Not sure what games to play at your next family reunion? Well, it’s totally understandable. Let’s face it – arranging a family reunion by accommodating everyone’s schedules takes a lot of work. When you finally manage to make it happen, you’d want to make it as enjoyable and memorable as possible for everyone. Games are, of course, one of the best ways to enjoy a great time with your family. The trouble lies in finding a game that would be equally enjoyable for everyone. Let’s explore some of the best family reunion games for kids and adults alike.
1. Laser tag
If you have young kids in the family, a laser tag party is the best way for everyone to engage in a thrilling yet fun recreational sport. For those unaware of laser tag, it’s a popular sport where players battle with electronic toy guns that shoot beams of infrared light. Despite the name, these guns don’t actually use real lasers and the infrared rays are completely harmless.
Finding a laser tag arena shouldn’t be much of an issue – countless amusement parks and clubs in the States offer laser tag facilities. All you need to do is book your sessions, put on your laser tag gear, and have a blast with your family.
2. Gel blaster games
Maybe you like the idea of a real-life multiplayer game but laser tag feels too vanilla and unrealistic? After all, laser tag guns don’t shoot any actual projectiles and the IR light beams are invisible to the human eye. A game of gel blasting (often known as splatter ball) might be just what you need. The concept remains the same – it’s a real-life simulation of multiplayer games. However, gel blasters shoot water-filled polymer beads called gellets that splatter upon impact.
Blasting at each other with these soft water beads can guarantee hours of fun for players of every age. Though it involves actual projectiles, the gel beads are soft and don’t hurt much. Make sure everyone wears protective eyewear, though. Like laser tag, gel blaster games can be played at dedicated arenas too.
If you are more interested in laser tag and gel blaster games, visit ThrilloGaming.com, a website with excellent resources for recreational sports enthusiasts. You will find many tips, strategies, guides, and reviews of these games and related gears.
3. Water balloon toss
In case you’d prefer a game that can be played in your yard and doesn’t need any special equipment, try water balloon toss. This is a rather simple game where the players are divided into teams of two. Teammates stand facing each other, two feet apart and toss a water balloon between them.
Any team that pops the water balloon while tossing it between them is eliminated. Players take a step back after each successful toss, increasing the distance for the next toss. Ultimately, the last standing team, i.e., the team that manages to toss the balloon for the farthest distance without causing it to pop is declared the winner.
4. Paintball
How about a recreational sport where everyone splatters each other with dye-filled capsules? That’s exactly what paintball is about. This is yet another real-life multiplayer shooter sport, where players try to eliminate each other with paintball guns. However, unlike gel blaster ammo, paintballs are gelatin capsules filled with dye. Upon impact, the capsules break apart and splatter the target with paint.
Paintball arenas are usually themed and detailed to replicate a gaming experience. This recreational sport is recommended primarily for older kids and adults since younger children are more vulnerable to injuries. Though it’s perfectly safe to play paintball as long as you wear the necessary protective clothing and gear, the paintballs are larger and heavier than gal blaster and airsoft pellets.
5. Ping pong toss
If you’d rather play a simple indoor game, ping pong toss can be quite fun. To put it simply, the game involves bouncing a ping pong ball off the surface of a table and making it land inside a cup. All you need are a few plastic cups, ping pong balls, a permanent marker, and some water.
Use the marker to label different value points on the cups and then fill them with water. The weight of the water would help keep the cups from topping over, and of course, it’s fun to watch the water splash out each time a ball lands in a cup.
The cups are to be placed in a triangular formation on the table. Players should stand in designated spots, from where they’d throw the balls and attempt to make them land in the cups after bouncing off the table. Each successful toss gives the players the number of score points marked on the cup. The game lasts for five rounds and the player to have the highest score at the end of these five rounds is the winner.
6. Scavenger hunt
This classic game is a great game to keep kids entertained while helping develop their problem-solving skills. A game of scavenger hunt involves searching for and finding specific items or solving puzzles for clues that ultimately lead to a hidden treasure. Depending on the number of players, you may either get them to play individually or as teams.
Scavenger hunt is a particularly fun activity when camping outdoors, since you get plenty of space to utilize and hiding spots to conceal the clues or the treasure. Just make to have adults watching over the kids for the sake of safety and to make sure they don’t get lost. Specify a perimeter for the kids to stay inside – they shouldn’t get too far away from the campsite. Though this game is primarily for kids, you may involve the adults in setting up the game, creating puzzles, etc.
7. Monopoly
This board game doesn’t really need a special introduction – you have probably played it already. What could possibly be a better way to enjoy a relaxing evening with your family at home than to play monopoly together? While outdoor games that involve more physical activity might be more fun, board games like monopoly are perfect for the elderly members of the family. Despite its seemingly relaxed nature, a game of monopoly can get intensively competitive.
There’s no dearth of fun activities that you could try during your next family reunion. Ideally, it would be best to plan a mix of indoor and outdoor games that’ll help everyone have a gala time. Recreational sports like laser tag, paintball, and airsoft are the best due to all the teamwork, strategy, and activity involved in them. However, pretty much any game that would be enjoyed by everyone should do.