle card; the dealer places two chips on each. The dealer deals out the entire deck to each player, as well as one dead hand that only the dealer is allowed to look at.
Players go around the table playing their cards in a sequence, starting from the lowest card in a suit, until an ace or a play from the dead hand stops the sequence. Whoever placed a card last must then start a new sequence, using the lowest card they have in a new suit. Players score points by either duplicating one of the boodle cards and collecting chips placed on them or by getting chips from other players by getting rid of all your cards and collecting chips, one for each remaining card, from the other players.
12. Hearts
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 3+
How to Play: Hearts is known as a Trick Taking game. The player with the lowest score wins. Once one player hits an agreed-upon score, the game is over. In a four-player game, each hand will have 13 cards. In a three-player game, the 2 of diamonds should be removed, and each player gets 17 cards. In a five-player game, the 2 of clubs should be removed so that each player will get 10 cards. Basically, you only gain points with heart cards (one point each) or the queen of spades (13 points), unless you have all thirteen heart cards AND the queen of spades. In that case, you get zero points, but all the other players get 26 points for that round.
13. Tunk (or Tonk)
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2+
How to Play: This is another classic card game where the objective is to form matched sets, kind of like poker. Each player gets seven cards, and the rest are in the center facedown next to a discard pile. Each player must start their turn either by drawing a card or by taking the top card from the discard pile. Then players must discard one card from their hand. However, a player can knock on the table, or “tunk,” if they have five or less unmatched cards. And then each player has one turn to draw, take the discard, meld, lay off on the tunker’s melds, or discard a card from their own hand.
14. Spades
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 2+
How to Play: Here’s another classic Trick Taking card game. In Spades, the spades suit is always the trump suit. The entire deck is dealt out to the players, and then players place bids on how many tricks they will take this round. (Every player must bid in this game.) Players continue until someone reaches a predetermined number of points (often 500, but sometimes 200 for shorter games). Players get points by the number of tricks taken, but if their bid was higher than what they actually receive, then they do not receive any points.
15. Rich Man Poor Man
DECKS: 1
PLAYERS: 3-8
How to Play: Once again, the object of the game is to get rid of your entire hand first (or to be the “rich man”). The dealer passes out the entire deck. Players go in a circle discarding their cards face up on the table, in ascending order. However, in Rich Man Poor Man, the card order, from lowest to highest, is 4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A-2-3.
The first player in a turn can put down any card, or pairs, triples, or sets of four of the same number, and then the players go in a circle setting down an equal or higher card (or cards, players must play doubles, triples, quadruples to match what the first player did) until players cannot (or choose not to) beat the previous card. Whoever played the final card in a round gets to start the next round with whatever card(s) they choose. Once a rich man is decided, the game continues until only one player has cards left and is declared the “poor man.” In the next game, the poor man gives their best card to the rich man, and the rich man gives the poor man his worst card.
Best Board Games for Teens and Tweens
There are plenty of board games for teens to play with family and friends. Many classic board games hold up surprisingly well and there a large number of great new board games to choose from. Check out the following list of board games you can play with your teens and tweens!
16. Risk
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 3-6
How to Play: Risk is a classic board game where players use a board with a map of the world and use their armies to try to capture as much territory as possible. Each player starts with a certain amount of territory, depending on the number of players, and then, using the cards that come with every game of risk, players take turns to try to defeat each other’s armies. It’s a strategy board game your teens will love!
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17. Parcheesi
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 4
How to Play: Parcheesi is also an oldie but a goodie. Each player gets a set of four tokens, called pawns, and must move all four to the end of the board first. You roll two dice and move up to two of your pawns at the same time using rolls from those dice. You can use your pawns to capture other players’ pawns and block off paths until all of your tokens reach the end. The original Parcheesi (called Pachisi initially) originated in India, though it didn’t reach the United States until the 1860s. The original version had wooden dice, and the tokens were one of four animals: an elephant, a bull, a camel, and a tiger.
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18. Sequence
AGE: 4+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Sequence is a more complicated, luck based version of Tic Tac Toe. Each game comes with a board, a classic deck of cards, and three sets of colored game tokens. The board is covered in a pattern of repeating playing cards that match the deck of cards. Players draw cards and then place a token onto the board covering one of the spaces that match their card. Players take turns doing this, either trying to put several in a row or block someone else’s potential sequence. First player to get a row of five tokens wins.
