Have Fun – Play Games As A Family!
Do you find family members watching TV when the days are gloomy? How about considering starting a family game night. The best games to play 2020 will provide you with some great game selections that will challenge everyone to use skill, strategy and luck to win.
Children can build skills such as critical thinking, deductive reasoning, a strong vocabulary and an understanding of finance. It is not just academic skills being developed over time by playing board games. Social skills are also enhanced as children improve communication and practice good sportsmanship traits.
Below are a variety of games that use cards, dice and a board. Some games require all players to cooperate together to win the game. Some games will require more time to play than others. Select those that best fits into your game night timeframe.
These games make for adding them to your game collection, gaming group, or family game night collection. They also may for great gifts for the holiday season.
Table of Topics
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Best Games To Play
Below are 18 games that will make your family game night rewarding, challenging, and fun. We have other game articles you can also check out by clicking on a link of interest: Top Family Card Games, Top Family Board Games and Best Family Dice Games.
OUR TOP CHOICE
#1. Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion – Cephalofiar Games
ASIN: B088QSDB7S Ratings: 208 Score: 4.9
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This challenging board game can be played with 1 to 4 players ages 14 and up and takes about 1 hour to play. All players begin playing the first scenario. You are a mercenary out to find the missing blacksmith. You choose from 1 of 4 characters. The character chosen will be used for the remaining scenarios of the game. Take all the contents for the character from the box. Set the health for your character on the dial. Open book to the first scenario and set up the pieces accordingly. You are to investigate the mysterious disappearances within the city. Your objective is to complete the first scenario by defeating all the monsters. If you do, you win. If your health reaches zero, you lose.
SECOND PLACE WINNER
#2. Qwirkle – MindWare Store
ASIN: 1933054395 Ratings: 6,430 Score: 4.8
This strategy tile game is played with 2 to 4 players ages 6 and up and takes about 45 minutes to play. You build on tiles with other tiles that are matching in color or shape and score points when you do. Keep track of all players’ scores. Players take 6 tiles from the bag and don’t show them to other players. Players take turns adding tiles to the table. Players must have 6 tiles in hand at all times. Play continues until a player has played all their tiles, and they score a 6 point bonus. The scores are tallied. The player with the highest score is the winner.
THRID PLACE WINNER
#3. Carcassonne Basic – Z-Man Games
ASIN: B00NX627HW Ratings: 4,513 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This tile board game is played with 2 to 5 players ages 8 and up. The setup is placing the start tile in the center of the table. All other tiles are shuffled and placed face down near the playing area. Players select their color meeples. Place the scoring board on the table to track points earned during play. You place tiles to build cites, roads and farms to score points. Players take turns going clockwise. A turn consists of a series of actions. Draw a tile. Place it in the landscape according to the artwork. Meeples can be placed only on tiles that have been placed. Meeples are placed on one of six features. When features are scored, you get to take the meeple back. Play continues until someone places the last tile. Score points per the rules and then the farms. The player with the highest score is the winner.
HONORABLE MENTION
#4. Azul – Plan B Games
ASIN: B077MZ2MPW Ratings: 3,495 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This tile board game is played with 2 to 4 players ages 8 and up and takes about 40 minutes to play. This is a tile placement game in which players are competing for the highest score by claiming tiles and arranging them on their board to score points. Each player takes a game board where they will be placing tiles. Place 4 tiles on each of the factory tiles. Players take turns by taking tiles from the factory. Each tile you take affects what tiles your opponents can take. There are also penalties for taking tiles you cannot place. When the last tile is placed the round is over and scoring begins. The game continues in this manner until someone completes a horizontal row on their board. The game ends and final scoring begins. The player with the highest score is the winner.
#5. Lords of the Waterdeep – Wizards of the Coast
ASIN: 0786959916 Ratings: 1,452 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This board game can be played with 2 to 5 players ages 12 and up and takes 1 hour to play. Players are Lords of Waterdeep that hire adventurers to complete quests. Through your agents, you recruit adventurers to go on quests on your behalf, earning rewards and increasing your influence over the city. By doing this you earn victory points. During the course of play, you may gain points or resources through completing quests, constructing buildings, playing intrigue cards or having other players utilize the buildings you have constructed. Play continues until the end of the 8th round. The player who has accrued the most points wins the game.
