Family Games

Family games have to survive an eight-year-old, a grandparent, and the brother-in-law who says he does not like board games. That is a higher bar than most heavy strategy games ever face. Every game in this category got played at our kitchen table with real kids and real relatives, and each one is scored for how fast it teaches and how much fun it is once the rules click.

If your shelf is empty, start with the classics. Our Ticket to Ride review covers the game we hand to almost every family first, and we answer the age question honestly instead of repeating the number on the box. Carcassonne is the other gateway we keep recommending, and Codenames is the one that comes out after dinner when nobody wants to set up a board.

Already own the big names? The deeper cuts live here too. Sequence is more game than its box art suggests, and Sea Salt & Paper is the small card game that has replaced Uno in our house. Browse the reviews below, then read the strategy guides when your kids start beating you.