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19. Settlers of Catan
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Catan is a resource management game that has recently seen a huge spike in popularity. It’s a board game with movable pieces, meaning you can either place landmarks in an easy mode arrangement or shuffle the landmarks and set them up at random. Then you number the hex tiles and begin placing your own settlements and roads according to whatever setup you’ve decided on. Basically, the whole point is to build settlements and cities, collect resources for those settlements (wool, wood, coal, wheat, and ore), and trade with other players to get the best possible settlement. Players can also buy development cards to give them a boost in progress. As you go, you get victory cards based on various factors. First player to ten wins.
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20. Sorry
AGE: 6+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: In this classic board game, each player takes three game pieces of one color, places them in the matching starting area, and tries to get their pieces from the start to their color’s home space. Unlike a lot of board games like this, instead of dice, you play this game entirely with game cards that give instructions on how to move your pieces. Players can bump other players’ game pieces back to the start, and players must go around the board until they reach their home space. First player to reach their home space with all their game pieces wins.
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21. Act Your WAGE
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Dave Ramsey’s Act Your WAGE is a board game based on Dave Ramsey’s financial principles. It’s a bit like Monopoly, in that you’re playing for and managing money while you go around a board. Spaces correspond to different actions, like saving and spending. There are also six decks of cards: Save, Spend, Give, Dave Says, Life, and Debt. Each player starts with one Life card and three Debt cards. It’s basically a money management game and can help impart real-life financial responsibility for teens (and adults too).
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22. Ticket to Ride
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: Ticket to Ride is a game about trains. The game comes with a board containing a map of North American train routes. The object of the game is to score points by claiming as many of these railways as possible. Points are awarded for connecting strategic destinations or having the longest continuous route on the board. Ticket to to ride usually lasts less than an hour to play, which is a great duration for a family game with teens.
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23. Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails is a variation of Ticket to Ride, where players claim train and sea routes. It comes with two maps, one spanning across the entire world, and the other encompassing the Great Lakes, giving veteran players a whole new experience with Ticket to Ride.
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24. Pictionary
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2 Equal teams
How to Play: Pictionary is a timeless, classic board game that everyone of every AGE can enjoy. The game comes with a board, some dice, and a small timer. Players divide into teams. Each round, one player chooses a card from the deck then draws a picture of the word on the card. Their team members have one minute to guess what they’ve drawn. If their team members guess correctly, they roll the dice and move farther along the board. First team to make it to the end of the board wins.
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25. Pandemic
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Players work in teams from the Centers for Disease Control to stop an epidemic from spreading into a worldwide pandemic. This is cooperative crisis management board game plays a little like Settlers of Catan. Players are randomly assigned roles and can choose from several different types of characters with different skills. The game comes with 4 different decks, including infection cards, player cards, role cards, and quick reference cards. Players can move about the map, draw various cards, and do whatever they can to stop the epidemic from spreading. All players lose the game if they run out of player cards, if eight outbreaks happen, or if the cubes of any color run out. Players win if they cure all four diseases before any of that happens. It’s a challenging game, but teens who are fond of strategy games will love this one.
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26. Potions Explosions
AGE: 14+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: If your teen is a fan of silly fantasy, they’ll enjoy Potions Explosions. To make high-quality potions, players must collect ingredients (colored marbles) from the dispenser. Players ‘drink’ the potions to unleash new powers.
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27. Letters from Whitechapel
AGE: 13+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Letters from Whitechapel is a murder mystery game a little more mature than some of the other board games on this list. The year is 1888, and five detectives are on the hunt for the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper. One player takes on the role of Jack the Ripper, while the other players work together to follow clues and capture him in four nights. If the detectives can capture Jack the Ripper in that timeframe, they win.
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28. Carcassonne
AGE: 6+ (publisher recommends 8+)
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: While some of you may know Carcassonne as a beautiful city in Southern France, you may not know that it is also the name of a board game. Players must develop land outside the city of Carcassonne, using various land tiles similar to Settlers of Catan. Players score points based on the sort of tiles, followers, and buildings they collect over the course of the game. Whoever scores the highest by the end of the game wins.
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29. Aggravation
AGE: 6+
PLAYERS: 2-6 (6 Recommended)
How to Play: All you have to do in Aggravation is get your marbles from Start to Home. Players roll dice to determine how far they can move their marbles clockwise around the board. You can also aggravate your opponents by jumping on/over your opponents’ marbles, sending them immediately back to the start, like in the game Sorry. Play is quick, competitive, and a lot of fun.
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30. Wits and Wagers
AGE: 13+
PLAYERS: 5+
How to Play: If your family is looking for a trivia game with a twist, try Wits and Wagers. Players can compete individually, or if you’re looking for a fun party board game, players can compete in teams. Players are all asked the same trivia question and then place their answers face up on the betting mat. Then, they place bets based on what they think the answer is, or who they think has the best chance of getting the trivia correct.
