4 player game recommendations for a multi-generational vacation
December 5, 2019 3:35 PM Subscribe
I'll be heading off on a vacation and renting a home with my mom (70+yrs old), myself,my wife, and our 18 year old son. There is going to be a lot of down-time, for reasons, so I'm looking for a board game or card game recommendation that will have mass appeal.
Some of the special snowflake criteria:
Some of the special snowflake criteria:
- Currently the only game we all play regularly is cribbage, which I love, but that has its limits.
- Whatever the game is, it needs to have a fast learning curve, this is not a family that will be willing to invest a lot of time learning complex rules or strategy.
- Should be a game that either has a finite time-frame or can be easily picked up where you left off. From past experience, the group attention span averages maybe an hour, possibly two, if people get sucked in.
- The generational aspect is a factor, especially on the edges of the continuum with my mom and son being 50+ years apart. So "Cards Against Humanity", for example is a dealbreaker.
I've had good luck playing Smash Up with a range of age groups. The base game accommodates 4 players but you can buy expansions if you want to play with more than that. It takes about an hour to play, the rules are easy to learn, and the flavor of the cards is fun without being too edgy.
posted by darchildre at 3:42 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by darchildre at 3:42 PM on December 5, 2019
Canasta was popular on our recent family vacation. If your mom already knows how to play, it wasn't hard to learn the basics. (We had a copy of the instructions from a book of Hoyle's) it does take two decks.
posted by metahawk at 3:46 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by metahawk at 3:46 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Carcassonne.
posted by synecdoche at 3:52 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by synecdoche at 3:52 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Rummikub is fun, easy to learn, and games don't take very long. I've played it with folks of widely varying ages and levels of interest in board/card games.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:05 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:05 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Transamerica
Ticket To Ride
Dominion
To Court The King
posted by brilliantine at 4:14 PM on December 5, 2019
Ticket To Ride
Dominion
To Court The King
posted by brilliantine at 4:14 PM on December 5, 2019
Bananagrams is a bit like scrabble without the board. It's fast and has simple rules.
posted by Botanizer at 4:36 PM on December 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Botanizer at 4:36 PM on December 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
Pandemic
posted by heathrowga at 4:52 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by heathrowga at 4:52 PM on December 5, 2019
- Codenames [competitive version] or Codenames Duet [cooperative version, can be played 2-player or with more people split into two teams] is a great fun word game
- Azul - This is a newer game -- we play this to good effect with mixed groups including older relatives. Beautiful pieces that are nice to handle, you're each building your own little layout of colorful tiles, but from a single pool of resources so there's strategic interaction there.
These three are evergreen favorite boardgames, easy for everyone to learn and enjoyable to play repeatedly, widely available:
- Ticket to Ride - collect cards of the right color and compete to place your little train pieces on the most valuable routes on the map
- Carcassonne - place little cardboard squares to slowly build roads and towns in a landscape; score points by placing your little human figures on different landscape features as you go
- Blokus - abstract game with bright colorful tetris-like pieces
Card games - inexpensive, portable, addictive -
-Coloretto - card game where you collect colorful chameleons
-Sushi Go - card game where you collect different types of cute cartoon food
"Roll and write" is a newly popular genre, this one is good and widely available:
-Quixx - dice game where you write on little pads
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:21 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
- Azul - This is a newer game -- we play this to good effect with mixed groups including older relatives. Beautiful pieces that are nice to handle, you're each building your own little layout of colorful tiles, but from a single pool of resources so there's strategic interaction there.
These three are evergreen favorite boardgames, easy for everyone to learn and enjoyable to play repeatedly, widely available:
- Ticket to Ride - collect cards of the right color and compete to place your little train pieces on the most valuable routes on the map
- Carcassonne - place little cardboard squares to slowly build roads and towns in a landscape; score points by placing your little human figures on different landscape features as you go
- Blokus - abstract game with bright colorful tetris-like pieces
Card games - inexpensive, portable, addictive -
-Coloretto - card game where you collect colorful chameleons
-Sushi Go - card game where you collect different types of cute cartoon food
"Roll and write" is a newly popular genre, this one is good and widely available:
-Quixx - dice game where you write on little pads
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:21 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thirding Codenames.
