Read

15 New Games for Your Next Night In

Creator:
Published:
April 4, 2024
May 1, 2020
Check out these fun games to play at home with your family members, or even play via Zoom with friends.|Check out these fun games to play at home with your family members, or even play via Zoom with friends.

It can be easy to get stuck in an entertainment rut. After working all day, we get tired, but we want to keep our brains active without just wasting away on computer screens or the TV. This is the perfect time to break out those board games and sharpen up your competitive edge.

My husband and I really enjoy playing board games. He’s got full shelves dedicated in our apartment to mini-figures that travel with him to game nights, conventions, and more. I’m more of a casual, spend-time-with-friends kind of player — but I still appreciate a good strategic competition. So together, we’ve racked up a pretty impressive collection and knowledge of games. Here are some of our favorite casual and strategy games that you might want to check out if you’re ready for a new endeavor at home, plus some bonus ones you can play with friends online.

Keep it casual

If you’re looking for a fun and simple night with your roommates or family, you can’t lose with these simple, quick-to-learn games.

Hey, that’s my fish!

2-4 players, 15 minutes

You’re a penguin living on an iceberg, and your goal is simple: collect as many fish as you can before the ice melts — and before the other penguins beat you to it! A cute, easy-to-learn game that kids and adults will enjoy.

Exploding Kittens

2-5 players, 30-45 minutes

Exploding Kittens is a fast-paced card game that’s like a grown-up, cat-infested version of Uno. Enjoy the silly illustrations and the quick back-and-forth between explosions, blocks, goats, and more!

You’ve Got Crabs

4+ players in even numbers, 15-30 minutes

You and a teammate are plotting against the other teams to try to get a full hand of the same kind of card. Once you do, you’ve got to secretly indicate to your teammate that your mission is complete — but don’t let someone else catch you! Each time your partner yells, “You’ve got crabs!” and you’ve got a full hand, you score by “catching” a crab — but if you get caught or misinterpret a signal, you lose one. Whoever ends up with the most crabs wins!

Celebrity (aka Lunchbox)

4-12 players, 30 minutes; could be played virtually

It’s like charades, but in a round of three with simple rules. Everyone writes down a celebrity (or, to make it more fun, any person, place, or thing) and cards are put in a bowl. During the first round, you can use as many words as you need to make everyone guess your celebrity. In round two, you get one word to describe the person, with the same set of cards. Round three is traditional charades, again with the same set of cards.

Telestrations

5-8 players, 30 minutes

Like Pictionary meets Telephone. Everyone draws a picture to represent the word they’re given, then passes their notepad to the left. The next person needs to figure out what the original artist was trying to draw, and find another way to represent it in drawing. This goes on until the last player before you receives your book, and they’ve got to guess what the original word was.

Any secret role game

4+ players

There are all kinds of games in this realm, and they’re all amazing. The goal: figure out everyone else’s identity while protecting your own — and achieve your (secret) team’s goal. A few of my favorites in this area: One Night Werewolf, Secret Hitler, Resistance, Mafia.

If you’re searching for some strategy

Maybe you’re ready to challenge yourself and really dig into a board game. These are options for you — and many have a single-player version, too.

Agricola

1-5 players, 30-60 minutes per player

Settle in for the night, but be ready to have a great time. You’re a farmer, working to stead your land. You’ve got to make choices to get the resources you need to get your farm up and working — and feed your family. The player who most successfully accomplishes this by way of points (given for things like the number and kind of animals and food you have on your farm) wins.

Pandemic

2-4 players, 45 minutes

Players work together to try to stop the spread of four diseases across the world. Each player has a special role with skills that let them uniquely serve in the response. You’re fighting against time, and against cards that ramp up the disease’s spread. If you “cure” each virus before seven outbreaks occur, everyone wins.

Splendor

2-4 players, 30 minutes

You’re a gem collector, trying to get only the best jewels, which you can then turn in for cards — all to create patterns of “prestige.” Get the most wealth from your jewels and your cards, and you’ll run the town!

Terraforming Mars

1-5 players, 2 hours (less for one player)

It’s the year 2040, and your corporation has been tasked with settling the land on Mars to make it habitable. In a somewhat competitive, somewhat cooperative structure, all players are working toward the same goal — making the oxygen levels, temperature, and water quality suitable for human life — but you want to be the one who does the most work. Your role is to produce, finish projects, and develop the land in ways that make life on Mars sustainable.

