Games To Play With The Family

Are all the relatives crashing at your place for the Thanksgiving break? Keep everyone sane with these wholesome, accessible picks.

Even though you may just want to jump into a round of Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer or slay some targets in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, they’re not the best thing to play around kids or grandparents. Plus, it sequesters you away from everyone. Most of the games below feature simultaneous local multiplayer or addictive pass-the-controller gameplay.

Wii 
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (pictured)
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Mario Kart Wii
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Guilty Party

Nintendo has mostly avoided the more sophisticated online features of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network in favor of local multiplayer. This makes the console perfect for family gaming. Kirby and DK are excellent games and incorporate two-player co-op throughout the entire experience. The two Mario titles best that with four-player simultaneous action (just make sure you’ve got a stack of controllers). Guilty Party is Disney’s modern take on Clue will pit you against three other family members to solve the mystery at hand.


Sports
Kinect Sports (pictured)
Wii Sports Resort
Sports Champions

After eating all that turkey, it’s important to at least pretend you’re playing sports and burning calories. All three major console developers now have a solid motion controlled sports option that anyone can pick up and play, though you have to buy Kinect or Move to play the Xbox or PlayStation offerings.


Music
Dance Central (pictured)
Just Dance 2
Glee Karaoke Revolution
Rock Band 3
DJ Hero 2

Music, whether playing it or dancing to it, is a guaranteed way to break down generational walls. Everyone is equally embarrassed by dancing games, but it’s impossible not to have fun shaking it to Lady Gaga when the moves are spelled out for you on screen. Kids love it and adults will get a kick out of watching crazy Uncle Larry get low. Megahit TV show Glee has its own karaoke game, so pop this in if you want to be the hero of Thanksgiving. Rock Band and DJ Hero are proven crowd pleasers, and the former can now accommodate three singers, bass, guitar, keyboard, and a drummer at a time so no one has to wait long for a turn.


Classics Revisited
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (download only, pictured at top of story)
Pinball FX2 (download, pictured above)

Both of these titles are great for pass around play to see who can get the best score in the family. The best part is that everyone young or old knows how to play Pac-Man and pinball so the controller intimidation factor is dramatically reduced.


Quiz
Buzz!: Quiz World (pictured)
Scene It? Box Office Smash

Whether you have a PS3 or 360, you’ve got a good trivia game available. Sony’s Buzz covers a variety of subjects while the 360’s Scene It focuses entirely on movies. Both offer longer and shorter game types for up to four players using custom buzzer controllers.


Mixed Bag
LittleBigPlanet
Hasbro Family Game Night
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (download only, pictured)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

LittleBigPlanet 2 may be just on the horizon, but the first game is still an excellent four-player platformer. Plus, there’s always a new crazy user-created level to try out. Chances are it’s been a long time since you dipped into the well even if you’re a big fan. Family Game Night has the word “family” right in the title so you know you’re set. Preserve some closet space and pick up any of the three volumes to get classic games like Life, Battleship, and Connect 4 crammed onto a small disc. Scott Pilgrim is an awesome 4-player brawler in the vein of Double Dragon and Final Fight that you don’t have to be a fan of the source material to love. LEGO Star Wars is still the crown jewel of the LEGO games, and with all six movies in one game you just can’t get a better deal.