Games / Holiday Games to Play with Family
Holiday games to play with family
The best holiday games are the ones everybody can join in a minute. These are our games you can actually play together: pass one phone around the table, or connect two devices with a short room code when part of the family is far away. They're free and run in any browser.
Pass one phone around
Two to four players on one device · 5 games
10 minSavesPipfold
Five dice gameRoll five dice up to three times and fill a 13 box scorecard. Expected-value advice, five house players, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Tray.
10 minSavesFoxglove Farkle
FarkleRoll six dice, set aside the scorers and push your luck or bank. Real odds on every roll, Classic or Old style rules, five house players, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Posy.
10 minSavesMarigold Mini Golf
Mini golfReal 3D mini golf on six hand made courses: windmills, a pirate cove, temple gates, a ski lift, neon bumpers and a volcano. House players, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Nine.
10 minSavesPrimrose Paddocks
Dots and BoxesDraw a line, close a box, go again. Dots and boxes on notebook paper with a critter in every paddock: boards 3x3 to 8x8, five house players up to a chain expert, hints, undo and a game review, pass and play for 2 to 4, online with a friend and a Daily Paddocks.
Two players, one device
Head to head across the table · 11 games
10 minSavesDamson Drop
Four in a RowDrop a disc, line up four. Five house players up to a perfect expert, hints, undo and a game review, Drop or Pop and bigger boards, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Harvest.
10 minSavesSamphire Salvo
Sea battleHide your fleet, call your shots, sink theirs first. The classic pencil and paper sea battle with ships and splashes drawn by hand: quick, classic and big fleets, salvo and hit again rules, five house players up to an odds expert, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Fleet.
10 minSavesMulberry Mancala
MancalaSow seeds round a carved wooden board, capture and go again. Kalah and Oware, five house players up to a strong expert, hints, undo and a game review, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Sowing.
10 minSavesRosehip Reversi
ReversiTrap a line of discs and flip it your way. Five house players up to a strong expert, hints, undo and a game review, pass and play, online with a friend and a Daily Opening.
10 minSavesBracken Backgammon
BackgammonClassic backgammon with the doubling cube, match play and the Crawford rule. Five house players, hints and a game review, pass and play, online with a friend and Daily Dice.
10 minSavesSpite Street
Spite and MaliceSpite and Malice on a cozy street of animal neighbors. Race to empty your pay-off pile, keep your kings for the right moment, or pass and play on one device.
10 minSavesUpdraft Duel
Duel solitaireTwo balloon pilots get the same deal and race to empty their ballast. Share the sky piles, toss cards onto your rival and catch updrafts. Play the computer or pass and play.
Long playSavesKingsway Chess
ChessTravel the Kingsway and beat 30 rivals, up to an opponent no human has beaten. Puzzles, hints and game review, all free.
Around one table
Pass and play means one phone or tablet goes around the table and everyone takes a turn. These are the easiest games to start when the family is all in one room:
- Pipfold: roll five dice up to three times and fill a scorecard. Two to four players, each with their own column, and a turn takes under a minute.
- Foxglove Farkle: roll six dice, set aside the scorers and decide whether to push your luck or bank. Great for loud tables.
- Marigold Mini Golf: two to four golfers take turns stroke by stroke on real 3D courses, and every course is open in pass and play.
- Primrose Paddocks: dots and boxes for two to four. Who goes first moves around the table each game.
- Copper Pot Kitchen Family Cook-off: two to four cooks make the same easy dish with no clock, and the judges crown the best plate. Ties crown everyone.
When family is far away
These games have a play a friend mode that connects two devices: Cribbage Cabin, Pipfold, Foxglove Farkle, Marigold Mini Golf, Lamplight Pool, Bracken Backgammon, Rosehip Reversi, Damson Drop, Mulberry Mancala, Primrose Paddocks and Samphire Salvo. One of you makes a room and shares the short code or a link, and the other joins on their own phone or computer. It pairs nicely with a video call.
Copper Pot Kitchen has Cook together, where two cooks share one shift on two devices, and Iron Tide lets you battle with friends online.
Everyone on their own phone
Not every game needs turns. Our daily challenges give everyone the same puzzle that day, so the whole family can play on their own phones and compare at dinner. Try the Wrenword mini crossword, Letter Lantern or a Ninebark Sudoku daily, or see all our daily puzzles.
Quick picks by who's playing
- Grandparents and grandkids: Pipfold or Copper Pot's Family Cook-off. Both are easy to learn and luck keeps it close.
- Two card lovers: Cribbage Cabin, or Spite Street and Updraft Duel on one device.
- Thinkers: Kingsway Chess, Crown Jump Checkers, Bracken Backgammon or Rosehip Reversi, each with a two players on one device mode.
- Teens: Lamplight Pool with real pool physics, online or on one device.
- Little kids: our winter break learning games have no ads and no tracking.
Questions
What's a good online game to play with family?
For a group in one room, Pipfold and Foxglove Farkle are dice games for two to four on one device that anyone can learn in a minute. For family in another house, Cribbage Cabin, Marigold Mini Golf and Lamplight Pool connect two devices with a room code.
Do we need accounts to play together?
No. Pass and play works without an account. Playing a friend online only needs the room code or link.
How many people can play?
Pipfold, Foxglove Farkle, Marigold Mini Golf and Primrose Paddocks take up to four on one device, and so does the Copper Pot Family Cook-off. Playing a friend online is for two people, one on each device.
Are these games free?
Yes. They're free in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to download.