Unplugged Fun: Games to play as a family

We’re constantly trying to find new games to play as a family. You will have heard of some of these but others may be newer to you. Let us know what you think.

1.        What do you Meme ? Family edition

A fun one. So many funny pictures and so many scenarios. Parents' 'old' views are different to the kids so we always end up laughing away. You need a minimum of 3 people but up to 20 so it's also fun when a bunch of friends are around.

Time it takes to play: 30 minutes but can be as little as 15 and as much as an hour.

2.      Gin rummy – all you need is a deck of cards. 

Good for some one on one time with a parent or to play with sibling or friend.  J quite enjoys shuffling and have taken to beating Mum (sometimes). We play it at home but have also played it while traveling (including queueing at some theme parks.)

Time it takes to play: Games can take as little as 5 minutes. It can take a little while longer to get to 100 points. Mum and J find this quite addictive.

3. Backgammon

We weren’t sure this wasn’t for older people (AKA the parents) but Mum and J play the basic rules.  We haven’t quite worked out all the strategies.   It’s pretty easy to find a backgammon set (maybe parents or grandparents have one lying around.   They can be expensive so if not, maybe try a secondhand shop.) 

The basic Backgammon rules

Time it takes to play: 15-20 minutes per game

4. Labyrinth

Takes a while but is really fun.  Element of luck and strategy.  Even little brother gets involved.  Don’t lose any of the pieces (we did! And Dad had to find a replacement piece on ebay).

Time it takes to play: 1-2 hours

5. Jenga

The more people you play with, the more fun it is.   You find out who in the family has really steady hands.   We get so excited that we sometimes start beating on the table, which makes everything topple down.  

Time it takes to play: 10-15 minutes (more or less depending on how good your hands are).

6. Monopoly

Everyone knows this game.  We’re currently playing on an old version of Frozen (from back in the days of our Frozen obsession. Cringe)  A got a squishmallows version that we also like but she keeps firmly in her room. 

Time it takes to play: a loooonnnnnng time; would say 2 hours. We tend to leave it and come back to it over a few days.

7. Catan

Slightly more controversial.  Parents really love it.   J and A feel like they had to put it on here.  It’s long, but apparently it teaches something. The basics are that you place your settlement around various resources (iron ore, wheat, wood, wool) and depending on how the dice rolls you get paid for those resources. With that you can build bigger settlements in a new place, win more resources and build a larger treasure chest. As said, parents like it more than the kids do; probably because it's for the slightly older teens or the super clever children. There is also a junior version, for those that have younger brothers or sisters and want to get them playing: Catan Junior

Time it takes to play: 2 hours. We often stop at 1 hour and count who has the most resources.