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31. PitchCar
AGE: 6+
PLAYERS: 2-8 (Recommended 6)
How to Play: If your teen enjoys racing games like Mario Kart, they will love PitchCar. Players take turns racing around a racetrack built from various track shapes. Each turn, players must flick their car piece in order to move, and try to make it once around the track without falling off. If a car falls off the board, the car must return to the start.
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32. Lords of Waterdeep
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: If your teenager is a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, maybe they’ll be interested in this Dungeons and Dragons board game. Players take on the role of a powerful lord (of Waterdeep) trying to gain control of the city by collecting and using various resources, such as sending out adventurers. After eight rounds of gathering as many resources as possible, players tally up their points and determine a winner.
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33. King of Tokyo
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: If your teenager loves Godzilla, King Kong, and all of those other kaiju monsters, or maybe if they just love destroying things, then King of Tokyo is the board game for them. Players choose a giant monster and rampage through Tokyo, attempting to score points the more they destroy. The winner is the player whose monster collects 20 victory points or is the last one standing once the fighting has ended.
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34. Elder Sign
AGE: 14+
PLAYERS: 1-8
How to Play: If your teen is a fan of Cthulhu and horror-mysteries, Elder Sign is the game for them. Players solve paranormal mysteries by taking on the role of investigators attempting to stop the return of The Ancient One that has been wreaking havoc on a museum.
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35. Batman: Escape From Arkham Asylum
AGE: 16+
PLAYERS: 1-5
How to Play: Batman fans will love this semi-cooperative dungeon crawl board game. Players assume the role of one of Batman’s many villains and work together to defeat Batman and break out of their confinement in Arkham Asylum. Each player also has their own hidden objective that they must complete in order to win the game. Players can explore the game board, attack enemies, search for items, and craft tools as they make their way out.
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36. Monopoly
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: Everyone knows Monopoly. It’s one of the most famous classic board games out there and can still bring teens and families so much joy. Players travel around the board, making money, buying properties, and attempting to stay afloat until everyone else is bankrupt. Each space has a different property or instructions for players to follow. There’s a Monopoly for every sort of media and even variations based on themes, like local cities. There’s even a Boy Scouts of America Monopoly and a version called DARopoly about the women of the American Revolution.
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37. Trivial Pursuit
AGE: Depends on the Edition
PLAYERS: 2-6 (Teams allowed)
How to Play: If your teen is a trivia buff, they’ll love this board game. Players travel along a circular board, attempting to answer as many trivia questions as possible, until they’ve answered six different trivia topics. Each board space has a color associated with a trivia topic, and each time you answer a question correctly, you collect a new color. The first player who obtains one of every color wins.
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38. Scrabble
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 1-4
How to Play: Scrabble is one of the best family games for teens and is great for learning new words. Players draw seven tiles from a bag and build words with those letter tiles by placing them on a grid. Each letter has a different point value, and grid spaces may increase the score. The player tallies their score, then draws an equal number of new tiles from the tile bag so that each player always has seven tiles. The next player can decide to place a word on the board, exchange tiles, or pass. If they play a new word, it must incorporate at least one letter already on the board to form one or more complete words. When one player uses all their tiles or no one can build more words, the game ends. The player who scores the highest wins.
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39. Betrayal at House on the Hill
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 3-6
How to Play: This is a fun, creepy, horror-themed party board game. Each player takes on a different character, with different stats, in order to explore a haunted house, which players create themselves. The board starts with an entrance. Players take turns exploring the house together, putting down new tiles, or rooms, containing different events and items, until The Haunt begins. Each haunt is different, and one player takes on the role of the Traitor, who is now playing to kill the other players, now called Heroes. Each haunt has different goals and ways to succeed, but all players need to figure out how to survive.
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40. Sort It Out
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Here’s a fun board game for all ages. Each player gets a Tile-Holder that can hold five different colored tiles and chooses a game piece to set at the start. The goal of the game is to make it to the end first. Players draw a Topic Card instructing them to determine either what order the items go in or which items belong on the list, by using their tile cards and a timer. Players move forward by the number of tiles they placed correctly. There are also spaces on the board that change the amount moved forward (or backward) based on the answers.
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41. Attack!
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: This is a relatively simple board game, set in WWII. Much like other expansion board games, the goal of the game is to take as much land as possible from your opponents. In Attack!, you have three different sub-games: Land Combat, Naval Combat, and Economics. Players must either build their empire through diplomacy or conquest. Players start with a certain amount of infantry and can attempt to bolster their resources. It’s a lot like the classic board game Risk, though with simplified rules.
