Family Game Nights are occurring more frequently given we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and many of our favorite entertainment destinations are closed. Most likely, your game collection already includes the classics like Monopoly, Sorry, Life, Connect 4, and others, but with all of the new games out on the market, it can be hard to find that next great game. We’re here to help with a list of the five best games we’re playing right now:

Roll For It!

A dice game for two to four players where each player takes turns rolling their dice, trying to match the dice pictured on any one of three cards displayed on the board at a time. A card could show two one’s, a three and two six’s, or a one, two, three, four, five and six, along with many other combinations. The player to roll all of the numbers shown on the card, wins that card. Each card has a point value that ranges from two to fifteen points depending on the difficulty. The first player to earn forty points wins. For larger families, you can purchase and combine two different game sets and play with up to eight players. This game is equally as fun for the adults as it is for the kids.

Q-bitz

This is a game of speed, recognition and replication for two to four players. Each player has their own game tray that holds sixteen small cubes. Each cube has six sides, and each side has a different design. To play the game, you flip over a card which will reveal an image. Each player then arranges the sixteen cubes in their tray so that the image facing upwards, matches the image on the card. The first to correctly match the image, wins that card. The player with the most cards at the end wins. There are a few alternate ways you can play once you’ve mastered the basic game. There is also a junior version that uses only four cubes instead of sixteen for those that have younger kids. It’s a high energy, high intensity game that is a lot of fun.

Sequence

Sequence is a favorite in our household. Two to Twelve players can play. The game comes with a game board, two decks of cards, blue, green and red marker chips. The game board has one-hundred spaces. Ninety-six are images of various cards you find in a common deck of cards. The remaining four are free spaces located in the corners. At the start of the game, each player is dealt a number of cards dependent on the number of people playing. To start a turn, a player selects a card from their hand and lays one of their colored chips on a space that corresponds with that card. The player places that card on the discard pile and grabs a new card from the deck. The next player takes their turn and so on. A player gets a “Sequence” when they have a connected series of five colored chips in a straight line which includes up, down, or diagonal. Depending on the number of players, a player wins when they score either one or two Sequences. Like Q-bitz, there is a junior version with a smaller board and animal images on the cards instead of the standard images. This is a really fun game that involves a lot of strategy, so if your kids are younger, definitely start with the junior version.

tri-FACTa

We initially got this game as a tool to help teach math but ended up being surprised at how fun the game is. The premise is pretty simple. Each player has a tray and receives six small triangle cards, each with a number on it. The game board has three slots where players will insert their cards with the goal of making a correct math fact. The numbers in the two slots on the bottom must add up to the number placed in the slot on the top. Naturally, the number on the top minus either of the numbers on the bottom, will equal the other number on the bottom. Each player takes turns placing cards, making their own math fact by placing three new cards, or changing the existing math fact by only playing one or two cards on top of existing cards. It sounds complicated, but it’s pretty simple to grasp. The first player to play all of their cards wins. It’s a fun game and a great way for kids to work on their math facts. If you have older kids, or want more of a challenge, there is a multiplication version as well.

Tenzi

There are apparently seventy-seven ways you can play Tenzi, but we’ve only played a few. The game is super simple yet a ton of fun. Each player gets ten dice. The goal is to keep rolling your dice until all ten are the same number. The first to do that wins. It’s a simple concept but it brings a lot of excitement and energy to game night. Once you’ve played the core game, you can branch out to all of the variations. There is a variation called Splitzi where the goal is to get five of your dice to match one number, and the other five to match a different number. There is Target Tenzi where you declare what number you are going for before you roll. In Stealzi, you can steal dice from another player if they roll the number you are looking for as long as you give that player one of your dice in return. The party pack allows for two to six players. The more players you have the more fun it is. It’s an excellent family game that’s equally as fun for the little ones as it is for grandma and grandpa.

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