Ideas for · 2 min read · updated

Family game night ideas you make yourself

Store-bought games don't have Uncle Dave in them. These do, which is more fun for everyone except Uncle Dave.

The short answer

Make the family the game: a jigsaw puzzle with a relative hidden somewhere in a crowd of hundreds, a contest to design the best flag for a made-up nation with a built-in critic keeping score, or a mock trial for whoever finished the leftovers.

The picks

  1. A jigsaw puzzle of a crowded wedding party with a missing person case card in the corner, made with Find Dave
    Puzzles & flags

    Find Dave

    A jigsaw with family members hidden in a crowd at the beach, a ski lodge, a wedding, a concert or the office, with look-alikes in the same outfit. From 252 pieces up to a 1,000-piece tin.

    Makes: Jigsaw puzzle

  2. A navy, teal and yellow flag with a star on a flagpole, made with Flag Foundry
    Puzzles & flags

    Flag Foundry

    A flag-design contest with a critic that docks points for too many colours and calls a one-colour flag a bedsheet. Print the winner as a garden flag with the nation's name on it.

    Makes: Flag

  3. A courtroom sketch of a cat in a suit on trial, in a red oak frame, made with Courtroom Sketch
    Walls & mugs

    Courtroom Sketch

    A mock trial for the family's pettiest crime, with a case number, a ruling, a verdict stamp and a framed sketch of the defendant on the stand. The dog can stand trial in a tiny suit.

    Makes: Framed print

  4. A sticker sheet of six round merit badges under a Merit Badges of Adulthood banner, made with Merit Badges
    Stickers & patches

    Merit Badges

    Merit badges handed out at the end of the night: Stuck to the List, Asleep Before Midnight, whatever the family survived this year. One sticker sheet everyone can split.

    Makes: Sticker sheet, holo sticker or patch

Three games that run themselves

  • Find the relative. Hide one to three family members (or the dog) in a Find Dave puzzle. Build it together, and whoever spots each face first wins. The case card in the corner has their mugshots and three clues.
  • Flag-off. Everyone designs a flag for the family's made-up nation on their phone in Flag Foundry. Its critic scores each one out of 100 against the five rules of flag design and says exactly what it thinks. Highest score gets printed.
  • The trial. Everyone argues about who the defendant should be and what the charge is. Type the winner into Courtroom Sketch, let the court rule, and hang the framed sketch by the fridge.

Make it harder for the puzzle experts

If your family finishes puzzles in an evening, go fiendish: smaller heads, a packed crowd, lots of look-alikes in the same outfit, and the photo faded toward the crowd's colours. The 1,000-piece tin on fiendish holds around 850 people. Leave off the case card if you want them to work out who's missing too.

Questions people ask

How do I make a custom jigsaw puzzle for game night?

On Find Dave, pick one to three photos, choose a scene and a difficulty, and it builds a crowd with your people hidden in it. It comes as a 252 or 520 piece puzzle, or a 500 or 1,000 piece tin.

Is Find Dave too hard for kids?

Pick easy: bigger heads, a looser crowd and only a few look-alikes. At least one clue on the case card names the landmark the first person is hiding near.

Can we play the flag game without printing anything?

Yes. Designing and scoring flags on Flag Foundry works on any phone. Printing the winner is optional.