The 44 Best Family Games in 2023 (Reviewed by Parents)

Kelly R.:  The classic "who dunnit" family board game is still fun today. I think one of the highlights of my 6-year-old son's young life was beating a table full of adults at this game.

Brittany Kozielski:  Hedbanz is one of the all time best family games in our house. You put on a headband and put a mystery card in the clip so that you can't see it. The other players give you clues and you have to guess what the picture is on the card on your head. Lots of laughs. We have even made our own personal cards over the years to give the game a little more variety.

Kelly R.:  

Players earn points by claiming railway routes connecting cities through North America. I think it's one of the best family board games for older kids, and also gets pulled out a lot on adult game night after the kids have gone to bed. Winning takes a mix of strategy and luck, and it can get a little cutthroat when people are competing for the same real estate!

Kelly R.:  This is the little kids' version of the classic family board game Sequence. Fun for both kids and adults, the goal is to get 4 chips in a row while blocking your opponent. We adjust the rules for younger kids by having each player draw only one card.

Joseph Kelley:  A fun twist on a matching game! This is a fast paced family game where you must pick out the matching symbols out of a large group of symbols. Great for a when you have some kids who are reading and some who aren't because there are no words in this game. The storage tin makes it a great game to take along for a road trip.

This fun family card game challenges young kids to think strategically, while not being so difficult that they get discouraged. The goal is to create the best possible sushi plate, with players choosing cards from their decks to play and passing the rest on to a neighbor, with points awarded based on the resulting combinations. Older kids pick it up quickly and the whole family ends up enjoying themselves!

Dawn R:  This is one of the best games for family game night when your kids are ready for some strategy! The premise is to match tiles and win points. Great for ages 6+, and for younger kids you can always make teams.

Who can forget Guess Who? This game features the same unique-looking characters you'll recall from when you were a kid, and is a fun way to get kids describing and noticing features in others. Although it's best for early readers who can sound out names, younger kids can team up with an adult to enjoy this silly game against another family member.

Kelly R.:  I love that this is a cooperative board game, so everyone wins or loses together. A preschooler favorite in my house! The goal is to get the owls back home before morning.

Jessica Evans:  On the go we take Jenga! It's so portable and fun to play, a camping staple for sure!

Stephanie W.:  Yahtzee was a family favorite game when I was growing up! Adults and kids alike will love trying to get combinations like 4 of a kind and a full house. It helps develop math and problem solving skills in kids, and plus it's really fun to shake the cup with all the dice in it. When you roll a 5 of a kind, don't forget to yell, "Yahtzee!"

Alexandra F.:  A game of comparisons that will have the entire family laughing, and enhancing their vocabulary and persuasion skills while they're at it! One player at a time gets to be judge, and selects a card displaying a one-word characteristic like "goofy," "excellent" or "smelly." Then, all players choose a card from their hands (with words like "monkeys," "sandcastles" and "spinach") and try to convince the judge that their card best fits the chosen characteristic. Although the manufacturer's suggested age is 9, younger kids can also enjoy it.

Kelly R.:  I love that this family card game was created by a 6 year old girl! Earn points by playing your cards to wake the Pancake Queen (my personal favorite), the Rainbow Queen, and all of their friends. The manufacturer recommends the game for age 8+, probably because there is some strategy and math involved, but my son played at age 6 and my daughter played with help at age 3.

Joseph Kelley:  Everyone knows the classic game of charades. This game is great because it comes with pre-generated ideas for you and your family to act out. Each card has both words and pictures so little ones who are learning to read can also join in on the fun!

Kelly R.:  This bingo-style family board game is perfect for both pre-readers and early readers. Players race to match words and pictures to the spaces on their cards. We played this A LOT when my kids were little, though we always had to establish ground rules for who got to slide the tile spitter outer (technical term) to release the tiles each turn.