Games to Play With Family: Board, Card and Puzzle Games
Updated
The easiest games to play with family are the ones several people can join on one device: board and dice classics, card and tile games, puzzles to pass around and a few games where everyone uses their own keys. The lists below favor games that name three, four or six players, or that take turns on one device, and each entry gives the player count its description names.
Three ways to share one screen
- Take turns: board, card and memory games pass the mouse or the tablet from player to player.
- Play at the same time: each person uses their own keys on one keyboard.
- Make teams: when a game seats fewer people than you have, two people can share a seat.
How many players each game names
| Game | Players in its description |
|---|---|
| Game of Goose | Alone, or up to 4 on the same screen |
| Petits chevaux : small horses | 1, 2, 3 or 4 |
| Chinese Checkers Master | 0 to 6 human players |
| Santa Matching Game | Solo, or Battle Mode with up to 4 |
| Egg Challenge | 1, 2 or 3 |
| Fish Eat Getting Big | Up to three |
| Snake and Ladders Multiplayer, Rummy Multiplayer | Multiplayer mode, the computer, or a friend on the same device |
Board and dice classics
- Game of Goose: play alone or with up to 4 players on the same screen. On your turn you toss the dice, then choose which pawn to move.
- Snake and Ladders Multiplayer: three modes: multiplayer, against the computer, or a friend on the same device. You roll with the dice button.
- Chinese Checkers Master: you can set from 0 to 6 human players, and 0 lets the computer play every seat as a demo of the rules. Chinese checkers is played on a star-shaped board, and each player races all their pieces across it into the corner opposite their start (source).
- Petits chevaux : small horses: a board game of small horses for 1, 2, 3 or 4 players, against the computer or friends. On your turn you roll the dice and move your pawns to the end.
- Monkey And Banana: a classic dice game with a monkey-chases-the-bananas theme, against the computer or your friends. Tap the dice to roll it.
- Aeroplane Chess 3D: a classic with customizable rules. Since the rules differ from place to place, it presets the two most common rule sets and has two more that you define yourself.
Ludo also seats up to four players, and its rules are in how to play Ludo.
Card, tile and checkers games
- Rummy Multiplayer: the classic Rummy card game with three modes: multiplayer, against the computer, or a friend on the same device. You move cards with the mouse or your finger.
- Domino Legend: Block and Draw dominoes. Each player gets 7 tiles, the player with the higher double starts, and a round ends when one player plays all their tiles or the game is blocked.
- Dama Stars: Italian checkers. Jump over your opponent's pieces and promote your own to kings, playing solo against the computer or head-to-head with a friend, with three difficulty levels.
Puzzles and memory games to solve in turns
Puzzles are usually one-person games, but a group can pass the mouse around.
- Alien Memory: match pairs of cards with aliens, spaceships and cosmic symbols over levels that get harder. Its description suggests inviting your friends and seeing who has the sharpest memory.
- Santa Matching Game: a holiday-themed memory game where players take turns flipping cards to find pairs of Christmas symbols. Play solo, or in Battle Mode with up to 4 players, and type the player names during setup.
- Word Safari: a word search. Spot hidden words across a grid in any direction, forwards, backwards or diagonal, in categories such as animals, food, space, ocean and jobs. Six languages are supported.
You can pass the mouse around in jigsaw puzzles too: see jigsaw games, the jigsaw puzzle tips and memory games.
Everyone on their own keys
- Egg Challenge: play with 1, 2 or 3 players: press your button and throw the eggs into the basket. In the 2 and 3 player modes the winner is the first to throw 10 eggs into the basket. Player 1 uses W, player 2 J and player 3 the up arrow.
- Fish Eat Getting Big: up to three players, with player 1 on W A S D, player 2 on the arrow keys and player 3 on the mouse with left click. Eat smaller fish, avoid bigger ones, and buy new fish types with the coins from each level.
For four people on one keyboard, see 4 player games.
Tips for a family session
- Check the player count in the description before you pick, and start with the table above.
- Say the controls out loud before the first round, and agree who holds the mouse in the turn-based games.
- For a bigger screen, see how to make a browser game full screen.
Family games FAQ
What games can a family play together on one computer or tablet?
Turn-based board and card games such as Game of Goose (up to 4 players) or Chinese Checkers Master (up to 6), and shared-keyboard games such as Egg Challenge (up to 3). The first kind passes the mouse or the screen around, and the second gives each person their own keys. For a group bigger than the player count, make teams that share a seat.
Are there family games for Christmas?
Santa Matching Game is a holiday-themed memory game with a Battle Mode for up to 4 players. More holiday games are in Christmas browser games.
Can we play family games online on a phone?
Several take a tap: Alien Memory plays with a mouse click or a tap, and in Monkey And Banana you tap the dice. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
Do we need an account or an install?
No. You play free, right in the browser, with no install and no registration, and the site asks for neither money nor personal data.
More games for groups are in the multiplayer games category.
