It’s a hectic time of year, but the schedule should calm down soon. I’m looking forward to some cozy family time, and hoping to have some game nights. Here are some fun family games to play with teens and teens. After I wrote this post about games, readers on the Between Us Parents Facebook Page offered up some of their family’s favorite games that they enjoy with older kids, and I’ve compiled them here.
Hello, My Name Is . . . Party Game
My family recently received this as a gift and we thought it was really fun. The card lists three characteristics – such as blond, musical and short – and you have to name someone who fits them. We all named different people, and it’s fun to see different perspectives. It could also be a way to gain insight into your adolescents’ world. You could play with just the cards and use them with the whole family over the holidays.
Popular with parents as well as teen, this game is a great play on social media and viral memes, but without the devices. Players match up image cards and caption cards and take turns judging which is best. Parents mentioned this several times and say they love playing with their kids but be aware that it was created for adults. There’s also an expansion pack, if you need.
At $10, this seems like a good deal. You can play with between 2 and 8 players and it’s easy to explain the premise of determining secret identities of agents. We especially love that there’s a way to play cooperatively so you’re all working together against the game itself. This is a great option if you’re worried about head to head competition between family members. (Remember on Friends when Monica got super competitive? It seems most family has one of those. And I’m pretty sure my family would say that’s me. Ahem. Moving on.)
One reader’s husband received this game as a gift, and it has been fun for the whole family. She reports that their teenager and 9-year-old both love it. Players have to work together to save humanity from outbreaks of disease. The estimated time to play is around an hour. For ages 13+.
It’s like a family-friendly version of Cards Against Humanity! I love that there’s a ton of laughter when playing it. (I thought perhaps it was just us, but the comments on Amazon all mention laughing, too.) The game was a 2016 National Parenting Product Awards winner. It’s a card game so easy to take along when traveling, and great for groups.
This one was new to me, but got an enthusiastic thumbs up on the Facebook thread. It’s described as “a card game for people who are into kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats.” Alrighty then. Why not? Cards are illustrated by The Oatmeal. For ages 7+.
“Great” was how one parent described this game, which takes approximately half an hour. The mission is to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins in paradise, and players succeed by using strategic thinking and problem solving. For ages 10+.
If your family loves travel or geography, this is a particularly appropriate game. We received it as a gift and found it very fun. There are versions set in the United States, Europe, Asia, India, and more.
If you’re new to the game and don’t have someone to help explain it to you, we think the board game is grasped a bit easier and quicker than the card game. It’s great for just two players, so good for small families or kids playing on their own.
This is game that you play on a phone, and it’s free to download. It’s from the the creators of “Heads Up!” which was a hit in my house. Players make up fake answers to real trivia questions. A parent commented that this game “is my kids’ current fav . . . It’s a multi -player interactive app and I even really like it!”
Connecting over music can be a lot of fun. A mom said her boys ages 15 and 11 both really love this game of lyrics and it’s a great way to connect across generations. Good for ages 8+ so a nice option for tweens, teens and up.
Friends gave us this as a gift earlier this month. It’s perfect for travel, small and compact and takes just an estimated 15 minute to play. The goal is to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by, but you also want to leave room for dessert. For ages 8+.
This game has been popular in some circles for a long while, but seems to be finding a wider audience lately. It’s “an award-winning strategy game where players collect resources and use them to build roads, settlements and cities on their way to victory. The board itself is variable, making each game a little different from the next.” Games take approximately 90 minutes. For ages 10+.
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