Codenames Duet is a wonderful game to play in a family which contains some members who are less skilled at boardgames. I've played successfully with my mother, whose memory has deteriorated with age.
"Wits and Wagers" is a fantastic game. In each round, everyone makes a guess at a particular number (e.g. the height of the Eiffel Tower), and then the players bet on who's closest.
posted by HoraceH at 5:30 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Codenames Duet is a wonderful game to play in a family which contains some members who are less skilled at boardgames. I've played successfully with my mother, whose memory has deteriorated with age.
"Wits and Wagers" is a fantastic game. In each round, everyone makes a guess at a particular number (e.g. the height of the Eiffel Tower), and then the players bet on who's closest.
posted by HoraceH at 5:30 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Quoridor is an abstract board game with simple rules and lots of tactical depth. With two players, it's a straightforward battle of wits, but with four players, it turns into a free-for-all of dealing, backstabbing, and ganging up on whoever's closest to winning.
Euchre (pronounced "yooker") is a simple and fast trick-taking game played with a reduced deck of standard cards, and you can keep score with the pips on a 4 and a 6, so you don't even need pen and paper.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:55 PM on December 5, 2019
Euchre (pronounced "yooker") is a simple and fast trick-taking game played with a reduced deck of standard cards, and you can keep score with the pips on a 4 and a 6, so you don't even need pen and paper.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:55 PM on December 5, 2019
Euchre is the classic choice for a card game.
posted by mmascolino at 6:06 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by mmascolino at 6:06 PM on December 5, 2019
Lots of repeats here, but here's what I'd bring for a similar situation:
Cards: Rummy, Hearts, Spades, Euchre, or Skit-Skat/31
Board Games: Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Sequence, Wits & Wagers. Apples to Apples is a cleaner version of Cards against Humanity and will span generations better.
I'd also look at dice - you can play mexican train or just regular dominoes.
You can also get jigsaw puzzles cheap at thriftstores. Set one up on a card table and let people wander in as they like.
For the quickest way to learn a game, I recommend finding a tutorial on YouTube. It's a great way to watch the gameplay and get an overview.
posted by hydra77 at 6:17 PM on December 5, 2019
Cards: Rummy, Hearts, Spades, Euchre, or Skit-Skat/31
Board Games: Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Sequence, Wits & Wagers. Apples to Apples is a cleaner version of Cards against Humanity and will span generations better.
I'd also look at dice - you can play mexican train or just regular dominoes.
You can also get jigsaw puzzles cheap at thriftstores. Set one up on a card table and let people wander in as they like.
For the quickest way to learn a game, I recommend finding a tutorial on YouTube. It's a great way to watch the gameplay and get an overview.
posted by hydra77 at 6:17 PM on December 5, 2019
Uno! This is literally the only game my family will play, and we play it every time we get together.
posted by DingoMutt at 6:43 PM on December 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by DingoMutt at 6:43 PM on December 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
What about spoons? It's pretty simple but it's fun. We play a version of Bananagrams where if anybody gets stumped, everyone has to switch seats and play with opponents' letters for a while. Bananagrams is compact, lightweight, and highly portable, and it comes in a handsome cloth bananaskin!
posted by Don Pepino at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Don Pepino at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Set.
posted by aramaic at 8:20 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by aramaic at 8:20 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thirding Wits & Wagers. It’s most hilarious when different generations play it together.
posted by oxisos at 9:04 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by oxisos at 9:04 PM on December 5, 2019
I'm going to put in a second recommendation for Uno.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 9:39 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by Constance Mirabella at 9:39 PM on December 5, 2019
Word of caution about Codenames: I find it to be very antisocial, that I don't like playing it anymore.
