A Family That Games Together, Stays Together.

Gaming has been an important part of my life since I don't know when.

One of the very few things my 'biological' father did with me when I was young was play boardgames with me. Candyland, Sorry, Operation, that terrifying pop-up game with the shapes, and you had to put them all in the holes before the damn thing gave you a heart attack by popping up with an obnoxious noise? When I was younger and he was in my life it was one of the very few happy memories I have with him.

When I grew up, my Aunt Mona put her foot down and demanded family game night. It surprised us, we had drifted apart on family fun that we were just kind of like: "oh... ok. Hey, why haven't we been having family game night?" Before Aunt Mona passed away, she brought our family closer together with the tradition.

My mom loves game night, but it's hard for her to play with her mind being withered away by sickness. But we still play with her as often as we can, those precious memories for me to cling to when they stop happening. And as for my immediate family? It's one of the fundamental things about our dynamic. After a long week, on the one day off all the working members have together, we get around and play board games together.

Gaming closes distance between family members.

A family that games together, stays together. I will swear on this.

When tensions are high and it's hard to break the ice - game night helps. It's a form of bonding, and can bring people closer together and strengthen a relationship. You never know what kind of conversations will happen over game night. It's a stress reliever. What is more stress relieving than having fun with people you love?

The first thing I always recommend to parents who are having trouble connecting with their teenage/older kids - have a game night. Start having a weekly tradition, if you don't have inherently busy schedules. Switch it up with movie night sometimes. Connecting with your family members through fun can lead to being able to communicate better.

It can be in any form, if you guys have multiplayer games on the Nintendo Switch like Jack box Games, or on the Xbox or PlayStation. But it's table top games and board games where the family bonding magic really happens. When everyone is unhooked from electronics, real connection is made easier.

Need help finding the best table, card, or board games?

Oh, no worries. I don't bother handing out half-hearted advice. Below, with ALL of my girl-nerd powers, I have bestowed upon you the BEST bonding games you could invest your hard-earned dollars on. The fun and the memories with the people you love are the most valuable thing you could ever have. In my house, our gaming shelf (and cupboard) and our bookshelf are where we consider our most valuable items. So here you go, the treasures you need to have fun with your friends and family:

1. Dungeons and Dragons/Candela Obscura/TTRPG

If you have a storyteller in the house, this is your chance to let them shine. The fun thing about games like this, is you get to pretend to be something you're not, and you can tell an amazing story together. We are a very RPG heavy-based household, and we play both of these games, plus now we are beta testing Daggerheart too. We have a lot of fun with this, and we even get to let the oldest play with us.

2. Munchkin

Don't judge us, but we have 7 different versions of this game. We have the original version of course, we also have the Munchkins and Mazes version, we have a Nightmare Before Christmas deck as well. Then there is the Harry Potter deck, the X-Men version, and because we're HUGE fans and nerds, the Critical Role Munchkin deck AND the Shakespear deck.

Holy crap. We might like this game... a lot.

But it's okay that we have probably spent like...stupid amounts of money on one game. Because like with Cards Against Humanity, you can actually combine the different munchkin decks. That is especially helpful if you're playing with a bigger party. The concept and humor of the game is still the same, just different art essentially.

3. Clue

Again, I'm going to have to ask you n0t to judge... but we have a ton of versions of Clue too. You'll see on our shelf a Nightmare Before Christmas version (NBC is another one of our family bonding things), a Supernatural version of the game, a basic version of it, and of course... a Critical Role Clue game. I might be bragging about our game collection... I'm quite proud of it.

4. Cards Against Humanity (Older Kid and Adult Game - not baby friendly)

This game is for adults who are little twisted, dark, sordid, and who do NOT get offended easily at jokes about dead babies and genocide. This is the game we play when we need to just get out that darkness after a long stressful week, and you want to let out the twisted humor you MUST keep inside due to company policies at work.

5. Uno

This is obviously a globally known card game of high intensity reverses! There is one particular family member of mine who HATES this game, because he couldn't win against his wife for years. The last time we played this, he won, and has REFUSED to play ever since so he can hold onto his champion title. Yeah, BUBBA I'm calling you out, you salt-lick! REMATCH DANG IT!

6. Vendetta

You play as a bunch of vampires nobles of different sectors of Chicago, who are fighting for influence and power over each of their domains. Only one vampire can be the most powerful and win the throne of Chicago. It's a lot of fun.

7. Escape Room Games (In your own house)

Have you ever been to an escape room game? It's a lot of fun. It's basically a time event, and you have to solve the puzzles on how to 'escape' the room you are locked in.

There are several party games that you can do at home with the same effect. Boxes usually include props to lay around, and directions to the game, and the events have only an hour usually to get out.

This is a game you can get up and move around with.

8. Queen By Midnight

This game takes a while, and can play up to 6 players. The Queen is dead, and the Princesses of Twelvefold must fight until one is left standing the Queen. But they only have until the stroke of midnight to win.

You gather power, make alliances and then break them, you have a giant turning towerclock. There's dice and cards and POWER! MWUAHAHAHAH!

Oh. Sorry. Got excited. It's a FUN game, once you get the hang of it. It's a more complex one, aimed more for adults. Kind of like Vendetta - but different in a way.

9. 5-Minute Dungeon

If you don't have time for a late game night session, this little game is the PERFECT fit! It's basically a 10-minute game, including set up and take-down. Work with your party to defeat the 5 little dungeons before the time runs out! So much fun, in a little amount of time.

10. Monopoly

Not a lot of families like this one... but we do! We understand that a game is a game, and just because you make poor money management choices doesn't mean the game can't still be fun.

Just kidding. We really do enjoy monopoly. This is another game we have TONS of versions of... but I won't bother finding and linking them since most people are probably offended I even suggest this game! Haha!

Oh... and husband... I'm still waiting for my Mother's/Christmas/Birthday Gift of the game Risk. I have a world to conquer, my darling.

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

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