The 47 Best Family Games in 2025 (Reviewed by Parents)

Players earn points by claiming railway routes connecting cities through North America.

Kelly R said:  I think this is 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!

Players ask “yes” or “no” questions to try and guess the animal, food or object on their playing card.

Brittany Kozielski said:  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.

Joseph Kelley said:  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.

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.

Jaclyn Keifer said:  One of our family favorites! We enjoy basing the “winner” off of the amount of time we have. You can shorten the game by allowing the winner to be the first to reach four cards or keep it going by making it the first to get to 10 or something similar. This allows us to still spend a bit of time with our big kids even if we’re short on time. We enjoy that it’s a fun way to grow their vocabulary as well!

A combination of Pictionary and the telephone game, where you draw and pass sketches around in a circle.

Kelly R said:  This is one of our go-to family games for a mix of ages, and it's best if you play it with a larger group. My 10-year-old daughter loves it the most of all of us.

Collect and trade resources to strategically build roads, settlements and cities on the game board and score points. Game setup and play can take over an hour, so this isn't a board game that you can squeeze in right before the kids head off to bed. But it's a fun and immersive game to play with older kids for a family night in!

Alexandra F. said:  This game is SO fun. We got it for Christmas and have been playing obsessively with my teen and tween all break. It seems complicated when you look at the long instruction manual but it's actually pretty easy once you get started, though the endless variations keep every game unique and interesting.

Kelly R said:  We were big fans of the kids edition of Sequence during the early years, and switched to this regular version when they became tweens. Still a family favorite! We like playing as teams, as you work with a partner but can't discuss strategy...this makes it more unpredictable and exciting.

Kelly R said:  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.

A variation on Scrabble, each player in Bananagrams picks a certain number of tiles and then players race against each other to form personal crossword puzzles using all of their letters. There are endless opportunities to modify for kids and it's great spelling practice!

Jennie Utsinger said:  My entire extended family has been playing this game for years - always a favorite!

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.

Kelly R said:  This game has stood the test of time in our house for years and years, possibly better than any other. Games come and go depending on the age of our kids and what's new, but we all agree on playing Qwirkle numerous times every year...little kids, big kids and adults all love it. I'd say it's as close as you get to a "must have" game for all families!

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!

This family card game was created by a 6 year old girl! Earn points by playing your cards to wake the Pancake Queen, the Rainbow Queen, and all of their friends.

Erin said:  This game is a hit in our house with all ages! My 10-year-old son frequently pulls this one off the shelf, and it's so fun and easy to understand for his younger siblings as well. We have had this one for a few years now, and it's still one of our most-frequently-played card games!

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.

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