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42. Labyrinth
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Unlike most other board games, Labyrinth is played on a special, movable board. Players take turns exploring the Labyrinth, attempting to find all the character/object cards they need to win before returning to the start. At each turn, players must insert a new maze card, which shifts all of the paths to the side and changes the entire map.
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43. Crib Wars
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Crib Wars is a Cribbage board game where the rules state you are not allowed to quit until you finish. It’s basically Cribbage with a bunch of extra rules to make the game fresh and new for players who want to add a twist to their favorite game. Be warned, Crib Wars takes a lot more time to finish than Cribbage ever could.
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44. Splendor
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Players take on the role of rich merchants during the Renaissance. At each turn, they can choose gems, reserve development cards, or purchase development cards using their available gems. Players earn prestige points by purchasing development cards that certain nobles are interested in. The object of the game is to obtain 15 prestige points before your opponents.
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45. Trial by Trolley
AGE: 14+
PLAYERS: 3-13
How to Play: Is your teen a fan of Cyanide & Happiness? Did they know that Cyanide & Happiness has an officially licensed board game? Trial by Trolley is a game based on the old Trolly Problem mental exercise, but instead of it being a moral dilemma, one player acts as a murder-crazed trolly trying to kill as many things as it can, while players build out their tracks and attempt to convince the trolley to kill the other players instead of their own.
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46. Machi Koro
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: In this fun board game, you play as the mayor of your own city. The object is for your city to become the biggest and best. Players roll dice in order to make money and attempt to build out their city with various buildings and landmarks. The first person to make enough money to build four monuments in their city wins the game.
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47. Saboteur
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 3-10
How to Play: This is another semi-cooperative board game that will be fun for the whole family! It’s Players play as dwarves attempting to mine for gold and explore the gold mines. However, one player (or more, depending on the number of players present) secretly plays as the saboteur, whose job is to put obstacles in the way of players exploring the mines. Players slowly add to the map as they explore. If the dwarves build an unbroken path from the start card to the gold goal card, they wind the round. If they can’t do it, the saboteurs win.
48. Listography
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 3-6
How to Play: Listography is a game where players attempt to make it first around the board by creating lists based on the various prompts. Each prompt comes with instructions on what will allow players to move forward, like “move one space for every answer you share with someone else” or “move one space for every unique answer you have.”
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49. Axis and Allies
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: This is yet another WWII strategy game. Players take control of one of seven countries that fought in WWII and attempt to fight their own miniature version of this world war. There are several scenarios that players can play through, each one coming with its own sets of rules. Players can do research to gain new technologies, obtain more troops, or initiate combat with other players on their turns. Players do this until one player hits the win-condition, which by default is 15 points.
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50. Big Money
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-5
How to Play: The objective of this game is to get as rich as physically possible. Players roll dice in order to gain money, which can then be used to purchase more assets that will help players gain even more money. It’s all a big cycle, players spending money to make more money in the long run.
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51. Robo Rally
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Players each get to choose a robot and attempt to race around the robotics factory first. Players can choose from multiple boards, each with a different setup and many hazards to get through. Each robot player can choose special program cards that describe rules that robots must follow to move around the board. Players can also upgrade their robots over the course of the game.
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52. Alhambra
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Players are master builders who demonstrate their skill by employing and paying teams to construct buildings within an Alhambra complex. Players score points by collecting buildings. Building a wall around their own market, gains players extra points. The player with the highest point total wins.
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53. Survive: Escape from Atlantis
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Instead of building out the game as you go, players in Survive: Escape from Atlantis start with a board of Atlantis and must escape before the entire island disappears into the sea. Each round, more and more of the map disappears, and players must move as many of their own people to safety as possible.
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Party Card Games for Teens and Tweens
There are many card games out there that are not played with a traditional 52-card deck but with special cards that make the games interesting and fun. Cards make games very portable, and new games like Skyjo and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza are becoming very popular! Here are just some of the exciting unique card deck games you can play with your teens.
54. 5 Crowns
AGE: 5-15
PLAYERS: 2-7
How to Play: 5 Crowns is played with a special deck of cards, modified to contain five suits instead of four: spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds, and stars. Players make specific card combinations to get rid of as many cards as possible over the course of eleven rounds. Each round, points are tallied according to who has the most cards. Whoever has the lowest number of points by the end of the eleven rounds wins.
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55. Cover Your A$$ets
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: This is another game all about making money. First player to reach one million dollars wins. Players build their assets by placing matching cards atop each other. Players match their cards by using their hand, using the discard pile, or occasionally attempting to steal from other players. Each round, players must replenish their hand. Usually, it only takes three or four rounds for someone to win.
