4) Game Selection - Obviously, choose a game that allows everyone to participate and is age appropriate. While digging in your closet, did you notice a pattern with your games? Were most of them strategy, trivia, guessing, word, or other? Determine what kind of games your household likes the most.
5) Mail Order Games - If you're like me, you've pretty much memorized all the answers to Trivial Pursuit and looking for something new. With game selection, we've discovered with both enjoy cooperative strategy games. And how awesome it is to get a new game in the mail (along with boxes of wine). A couple personal favorites are:
HuntAKiller.com - It's like a monthly "escape room" at home. Each month, we receive a box of clues to solve an overall crime at the end of the series. It comes with evidence props and even a music playlist.
LuckyDuckGames.com - Has unique interactive games. We purchased Chronicles of Crime: 1400, which is solving cases from medieval Paris. It's one game that has multiple stories and variations. Players use a smartphone to view crime scenes and interview witnesses. 6) Young Kids - Some suggestions are: Richard Scarry's Busytown, eeBoo Create and Tell Me a Story, Spot It!, Ruckus, Hisss, Candy Land, Hoot Owl Hoot!, and The Sneaky Sneaky Squirrel. And remember the classics from our childhood as many of them still exist or can be found on eBay.
7) Older Kids - Some suggestions are: Pictomania, Telestrations, Forbidden Island, Fluxx, Ultimate Werewolf, Escape the room, Ticket To Ride, Apples to Apples, Loonacy, and Machi Koro. My personal favorites were Pictionary and Balderdash.
8) Family - Some suggestions are: Santorini, Azul, The Isle of Cats, Exploding Kittens, Labyrinth, Pandemic (no, really), Hedbanz, Articulate, and Mysterium.
9) Adults - Some suggestions are: Drink-a-palooza, Betrayal at House On the Hill, Rummikub, Codenames, Clue, Hedbanz Adulting, Cards Against Humanity, Catan, Loaded Questions, Risk, Carcassonne, and Scythe.
10) Classics - Some suggestions are: chess, cards (countless games), checkers, dominoes, Cribbage, Trivial Pursuit, Password, Taboo, Scattergories, Sorry!, Traffic Jam, Cranium, Qwirkle, Jenga, Boggle, Don't Break the Ice, Twister, Agricola, Chinese checkers, Axis and Allies, Battleship, Monopoly, Game of Life, Scrabble, Stratego, Backgammon, Blokus, Connect Four, Operation, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap, Mastermind, Uno, Chutes and Ladders, Trouble, Yahtzee, Catchphrase, Speak Out, Mad Gab, Sequences, and Dominion.
11) Tournaments - My friends and I use to play tournament-style when we played 2-player board games or video games. For example, we had four people that would pair off. With a quick game like checkers we'd play best of 3 games. The two winners of those games would play best of 5 games.
12) Online Games With Those Outside Your Home - Here are some game ideas: SongPop, Heads Up Houseparty, Ticket To Ride, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart Tour, Coin Master, Harry Potter: Hogwarts mystery, Exploding Kittens, Words With Friends, Werewolf, Jackbox, Scrabble, Clue, Marvel Strike Force, Fortnite, Golf Battle, Quiz Up, Scattergories, Fishdom, and so many more!!!
AND DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN! And, please feel free to contact if you have any questions or suggestions!
Health and Safety Considerations for gathering:
1) No indoor activities
2) No sharing bathrooms
3) Wash hands before and after gathering. Don't touch your face.
4) Bring your own food, snacks, drinks, and utensils.
5) Do not attend if you have asthma, heart disease, diabetes, overweight, have/survived cancer, or 50+ year old.
6) Do not attend if you have or have had Coronavirus or showing symptoms (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html).
7) Wear a mask and practice social distancing (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html)
8) Limit attendance. Check local health department for guidelines and restrictions.
9) Talk with everyone about comfort levels. Expect and allow non-participation and last minute cancellations.
Mike Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.
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