10 Games for the Family Room

Catan is an entertaining strategy game for up to four people. You can also buy expansion and extension packs to include more people if you want. The goal of Catan is to get ten victory points, which you can do by building settlements, certain cards, and achievements such as the "longest road." To get any of these victory points, you need to gather the right resource cards by trading with other people and through dice rolls. The general game mechanics of Catan rely on strategy and savvy trading skills. Catan does have a relatively high learning curve, which may be intimidating to new players. The best way to learn is to watch a quick video or play with someone who can explain it well. Once you have a general feel for the rules, it is not difficult to play.

Unstable Unicorns is a bright, colorful, and competitive card game. It is another game that is a bit rules-heavy but very fun once you understand how to play. Experience with card games helps. The goal of Unstable Unicorns is to place a certain amount of unicorns on the table. Of course, the tricky part begins when someone is about to reach the winning number of unicorns. Then, everyone can try to destroy the unicorns in their stable or block them from placing their final unicorn down through various action cards. The number of unicorns necessary to win will change based on the number of people playing. This game is best with at least four people, and eight can play at once without expansion packs. It is a game of strategy and threat management.

Poetry for Neanderthals is the game for you if you want a fun and chaotic party game. Poetry for Neanderthals is all about guessing the correct word and being able to communicate in one syllable. Sometimes you will be the guesser, and other times the communicator. For example, you might have the word "strawberry," and then you need to describe the word to your team only using one-syllable words, like "a red fruit." It is up to your team to try to guess the words as quickly as possible. If you use more than one syllable, you get hit on the head with an inflatable club by an opposing team member. Poetry for Neanderthals is a great party game because many, many people can play.

Monopoly is one of those famous, classic board games that everyone knows. If you don't have it in your family room, you should. Most boards allow six to eight players at a time, but these games can get so long. Monopoly is a marathon game. It can take forever to finish. It's all about making the right buying decisions, trading with other players, and getting lucky on the dice rolls. Like most games, Monopoly is very fun when you're winning and very painful when you're losing.

Taboo is another classic game that is very similar to Poetry for Neanderthals. The goal is to try to describe a word without using a list of common synonyms. For example, you would have to describe an electric plug without using the following words: wire, screw, wall, pin, and power. You can play Taboo with a large group of players.

The Chameleon is a game of deception and deduction. One player per round will get the role of Chameleon, and they have to end the round without getting caught to win. Anyone who is not the Chameleon needs to get the group to decide on the right person. Everyone aside from the Chameleon receives the code for a secret word, which all players must try to describe without being too vague or too specific so that the Chameleon can't guess from context clues. Up to eight people can play this game.

Spoons is a classic and chaotic card game with a beautifully simple concept. Everyone passes cards around, and everyone is trying to collect four-of-a-kind. Whoever gets four-of-a-kind first grabs a spoon in the middle of the table. There is always one less spoon than the total number of people playing, so whoever doesn't get the spoon loses the game. The only thing better than Spoons is Giant Spoons, which is what it sounds like it would be. It is a Spoons game with really, really big spoons. This change makes the game even more fun.

Blokus XL is a very non-traditional board game. Each player, and there can be four players, is given a set of strangely shaped pieces. These pieces must be placed on the board, so they only contact each other at the corners. However, the board has limited space, and you can block other players from gaining territory to win. The person with the least amount of pieces left wins.

Uno is famous for a reason. It is a fast-paced and fun card game to play with a group of up to ten. The rules are simple. If you have a card with the same number or color as the one in the center, you can get rid of it. Everyone is trying to get rid of their cards the fastest, and whoever has the least points at the end of the game wins.

Clue is all about deduction and paying attention to other people. The game's goal is to find out the murderer, the weapon, and the room where the crime occurred. You do this by asking questions and paying attention to other people's questions. Players show each other their cards when asked, and that's how information spreads. Up to six people can play this game.