Do you love games nights? Me too! I love getting together with my family and friends to play games, have a drink, and just hang out. We usually try and get together about once a month and take turns hosting. This is great because I don’t always have to be the one with a clean house!

Everyone brings a tasty dish to share. I love it when we get several desserts. Yum! This is an important time to note that calories do not count on game night. “Whoo-hoo!”, right? If you are feeling particularly creative and ambitious you can even have a theme! Game nights are great because they can work for a variety of ages from little ones to teens to adults. Enjoying time with other adults without having to get a sitter is also a plus. You may even find you spend so much time chit-chatting and snacking you don’t even get around to the games.

My obstacle has been finding a variety of games that will work for everyone. So far I have five favorites, although one is not kid friendly.

1. Pictionary
Pictionary is always a big hit. We have the adult and kid versions of this game but have found it is easy to incorporate the little ones into either version. We usually play guys against girls and end up laughing more than guessing. Whether it’s the hilarious drawings or outlandish guesses we crack up every time.

2. Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples is also a blast. We have the adult and kid versions of this game. The kids usually head to the play room when we play this game because the adults get a little silly. This game involves knowing your judge (are they serious, silly, etc.). A word will be a put in the center; an example would be touchy-feely. The other players then have to choose a card from their hand that represents touchy-feely (to the judge). Some example cards that players put on the table are J-Lo, waterbed, moonlight, Bill Clinton and so on. As you can imagine it can be pretty funny.

3. Catch Phrase
Catch Phrase is also a great party game. This is a word guessing game that consists of two teams. We usually just count off until everyone has a number. A member will start the timer and try and get their team to guess the word displayed. The person holding the device can gesture and give verbal clues. They may not use the word in any way. It sounds easy enough but some of the words are tricky. After the word is guessed the device is passed to the opposing team. The team not holding the device as it buzzes scores a point, so it’s best to get rid of that hot potato as soon as possible.

4. Napoleon Dynamite
Another one that I like is the Napoleon Dynamite game. It is similar to Pictionary. Each player will draw two cards on their turn. Each card will have the name of an animal. You will then have sixty seconds to draw the very best version of the two animals combined. Be prepare there are also some spaces on the board that will try and get you hung up, for example draw with your non-dominate hand or draw your animal with a football. I have to say, my personal favorite is still the Liger!

5. Would You Rather
Would You Rather is a new favorite. On your turn you will spin to get given a category, such as fantasy. You will then be given two crazy questions. An example would be would you rather age only from the neck up or the neck down? Each player will then choose A or B based on the order the question was asked. The catch is those players are trying to guess what you would say. If they guess correctly they move forward. The first person to get to the end wins. This game is not recommended for children under 18.

Games nights are great for building community and having family friendly nights. What are some of your favorite games?

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