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56. Cards Against Humanity
AGE: 17+
PLAYERS: 3-20+
How to Play: WARNING: this game is raunchy and purposefully inappropriate. We’re including it here because chances are, your teens already play this game or will come across it when they’re in college. Players compete to complete a mad libs type prompt with the funniest answer possible from the horrible and raunchy cards in their hand. Each round, a new person judges and gives the funniest answer a point (by handing them the prompt card), and whoever gets to the selected amount of points first wins.
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57. Kids Against Maturity and Apples to Apples
AGE: KAM 10+; AtA 7+
PLAYERS: KAM 4+; AtA 4-8
How to Play: If you’re not comfortable with Cards Against Humanity, there are less raunchy versions. Apples to Apples and Kids Against Maturity are both wonderfully fun PG versions of Cards Against Humanity.
Order Kids Against Maturity Order Apples to Apples
58. One Night Ultimate Werewolf
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 3-10
How to Play: This fast-paced, competitive game asks players to download an app that sets timers for them and gives players instructions on how to play in real time. The gist of the game is that players are assigned unique skills and must determine who among the group members are werewolves attempting to kill players and the werewolves try to trick other players into picking an innocent person. If one werewolf gets away, the werewolves win.
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59. Uno / Uno Flip / Uno All Wild
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-10
How to Play: Uno is a classic fast paced, get-rid-of-your-cards game that riles up party-goers. Some variations include Uno Flip, where every card has a backside players can flip mid-game, and Uno All Wilds, where every card is a wild card. Mix up your teen’s game night by giving them all sorts of Uno variations to try out.
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60. SkyJo
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: Each player starts with twelve cards, face down in a grid, and then flips two of them over. Players then take turns drawing cards from the deck or the discard pile, and replacing cards on their grid. If you match all of the cards in a column, you can discard the column. After one player has revealed all of their cards, everyone gets one more turn before the round is over. Once the round is over, you flip over all of your cards and add them up. The lowest score wins!
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61. Side Effects
AGE: 14+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: Players start with four different disorders, selected by drawing four cards from the disorder deck. The goal is to treat all four disorders before anyone else in the game. Players treat themselves with various drugs, but these drugs often have side effects, which allow other players to disrupt treatment. You can also bargain with other players for their cards.
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62. Exploding Kittens
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-10
How to Play: This is a wacky, fast-paced card game. Players draw from the central deck, and play at least one card from their hand per turn. In the deck are several ‘exploding kittens’ cards, and if you draw that card, you automatically lose, unless you have a card that combats the explosion. Players keep playing until only one person remains. Since games go by so quickly, you and your family can play many rounds in one sitting!
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63. 5 second rule
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 3+
How to Play: This fast-paced trivia card game comes with 576 relatively simple questions and a timer. Players must answer questions before the timer runs out. The timer, of course, is set to only five seconds. Whoever has scored the most points at the end of the game wins.
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64. What do you Meme
AGE: 17+
PLAYERS: 3-20+
How to Play: This is an adult party game somewhat similar to Cards of Humanity. Players get a hand of caption cards that they must use to caption various classic memes. Each round, a player places a photo of an old-school meme on an easel and judges the other players’ meme captions.
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65. Taco! Cat! Goat! Cheese! Pizza!
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 3-6
How to Play: This game is a very fast-paced party game. Players distribute all of the cards evenly, face-down so no one can see their cards. Then players go in a circle, placing down their cards, and saying the names of the cards in order. So the first person says Taco as they set down their random card, the next person says Cat, and so on, going down the line in order until someone places a card that matches whatever noun the player says. At that point, everyone must try to slap the card, and whoever slaps last has to take all the cards in the pile. Whoever gets rid of their cards first and then slaps a matched card first wins. There are also special cards, which players must look out for, that will replace the need to slap the cards. These cards come with their own instructions.
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66. SET
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 1+
How to Play: This one is essentially a matching game. Players get a deck of 81 cards. Players must make sets of three cards, matching shapes, colors, and/or shadings, or make a set where every card is unique. The player who claims the most sets wins.
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67. Dutch Blitz
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: This Dutch-themed card game is a riot at parties. The game is played with four decks of 40 cards, and players select which of these four decks they will be using for the duration of the game. Each deck has its own design, which are pump, carriage, pail, and plow. Players place cards in three piles: Post, Blitz, and Wood. The object is to place cards in sequence in Dutch piles, one for each of four colors, using the cards in the Post, Blitz, and Wood piles. You win a round when all the cards in your Blitz pile have been used, and then the round is scored. The first player who gets to 75 points wins the game. It is a perfect blend of strategy and luck, making it great to play with your teens or as a family.
