Families For Life | 5 board games to keep your family free from boredom

🕘 2 min reading time

Board games such as Tic-Tac-Toe, Go! and Backgammon are the few of the oldest games that have been played since prehistoric times! A favourite leisure activity of royals in the past, board games continue to be popular family activity today!

While some board games were designed for idle amusement, others have been recognised for cultivating positive values such as being an educational tool or to develop a strategic mind. One such example is Chess, which has been recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and even has its own Olympiad.

Here are 5 family-friendly games to have in the house for a quick fun session of family bonding anytime a quick bonding session with your family!

1. Pictionary

Expect tons of laughter as the drawing skills of each family member is put to the test! In this classic game, players must guess what the “picturist” is trying to communicate to continue advancing in order to advance on the game board. With just 60 seconds on the timer, this game gets your adrenaline racing, forcing you to come up with creative sketches for your team to guess your picture.

2. Scrabble

Stretch your vocabulary skills in this classic game as you battle it out with your family members for the ultimate title of “Scrabble Champ”. The objective of this game is to get the most points forming words by combining various letters with you and your teammates. Various versions of Scrabble are available, accommodating players of all ages! This game can be played with just 2 players, perfect for a quiet date night or a parent-child bonding session.

3. Monopoly

Arguably a favourite during family game nights, Monopoly is well-loved by everyone of all ages. First invented in 1903 as an educational tool to illustrate the single tax theory and the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies, Monopoly is about a game of trading properties. Today, there are copious variants of the original board game localised over a hundred cities and evolved over the years to include video game, online game and smart phone game versions. You can choose to play a junior version which is kid-friendly, choose a thematic version such as Pokémon or Star Trek, or a vintage or collectible set to keep and pass it down to the next generation.

4. Pandemic

Unlike other board games where players compete against one another, this game is based on co-operation. Introduced in 2008, it has since picked up numerous awards for its unique strategic, innovative and thematic gameplay. Played with 2-6 players, each player is given a random role where they will need to co-operate to stop the spread of diseases while finding cures before a pandemic occurs. Game cards will describe the scenario and evolve through the gameplay.

5. Richard Scarry’s Busytown Eye Found It!

Designed for kids from 3 years, this game promises fun while encouraging kids to co-operate and achieve the objective. The game is built around a simple premise where players work their way to Picnic Island to stop the pigs from eating all the food by searching for hidden objects on the game board, reinforcing observation skills in kids. A plus point about this game? The 6-feet colourful board with its beautiful detailed drawing makes it fun for adults to join in too!