Ticket to Ride

2-5 players, 45 minutes

If you’re not quite sure about strategy games, but are looking for something a little more challenging, this is a good option. Ticket to Ride comes in all kinds of versions, from a traditional U.S. board to Europe to a “Sails and Rails” game that combines trains and ships. You’re tasked with creating a railway to get from one city to another, and you’ve got to do it before someone else blocks your path. Get bonus points for having the longest train path across the board from start to finish.

Bridge the distance

If you’re living alone, or missing your regular gaming crew, you can still hang out with them. There are plenty of virtual game options — from the strategic to the fun.

Agricola (Again)

Agricola has a great app version in the app store (or there’s a slightly clunkier, but free version here).

Bamboozle

A free browser version of One Night Werewolf. Get on a video chat, create a party room on your phones, and let the secret werewolf hunt begin!

Catan

Probably the most popular strategy game, Catan Classic lets you play the game remotely — and at a much smaller price tag than the board game. Play with friends or against a computer, and you’ll be ready for the next in-person game in no time.

Houseparty

This one combines video chat with games, so no need for a second device. The app lets you play trivia, a drawing game, and a version of Heads Up while getting some face time with your loved ones.

Jackbox

Probably the jackpot of online games — it includes a series of versions of party games to play with your friends. Do everything from writing jokes together to guessing who said what about themselves. Just have someone download the game and share their screen while you’re all chatting, and use your phone to play.

Creators:
Molly Cruitt
Published:
April 4, 2024
May 1, 2020
On a related note...
What My Faith Taught Me About the Power of Fashion

What My Faith Taught Me About the Power of Fashion

Lillian Fallon

Looking Back on 2020, Here's What I'd Say to Myself in 2019

Looking Back on 2020, Here's What I'd Say to Myself in 2019

Laura Kelly Fanucci

How to Get the Most Out of Your Vacation Time

How to Get the Most Out of Your Vacation Time

Molly Gettinger

This is the Best Time to Become a Whole Person

This is the Best Time to Become a Whole Person

Manda Carpenter

Playing Air Guitar to Make a Better World

Playing Air Guitar to Make a Better World

Grotto

How My Reactive Dog Changed the Way I Relate to Others

How My Reactive Dog Changed the Way I Relate to Others

Molly Cruitt

5 Hobbies You Can Take on Solo

5 Hobbies You Can Take on Solo

Marye Colleen Larme

Why I’m Most at Home in a Library

Why I’m Most at Home in a Library

Shemaiah Gonzalez

3 Tips for Intentional Online Dating

3 Tips for Intentional Online Dating

Emily Mae Mentock

TFW You’re Home for the Holidays and Family is Wearing You Down

TFW You’re Home for the Holidays and Family is Wearing You Down

Brandy Norton

A Zoomer’s Guide to Finding Purposeful Work

A Zoomer’s Guide to Finding Purposeful Work

Lucy Cobble

How to Keep the Holidays Meaningful in the Midst of COVID

How to Keep the Holidays Meaningful in the Midst of COVID

Grace Carroll

'I Forgive Because I Can't Forget'

'I Forgive Because I Can't Forget'

Migs Mignanelli

Recipes that Got Me Through My Bachelor Years

Recipes that Got Me Through My Bachelor Years

Isaac Huss

3 Tips for Naturally Better Sleep

3 Tips for Naturally Better Sleep

Anna O'Neil

I Glorified the Grind in College, But Chronic Stress Broke Me Down

I Glorified the Grind in College, But Chronic Stress Broke Me Down

Noah Bongiovanni

Cocktail Recipes for the Bud Light Drinker

Cocktail Recipes for the Bud Light Drinker

Isaac Huss

What You Need to Know about Seasonal Depression

What You Need to Know about Seasonal Depression

Julia Hogan-Werner

In an Upside-Down Pandemic World, I Found Stability in Books

In an Upside-Down Pandemic World, I Found Stability in Books

Liz Colleran

4 Activists Reveal Their Secrets to Avoiding Burnout

4 Activists Reveal Their Secrets to Avoiding Burnout

Mary Cunningham

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.