Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (Asmodee), £10, John Lewis & Partners
For families that love: A little bit a chaos – this game turns your family into competitive slappers.
This one is simple, fast and absolutely unhinged in the best way. You flip cards and call out “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza” — and when the picture matches the word? SLAP. Harder than you intended. Everyone screams. Someone accuses someone else of cheating. Great for all ages and ideal if your family can get a little… energetic.
Ideal for: 6+
Vibe: Fast, silly, guaranteed laughter
Ticket to Ride (Asmodee), £24.99, John Lewis & Partners
For families that love: Strategy but don’t want their brains to melt.
You build train routes across the map, block each other in the process (accidentally… or not), and secretly race to finish your tickets. It’s competitive but in a wholesome, “Oops, did I just steal the route you needed?” kind of way.
Ideal for: 8+
Vibe: Calm-ish strategy, secretly educational
What Do You Meme? Family Edition, £15, Argos
For families that love: Getting an insight into each others humour
Kids pick a caption card that matches the meme photo. It’s simple, funny and gives you an insight into how your kids’ brains truly work.
Parents usually lose because our humour is “apparently ancient.”
Ideal for: 8+
Vibe: Hysterical, modern, zero skill required
For families that love: Random games that make you laugh.
You literally roll pigs like dice. They land in weird positions. You score points. It’s ridiculous and brilliant and everyone ends up rooting for their pig like it’s an Olympic athlete.
Best for: 5+
Vibe: Easy, portable, makes no sense but you’ll love it
For families that love: Easy, portable games that the younger kids can play and win. The perfect inter-generational game.
Match the symbols, win the round, question your eyesight, repeat. It’s small, quick and ideal for families that can’t agree on anything longer than 10 minutes. Includes 5 mini games so you’ll never be bored!
Best for: 6+
Vibe: Fast, addictive, everyone can play
Exploding Kittens (Asmodee), £19.99, John Lewis & Partners
For families that love: Chaos, cats and explosions — what’s not to love?
A brilliant mix of strategy, sabotage, and “Why are you like this?” energy. Easy for kids to learn, fun for adults, and silly enough to keep everyone hooked.
Ideal for: 7+
Vibe: Competitive, ridiculous, replayable
Herd Mentality (Big Potato), £16, John Lewis & Partners
For families that love: A low pressure game which sparks conversation
Someone asks a question like “What’s the best pizza topping?” and you have to pick the answer you think everyone else will choose. Great game for families because kids and parents are always convinced they think alike… until they realise they really don’t.
Ideal for: 10+
Vibe: Hilarious group game, zero pressure
Forbidden Island, £19.99, Waterstones
For families that love: Working as a team.
A brilliant game to bring together everyone’s strengths and work cooperatively. Each game lasts around half an hour which makes it the perfect starter family board game.
Best for: 8+
Vibe: Cooperative and team working
Birdy Call: Talk Birdy to Me!, £14.99, VERY
For families that love: Being silly and loud! Mimic outrageous bird calls to find your match and collect eggs – no talking, just chirping. Expect frantic, fun as everyone squawks and hoots their way to victory.
Best for: 8+
Vibe: Loud, fun, energetic
SLAPZI Match Game (Moose), £14.99, Argos
For families that love: A card matching picture game that’s big on laughs. Fast-matching, card-slapping, everyone-laughing picture game! Match picture cards to clue cards as quickly as you can and slap down your match. Perfect for game nights, parties, and family gatherings.
Best for: 8+
Vibe: Chaotic and fun
Do You Really Know Your Family? (Moose), £16, Argos
For families that love: Competing! This is a fun and competitive game full of amusing questions and silly challenges to see if you really know your family.
Best for: 8+
Vibe: Fun, competitive, hilarious
Outsmarted (App-Connected TV Quiz-Show Board Game), £29.99. Amazon
For families that love: General knowledge quizzes. The questions can be tailored towards to the age of the player through the app and it really does feel like your own live family quiz show! You can buy packs of questions through the app according to your family’s interests. Everyone is catered for and you never run out of questions!
Best for: 8+
Vibe: Fun, competitive, addictive
Hitster Guilty Pleasures, £22.99, Amazon
For families that love: Showing off their music knowledge!
The perfect game to get the teens out of their bedrooms and engage in something other than their phones! Players take it in turns to choose a music card, scan the QR code via the free Hitster app, connect to Spotify and listen to a clip of the song. They then have to guess where that song sits in their music timeline. If they’re correct, the player keeps the card and the first player with 10 cards wins the game!
Best for: 16+ (although we successfully played it with 14 year olds)
Vibe: Party, cheesy, joyous
