As a parent, we are always looking to add tools to our parenting arsenal to make our lives run more smoothly! One of those “tools” should be a shelf of board games for tweens to play- when they have friends over, when it's a rainy day, if you're running your own DIY summer camp, hosting kids birthday parties, or just when they claim that they are “so bored” and don't know what to do (and they are hoping you'll relax your “no electronics during the week” rule!). These are the 12 best board games for tweens– that you should have on your board game shelf!
I can tell you that on our board game shelf- we do keep a stack of those classic board games that you and I grew up with- Monopoly This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. , Clue This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. , Stratego This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. , and Life This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. – to name a few. But beyond those games- here are the board games that my tweens love best:
The 12 Best Board Games for Tweens!
#1. Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a fun and challenging game that involves creating train routes between destinations. It's a fun game of strategy that can be played with just two players or as many as five. My kids can play this game for hours!
#2. UpWords
My kids discovered UpWords This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. when we were on vacation and it was a rainy day- and they came across this game in a condo we were renting. It's a fun game where you use tiles to spell words that run across, down, or can be built up- laying tiles on top of other letters to spell new words. For two to four players.
#3. Jenga
While Jenga This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. doesn't involve a board- so I suppose it's not truly a board game, it is one of my kids' favorite games to play together! You simply build the Jenga tower, and then take turns pulling out blocks while trying not to topple the tower! My kids would really love it if we “upgraded” to the Giant Jenga This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. version!
#4. Blokus
My kids have recently rediscovered Blokus This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. this summer- a great game of strategy where players take turns laying different sizes pieces on the board, and the pieces must touch another piece of the same color at the corner. Can be played with two players but it becomes more challenging if you play with three or four!
#5. Loaded Questions
Loaded Questions This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a fun game that can be played with a larger group of kids. You read questions aloud that correspond to the color space on the game board, and everyone writes down their answer- passing it to the player who read the question- who then has to match answers with players. It's a fun “get to know you better” game, even for siblings!
#6. Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a fun and addictive card game for kids and families! The video above gives a good overview of how the game is played. You can play with two kids, but the game is better with four or five players.
#7. Settlers of Catan
The premise of Settlers of Catan This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is that players are using resources at their disposal (brock, ore, grain, wood) to build new settlements on the island of Catan. Players can barter and trade for resources to further their own development. an addictive game that is easy to learn but grows in complexity (and there are tons of resources online available to teach you to become a more strategic player!)
#8. Not Parent Approved
Not Parent Approved This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a card game that lets tweens be tweens (the game starts with a “burp-off” if that's any indication!) The leader draws a question card and players put down red answer cards- which are then read by the leader who selects the best answer. It will have have the kids laughing for hours!
#9. Spontuneous
Do your kids love music? Spontuneous This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a game where a word is given and everyone races to be the first one to sing out any song containing that word (anywhere in the song, it doesn't have to be in the title)! The hard part is- you have to sing at least five words before the word used in the song!
#10. Telestrations
Telestrations This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is like the old game of “telephone,” but with pictures! Everyone has an erasable sketchbook that they use to draw a picture of the word they were given. Then the sketchbook gets passed on, the player looks at the book they've been given, makes a guess at the word, turns the page, draws their version of the word, and passes the book to the next player. This continues until your original sketchbook gets passed back to you for the “big reveal”!
#11. Rush Hour Shift
Rush Hour Shift This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a two-player strategy game where players have to move their cards across the game board according to the card they've drawn. It sounds simple- but it really is a challenge!
#12. Scattegories
Scattergories This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. is a really fun game where a category card is picked and the die is rolled to choose a letter, and then players have three minutes to create a list of items that match each of the categories on the card that start with the letter rolled!
These are the games that are played the most often by our tweens! Are there any games that your tweens love that we missed?
Looking for Some More Great Party Games for Kids?
- 100 Truth or Dare Questions for Tweens (free printable party game!)
- “What's On Your Phone?” (free printable party game for tweens and teens!)
- 50 Would You Rather Questions for Tweens (free printable party game!)
- Photo Scavenger Hunt for Tweens (free printable party game!)
- 10 Great Birthday Party Games for Tweens (tons of ideas from around the web!)
Pratibha soni says
Great list of games!my kids will love this idea. Thanks
Lilly says
Our family LOVE Taboo and Apples to Apples. Along with Telestrations, those are the ones they ask for every time we have friends over. And of course UNO cannot be left out of our list. We bought another set to add to it so we use 2 sets of UNO cards to keep the fun going and add more players.
Stephanie Baumgartner says
Hi Sharon,
We have two more to add to the list of games.
Skippity is a really fun game of strategy that can be played relatively quickly.
Another ridiculous game that we recently purchased that has had us in stitches (you need at least 4 players) is called the Tiny Hands Game~ it’s a game of challenges and charades using “tiny hands.” We played it on the patio the other night, so it can be played inside or outside.