In short
- All you need is a pencil and a sheet of paper for each player.
- Four quick rounds: would you rather, riddles, a facts quiz and 60-second drawings.
- Mix the ages in teams and let the host change every round.
- Level
- Easy, for ages 6 and up
- Time
- About 1 hour
Phones in a basket, popcorn on the table. Someone is already asking who goes first.
All a family game night really needs is a pencil, some paper and four quick rounds. Here’s a simple plan for an afternoon or an evening of laughs, with kids and grown-ups playing as equals. You can set it up in five minutes, and nobody has to read the rules twice.
1. Get ready in five minutes
Give each player a pencil and a sheet of paper, and keep one sheet for the score. Choose a host for the first round. The job rotates, so everyone gets a turn at reading the questions, even the youngest with a little help.
If the kids are different ages, play in teams: one grown-up and one younger player on each side. Pick a small treat before you start: the high scorer chooses Sunday’s pancake toppings, for example, or the dessert after dinner.
2. Ask “would you rather” questions
This is the easiest warm-up there is. The host reads a question, everyone picks an answer, and then comes the good part: each player explains why. The family votes for the funniest or most convincing reason, and that player gets a point.
A few to start with:
- Would you rather have a pet dragon the size of a cat, or a cat the size of a dragon?
- Would you rather live in a treehouse or on a houseboat?
- Would you rather talk to animals or fly, but only one foot off the ground?
When you run out of ideas, a book of questions keeps this round going for many game nights. Would You Rather, Family Edition is full of fantastical, funny prompts made for playing together.
3. Solve a riddle or two
Riddles are quick, and kids are often the first to crack them. Read one aloud and give everyone thirty seconds. The first player to whisper the right answer to the host scores a point.
- What has hands but can’t clap? A clock.
- What gets wetter the more it dries? A towel.
- What has to be broken before you can use it? An egg.
Then let the kids invent riddles for the grown-ups. Some won’t make any sense at all. Those usually get the biggest laughs.
4. Play a round of amazing facts
Turn a facts book into a true-or-false quiz. The host reads a fact, everyone writes T or F, then the host reads the page aloud. These four come straight from 100 Amazing Facts for Kids, and they’re all true:
- Gorillas burp when they’re happy.
- Starfish have no brain or blood, and they’re not even fish.
- A bolt of lightning is five times hotter than the sun.
- There can be a rainbow during nighttime.
Mix in a few made-up ones of your own to keep everyone guessing. Some facts sound so unlikely that the whole table will want to see the page, so pass the book around.
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The Animal Kingdom
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Nature and Our Earth
Tip: keep the questions short and read them twice. Younger players can answer with a drawing instead of a word.
5. Draw it in sixty seconds
Each player writes a silly subject on a slip of paper: a cat on a bicycle, a dinosaur at the dentist, a snowman on vacation. Fold the slips and drop them in a bowl. Pick one, start the timer, and everyone draws the same thing in sixty seconds.
Line up the drawings and vote. The funniest one gets the point. For an extra challenge, draw with your other hand.
6. Keep the scorecard
Add up the points, cheer the top scorer and save the score sheet. Stick it on the fridge until the rematch. Before long, someone will ask when the next game night is.
Common mistakes (and easy fixes)
- Too many rules. Explain each round in one sentence, then play.
- Grown-ups against kids. The kids lose and lose interest. Mix the ages in every team.
- Rounds that drag. Stop each round while everyone still wants more. Ten minutes is plenty.
- The same host all night. Pass the job on. Reading the questions is half the fun.
- Points that matter too much. Keep the treat small and silly, like choosing the dessert.
Your turn
Pick a night this week, put the phones in a basket and play just two rounds. If it works, add the other two next time.
Want more ideas for the evenings after? Read The magic of reading together, on paper or on screen.
Questions about family game night
What games can a family play without a board?
Would you rather questions, riddles, a quiz of true-or-false facts and quick drawing challenges. All you need is paper, pencils and a timer.
How do you make game night fair for different ages?
Play in teams that mix grown-ups and kids, let younger players answer with a drawing, and rotate the host so everyone gets to read.
How long should a family game night last?
About an hour works for most families: four rounds of ten to fifteen minutes each, with a snack break in the middle.
What age is this for?
Kids from about 6 can play every round, especially in a team with a grown-up. Teens and grandparents are welcome too.
Activities to print for the kids?
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