Oh the weather outside is frightful! Instead of braving the great outdoors, stay cozy inside with these games designed for two or more players. All you need is a deck of cards, some dice, materials around the house and a desire to win.
Card Games
- What you need: One deck of 52 cards for 2 players, two decks for 3-4 players and three decks for 5-6 players.
- How it works: Players start with 10 playing cards face down and arrange them in order from Ace to 10.
- What you need: One deck of 52 cards.
- How it works: Players compete to take the most amount of tricks using a combination of high-value suit cards and spade trump cards.
- What you need: One deck of 52 cards.
- How it works: Similar to Spades, this game involves taking tricks with a changing trump suit. A game point is earned when a player accumulates 66 card points by taking tricks. The first player to earn seven-game points is the winner.
Dice Games
Going to Town, opens a new window
- What you need: Three dice, a pen and paper or another way to track the score.
- How it works: Players decide how many rounds to play and take turns rolling three dice. On the first roll, keep the highest number and set it off to the side. Reroll the remaining two dice, keeping the highest number and set aside. Roll the remaining die and add all three numbers together for your score. At the end of all the rounds, players add up their score totals to see who has the highest score.
Dice 10,000 (Farkle), opens a new window
- What you need: Six dice, a pen and paper or another way to track the score. A dice tray or box with a flat bottom may also be helpful to keep the dice contained.
- How it works: Players take turns rolling dice and scoring their dice rolls. Individual dice are worth between 50-100 points and groups of three are worth additional points. The first person to score 10,000 points is the winner.
- What you need: One die, a pen and paper or another way to track the score.
- How it works: Players take turns rolling a single die to see who can reach 100 first. Players take turns rolling the die until they choose to stop (or hold) or they roll a 1. If a player chooses to stop, they keep all the points they received in that turn and can add them to their total score. However, if a player rolls a 1, they lose all the points they’ve accumulated on this turn.
Left Right Center (Left Center Right or Center Left Right) , opens a new window
- What you need: Three dice and three chips (markers, quarters, etc.) per player.
- How it works: Players pass chips to the left, right, center or keep their chips based on their dice rolls. The last person with chips remaining is the winner. Players roll three dice. A roll of 1-3 means the player keeps their chips. On a 4, the player passes a chip to the player on their left. On a 5, they pass a chip to the center of the table. On a 6, the player passes a chip to the player on their right. If multiples occur, multiple chips are passed.
Minute to Win It Style Games
- What you need: Two bowls, cotton balls and petroleum jelly.
- How it works: Players put a dab of petroleum jelly on their nose. Then players have one minute to see how many cotton balls they can move from one bowl to another using just their (sticky) noses.
Movin’ On Up, opens a new window
- What you need: Multiple plastic cups in one color, one plastic cup of a different color. Kids will use 25 cups while adults use 40.
- How it works: Stack all of the cups together, with the odd colored cup at the bottom. Players can only move one cup at a time from the top to the bottom. First person to get their odd color cup to the top wins.
Face the Cookie, opens a new window
- What you need: One small cookie per player (sandwich cookies work well).
- How it works: Players place the cookie on their closed eye. The goal of the game is to get the cookie from their eye into their mouth without using their hands.
Noodling Around, opens a new window
- What you need: At least one piece of uncooked spaghetti per player and six uncooked penne noodles.
- How it works: Holding the spaghetti noodle in their mouth, a player must thread their noodle through the penne pasta arranged around the edge of a table without using their hands. If the spaghetti noodle breaks, the penne are reset and the player has to begin again.
Gather Together Games, opens a new window has put together a helpful collection of visual tutorials on their website and Youtube channel showing how to play these card and dice games, along with many others.
Looking for other ways to stay entertained? Check out our virtual library for movies, music, book and events instantly available from the comfort of your home.
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