Fun Board Games for Middle School Families

Latice Hawaii is easy to learn, fast-paced, and as competitive as you'd like it to be.

Players try to lay down the tiles on their rack, by matching them with others on the board. The more sides you connect, the better. Nothing is removed from play, so it can be tricky to get rid of your pieces.

There are special spaces on the board and wind tiles that can shift everything, so while it's easy to play, it can be challenging to master.

This game quickly turned into a classic family favorite.

One at a time, players read phrases from cards while wearing plastic separators in their mouths, while everyone else tries to figure out what they're trying to say.

This hilarious game definitely brings laughter to family game night.

A wonderful combination of award-winning Codenames and classic Disney characters. A perfect match for any Disney-loving family.

Cards containing Disney characters and locations are placed face-up in a 25 card grid.

Players work in pairs and each team is given a set of treasure cards. The goal is to get your partner to identify all the cards in the grid that match the ones in your hand, by giving them one-word clues.

Sometimes the clues relate to more than one card from the grid, so you have to be careful with your descriptions.

A classic that's always a fun family game night choice.

Players roll the dice and try to fill in all of the spaces on their score sheets. It can be challenging trying to decide which category to place each roll in when it matches more than one.

You never know what dice will come up next, so do you take the sure thing or try for a bigger score?

Played in a similar fashion to Ticket to Ride, players move across the United States visiting the National Parks.

Along the way, you'll try to collect park cards and colorful trail stones.

This game is lots of fun and full of beautiful pictures and interesting facts about our wonderful parks system.

In this fun game, players try to match answers with everyone else.

One player reads a random question from a card, like what's the best ice cream flavor and everyone writes down an answer. To win, you'll need to come up with the most common response, not necessarily your true feelings.

Everyone who answers the same as the majority gets a cow chip. If you're the odd one out, you may be stuck with the dreaded pink squishy cow that could prevent you from winning.

Whatever you do, stick with the herd, don't stand out.

If your kids are tactile learners and enjoy hands-on games, this is one you should add to your rotation.

It's a form of charades and Pictionary, but instead of acting out or drawing answers, players use modeling clay to make the objects on the cards for their teammates to guess.

Families will have a blast trying to figure out what everyone puts together each turn. There will definitely be some hilarious guesses.

Oh, and it can get quite competitive. The team that loses each round gets a piece of dough taken away, so they'll have less to create with.

This cooperative game is fun for families, especially if you're a fan of the movie.

Players work together to keep the Sanderson sisters from completing their potion before the sun rises.

Everyone places cards into the cauldron, trying to match colors or ingredients in order to ruin the concoction. But even though you're working together, you can't share what's in your hand. Instead, you have to ask each other questions, like do you have any blue cards, in order to know what to play.

It can get quite challenging, especially since the sisters cast spells on you while you're trying to beat them. But if you can ruin their potion three times, you'll save the town's children.

If your family is a fan of Harry Potter, then this version of Trivial Pursuit could be perfect for you. Based on the movies (not the books) this quick play edition includes over 600 questions for you to answer.

Categories include: The Dark Arts, Hogwarts, Magical Spells and Potions, Magical Objects, Magical People, and Animals and Magical Creatures.

The player who answers 12 questions correctly wins.

Players try to match the descriptive word from a green apple card with a red card in their hand. For example, if the word on the green card is fuzzy, select one of your red cards that you feel matches it best. Will you play Eiffel Tower, socks, waves, etc.?

If yours is chosen, you get to keep the card.

This version contains family-friendly words and descriptions and is fun for tweens and adults.

When it's your turn, roll the die and read aloud the definition on the card that corresponds to that number, like someone who designs buildings. The first player to blurt out the correct answer (architect) gets to move their game piece.

Sounds easy, but most clues have synonyms, so it can be challenging to select the answer that's on the card.

The cards contain both junior and regular questions, so it's perfect for families.

Played like classic rummy, players try to form runs or sets with three or more tiles, in an attempt to be the first one to get rid of all of their numbers. Combinations can either be all the same number with different color tiles or a run of numbers, all in the same color tiles.

Once tiles are played, other players can rearrange them into different groupings to lay down more of their numbers.

You really have to think on your feet and use your critical thinking skills to see how you can reuse the tiles other players laid down.

To begin the round, choose a category list and roll the die to see what letter everyone will use. Turn over the timer and start thinking of words that fit each category on the list that starts with the letter that was rolled.

For example, if the letter F was chosen on the die, you need to quickly write down answers to all of the categories on the list, like dog breeds, car brands, and articles of clothing with words that all start with the letter F.

When time runs out, everyone shares their answers. Matching answers cancel each other out, so try to be as creative as possible.

Before the game begins, everyone creates a list of trigger words that they'll use during the game. To play, the first person will turn over the timer and announce one word from their list.

Players race to be the first one to blurt out 5 words from a song containing the trigger word. For example, if the word is dog, whoever starts singing the lyrics of a song containing the word dog scores a point.