National Family Game Night – Sept 28
Of course, you may not even know about National Family Game Night. It’s only the third year after all. And it’s promoted by a large American game company – Hasbro. But even still, it has our overwhelming support.
Get your family together for Family Game Night and have a blast!
As you can tell from all the board game reviews we’ve done, we don’t typically cover Hasbro games. It’s not because they don’t make fun games. They do make some great games that are fantastic for family fun. It’s just that there are so many thousands of games out there; we can’t get to them all.
If your family is spending face-to-face time together having fun, then whatever game you’re playing is terrific. So pull out a board game or card game and get playing.
Great Family Board Game Article
Last week our local newspaper had a great article on family board games – “Game night: cheap way to keep interactions with children going”. They presented a perspective from many different angles – families, podcasters, game reviews, store owners and co-workers. Of course we loved it because it hit exactly what we say all the time – board games are fantastic for families.
We live in a changing generation where people are doing a huge amount of interaction that is not face-to-face, using Twitter, Facebook, texting. With games, you have to be face-to-face with people. With board games, you’re communicating with one another. The only way to play is together. – Tom Vasel
The article also listed 5 great family-friendly games (and we agree!):
Ticket to Ride: 2-5 players, mix of luck and strategy, .5-1 hour play time, ages 8+
Dominion: 2-4 players, lots of variety, uses card stacks, .5 hour or less game time, ages 8+
Settlers of Catan: 3-4 players, trading and negotiating, about 1.5 hours play time, ages 12+
Carcassonne: 2-5 players, simple, build maps a tile at a time, 45 minutes play time, 8+
Pandemic: 2-4 players, it’s all of you against the game, ages 10+
Family Game Night is a blast
Our family had a great day of board game playing yesterday. We played a bunch of new games that we hadn’t played before and had a great time. Of course, some were bigger hits than others, but the great thing was that at the end of the day we were all sitting around the table laughing. And sometimes we just go too long between those occurrences.
(Family Note: We can often tell how much the kids enjoy something based on how loud they’re talking. And last night there was plenty of loud chatter and smiles. We all went to bed happy. )
We don’t know what you have planned for Wednesday already, but we encourage you to make a night for games. If you have to reschedule something, go for it. Your kids will appreciate your undivided attention and showing where they stack up on your importance scale.
If you’re in need of some great family game ideas, check out our Reviews page. Or for a simpler list, check out our Top 10 Must Have Family Board Games and Top 10 Must Have Family Card Games.