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68. Killer Bunnies
AGE: 13+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: This card game is actually several card games built into one. Once you get the starter pack, you can use several variations of Killer Bunnies, such as Quest for the Magic Carrot, Conquest of the Magic Carrot, or KinderBunnies (aka the childrens’ version). This game is all about pop culture, and you have the option to purchase multiple booster decks to expand your options. The object of most of these versions is to keep your own bunnies alive while killing your opponents’ bunnies.
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69. Skip-bo
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Players must get rid of their cards by playing their cards in numerical order. The deck comes with 162 cards, eight of them being Skip-bo cards, and players are dealt 20-30 cards (depending on the amount of players) for their stock pile. Players must get rid of their entire stock pile by creating sequences of 1-12. You can play in teams, if you have enough players.
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70. Phase 10
AGE: 7+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Phase 10 is pretty much what it says on the cover. Players must complete 10 Phases in order to win. Players must complete sets of similar cards, or runs of cards in a sequential order. The phases are:
2 sets of 3
1 set of 3 + 1 run of 4
1 set of 4 + 1 run of 4
1 run of 7
1 run of 8
1 run of 9
2 sets of 4
7 cards of one color
1 set of 5 + 1 set of 2
1 set of 5 + 1 set of 3
Each round, players count up the amount and type of cards that they have yet to get rid of, and whoever has the lowest score by the end wins.
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71. Do You Know Me?
AGE: 17+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: This game is fun at parties! Players take turns in the “hot seat,” and other players have to see how well they know the person in front of them. The cards are full of yes/no questions, and players get to vote on whether they think the player in the hot seat is going to answer yes or no. Whoever is able to most accurately guess what the hot seat player is going to say wins.
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72. Codenames
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2-8
How to Play: This is a fun team card game for a minimum of four players. One player per team is the spymaster, and the other players are the field operatives. Players create a grid of 25 codenames, or cards with random words on them, and place them face up on the table in a five by five grid. The spymasters get a key, telling them what words their team and their opponents’ field operatives need to guess correctly, as well as which cards should be avoided by both sides. Teams then take turns, the spymaster giving the other players one-word clues (and number of cards to put down) to what words they need to guess. If players guess correctly, their team gets a point and can guess again. If they guess the other team’s word, the other team gets a point. If they hit an innocent bystander, their turn ends, and if they hit the assassin, that team automatically loses.
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73. Unstable Unicorns
AGE: 6+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Players each start off with one baby unicorn, and their job is to build their own personal unicorn army. Whoever gets the predetermined number of unicorns in their stable first wins. It’s a silly premise, but loads of fun. Players go counterclockwise, drawing from the deck, and playing various cards in order to gather as many unicorns as they can. Card abilities range from improving your own stable, downgrading someone else’s stable, or even just causing a random magical effect and watching the mayhem.
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74. Munchkin
AGE: 6+
PLAYERS: 3-6
How to Play: This is a very lighthearted Dungeons and Dragons card game. Players each get cards determining their race, class, and items, much like Dungeons and Dragons. Players draw treasures from a deck and try to defeat as many monsters as possible in order to level up and become stronger. The first player to reach level 10 wins. Players can work together to defeat monsters, or players can curse each other to try to get ahead.
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75. Fluxx
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Fluxx is a fast-paced card game that changes with every round. Rules are not set in stone, meaning that even veteran players will never have a set strategy for this game. The cards in the deck will have goals that players must complete in order to win, as well as rules for things such as how many cards a hand should have, and what players can do on their own turns. The rules and goals can change over the course of any game, so just be flexible and you’ll get the hang of it. There are also various expansion packs, or themed packs (like Cartoon Network themed cards) that you can buy to make the games more interesting.
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76. Snake Oil
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 3-10
How to Play: This is another one of those more improv-type games that teenagers will love. Players take turns playing as the customer. A customer draws a customer card, which tells the other players what they need to make in order to win. The other players must combine two of their word cards together and make their pitch to the customer, and whoever makes the best pitch (according to the customer) gets the point.
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Deck Building Games to Play with Teens
There are quite a few deck building games out there, all with different themes and characters that you can collect. But what are deck building games? Instead of players all having the same cards accessible at the start of the game, players must build their own unique, individual decks over the course of the game. Players can use the cards they start with to gain in-game currency to strengthen their own deck.
77. Dominion
AGE: 13+
PLAYERS: 2-4 (Up to 6 with with additional cards)
How to Play: This was the first official deck building game. It has a medieval theme, with many comparing it to games like Magic the Gathering, another game based on collecting cards.
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78. DC Deck Building Game
AGE: 15+
PLAYERS: 2
How to Play: As the title suggests, in this game you are building a deck full of DC comics characters, from Batman and Superman to any DC villain or side character.
