Game Night Party Ideas for Families

How to host THE BEST game night party. These game night party ideas include everyone’s favorite classic board games along with themed decor and treats! Plus check out our top 20 party games for families. This post contains affiliate links.

If you like this fun family party, you’ll love our Star Wars pajama party and our Mad Scientist party!

We are big gamers in this house! Board gamers! We play games while we eat dinner, we play games with friends, and we bring games with us when we go on vacation. My husband and I recently realized that we were missing some of the classic games that we played as kids, and that it was time to introduce them to our children!

When your child tells you they haven’t ever played the Twister game before, you now that you have slightly failed as a parent. I’m kidding, but now that they are all old enough to know their right from their left, it was time to bust out the Twister game mat.

Game Night IDeas For The Best Game Night Party!

If you are thinking that it might be time to share your favorite classic games with your kids, these game night party ideas are just the way to do it.  Invite a group of friends over, have them bring a few of their favorite games, and have fun! Card games are always a hit too so don’t forget to add a few classics like Uno, SkipBo, and a good ol fashioned pack of playing cards.

Game nights don’t have to be elaborate so don’t look at this one and think that this is how all of our game nights are. Truth: we only had one like this, but it was a blast! It’s fun to pull out the stops every once in a while. This game night set up would be fun for a birthday party, right?! That being said, this set up was SUPER EASY. You’ll notice that all of the decor incorporates games. Completely doable.  Even that giant Jenga game snack tower. Each game has a corresponding treat or decor idea to go with it. Let me show you how I pulled it all together!

 

Easy Game Night Party Decorations

I used a Twister game mat for the table cloth for my starting point. If you are die hard Twister fans, use a table cloth, but this was fun and colorful and the perfect tablecloth for a game night!

Board game boxes are always colorful and exciting and add pops of color so I stacked them all around my table. They also added a bit of height to balance out my Jenga game snack tower. Not only did the games add to the decor, but they were easily accessible for anyone who wanted to play one.

 

Game Night Food

Have a variety of chips and dips out with a few fun game night themed treats!

This 6 pack of soda reminded me of the cars in The Game of Life game. Am I right? I love those little cars and placing the family members inside. I created a printable that you can attach to the front of any 6 pack of beverages.

 

Game Night Sugar Cookies

Twister game board cookies using M&M’s®! You can prep them ahead of time or set out undecorated sugar cookies for guests to make on their own. Use your favorite sugar cookie dough or scroll down to get the recipe for mine. Trust me, they are perfect. So soft and light! Make sure to use our sugar cookie recipe. It’s the best!

 

Jenga Snack Tower

Now for that Jenga game snack tower. It was so fun to set up and EASY! I filled each block (available at craft stores or online) with M&M’s® Peanut, pretzels and honey roasted peanuts! The perfect sweet and salty combination for your game night. The clear boxes I used weren’t portioned to have rows of 3 like in classic Jenga game, so I made rows of 2. Play around with box sizes and if you’ve secured your boxes with tape you can even let the guests play the Jenga game with your snack tower!

I’ve shared our marshmallow caramel corn recipe with you before, but I’m bringing it back today with a delicious twist by adding peanut butter M&M’s. As if this popcorn wasn’t already absolutely the best! The best part? It takes about 5 minutes to make in the microwave.

As a final touch, I sprinkled dice all around and added a few jars of candy. Inexpensive and perfect for our game night theme.

20 Of the Best Games for Families

Every year we add at least one game to our game collection on Christmas morning. We’ve accumulated a lot of games of the years and these are just some of the games that we own. Our FAVORITES! Each of these games makes a regular appearance at the dinner table for family game night, while traveling, camping, or when friends come over.

Simply click on the title for more information on each game.

 

Tenzi

My mom sent this to Aaron for his birthday a couple of years ago and we have purchased it several more times as gifts for friends and family. It is such a simple dice game and there is no limit to how many players you have. We bought a booster pack of dice so that we can play with a crowd and it is incredibly addicting! My brother in law and nieces came for a visit a couple of months ago and were hooked after one round and asking where to find it online for their family. I would DEFINITELY recommend getting the set with the card deck so that you have endless ways to play!  ($23)

Apple to Apple Big Picture

We have several versions of Apples to Apples, but this one is our kids’ favorite. The pictures are odd at times, but they think they are hilarious and it is simple enough for non-readers and beginning readers to play. ($14)

 

Ticket to Ride

After hearing for years what an awesome game this is, we finally made the purchase last year for Christmas. It was a little pricier than most of the games we own, but worth every penny. This year we are adding the booster pack for it with more routes and destinations. Our boys especially love playing this game with us! ($36)

 

Pictureka!

