The one who hosts game night

The one who hosts game night clears the table to put something more important on it. The cupboard is full, so what you give has to be a classic that is somehow not in it, or something that is over in twenty minutes and then goes again.

The tile game is runs and groups, rearranged endlessly, the one that comes out at every family gathering and is still going when the dishes are done. The best board games.

A dice game with worms is roll, push your luck, or stop. Over in twenty minutes, and then once more, because the last round was unfair. The best dice games.

The classic dice game with a cup is five dice, a scoresheet and a leather cup. Everybody's grandparents played it, and it turns out they were right. The best dice games.

A hopping-rabbit game has a rabbit that jumps when you press its tail, and a carrot patch to hop into. It is for the youngest player at the table, and everyone else joins in anyway. The best action games.

A party game for big groups asks you to guess what the herd will answer. The more people, the funnier it gets, and it does not need a table at all. The best card games.

And a thousand-piece puzzle, Bambi, for the evenings when nobody wants to play against anybody and the table is taken anyway. Compare more puzzles.

A memory game with beavers asks you to remember what is face down and bluff about the rest. Ten minutes a round, and the youngest usually wins. The best card games.

And a spotting game about the ocean: find the creature before anyone else on a board that is a circle. The fish keep coming, and so do the arguments. The best board games.