Top Family Board Games: Uniting Generations Through Play

I believe that the idea of board gaming is strongly connected to family. Essentially, board games exist to provide meaningful entertainment for every member of the family. The purpose of board games is to bring the family together. Fortunately, today board gaming is even more, just think of board game cafés, friendly gatherings, or competitions, but the family as a key target group remains of paramount importance to game designers and publishers.

A family board game is designed to be engaging and accessible for players of all ages, providing entertainment that bridges generational gaps. These games typically feature simple rules that can be quickly understood, allowing for easy participation by both children and adults. The focus is on fostering interaction, teamwork, and communication among family members, making these games ideal for family gatherings and quality time. Family board games often incorporate a balance of luck and strategy, ensuring that games remain competitive and fun but also give younger players a chance to win. The themes and content are family-friendly, avoiding complex or mature subject matter. Overall, family board games aim to create memorable and enjoyable experiences that strengthen bonds and bring joy to the family unit.

Games Without Tools

No-nonsense games to make your time together even more fun and memorable. No tools are needed, you can play games with family without anything indeed!

Best Family Board Games

Of course, it's not easy to say which are the best family board games, but it might help to look at the Spiel des Jahres award winners, as the award's explicit goal is to honor games that help to popularize board gaming widely. And for this purpose, family board games are most suitable. Let's look at the best games of the last 10 years according to the Spiel des Jahres jury.

Of course, every list is subjective, so for example, there's hardly any overlap with BGG's current top ten in the family category. These are the highest-rated board games there right now: The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Wingspan, Everdell, Heat: Pedal to the Metal, Crokinole, Cascadia, The Quacks of Quedlinburg, The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Azul, Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure. Among the listed games, Azul works best for me. I really enjoy it, can play it with my wife, with children, and I was even able to teach it to my mother. Azul is likely a perfect example of the family board game category.

Shared Gaming Experience

Board gaming is a community experience that holds significant importance within the family. In today's world, it's not always clear how to be together, and board gaming greatly aids in this aspect. I recommend making it a routine to have one or more board game days every week, with its own set structure. It's important to establish our own rules regarding eating, drinking, listening to music, and mobile phone use. We need to discuss game choice and etiquette. While the educational impact of board games is important, our game nights should primarily be about entertainment.

The listed games are popular and acclaimed works, but it's possible that different ones will work for you. I believe it's very important to find and develop our own style. Pay attention to publishers, authors, mechanics, themes, and if something works, look at similar board games. Just because an expert says that families should play communication and cooperative games, it's entirely possible that you might enjoy competitive, outwitting games. And if these help in spending meaningful and shared free time, then play these games. Keeping in mind the vast and colorful world of modern board games, be open to all kinds of fun!