How it works
These family dinner games need no board, no pencil and nothing on the table but dinner. The deck holds 158 cards for seven games: a market memory chain, Fortunately unfortunately, a one-word story, Guess who I am, What changed on the table, a whisper chain and Higher or lower. Tap a game, press Next card, and one player reads it out.
Read the full guide
Run a game from one phone at the table
Prop the phone beside one plate. Press Game, tap a game and press Next card. One player reads the card, runs the round and passes the phone left. Two games need a careful reader: in Guess who I am the answer sits in brackets at the end of the card, and in What changed on the table the reader reads silently while everyone else shuts their eyes.
Seven games and our house rules for each
Market memory chain: the reader says the opener and adds one item; each player repeats the whole list and adds another. Fortunately, unfortunately: the next player answers with an Unfortunately line, and the story flips every turn. One word at a time: the card starts a sentence and each player adds a single word. Guess who I am: the first right guess wins the card. What changed on the table: eyes shut, the reader does what the card says, and the table gets three guesses. Whisper chain: whisper the sentence from ear to ear, then compare the last version with the card. Higher or lower: the person the card asks about knows the number, and the rest hear only higher or lower. These are folk games with no official rules.
The list on the page and what the phone remembers
All 158 cards are listed under the tool, game by game, so these family dinner table games also work with the phone in a pocket: use your browser's Print command and the list prints with the page. One note is in the list only, on the trick card of What changed on the table. A played card and the scores stay until Start over, or twelve idle hours.
- Open with Whisper chain on Easy. One sentence takes about a minute, needs no explaining, and gives even the quietest person a turn.
- In Guess who I am, hold a thumb over the end of the card while you read, so a neighbor cannot see the answer in brackets.
- Let the youngest be the changer first in What changed on the table. No card asks anyone to touch a knife, a candle or a hot dish.
- A player with a full mouth may point to the next person and take the turn after. Nobody talks while chewing.
- In a restaurant, keep to the quiet games: Guess who I am, Higher or lower, the market chain and One word at a time.
Questions and answers
What are good family games to play at dinner with little kids?
Tap Easy in the Level row: 64 cards are Easy, and every game has some. Guess who I am on Easy is all animals, such as a snail, a penguin and a rooster, and What changed on Easy is big moves, such as Put your napkin on your head.
How do we keep score?
Make Kids Team 1 and Grown-ups Team 2. On the end card, give +1 for a right guess in Guess who I am, a change spotted in three guesses, a whisper that arrives intact, or a Higher or lower number found in five guesses. In the chain and story games, a player who drops an item, says two words or stalls for a count of five hands the other side a point.
What is the timer for?
Most of these games need no clock. For a speed round of Guess who I am, press Play a 1-minute round and read clue after clue, pressing Next card after each right guess; at the bell the end card says how many cards the table got through.
What else can we play at the table without props?
Three more family table games have pages of their own: 20 questions deals a secret thing to guess, the category game rolls a letter and a list of categories, and the word association game deals a starter word for a chain. For talk instead of a contest, try would you rather questions or fun conversation starters.