4 Fun Games for the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Today, Americans all over the world are celebrating Independence Day.

We celebrate with family as we gather around barbecue grills with hamburgers and hot dogs and lots of trimmings on the side.

And hopefully we take some time to reflect on what the 4th of July, our Independence Day, means. It means big sacrifices by many brave men, women, and children. It means freedoms along with responsibilities to one another. It also means we have a lot to live up to.

It’s not always pretty, but we appreciate the history that’s brought us to where we are today. And as a family, we also appreciate our heritage and ancestors who sought and fought for what we now enjoy.

So we proudly say, Happy 4th of July!

If you’re gathering with family and friends today, here are our 4 top board game, card game, and party game suggestions for the 4th of July.

America

The first game on the list is one of our favorite games from 2016 and is appropriately named – America.

America is a trivia party game by Bezier Games that doesn’t feel like a trivia game. It’s loaded with questions about american history, people, landmarks, and pop culture.

The best part is that you don’t have to know the exact answers to get points. There are 3 questions for each topic: one relates to a Year, one to a State, and one to a Number about that topic.

For example, the topic Hershey Kisses asks these 3 questions: Hershey Kisses first made (year), Hershey Factory (state), and Hershey Kisses per pound (number).

Players take turns placing their guessing cubes on the map or on the year and number tracks to get points. The exact right spot earns 7 points and adjacent spaces earn 3 points.

For more details, check out our full review of America.

America trivia board game — We don’t typically like trivia games, but America is an exception.

Timeline: American History

Another easy 4th of July game selection is Timeline: American History.

As the name implies, Timeline: American History is focused on historical events in America – such as presidential elections, battles, documents, famous deaths, and other notable events.

If you’re not familiar with the Timeline series of card games by Asmodee, here’s a quick rundown of how they play.

To begin, every player is dealt a starting hand of 4 double-sided cards. On one side of each card is an image and a name of an event. On the other side of the card is the same image and the same event name. However, it also displays the year of that event. The cards are dealt so players don’t see the side of the cards with the year printed on them.

A starting card from the draw pile is placed in the center of the table with the ‘year’ side face up. In turn, players select a card from their hand and place it in the growing timeline.

On their turn, without looking at the year side of the card, a player places a card from their hand in the timeline (before or after other cards already in the line). They then flip the card over to show the year. If they’re correct, the card stays in place and the next player takes a turn. If the card is in the wrong place, it’s discarded and the player takes another card from the draw pile to add to their hand.

The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.

You can read more about why we love Timeline: American History in our full review.

It’s a perfect game to celebrate Independence Day.

1775: Rebellion

Another great board game to pull out on the 4th of July is 1775: Rebellion.

After all, this board game is about the events that led up to American independence in the first place. It’s about battling for control of the original British colonies on the American continent.

In the game, players control the major factions that participated in the American Revolution. On one side are the British Regulars, Loyalist Militia, and German Hessians while on the other side are the Continental Army, Patriot Militia, and French Regulars. In addition, both sides may ally with the Native Americans.

Academy Games has developed a game that ties the mechanics of the game play extremely well with the theme. And in doing so, they deliver a very enjoyable experience.

There’s too much to the game to explain in a short blurb, so we recommend checking out our video review of 1775: Rebellion.

Freedom: The Underground Railroad

best board games 2013 — Freedom: The Underground Railroad is a very thematic and good cooperative board game.

This last recommended board game for the 4th of July may come as a surprise to some since it deals with a not-so-good portion of American history.

However, playing Freedom: The Underground Railroad is a great way to celebrate freedom for all.

Freedom: The Underground Railroad is a cooperative board game where players work together to free the slaves.

You may think such a game would be dark. The great news is that even though the game deals with a serious historical topic, it isn’t an oppressive experience. Yes, the theme is very well integrated. But it’s also a very well designed game.

The game is also published by Academy Games (1775: Rebellion) and they’ve done another amazing job with creating a game experience around historical events.

It’s also a very challenging game to win.

For more details, see our full written and video review of Freedom: The Underground Railroad.