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Video Games to Play with Family
If your teen absolutely needs to look at their screen on family game night, you could always find a game to play on your phones, computer, or game console. Many of the games above, like Phase 10, can be downloaded as an app on your phone, or you can find other, unique games to play. Here are a few ideas for some fun family phone or video games.
79. Heads Up!
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2+
How to Play: This game is played much like Charades. One player places the phone facing outward against their forehead. The app will then display a word on the screen. The other players shout out clues to the word. The person holding the phone must guess the word before a timer runs out. The game can be played with particular word themes, such as Harry Potter or Marvel comics, or you can create your own word themes to play with.
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80. My Mystery Party
AGE: Depends on the pack
PLAYERS: 1-300+
How to Play: If you ever wanted to take part in a murder mystery game online, you can do so by playing My Mystery Party. The games are designed to be played over the internet using Zoom, Google Hangout, or any other chat app. You or your teen can host a game and invite a bunch of friends or family members to play. A variety of themes are available, including holiday themes. You can even play escape room-style games. Get into the fun by getting into character and solving one of these virtual mysteries.
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81. Catchphrase
AGE: 12+
PLAYERS: 4+
How to Play: Catchphrase is another Charades-style game. Teams of players take turns reading the word offered in the game and either acting it out or giving word clues related to the word. The player giving the clues cannot say a word that rhymes with the given word, starts with the same letter as the given word, or a word that is part of the given word. The other members of the team need to guess the word before a timer runs out. If the rest of the team guesses the correct word, they get a point. Once the timer runs out, or the player breaks one of the rules, the team scores no points. Play is then passed to the other team.
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82. Survive
AGE: For everyone
PLAYERS: Unlimited
How to Play: In this game, you can all gather around one screen and strategize a way to survive in the wilderness. When the game starts, you have the option of choosing the terrain you’ll need to survive in. Then you need to choose a difficulty level, the easy Camper level or the more advanced Survivor level. Finally, you can choose the supplies that you’ll be starting the game with. From that point on, it’s up to you to find food, build a fire, and make supplies that will help you survive.
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83. MultiVersus
AGE: 13+
PLAYERS: 4
How to Play: MultiVersus is a multiplayer game that can either be played in the same household or across multiple households. It’s another great game where you can invite your family and friends to play from wherever they are. In MultiVersus, players can choose from a number of different characters owned by Warner Brothers, including DC Comics characters like Batman and Black Adam and cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes and Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Players then pit their characters against each other in one of several arenas.
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Family Friendly Dice Games
Dice games, like card games, are a very popular pastime and can be another fun and inexpensive way to pass the time with your teens. Like the dealing of cards in card games, dice introduces a random element to games, using rolls of one or more dice to determine outcomes of decisions, calculation of scores, or moves around a board.
84. Farkle
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 2+
How to Play: In Farkle, the object of the game is to score a total of 10,000 points or more. On their turn, each player must roll six 6-sided dice. Points are awarded according to a chart of possible number combinations. For example, a roll that produces three 1s earns a score of 1000 points. Players can set aside any dice rolled that scored points and roll the remaining dice again for another chance to score points. A player’s turn ends when they decide to stop rolling the dice. If any roll produces no scoring combinations, known as a Farkle, any points earned during that turn are wiped out.
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85. Yahtzee
AGE: 8+
PLAYERS: 1+
How to Play: A player rolls five 6-sided dice up to three times on their turn. On each roll, players put aside dice needed for a particular combination. Players score points for achieving a combination. For example, one possible combination involves rolling one or more 2s, with one point awarded for each 2 that appears. Once players achieve a particular combination, they mark it on their scorecard and cannot achieve it again in the game. The only exception to this is the Yahtzee combination, which involves rolling the same number on all five dice. The game ends after 13 rounds, and the player with the highest score wins.
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86. Zombie Dice
AGE: 10+
PLAYERS: 2+
How to Play: The object of this game is to roll (eat) the most brains. Each player takes 13 dice, puts them in a cup, shakes the cup, then chooses three dice at random to roll. If they roll a brain, the player sets that die to the left, and it counts as one brain eaten. If they roll a shotgun, the player sets that die to the right. Otherwise, if a player rolls three shotguns, their turn is over and they don’t get credit for the brains they rolled. If they roll footprints, the player sets the die in the center. Once all three dice are rolled, the player can either pass to the next player and count the number of brains they got or roll again, holding on to the footprint dice and picking new dice from the cup until the total equals three. Once a player has 13 brains, the game is over and all points are totaled to determine the winner.
