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If you want to liven up a night at home or a vacation with your family, busting out a card game is a surefire way to get everyone laughing, talking, and off their phones. The best family card games are generally very simple to learn and don't have many tiny pieces or fake money to keep track of while you play. They're also fast-paced to suit the attention span of even the most hard-to-please children and often can be played in as little as half an hour. And, if you're traveling, you'll find that card games don't take up much room in your luggage, allowing you to bring two or three with you in less space than a single board game.
Family-friendly doesn't have to mean boring for adults, either. From classic games you might have played when you were younger to brand-new ones that both adults and kids can learn to play together, today's card games offer fun for all ages without the need to veer into NSFW territory.
So, whether you're in the mood for a visual perception, strategy, or a phrase-matching competition, here are the best family card games to add something new into your game night rotation. You'll never need to play Go Fish again.
1
A Classic Game Without A Lot Of Complicated Rules
Age range: 7 and up
Players: 2 to 10
Uno is a classic card game that's been fun for decades. The goal of it is simple: To empty your hand, match cards by number or color before the other players do. Considering how easy it is to learn and fast to play, it's no surprise that family-friendly Uno is the number one Amazon best-seller for card games. One player puts it best: "Love this card game, it’s always a great game to introduce to kids 5 and up and it’s also a great family game for after dinner at the table."
2
A Visual Game That Even Young Children Can Play
Age range: 6 and up
Players: 2 or more
As a card game, Set is all about speed and doesn't require taking turns or utilizing strategies. Rather, the first person to see a set of three matching cards calls out “set” and then takes those cards from the communal pile. The cards can be matched by shape, color, or number, and the person at the end of the game with the most sets wins.
3
A Cooking Competition Game That Doesn’t Require Any Cleanup
Age range: 10 and up
Players: 3 to 7
If you love the show Chopped, this Competition Kitchen card game will be right up your alley. Using a combination of cards, players come up with unique food creations that are then judged against each other by another player who determines the winner. Best of all, there's no cleaning up to do afterwards! All of the culinary dishes you create are completely imaginary with no limits on what you can dream up.
4
A Fast-Paced Card Version Of The Classic Board Game
Age range: 8 and up
Players: 2 to 5
While the traditional Monopoly board game has a ton of little pieces to keep track of (and, not to mention, the games can sometimes take all night long), this Monopoly card game version is far more portable and faster to play — yet it still retains the fun of the original. One fan raves, "My family love this game. My 5 year old can now play it, too so it's fun for the whole family. The great thing is that [it] does not take ages like the real Monopoly. The rules are easy to understand and it's great for 2 to 5 people (ideal 3 or 4)."
5
A Popular Strategy Game Created By A 7-Year-Old
Age range: 7 and up
Players: 2 to 4
Dreamt up by a creative 7-year-old kid with a love of Mexican food, this Taco vs Burrito strategy game is easy to learn and fun for both kids and adults. After drawing cards, you may find yourself creating a food dish with some extremely weird ingredients or in a face-off with the health inspector. The first player to empty his or her hand wins.
6
A PG-Rated Take On Cards Against Humanity
Age range: 8 and up
Players: 2 to 6
If you've ever played Cards Against Humanity, you'll know that, while fun, some of the topics are not exactly appropriate for kiddos. For a more family-friendly option, this Kids Against Maturity card game fits the bill. While you play it the same way as Cards Against Humanity, its phrase-matching topics are strictly PG. Although, it does have its fair share of fart jokes to keep everyone laughing... or groaning.
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