12 Best Family Card Games

Frog Juice: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
Frog Juice, which gets it's name from one of the special cards often needed for magic potions, is such a cute game! It's lots of fun too!

To win the game of Frog Juice, players try to be the one to collect the most spell ingredient cards and power cards. There are a variety of ways of collecting these cards. Maybe you'd like to sweep the board with your witch card, or steal another player's card with your black cat card. You can also gain cards by collecting the ingredients (on cards) for a particular spell. Hey, got any frog juice? How about some Shrinking Brew?

This card game is also a great way to review basic addition facts while having fun, as one of the ways of gathering cards from the board involves adding numbers on two cards together.

It's recommended for ages 8 and up, although some 7 year olds could probably play it too, especially if they had help the first few times remembering what the various special cards do.

Rack-O: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
I've been playing Rack-O since I was a child.
Now I've taught it to my own kids!

On your turn, draw a card either from the discard pile or from the deck. If it's a card you can use, place it on your rack in the spot you'd like to have it, while discarding the card that was originally in that spot on your rack. When all the cards in your rack are in order from smallest to largest, call out "Rack-O" and win that round! If you'd like to play the more advanced version, you can try to get a a run of three (or more!), such as "43, 44, 45" on your rack before going out! Rack O can be played by individuals or partners.

Uno Spin: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
This is a unique spin on the classic Uno game!

Uno Spin is played much like regular Uno until a spin card is discarded. If the person before you discards a spin card, you must spin the wheel. Sometimes you get lucky and spin "Get rid of all your cards but two." Other times you are not so lucky and get "Show everyone your hand." Other things you might spin include: "Discard all your cards of the same number," "Draw until you get a red card," "Trade hands, "War," and more. Unlike with regular Uno, you may be losing one moment, and win the game the next!


I noticed that a reviewer on Amazon complained about the poor design of the box. It's true that it could have been much better designed, but my family discovered a trick to reusing the box. Turn the outer cardboard box upside down (so that the large round hole is on the bottom) before inserting the inner cardboard box (with the game in it) face up back into it! That way, the bottom of the inner box covers the large round hole in the outer box. This enables you to stack this game along with your others!

Skip Bo: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
Skip Bo is a great game anytime, but unlike many games,
it even works well for groups of 5 or 6 players.

Each player is given a large stock pile of cards in addition to a hand of 5 cards. Your goal is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in your stock pile. It's important to remember that the cards in your hand are simply a tool you may use towards that goal. (Younger players who tend to focus more on getting rid of the cards in their hands rather than the cards in their stock piles, may need an occasional reminder about that!) On their turns, players play as many cards as they'd like and are able to play from their stock piles and hands onto the piles in the center of the table. The piles are built sequentially, so that the first card played in a pile must be a #1, the next card must be a #2, and so on. (Skip-bo cards are wild and can be take the place of any number.)

Strategy comes into play as you look at the other players top stock pile card and try to prevent them from being able to play it on their next turn. Also, strategy is involved in deciding which cards you'll play, as well as which one you'll discard and where you'll put it in your four personal discard piles.

Uno Attack: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
Watch out for flying cards!

Uno Attack is a lot of fun! It's similar to classic Uno, except instead of simply drawing cards when you can't play or when someone plays a draw 2 on you, you must push a button. If you're lucky, no cards will come flying out at you. Yet quite often you might need to take cover as several cards are rapidly shot from the game!

Cranium Zigity: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.

Cranium Zigity encourages math (adding numbers), spelling, matching, and simple puzzle solving. Each card has a piece of a puzzle, an image of an instrument, a number, and a letter on it, in addition to one of the main characters (Creative Cat, Data Head, Star Performer, and Word Worm). The activity you do on your turn is based on the last card played by the person before you. For example, if the previous player discarded a Worm Worm, you'll use the card they discarded along with any in your hand to spell a word. If they discarded a Data Head, you'll use their card plus any in your hand to add up to exactly 11. Whatever cards you use to complete the challenge, you get to discard. The first person to get rid of all of their cards wins!

Cranium Zigity is a quick game to play. It is very small, comes in a nice tin, and can easily be slipped into a pocketbook or backpack. When my son was younger, we used to play this ever so often as one of our homeschool activities. It works great as a quick reward for a 100 on a spelling or math test!