#6. Takenoko – Asmodee
ASIN: B0049H9NVW Ratings: 1,296 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This tile board game can be played with 2 to 4 players ages 13 and up and takes 45 minutes to play. Each player takes a board and the matching tokens of the symbol chosen. Each player gets one type of objective card. Place the starter pond tile in the center of the board and place the Panda and Gardner on that tile. The game objective is to complete the objectives based on the cards dealt to you. As objectives are completed, you are awarded victory points shown on the card. Once a player completes the number of objectives based on the number of players (9 for 2, 8 for 3 & 7 for 4), the game ends. The player with the most points wins.
#7. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 – Z-Man Games
ASIN: B00TQ5SEAI Ratings: 755 Score: 4.8
This board game is played with 2 to 4 players ages 13 and up and takes 1 hour to play. This is a cooperative campaign game and is played with 12-24 sessions. The game begins just like the Pandemic game in which you are trying to travel around the world, treating hotspots, while researching cures for each of the plagues. The game starts in January and you have 2 chances to achieve that month’s objectives. If you succeed you win. If not you have a 2nd chance. This is an all win or lose game. Your decisions in one game carry over into future games. Over the course of the campaign, you will open sealed packets, reveal hidden information, and unlock secrets that will change your world in unexpected ways. Characters will gain scars, cities will panic, and diseases will mutate.
#8. Spirit Island – Greater Than Games Store
ASIN: B01MUHP51S Ratings: 676 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This is a cooperative board game that is played with 1 to 4 players ages 13 and up and takes 90 to 120 minutes to play. You are defending the island against colonizing invaders. Players are different spirits of the land, each with its own unique elemental powers. Every turn, players simultaneously choose which of their power cards to play, paying energy to do so. Using combinations of power cards that match a spirit’s elemental affinities can grant free bonus effects. The islanders fight back against the Invaders when attacked, and lend the spirits some other aid. You win when you destroy every last settlement and city on the board. Otherwise, you lose.
#9. The Crew The Quest for Planet 9 – Thames & Kosmos Store
ASIN: B084GP7X3P Ratings: 392 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This cooperative strategy card game is played with 3 to 5 players ages 10 and up. You are an astronaut on a mission to discover a new planet. Each mission takes 10 minutes to complete. The game consists of 50 missions in trying to discover Planet Nine. To achieve your mission, teamwork and communication will be essential — but in space, things can be more challenging than expected. You either all win or lose together.
#10. Brass Birmingham – Roxley Games
ASIN: 1988884047 Ratings: 130 Score: 4.8
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This board game is played with 2 to 4 players ages 14 and up. The game is played in 2 halves 1770-1830 and 1830-1870. This is an economic strategy game. The object of the game is to earn the most victory points to win. To earn VP you must sell your products. Players take turns and must take 2 actions. The first half VPs are scored by building canals and rails. During the second half, is where a brewery, coal and iron markets come into view. VPs are scored. The winner is the player with the most victory points.
#11. Mysterium – Asmodee
ASIN: B013TJ5P80 Ratings: 1,623 Score: 4.7
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This card board game is played with 2 to 7 players ages 10 and up taking about 40 minutes to play. The setup is where one player is chosen as the ghost and the rest are psychics. Each player takes a token, sleeve, clairvoyancy level marker and clairvoyancy tokens depending on the number of players. Now choose the game’s difficulty. The object of the game is for the psychics attempt to identify, in order, which characters are crime suspects, where the deed might have been committed, and what objects might have served as the murder weapon. To win if the group chosen by the psychics contains the true culprit, all players win the game together and the ghost’s spirit is laid to rest. Otherwise, the game is lost.
#12. Mansions of Madness – Fantasy Flight Games
ASIN: B01J4NB6CO Ratings: 811 Score: 4.7
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This is a fully cooperative board game that can be played with 1 to 5 players ages 13 and up. This game uses an app to along with the board game parts. You will compete to perform scenarios to defeat bloodthirsty monsters. Players select their investigator and take the matching miniature. In the app you select one of the 4 scenarios. It is suggested to select “Cycle of Eternity” if this the first time playing the game. Players gain their starting items as mentioned in the app. Players work together to try to unravel the mysteries of the scenario and figure out what needs to be done to win. Also, avoiding death and insanity. To win you must complete the investigation before time runs out or you get eliminated.
