Snow Day Games for a Houseful of All Ages

The best snow day games are the ones you can start in under a minute, plus one long project that can run in the background all day. Have a few no-prep games for the morning, a jigsaw or long co-op for the afternoon, and a couple of games that work by lantern light in case the power goes out.

A snow day is a gift with no plan attached. Everyone is home, nobody is going anywhere, and the hours can drift toward screens or toward each other. A small stack of games tips the balance.

The quick answer: For no prep, play Twenty Questions, Charades, or Spoons with a deck of cards. For an all-day project, set out a jigsaw puzzle or a co-op like Pandemic. If the power goes out, play Skull or spoken games by lantern. For kids on their own, Outfoxed! and Spot It!. For the whole house, Just One or Telestrations.

Snow day games at a glance

Prices are what we found at the time of writing.

What are the best no-prep snow day games?

Start with games that need nothing but people. They get everyone into the same room before anyone reaches for a tablet.

• Twenty Questions. One person thinks of anything. Everyone else gets twenty yes-or-no questions to guess it. Works from about age 5 up.
• Charades. Write movies, animals, or book titles on scraps of paper, or just make them up on the spot. Act them out in teams.
• Fishbowl. Everyone writes five names or things on slips. Round one, describe them. Round two, one word only. Round three, act them out. The same slips come back each round, so the jokes build.
• Spoons. With a regular deck of cards and one fewer spoon than players, pass cards around the circle looking for four of a kind. When someone grabs a spoon, everyone grabs. Whoever misses out gets a letter. Loud, fast, and good for burning off energy.
• Paper games. Dots and boxes, hangman, and tic-tac-toe ask for one pencil. They are perfect for two kids at the kitchen table while breakfast cooks.

Our family game night rules has more on keeping these friendly when siblings get competitive.

Which games can run all day?

A snow day has a long middle. A background game fills it. People drift in for ten minutes, wander off, and come back.

A jigsaw puzzle

The classic snow day project. Set a 500 to 1,000 piece puzzle on a card table or a spare corner of the dining table and leave it there all day. Kids can sort edges, adults can work the sky, and nobody has to stay for the whole thing. Most 1,000-piece puzzles cost about $15 to $25. For a group version with timers and teams, see our puzzle night ideas.

A long co-op

A cooperative game lets the whole house play on one team against the board. Two good ones:

• Pandemic from Z-Man Games. Players are disease specialists racing to cure four outbreaks around the world. Two to four players, about 45 minutes, ages 8 and up. It lists at $49.99 at the Asmodee store, where it was sold out at the time of writing; other retailers had it for about $36 to $50. Play two or three games in a row, raising the difficulty each time, and it fills an afternoon.
• Forbidden Island from Gamewright. Players collect four treasures from a sinking island and escape before it floods. Two to four players, about 30 minutes, ages 10 and up per Gamewright. About $20 to $26 at the time of writing. It is an easier first co-op than Pandemic, and younger kids can play on a team with a grown-up.

Our comparison of Pandemic and Forbidden Island goes into which suits your house.

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What games can you play when the power goes out?

Heavy snow can bring down power lines. Board games need no outlets, which makes them the best thing in the house when the lights go out.

A few safety notes first. Battery lanterns and headlamps are safer than candles around kids and cards. If you do use candles, keep them in sturdy holders, well away from paper, and never leave them unattended. Keep everyone warm and close together, which is good for games anyway.

Then pick games that work in low light.

• Skull. Each player holds four coasters: three flowers and one skull. Players place them face down and bid on how many flowers they can flip without hitting a skull. There is almost nothing to read, so it plays well in dim light. Three to six players, about 30 minutes, ages 10 and up. Skull lists for about $20 and was about $17 at Target at the time of writing.
• A deck of cards. Go Fish, Crazy Eights, War, and Rummy all work under a single lantern. Big, clear card faces are easier to read than small text-heavy cards.
• Spoken games. Twenty Questions, the alphabet game (name an animal for each letter), and “Fortunately, Unfortunately,” where players take turns adding one sentence to a story that swings between good luck and bad. These need no light at all.
• Ghost. Players take turns adding a letter to a growing word. The player who completes a real word, or who cannot name a word their letters could spell, loses the round.

Skip games that depend on color or tiny print. They are frustrating by lantern light.

What games can kids play on their own?

Some snow day hours belong to the kids alone while adults shovel or work from the kitchen. These games teach in minutes, play without a referee, and stay friendly.

• Outfoxed! from Gamewright. A cooperative whodunit where players work together to find which fox stole a pot pie. Two to four players, about 20 minutes, ages 5 and up. About $25 to $29 at the time of writing. Because it is cooperative, there is less arguing.
• Spot It! A speed game of round cards where every pair shares exactly one symbol. Two to eight players, about 15 minutes, ages 6 and up. About $6 for the pocket edition at the Asmodee store, and up to about $15 for other editions.
• Qwixx A quick dice game where everyone marks numbers on a score sheet, even on other players’ turns. Two to five players, about 15 minutes, ages 8 and up. About $12 at Walmart at the time of writing. Good for older kids who like adding.

For more ideas, see our list of board games for winter break with kids.

What games work for the whole house at once?

At some point everyone ends up in the same room. Pick a game that seats a crowd and works across ages.

• Just One A cooperative word game. One player guesses a mystery word while everyone else writes a one-word clue. Matching clues cancel out, so you have to be clever. Three to seven players, about 15 to 20 minutes, ages 8 and up. Listed at $24.99 at the Asmodee store at the time of writing.
• Telestrations from The Op. It is the telephone game with drawing. Each player sketches a word, the next guesses it, the next draws the guess, and the results are often hilarious. Four to eight players, about 30 minutes, ages 12 and up. About $30 to $34 at major retailers at the time of writing.

Mixed tables with grandparents and little kids have their own needs. Our guide to board games for all ages has more picks that work from 6 to 86.

How do you plan a snow day full of games?

Loosely. A rough shape helps:

1. Morning: No-prep games while breakfast settles. Charades or Spoons.
2. Midday: Open the jigsaw. Leave it out all day.
3. Afternoon: A long co-op, or two or three short games in a row.
4. Kids’ hour: Hand over Outfoxed! or Spot It! and let them run it.
5. Evening: A whole-house game after dinner, or by lantern if the power is out.

If the house cannot agree on what to play, Game Night Madness is a free bracket app where everyone votes from their phone until one game wins. Keep the plan light. The best part of a snow day is that nobody has to be anywhere else. The game is the reason. The people are the point.

FAQ

What are good games to play on a snow day?

Twenty Questions and Spoons for no-prep fun, a jigsaw puzzle or Pandemic for an all-day project, and Just One or Telestrations when the whole house wants to play together.

What games can you play without electricity?

Any board or card game, plus spoken games like Twenty Questions. Skull and a standard deck of cards both play well by lantern light.

What games can young kids play alone?

Outfoxed! (ages 5 and up) and Spot It! (ages 6 and up) are easy to learn and need no adult to run them.

How do you keep a snow day from turning into screen time?

Set out one long project, like a jigsaw, and a few quick games before anyone asks for a screen. A game already on the table is easier to join than one in the closet.

A game for every kind of day

The Ludarium newsletter sends short guides like this one for snow days, holidays, and ordinary weeknights. Subscribe and you will have a game ready the next time everyone is stuck at home.