10 Board Games Families can Play Together

We are huge board game lovers at our house. We have always played quite intensive board games since I was a child (actually, farther back than that, my dad was a board game geek since college with the likes of Diplomacy).

When my husband joined the family, he embraced the board game culture and jumped right in there with us.

When we had our kids, one of the things I was most looking forward to was playing board games for families.

These board games families can play together are fun for all kids who are able to read at a second grade reading level or above.

Don't be sorry you chose to play games with your kids! Skip the silly games and choose board games families can play together that are actually fun!

10 Board Games Families Can Play Together

Many designated kid games are quite boring and a little mind numbing.

We do like a game of Sorry or Guess Who now and then, but our family favorites are games that go a bit beyond the basics.

Of course, some younger kids may be ready sooner and some kids might not be interested in some of these games until they are older.

Use your best judgement when selecting board games for families.

Our Favorite Non-Boring Board Games for Families

These are the board games that families can play together that will be fun for the adults as well as the kids! Our family has played and loved all of these family board games.

The Settlers of Catan

You don’t even have to be a reader to excel at these board games for families. The Settlers of Catan is a trading and city growth game that Monkey has played since about the age of 4.

It is her favorite game of all time and she routinely beats us at it. I also know there is a kid’s version, but we have never played it.

Balderdash

Balderdash is one of my favorite board games for families because can be as simple or as complicated as you want it.

I love the new version that has you choose between word definitions, movie plots, historical events, and other fun topics.

Even Monkey is adept at coming up with fun plots for words and games and it helps us all learn a little more vocabulary!

Carcassonne

Last year, the winter edition of Carcassone was our family gift. In Carcassone, you basically put out road tiles to create various “zones,” which turn into farms, monasteries, roads, and cities.

The bigger the enclosure the better, but the longer you wait to close your gaps the easier it is for someone to steal it right from under your nose. This is another game that doesn’t take any reading and only requires basic understanding of the rules.

However, there is still enough strategy to keep adult players happy.

Munchkin

You can’t get much better than the silly game of Munchkin. This is actually a card game, but it is still one of Monkey’s favorites.

We love Munchkin because we were the nerdiest of nerds back in the day and actually played D&D, and classic Munchkin is all about making fun of that particular game.

The rules are simple (and mean) but the play is extremely fun. I also like that Munchkin is usually a faster game.

Get the lava slime recipe here!

Burrows

We picked Burrows up last year as well, and it is enjoyable for kids and adults. You own a gopher farm and must grow your farm to attract more gophers.

If you have the least amount of gophers at the end of a round, then you lose points.

This game usually takes less than an hour to play even if you play your board games for families with the full crew, which is 5 people.

Citadels

Citadels is a long-term favorite game of ours where you build a city by paying with butterscotch coins.

What makes this game unique is that during each round, you have to choose one of 7 personas to take on that give you special abilities to use each round that will help you build your city or hurt someone else in their city-building efforts.

Bang

BANG is always a fun game because it has a Western theme and you can shoot family members. This game requires a bit of math, so it is best suited for slightly older children.

However, Monkey really enjoys playing this game because of the fun cowboy aspect.

Dominion

Dominion is yet another quasi-board game that is actually more of a card game. In Dominion, you are also trying to build a deck of cards with the ultimate goal of collecting victory point cards.

The twist to this game is that each time you play, the cards that you can purchase are different. Each card has different abilities that allow you to build the deck differently, which usually harms fellow players.

Dominion is probably best suited for kids 8 and up.