Best Family Board Games

We are a board game family and we have a ton of them. My husband and I both like board games but are the first to admit that some are just painful to suffer through. They are either too basic to hold our attention or have convoluted rules, or are just a slight tweak on a classic game in order to throw in some licensed characters.

We play enough board games around here that I consider myself enough of an expert to know when we’ve found game that are fun for both our kids and keep the adults entertained. So with that in mind, here are a few of the best family board games, in our ever-so-humble opinion. Affiliate links ahead.

Tried and True

Ticket to Ride – This is probably my personal favorite. It’s a bit of a time commitment as it takes 30-60 minutes to play through the game, but it involves an element of strategy and planning that keeps me going. Plus, it’s entirely possible that you’ll have no idea who the winner is until the very end of the game, so that element keeps everyone on their toes.

Qwirkle – This was the first game that we played that gave me a glimpse of life after Chutes and Ladders and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It says it’s for ages 6 and up and I think that’s about accurate, but we’ve played with just a group of adults and had a great time.

Labyrinth – We actually have the Ocean version of this game, but this is the original version. You have to shift the tiles around the board to make paths to the objects you’re trying to collect. Since you recreate the board every single time you play, this game keeps everyone on their toes.

Farkle – This, along with Yahtzee, is an easy to play dice game that we all love. As an added bonus, it’s easy to take with you on the road and can be played without any special equipment. All you really need are six dice and you’re good to go.

Honorable Mentions

We don’t own any of the following games, but they come so highly recommended that I feel it’s important to name them here.

Exploding Kittens – Two things that you should know. First, this was the most backed Kickstarter in history and it features illustrations by The Oatmeal. You should also know that there is a family friendly and a NSFW version of this game, so make sure you grab the right one! We haven’t played this, but I think we need to make this the next one we add to our collection.

Catan – If you’re a board game person, surely this is on your radar. It has won a million awards and has several available expansion packs. The recommended starting age is age 10 and this is another long game clocking in at about an hour to finish each game, so keep both of those things in mind when deciding if this would work for your family.

Sushi Go – A lot of my friends are recommending this game this year and it looks cute and fun and portable. Since my kids are the only grandkids on either side of the family we’re always looking for games we can bring along at the holidays to keep everyone happy.

We would love to hear what games your family loves (and the ages of your kids/the kids that play the game for reference.) Leave them in the comments below so we can add them to our wishlist.