#13. Tokaido – Funforge
ASIN: B0757QD8FY Ratings: 684 Ratings: 4.7
This board card game is played with 2 to 5 players ages 14 and up and takes about 45 minutes to play. Players are travelers in Japan in days of old. They will follow the prestigious Tokaido and try to make this journey as rich an experience as possible. To do this, they will pass through magnificent countryside, taste delicious culinary specialties, purchase souvenirs, benefit from the virtues of hot springs, and have unforgettable encounters. As you visit places along the way you earn points. The players now tally points when they arrive at the Edo Inn. The player with the most is the winner.
#14. Call To Adventure – Brotherwise Games
ASIN: B07JN6XY6Z Ratings: 374 Score: 4.7
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This card game is played with 2 to 4 players ages 13 and up and takes about 45 minutes to play. Payers face challenges and acquire traits over the course of three Acts. Along the way, each player’s hero will gain Triumph points for victories, Tragedy points for following a darker path, and Experience tokens when they fail. Players on their turn, you may gain a Trait or face a Challenge. You may also take other actions, such as spending experience tokens and playing Hero or Antihero cards. Play continues until you reach the end of the third Act, the player with the highest Destiny score is the winner!
#15. Arkham Horror – Fantasy Flight Games
ASIN: B07G3Y95R9 Ratings: 227 Score: 4.7
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This board game is played with 1 to 6 players ages 14 and up and takes about 2-3 hours to play. This is a cooperative board game for one to six players who take on the roles of investigators trying to rid the world of eldritch beings known as Ancient Ones. You select a unique playable investigator character, each with their own abilities. Players decide on which scenario they will play. Players take turns and perform two actions. Play continues until either you are eliminated due to damage or win by sealing the gates, or banish the Ancient One and scoring victories along the way.
#16. Aeons End – Indie Boards & Cards
ASIN: B072BG9Z9V Ratings: 176 Score: 4.7
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This cooperative card game is played with 1 to 4 players ages 13 and up and takes about 1 hour to play. In this game your deck is never shuffled. Each player receives a mat and a player number token. Set your life at 10 and the Gravehold dial to 30. A variable player order simulates the chaos of battle, and deck management makes all of your decisions meaningful. Every game you will face a different nemesis, each with a unique set of abilities requiring a different strategy to defeat and win. Players win if the nemesis has no cards in its deck and no minions or power to play or the nemesis has zero life. Players lose when all the players are exhausted (zero life) or the Gravehold has zero life.
#17. Santorini – Spin the Master Games
ASIN: B01MR7O8ER Ratings: 870 Score: 4.6
Awards: Amazon’s Choice
This strategy based board game is for 2 to 4 players ages 8 and up. The objective of the game is to build your building up to three floors and place your token on the top to win. However, your opponent can place a dome at the top and block you from winning. Play continues until someone has placed their token at the top of a building and wins.
#18. Descent: Journeys In The Dark – Fantasy Flight Games
ASIN: 1616611898 Ratings: 577 Score: 4.6
This board game can be played with 2 to 5 players ages 13 and up and takes between 1 to 2 hours to play. Each player takes a hero token and card. The heroes embark on quests and venture into dangerous caves, ancient ruins, dark dungeons, and cursed forests to battle monsters, earn riches, and attempt to stop the Overlord from carrying out his vile plot. One player takes the role of Overlord that controls the monsters. To win the quest the hero’s must activate the “Idle of the Sun” before the Overlord gets the “Idol of the Skull” to the exit square at the far end of the dungeon. For the hero’s to win they must find the “key” first which is one of the search tokens on the board. Or, kill the Etten monster that has a key. Then, get to the area where the Idle of the Sun is located.
Shop Top 2020 Games
Below are 18 great games you can add to your gaming collection, gaming group or the family game night selections. These games will be challenging, cooperating, require some skill and of course luck.
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