# Family game night ideas you make yourself

URL: https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/ideas/family-game-night-ideas/
Updated: 2026-10-23

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

**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. [Find Dave](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/puzzle/) (Jigsaw puzzle): 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.
2. [Flag Foundry](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/flag/) (Flag): 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.
3. [Courtroom Sketch](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/court/) (Framed print): 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.
4. [Merit Badges](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/badges/) (Sticker sheet, holo sticker or patch): 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.

## Three games that run themselves

- **Find the relative.** Hide one to three family members (or the dog) in a [Find Dave](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/puzzle/) 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](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/flag/). 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](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/court/), 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.

## Or just make one

- [Find Dave](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/puzzle/): Hide your friend in a crowd and make the family find them.
- [Flag Foundry](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/flag/): Make up a country. Design its flag. Fly it.
- [Courtroom Sketch](https://madeupmerch.jackmccarthy020.workers.dev/court/): Put your roommate on trial. Get the courtroom sketch.