I have not played the kids' version of Apples to Apples, but included it here as we really love the regular version! I'd love to have a copy of the kids' version as well, since some of the cards in the regular version are of people neither of my children are familiar with. Scroll down to read my review about the regular version of Apples To Apples.

In A Pickle: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
In A Pickle is currently my favorite family card game!

Why do I love it so much? Because of the creative thinking it encourages and the hilarious stories it generates!

You start the game by laying four cards in the center of the table and dealing 5 cards to each player. On your turn, pick a card from your hand that is related in some way to one of the cards on the board.. By related I mean that one of the two words has to be an object that can fit inside the other. But the connection isn't just about the size of the object, but also the plausibility of it happening. If someone plays a card that the other players don't agree with, they can challenge. The challenged player must then use his creativity to come up with an explanation as to how the relationship between the two objects could have occurred. Then everyone votes.

Here's an example. The word "pickle" is on the table. You have the word "juice," so you slip it under the word "pickle" while saying, "There is juice in the pickle." Someone else on their own turn plays "Supermarket" on top of the word "pickle," while saying, "There is a pickle in the supermarket." Suppose it got back around to your turn and you had the words, "House," "Universe," "Red," and "City." "City" might be the most obvious thing you could lay on top of supermarket, as there certainly are supermarkets in most cities.

But wait. Are you feeling creative?

if so, what could your story be if you played the word, "House" on top of "Supermarket?" Maybe something like this, "There was a little girl who was given a toy cash register and shopping cart for her birthday. One afternoon, she gathered some cans and boxes from the kitchen and carted them downstairs to her playroom. After setting up her pretend supermarket, she invited her friends over to play store with her. Therefore there was a supermarket in her house!"

Or maybe you'd like to use the word, "Red" on top of "Supermarket" instead. When you get challenged, simply explain that the supermarket wasn't making a profit. Yes, it was in the red! But be careful about the story you dream up, because If the other players think your story is too ridiculous, they just might give it the thumbs down!

Loot: My Review:

Winner of a Mensa Award in 2005! Also given the "Dr. Toy Smart Play, Smart Toy, Product of Excellence" Award!

Photo © by Janiece.

"Aye, Matey, this pirate themed game's a lot o' fun!

The object of Loot is to have the most gold at the end of the game. And how do you get gold? Ah, shiver me timbers, me hearty, by Swashbucklin of course! When you're a pirate, there ain't no other way of getting gold than by piratin'!

Each turn you can do one of several things, including set sail with one of your merchant ships, attack a merchant ship with one of your pirate ships, strengthening your forces with a pirate captain or an admiral, or simply draw a card. Most of the game is spent battling other pirates for the gold on the merchant ships...or building up your pirate ships for future attacks! Using pirate talk while you play makes the game all the more fun!

Apples to Apples: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
Apples To Apples is another one of our top family favorites!

One person, "The Judge," turns over a green apple card with a word, such as "unbelievable," "fragrant," "useless," "influential," or "refreshing," on it. All the other players look at the 7 red apple cards in their hand, pick the one they think best fits the word on the green card, and play it face down on the board. The judge then selects the one (out of those that have been played that turn) that he/she feels best matches the green card. The person who's card was selected is the winner of that round and gets to keep the green card. Then a new player becomes the judge and the process repeats.

The game is educational for children and teens in that it sometimes introduces them to new vocabulary, both on the green cards and on the red. Sometimes one of us (yes, even adults) will draw a red card with someone's name we aren't familiar with on it. This too often proves educational, as others at the table explain a little bit about that person. Yet we don't play it for the educational aspects; we just play it because it's fun!

Mille Bornes: My Review:

Photo © by Janiece.
In Mille Bornes, you're taking a trip of a thousand miles.
Will you be the first to reach your destination?

In Mille Bornes, individuals or teams are trying to be the first to "drive" a thousand miles. To do that, they must have a green light, and a well running, gas-filled car. If they get in an accident (compliments of a card played on them via another player), they'll have to play a "repairs" card, and another green light card before they can move further down the highway. If they run out of gas (again, compliments of a card played on them via another player), they'll have to fill up at the gas station (via playing a card), and play another green light card, before they can put more miles under their belt. Even red lights can be played on someone to stop them from gaining additional miles until a new green light is played! Did someone drive into a town? Then until they play an "end of limit" card, they can't go over 50 miles per hour! To add to the excitement, four special cards prevent your opponents from playing "bad" cards on you, and award you with additional points if they try! Millie Bornes is lot of fun!