With four players you'll end up in two competing teams of two players each, one is giving clues and the other is guessing the cards. The clue-giver and the guesser on the same team can't talk to each other because that's kind of the point - you have to guess based on the clues alone. (In the rulebook for Codenames Pictures, it even says no eye contact! ugh). The two clue-givers and the two guessers won't talk to each other either, as they are on opposing teams and won't want to accidentally give the other team an advantage. So basically no one talks to anyone. I hate it. Maybe others have different ways of playing but that's my experience and for me it's so not enjoyable.
I would suggest Taboo. I don't know if you'd consider that a board game, but that is always really fun and engaging when we play it. And very easy to learn, pick-up, and stop when you feel like it.
posted by tinydancer at 10:55 PM on December 5, 2019
With four players you'll end up in two competing teams of two players each, one is giving clues and the other is guessing the cards. The clue-giver and the guesser on the same team can't talk to each other because that's kind of the point - you have to guess based on the clues alone. (In the rulebook for Codenames Pictures, it even says no eye contact! ugh). The two clue-givers and the two guessers won't talk to each other either, as they are on opposing teams and won't want to accidentally give the other team an advantage. So basically no one talks to anyone. I hate it. Maybe others have different ways of playing but that's my experience and for me it's so not enjoyable.
I would suggest Taboo. I don't know if you'd consider that a board game, but that is always really fun and engaging when we play it. And very easy to learn, pick-up, and stop when you feel like it.
posted by tinydancer at 10:55 PM on December 5, 2019
Game store owner here with a few suggestions:
Tsuro
Elevenses
Dungeon Mayhem
Mysterium
Fluxx
Trekking the National Parks
Dixit
Tokaido
Arboretum
Kingdomino
posted by nickthetourist at 9:18 AM on December 6, 2019
Tsuro
Elevenses
Dungeon Mayhem
Mysterium
Fluxx
Trekking the National Parks
Dixit
Tokaido
Arboretum
Kingdomino
posted by nickthetourist at 9:18 AM on December 6, 2019
I was coming to suggest Codenames, but tinydancer makes an EXCELLENT point about a 4 player game. I haven't played the Duet version, but the co-op nature might address those problems.
Roll For It is a little bit like a fast paced, more interactive Yahtzee.
If you all like Scrabble, you might enjoy Paperback. It's got the build-a-word parts of Scrabble, but with a deck building mechanic underlying it.
Splendor is a great 4 player game with a simple set of rules.
Love Letter is a fun small-deck card-based bluffing game that plays 4 people.
From a fairly serious board game nerd in a family of not board game nerd:
My family enjoys things like Yahtzee and Scrabble, but I get some big push back on any of the Euro games they/we didn't grow up with. Ticket to Ride and Carcassone wouldn't fly in my family. Even Fluxx got some push back because the rules change too much. My sister requested that I bring Codenames this year, and they liked Roll For It. Paperback was a relative success, but they were still a little iffy on it -- they're much better at Scrabble than I am, but I won our Paperback games handily because I had the deck building strategy.
posted by natabat at 9:34 AM on December 6, 2019
Roll For It is a little bit like a fast paced, more interactive Yahtzee.
If you all like Scrabble, you might enjoy Paperback. It's got the build-a-word parts of Scrabble, but with a deck building mechanic underlying it.
Splendor is a great 4 player game with a simple set of rules.
Love Letter is a fun small-deck card-based bluffing game that plays 4 people.