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Fun Outdoor Games to Play with Family
If you and your teen happen to catch a nice day outside, or have the room inside, your family can get up off the couch and play a physical game. Not only are these types of games great for you and your teen’s health and fitness, but they are tons of fun and a great way to bond and stay engaged.
87. Cornhole
How to Play: Cornhole is a game normally played outdoors, although it can also be played indoors if you have the room. It consists of two sloped boards with a six-inch hole at the far end of each and 16 six-inch by six-inch bags either filled with resin pellets or corn. The two boards are set up at a minimum of 40 inches from each other, with the holes facing outward. The object of the game is to throw your bag from the side of one cornhole board into the hole of the opposite cornhole board. Each player, or team of two players, starts each round with eight bags, and players alternate who throws until all bags are thrown. If a bag lands on the board but does not go into the hole, the player receives one point. If a bag lands in the hole, the player receives three points. After all bags are thrown, all players switch sides and the next round begins. Once a player reaches 21 points, they win.
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88. KanJam
How to Play: KanJam is a game similar to football or soccer. It consists of two barrel-shaped goals with slots in them and one disc. The two goals are set up at a distance of 50 feet from each other with the slots facing each other. The object of the game is to throw the disc so that it either hits or goes inside the opposite goal. Each team starts each round with one player throwing the disc and the other deflecting the disc and then switching. If a player throws the disc and the other player deflects it so that it hits the goal, the team gets one point. When a player throws the disc and it hits the goal unassisted by the other player, the team gets two points. If a disc lands in the goal after being deflected by the other player, the team receives three points. Once a team reaches 21 points, they win. Also, if a team player throws the disc and it lands inside the goal unassisted, that team automatically wins.
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89. Throw Throw Burrito
How to Play: Throw Throw Burrito is a combination card game and physical game. The object of the game is to win two rounds of the game by scoring the most points. The game is played by dealing each player 15 cards. The remaining cards are placed in two community piles. At the beginning of each round, each player picks five cards from their draw pile. They will then attempt to get sets of three matching cards. Players get one point for each matching set. They can discard cards by putting them in the player’s pile to their left. If they run out of cards, they can pull them from the community piles. If three burrito cards are matched, they can enter or initiate a duel, brawl, or war, which means involved players will attack each other with stuffed burritos. The loser of a burrito fight gets a Burrito Brawl card which subtracts one point from their score. A round is over when the last Burrito Brawl card is handed out. If two different people win each round, they must have a burrito fight. The one who survives getting hit is the winner.
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Other Family Games
Some games fall into a category that doesn’t exactly fit the other categories. These games can be played indoors and involve skill and strategy like card games, or they can involve physical challenges that also involve a lot of skill and concentration to play. Here are just a few examples.
90. Dominoes
PLAYERS: 2-4
How to Play: Just like cards, there are many variations of Dominoes, but all games are played with tiles called dominoes that are divided by a line down the center of one face into two sides. Each side can have any number of pips (dots) between zero and six. A domino is considered a double if both sides have the same number of pips. In Straight Dominoes, which is the most common variant, players take turns laying a domino on the table such that the number of pips on one side of the newly laid domino matches the number of pips on the open end of a domino already on the table. Points are awarded if the sum of the pips on the exposed ends of the dominoes add up to a multiple of five. The object in each round is to lay down all the dominoes in your hand. If no dominoes match the ones on the table, you can pick from the bone pile. When a player has no dominoes left to play, the round is over and the pips of all remaining dominoes in the other players’ hands are counted, rounded to the nearest five, and added to that player’s score. The first person to reach 250 points wins the game.
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91. Scattergories
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Scattergories is a timed game where players have to guess as many words as possible related to a chosen category. Each game consists of three rounds. Players choose a category then throw a 20-sided die with letters of the alphabet on each side. Players have 3 minutes to write up to 12 words or phrases that start with the letter thrown and that fit the category chosen. When time is up, one point is awarded for each word/phrase that is not duplicated by any other player. At the end of the three rounds, the player with the highest total number of points wins.
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92. Jenga
PLAYERS: 2-6
How to Play: Jenga is a game played with 54 wooden blocks. Before the game begins, players build a tower in layers of three side-by-side blocks, with each layer oriented at right angles from the layer below it. Play begins when players take turns removing a block from a lower layer of the tower and placing it on the top. Blocks at the top of the tower must be placed in rows of three at right angles to the layer below it. The first person to knock the tower down while attempting to remove a block loses that round and is out of the game. The next player rebuilds the tower. The last player remaining who has not knocked down the tower in any round is the winner. Games are extremely quick, so it is a great game to play if you don’t have much time to play a game with your teens!
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