Do you like games? I sure do! I’ll share some of my favorites, and then I would love to hear your input.
When we were young, my brother (who is three years old than me) and I played board games all the time. Our top choices were Pay Day, Frustration (the British version of Trouble), and Monopoly/Canada-opoly.
As we grew older, our family started playing strategy games together, such as Blokus, Sequence, Bananagrams, Rummikub, and Yahtzee.
When I started college and met my husband, he and his friends introduced me to card games. Until then, I had only ever played Go Fish, Spoons, and Slapjack, so it took a bit of time to get the hang of these more advanced card games, but now I really enjoy them. Presidents is a great game for large gatherings, and Kemps, Golf, Euchre, and Dutch Blitz are also lots of fun.
If we’re looking for a group game that is more interactive, we usually choose Taboo, Fishbowl, Pictionary, Mad Gab, or Pit. If we have a few hours to spare, we might venture into a round of Settlers or Empire Builder.
What are your favorite board games and card games? Have you played any of the ones that I mentioned?
Tara G.
My kids love Ticket to Ride and Farkle.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I've heard of those but haven't played them yet. One of our friends LOVES Ticket to Ride. We will have to try it out.
Ellie
The CEO
Cranium is hands down the best board game ever created!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
It's been ages since I've played Cranium, but I agree that it's a great game.
Ellie
Anonymous
Hi Ellie,
I loved Payday, Boggle, trouble and othello as a kid. I played Reverse charades at a party & it was a lot of fun.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Boggle is another one of my favorites. Like Bananagrams, it can be hard to find people to play, though, since you have to enjoy spelling. LOL
Ellie
Anonymous
Pit is so fun!!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Agreed! It's quite noisy though. haha
Ellie
Liz
I love mostly all games š
Anonymous
Uno and Skip-Bo.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Yes, Uno is another good one. I haven't played Skip-Bo though.
Ellie
Anonymous
Try these!
Balderdash
Telestrations
Wits and Wagers
Say Anything
True Colors
And for card games:
Up and down the river
Hearts
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Thanks for the recommendations. I've heard good things about a few of those, and I've played Up and Down the River. It's a blast.
Ellie
Anonymous
Sleeping Queens (card game) is the latest addition to our family's games. My children love it, and so do the adults. We also love Uno, Scrabble, Monopoly, Trouble…
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I haven't heard of Sleeping Queens. Thanks for the recommendation. š
Ellie
Melissa
I grew up in a small town in Ontario and have never heard of anyone outside the area mention euchre. I love that game. I love Skip-Bo too. When we are all over at my in-laws we play Apples to Apples.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Apples to Apples is great for large groups. I always enjoy reading the descriptions on the cards. They're quite hilarious.
Ellie
Anonymous
I play Apples to Apples last Christmas with my sisters, brother in laws and niece and nephew wee had fun playing it.
Anonymous
Cards: Trash, kings in the corner, rummy,old maid. Other games,trivia pursuit, yahtzee, life, checkers,candy land(w my lil gr daughter), battleship, scrabble.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I've never played those card games. We will have to look up the rules. š
I played a lot of Life and Candyland growing up. š
Ellie
James Mason
When I was a kid, I was the Monopoly king. My parents and grandparents said I used to go under the table and pray to God so that I'd win. I guess it worked. My siblings and I used to play Sequence Dice for a few years until we got older. My cousins used to be BIG fans of Rummikub. I recall playing Yahtzee with my grandparents and great uncle and aunt. My family recently learned how to play Dutch Blitz, but it'll be a while until we master it.
As for other games, my sister loves playing Cribbage. Both classic and defensive. We learned to play Farkle while on our vacation in the States, but only once. Sadly, when we came back home, we rarely play games at all.
#SadMemories
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Dutch Blitz is a hard one to master. Two of my sisters-in-law are pros at it, but I haven't quite gotten there yet. LOL
Ellie
James Mason
Surprisingly; despite the fact that we had just learned it, I was winning the rounds like a pro!
Anonymous
I love to play rummikub, dominoes and I also enjoy battleship and pairs with my son
Anonymous
We used to play Pit a lot when I was a kid. My favorite game now is Phase 10 Twist.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Is Phase 10 Twist a variation of Phase 10?
Ellie
Anonymous
Yes, it is. It's a board game with the card game. I think it's more fun than just the regular Phase 10 (which I enjoy a lot).
Anonymous
My favorite is Clue, I had one when I was a kid. But I honestly am not a fan of board games. I haven't played a game in years, and we don't have any in our house. I don't know any card game. But even though I don't really like games, I have to say I am pretty good at Cranium. And I am almost unbeatable at games with questions about music.
JosƩe
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I played Clue a few times as a kid and really enjoyed it. You've mentioned that you're from Quebec. Are board games not as common there?
Ellie
Anonymous
I think they are not as popular as they are in the U.S. There is a wide variety of games here, but people don't play as often as you seem to play in your country. It's mostly around Christmas, because that's when we have our big family gatherings.
The games that are the most popular here are karaoke and games that include alcohol. I know it sounds bad hahaha! But we are very open about alcohol, and it's all fun when people drink responsably.
JosƩe
Anonymous
This Christmas when all the family were together, we played Last Word and all three generations really liked it! You have to shout out words that fit with a certain category and letter, and whoever says the "last word" before the timer goes off wins that round. The trick is, the timer goes off at an unpredictable time each round . . . Fun!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
That sounds fun! We will have to try that. My husband's family usually plays Fishbowl at Christmas, but maybe I'll introduce a new game. š
Ellie
Anonymous
Apples to Apples
Betsy
Clue is definitely the top! I also enjoy Carcassone, Dutch Blitz, and Phase 10. I guess I'm not as into card/board games as I thought! We usually play large group games, like Mofia or Fishbowl, or more active ones like Tug of War, Sack Races, Kickball, Red Rover, or something like that.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I've never heard of Carcassone. It sounds complicated. LOL. Mafia is another fun group game!
Ellie
Anonymous
I love those games! All such fun š
Anonymous
I play all those group games too and there so fun!
Sarah Liston
Clue, Monopoly, Bananagrams, Yahtzee, Go fish, Dutch Blitz, Taboo, and Pictionary are favorites in our family.
Anonymous
Is this blog in competition with the Olympic games?
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Nope. In fact, I didn't even think about the possible connection when I wrote the post, but I suppose it is quite timely. LOL.
Ellie
Robyn
A couple of my American friends had the game Settler with them in Australia and intruduced it to me. I absolutely love it and it is now one of my favourites! I also enjoy spoons and pictionary.
Sarah Liston
Ellie,
Do you have to read every single comment before you post it? How many do you usually get a day? Thanks for all you do, all blogs are amazing! This how I keep up with the Bates and Duggars!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Hi Sarah,
I do read every single comment, and I try to respond to most of them. It's a lot of work, but I really enjoy dialoging with readers. The number I receive varies each day.
I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoy my blogs. Thanks for reading!
Ellie
Anonymous
Speed game!
Rose
I LOVE Say Anything and Clue.
Anonymous
Settlers of catan is my absolute favorite!
Anonymous
What is fishbowl? Never heard of it.
Anonymous
I love playing Bingo
Anonymous
I love playing MahJong
Anonymous
Ellie, where do buy your board games? The shops near me that supply board games are pretty expensive, for board games I think. Any tips for me?
nashvillewife@gmail.com
We received a few as wedding gifts. Walmart also has games at decent prices, as do second hand/thrift stores.
Happy hunting!
Ellie