From a fairly serious board game nerd in a family of not board game nerd:
My family enjoys things like Yahtzee and Scrabble, but I get some big push back on any of the Euro games they/we didn't grow up with. Ticket to Ride and Carcassone wouldn't fly in my family. Even Fluxx got some push back because the rules change too much. My sister requested that I bring Codenames this year, and they liked Roll For It. Paperback was a relative success, but they were still a little iffy on it -- they're much better at Scrabble than I am, but I won our Paperback games handily because I had the deck building strategy.
posted by natabat at 9:34 AM on December 6, 2019
nth-ing Ticket to Ride, Apples to Apples and Uno. Adding Phase 10 and 7 Wonders. My mother (late 60s) typically refuses to play card/board games with us (11 to late 30s) but she will play those 5, although Ticket to Ride and 7 Wonders begrudgingly. Oh, and also Clue.
posted by velocipedestrienne at 9:41 AM on December 6, 2019
posted by velocipedestrienne at 9:41 AM on December 6, 2019
Others beat me to them, but I nth the following, all of which I've played in multi-generational settings:
Ticket To Ride -- a traditional competitive board game, simple mechanics, easy to learn.
Carcassone -- a different format competitive game, might require a quick sample to teach the mechanics but the base game is pretty straightforward.
Pandemic -- a cooperative board game where everyone works together to save the world; my broader family understood it quite quickly
posted by whisk(e)y neat at 11:11 AM on December 6, 2019
Ticket To Ride -- a traditional competitive board game, simple mechanics, easy to learn.
Carcassone -- a different format competitive game, might require a quick sample to teach the mechanics but the base game is pretty straightforward.
Pandemic -- a cooperative board game where everyone works together to save the world; my broader family understood it quite quickly
posted by whisk(e)y neat at 11:11 AM on December 6, 2019
Shocked to see no mention of Settlers of Catan!
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:14 PM on December 6, 2019
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:14 PM on December 6, 2019
I love to keep a copy of Cranium around for inter-generational, low-learning-curve situations. Both kids and elders can grasp it easily and it uses a variety of different skills so if someone sucks at drawing or trivia they only have to endure a small amount. It also offers a lot of opportunities for fun silliness that a more cerebral strategy game like many of those mentioned above does not afford.
posted by zeusianfog at 1:15 PM on December 6, 2019
posted by zeusianfog at 1:15 PM on December 6, 2019
Mexican Train dominoes is a lot of fun with four players.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Train
https://smile.amazon.com/Cardinal-Mexican-Train-Domino-Aluminum/dp/B000EULZDM
posted by bink at 1:59 PM on December 6, 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Train
https://smile.amazon.com/Cardinal-Mexican-Train-Domino-Aluminum/dp/B000EULZDM
posted by bink at 1:59 PM on December 6, 2019
nthing Codenames - we play with my in-laws (who are very different from us), and it's great.
Also, No, Thanks is a really easy to pick up, simply-premised game which can be really sly/strategic.
posted by taltalim at 5:52 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, No, Thanks is a really easy to pick up, simply-premised game which can be really sly/strategic.
posted by taltalim at 5:52 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
The two clue-givers and the two guessers won't talk to each other either, as they are on opposing teams and won't want to accidentally give the other team an advantage. So basically no one talks to anyone. I hate it. Maybe others have different ways of playing but that's my experience and for me it's so not enjoyable.
As a Codenames aficionado: I've adopted the practice of giving "help" to the opposing team by suggesting the worst possible justifications for picking a word I can think of. You have to be careful about this because you can accidentally suggest why a word is actually a good pick, which isn't the point. The point is to a) sledge, and by doing so b) be social in a way the game doesn't explicitly encourage.
posted by Merus at 12:24 AM on December 7, 2019
As a Codenames aficionado: I've adopted the practice of giving "help" to the opposing team by suggesting the worst possible justifications for picking a word I can think of. You have to be careful about this because you can accidentally suggest why a word is actually a good pick, which isn't the point. The point is to a) sledge, and by doing so b) be social in a way the game doesn't explicitly encourage.
posted by Merus at 12:24 AM on December 7, 2019
Seconding "No, Thanks". It's one of the easier games to pick up and it plays fast so if you aren't a great player it's at least over quick.
posted by Green With You at 5:43 AM on December 7, 2019
posted by Green With You at 5:43 AM on December 7, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ftsqg at 3:39 PM on December 5, 2019