This is a quirky and fun card game. We own both the card set and the board game. The kids have fun finding the images and shouting out “Pictureka!” We bring this when traveling since it is a great game to play while hanging out in the airport. All 4 of our kids enjoy this one. ($8)

 

In a Pickle

This is a game of sequence! Each card has to be able to fit into the card on top of it. Confused? It’s easy! In the 4 photos above, one player played “juice”. Well, there is juice in a pickle, so the next player played “pickle”. Pickles are found in a super market and a supermarket is in a parking lot. Get it? It’s super fun and a quick game to learn! ($11)

 

Pit

Oh, pit, you’ve been a favorite for decades! I remember playing this with cousins while sitting around my grandma’s kitchen table. Just don’t play while others are trying to sleep, you’ll wake up the house with the screaming, yelling, and bell dinging! We brought this camping last summer and you could hear the kids throughout the entire campsite! ($13)

Both Spot It ($11.50)  and Tell Tale ($9) are fun games and are great for traveling and taking to Restaurants while you wait for your food! All 4 kids enjoy these games and come up with the craziest tales with Tell Tales. Fun!

They come in small tins that are perfect to tuck inside a stocking. My mom sent these to our kids a couple of years ago for birthday gifts and it was such a smart choice!

 

Lazer Maze

We gave this to Aaron (10) last year for Christmas. He has a very inquisitive mind and enjoys the challenges. Both of the boys have had fun bending beams and making it across the board. It’s a great game of strategy for all kids, but I think boys especially enjoy pretending to be Ninjas 😉 ($25)

 

Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!

This game is, by far, the cutest game we own. The animation and pieces are just darling! It reminds me of High Ho Cherry-O. Each player has a little tree and is on a mission to fill it with acorns. The squirrel is Ruby’s favorite part. You use him to pick up the acorns and place them in your tree! Ruby LOVES this game. ($15)

 

The Scrambled States of America Game

A fun and educational game, The Scrambled States of America teaches the kids geography in a super fun way! It comes with a story to go along with the game that you can read ahead of time. The states decided that they were bored where they were and decided to switch things up, but in the end and the other states decided that it was better to be where they were in the end as well. The object of the game is to help unscramble them! ($14)

 

Qwirkle

We bought this several years ago on a whim, and it was the best impulse purchase ever. I hadn’t heard much about it, but thought it could be one that the kids would enjoy. They definitely do, but even more so, Derrick and I enjoy playing it too! We’ll even play it without the kids, ha! ($25)

 

The Lady Bug Game

The Lady Bug Game is perfect for non-readers. We bought this probably 6 years ago or so after a recommendation from Glen Beck, and it is a cute counting game. It was created by a young girl (a 2nd grader, I think!) Make your way across the board, collecting aphids, until you get to the end. Watch out for the twists and turns that come with some of the cards. It could set you back or make you lose a turn! ($13)

Monopoly Junior

This is the only Monopoly game that I will play because it doesn’t take hours! It is a lot less daunting for the kids too, but they can still collect a Monopoly of properties and get you with the rent! ($12)

 

You Gotta Be Kidding!

This is the kids version of the “Would You Rather” Game. It is absolutely hilarious. The kids laugh so hard every time. There may be dancing, singing, and other crazy tasks involved, so prepare to get silly and be embarrassed! And the cards? Oh my gosh…..”Would you rather lick the bottom of a dog’s foot or sit in a bathtub full of worms?” I totally made that up, but this is EXACTLY what the questions are like and you have to decide what you’d rather do. It really gets you thinking! ($15)

 

Cranium Hullabaloo

We own 2 versions of this game. The DVD version and the battery operated console version. Both games are super fun and the kids have a great time jumping or crawling from space to space, acting out animals and finding the colored spaces. ($40)

Disney Princess Candyland

If you have little girls you need to buy this game. Now. Ruby has been playing this since she was 2 years old and absolutely loves it. She’s so cute and can persuade pretty much anyone to play it with her. Easy to learn, easy to play, and a pretty quick game too. ($15)

Clue

We own 3 versions of Clue, but the original is our favorite. I would NOT recommend Clue Carnival. None of us really enjoyed that one and we ended up getting rid of it and making space for better games. Clue Junior is good too, but nothing beats a good game of the original Clue game. Kaylee is 7 and is almost to the point of playing on her own, but for now the girls usually play on teams with one of us. ($32)

 

 

5 Second Rule

This game is super fun and easy to learn. You have 5 seconds to pick a card and say 3 things that fall under the category on the card. Seems easy, but unless you work really well under pressure and time constraints it can be challenging! ($19)

 

Simon

A CLASSIC! We bought this for Dallin for Christmas last year and everyone has fun thinking fast and remembering the sequence. This game has been around forever so you know it’s a good one and not going anywhere! ($22)

 

Attack Uno

I’m a very jumpy person so this game gets me every time. You never know when the cards will spit out at you and you end up with an extra 5 cards in your hand! It’s a lot of fun and takes Uno to a whole new level! ($22)

Blokus

We played this at a friend’s house years ago and added it to our Christmas shopping list that same year. We have both Blokus and Blokus Junior for the kids. Both are great and a fun strategic game. My husband beats me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I’m still perecting my technique, apparently! Our boys like this version, and the girls (Kaylee, who is 7) prefers Blokus Junior. ($18)

While some of them are affiliate links, we own every game here, paid for them with our own money, and am not being compensated for sharing these with you today.

 

Nothing can bring a family closer than spending time together and having fun, and the best way to do that it through playing games together. You are able to catch a glimpse into the fun and goofy sides of your kids, and they can see Mom and Dad acting silly too.

Whether you are hosting your own game night for your family or inviting friends over, it’s sure to be a good time!