Family board game nights are a great way to organise all of the members of your family, gathering everyone in one place and ensuring you all get to spend some quality time together. If COVID and the resulting lockdowns taught us anything, it’s the value of family and how we all need to spend a little more time being present in each other’s company.
Boardgame nights allow everyone in the family to come together and share stories about their week, discuss the things that are currently happening in their life, and offer advice and support to other members of the family unit. Not only that, but having a weekly or monthly family night in will help to create amazing memories and start new traditions.
If you’re keen on starting this new tradition in your family home, here are my top board game picks for family nights in.
Monopoly
Let’s start with the classics. The first game that comes to mind when I think of a family night in playing board games is, of course, Monopoly. But, let’s be real here – Monopoly isn’t for the faint-hearted! Monopoly is a seriously competitive game that has been known to cause tension between players, especially when you find yourself unfortunate enough to land on someone’s property when it’s been heavily kitted out with hotels! Monopoly requires a good few hours of time, so it’s best to start this game early on in the evening, especially if you have younger children playing.
These days there are all sorts of variations of this classic game to keep players interested. My favourite Monopoly themes are Pokemon, Animal Crossing, GhostBusters, and Super Mario.
Scrabble/Junior Scrabble
Another classic family board game that we enjoy in this house is Scrabble – or Junior Scrabble if you’ve got younger children interested in playing. Scrabble is a great way for families to learn new words together, as well as for children to learn lots of beneficial skills in both literacy and mathematics. Scrabble and Junior Scrabble have been firm favourites when it comes to board games for generations – it’s so popular that there are many similar games available on the app store – but none are as fun or as wholesome as the traditional board game.
Beat The Parents
Beat The Parents pits the kids against the adults in this hilarious and competitive game. Before gameplay starts, a wager is decided by the players collectively and written down on the special board that’s included with the game set-up. These wagers usually involve funny, but practical things that need to happen within the household, such as washing up the dishes or sorting out the laundry.
This element of the wager makes gameplay all more competitive as parents and children progress through the game by answering general knowledge trivia questions. And of course, to keep everything fair (and to give the kids a chance), adults have a different set of trivia questions to answer. The loser has to do whatever the wager was, so be prepared for your kids to put their all into this one!
Labyrinth
This board game is hugely popular at the moment and is often seen advertised on children’s TV channels. Labyrinth is most enjoyable when played with 2 to 4 players, ideally aged 7 years and up. The aim of the game is to find the shortest route through the labyrinth, collecting treasure along the way. Labyrinth never gets boring, as each time you play the board is set up completely differently. This means that each time you play this board game as a family, the routes to get through the Labyrinth will change – sometimes they’ll be easier, sometimes they’ll be a lot harder.
Just like other popular board game franchises, Labyrinth also has several popular themes to keep things interesting, including a Pokemon themed board and a Super Mario themed board.
