Last Updated on January 12, 2022 by Mary

Family game nights are ‘must haves’ in this age of gadgets and fast communication. These healthy game nights help to bring the family closer and also help the whole family to connect and have some fun time together.

You can assign one night per month to play games and to get connected together. Playing games together will also help the blended families blend more where all the step kids and bio kids can play together and also with the new set of parents.

I have collected 20 Family Game Night Ideas {Fun games for the whole family}. The younger kid, parents, and even grandparents can join and have a fun time together.

You can also call your family friends or relatives to join you for a fun game night at your place.

1. Eat Poop You Cat

Eat Poop you Cat is a silly, fun, and free classic game that is perfect for a family game night. It is most suitable for a larger group of people including the kids who know to read and write a sentence.

This is a simple game of drawings and phrases but it can get really hilarious. This is a pen and paper version of the game Chinese whispers.

One player needs to write a creative and imaginative sentence on a sheet of paper, such as “The giraffe went to the toilet and found a Martian in there”.

The next person should draw this sentence on another paper in form of an illustration who should then decipher the image that is drawn on the paper. Then they pass the sentence that they perceived from the image to the next player who will draw another illustration based on the new sentence. In the end, the whole sentence will be changed to something new and even funnier.

2. Hangman

Hangman is a perfect game if you want to have some fun with fewer players. I have made some amazing free printable templates for this game that your family will surely enjoy. You should divide the players into teams of two; the winner of the first round will play against each other. Keep eliminating the players till a winner is decided in the final round. Here are the free printable templates for the hangman game.

3. The Smile Toss

The objective of this game is to smile only when it is tossed at you. This is cute, simple and a very gentle game, yet it is great for a family where people of all age groups are involved. The whole family should sit in a circle or around a table. Everyone should keep a serious face. Now one person should start the game by smiling, after some time, they should wipe off the smile and toss it to another person who should catch and wear it for a while before tossing it to another. Anyone who is smiling out of turn should be eliminated from the game. The person who keeps a poker face the whole time will win.

4. Wink Murder

Wink Murder is another fun parlor game that can be played at a family game night especially when you have a big group of 8-9 players. You can read the detailed instructions for playing this game here or at wikiHow.

5. Family Sing-Along

This is a great game for developing a bond, forming a trust, and having a jolly good time at the family game night. This is a simple game but it will let go of worries and help everyone open up and feel comfortable around others. An objective of this game is to learn to be supportive around each member as well. Well, the game rules are simple, one person starts singing a song and each player takes turns in singing a song. The rest of the family can either join or let a solo singer sing the song. The family shouldn’t judge the ability of the singer and just let them open up with confidence.

6. Blind Man’s Buff

This is a classic game and again suitable for larger groups of family and friends. You need to blindfold one player and ask that person to catch other participants who have staggered around the room. If the blindfolded player catches a person, he/she has to guess who that person is. The person who gets caught should switch the place with the blindfolded person.

7. Shadow Play

Another activity idea that is appropriate for the family members of all age groups. You need to hang a white sheet and light up a bright light behind the sheet so a clear sharp shadow is cast onto the sheet. Now players take turns and perform a silent routine to depict a song title, a nursery rhyme, or a proverb, and the rest of the guests will try to guess that. You can give a small treat to both the performer and the guesser.

8. Call Ball

This is a fun activity that you can do outdoors. If you have a garden, this is a great game to play. You need a ball to play this game. One person will take the first turn and the rest of the family will start in a group at some distance from the person throwing the ball. The person should throw the ball up in the air and take the name of a family member who should try catching the ball before it hits the ground. If the family member catches, he or she will take the next turn and if that person misses, the first player will throw the ball and call again.

9. Two Truths and a Lie

Two truths and a lie is a popular family favorite. Each person writes two truths and one lie about themselves on a piece of paper and shares with the whole family at their turn. The rest of the family members need to spot the lie in order to score a point. You can download Christmas-themed game cards for this game here.

10. Hunt the Shoe

This game can be played in even a single room. You can also use the whole house or the apartment. The eldest player should choose an object and show that to all the players. The rest of the players should then cover their eyes and the person should hide the object somewhere inside the room or inside the house. When the hider is ready the rest of the players start seeking that object. The person who finds the object becomes the next hider and the game continues.

11. Charades

Charades is one of the most popular family games. You can play this game about any topic or anything. I have shared many charade cards on this website and you can also create your own prompts to play charades.

12. Rock, Paper, Scissor

Play this game in order to choose the person who takes the first turn in a game or simply to find a winner. A fist represents the rock, two spread out fingers (index and middle) make the scissor, and spreading out the flat hand represents paper. Rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock.

13. Lab Test

This is a fun game but you need some preparation for this game. Gather samples of food in bite-size pieces and also collect liquids in teaspoons according to the number of the players. Blindfold the players and ask them to taste the things one by one. After tasting each food sample, they have to guess the item. The person with the most correct guesses wins.

14. Board Games and Card Games

The family can play classic board games like Monopoly and Scrabble and also different card games and Uno.

15. Pin the Tail on the Donkey

This game is probably one of the most popular blindfolded games and I have made a super cute free printable version of this game that you can play at your family game night. You can download the printables here.

16. The Taboo Letter

One person needs to be the host of the game. First, declare one alphabet a ‘Taboo alphabet’, and no one will be allowed to say it. Then ask each person such questions that push them to say the taboo word but they have to cleverly shun saying that word. For example, if you declare the letter ‘D’ a taboo letter, ask the player which company introduced the character Mickey mouse. Since they cannot say Disney as they cannot say ‘D’, they can say, the one that shows Goofy’s cartoons. This game can get very difficult and tricky in no time.

17. Trivia Quizzes

You can play many different Trivia Quizzes with the family. I have shared many different quizzes on this page.

1. Emoji Pictionary Quizzes

Emoji Pictionary Quizzes are modern and liked by all age groups. The players have to decode the word, phrase, movie, or song’s name with the help of the Emoji clues. You can download many quizzes from this page.

 18. Jeopardy

Jeopardy is a TV show-inspired question answer game and perfect for a fun family game night. You can learn to create a DIY jeopardy board here.

19. Jenga

You can buy Jenga blocks from any dollar tree and play a game of Jenga with the family. You can read the detailed instructions for playing this game at wikiHow.

20. Battleship

This is another fun game for the whole family. You can download the printables for this game here.