We love game nights in our house. As a family, we all really enjoy sitting around the kitchen table several nights per week playing board games. Whilst we love playing games, everybody has their own very different favourites – a bit of action, logic, strategy and trivia, so deciding what to play can sometimes be a bit of a negotiation.
There is one type of game that we all like playing – trivia/quiz games. There is a problem with trivia games as ones that are suitable for adults are generally too hard for the children and ones suitable for the children can be far too easy for the adults or based around topics of children’s television shows, YouTubers and pop music which a lot of adults know very little about. Some games we adapt to suit the children as well as adult players, or we play in teams and try to involve the children as much as possible. But we have found a new quiz game that is suitable for all the family, including children of varying ages – Family Quiz Night from Cheatwell Games.
Family Quiz Night is an all-inclusive trivia board game for 2 or more players age 8+. It can be played as individual players or in teams of kids versus adults. So that the questions are not too hard/too easy for different age groups the question cards have two question options on them – one for adults and one for kids. To make it inclusive for younger children, teens and adults the best part is that younger children are asked the kids question complete with multiple choice options, older children/teens have the same question but without the multiple choice options, and adults will get a completely different and more challenging question (without multiple choice options). This makes it a trivia game that the whole family can play together at the same time on a level playing field and more suited to the different age ranges. The idea of the game is to move your playing counter around the board from the start to finish lines by answering questions on various topics.
Box contents:
- 8 Decks of Questions Cards
- Playing Board
- 6 Playing Counters
- Die
- Rules
Setting up the game is very simple. Place the playing board in the centre of table so that all players can see it easily and are able to reach their playing piece. The board is quite small (approximately 10×10 inches) but space on it has been maximised to get as many question spaces on the board as possible by working from the outside in towards the centre finish line. The question cards have eight categories and each deck of category question cards need to be shuffled and placed in their own card compartment in the box with the category names facing forward.
Question Categories:
- T.V.
- Movies
- Geography
- History
- Music
- People
- Science & Nature
- Pot Luck
All players start on the start square and take it in turns to roll the die (only has the numbers 1, 2, and 3) and move their playing piece accordingly that number of spaces around the board. That player is then asked a question (by the player on their left) from that category they have landed on – if answered correctly, that player moves their playing piece forward the required number of spaces and that category square will be the question category for their next turn. If answered incorrectly, that player leaves their playing piece where it is and has to answer a question from that same category on their next turn. The first player or team to make their way around the board to the finish square is the winner.
Overall, we adore this game. As a trivia/quiz game for the whole family to play together, it really works. Having two sets of questions on each card (the top question on the card is the children’s question, the bottom question is for the adults to answer) with different ways to answer depending on age of player makes it inclusive for all, the youngest players don’t feel left out with having to answer question beyond their years, older players are not left answering questions that are too easy, and it actually gives everybody an equal chance of winning (in our first game, the 12 year old was victorious).
The categories are varied and cover a wide range of topics (geography seemingly the downfall of every player in our house, we all had our fingers crossed that we could avoid these squares) but we think that the questions are pitched at the correct level for most average players.
One of the features of the game that caught own attention first (before playing) was actually inside the box – with eight decks of cards to use, the box has its own box insert that is also used as place holders for each category card set during game play. The cards stand up in their own little compartments whilst playing, making it so easy to find the question cards (and keeps everything neat and tidy). When the game is finished and it is time to pack up, the cards are already packed away in their own little space. A simple addition to the box, but one that does make a very big difference by not having to lay everything out on the table.
Family Quiz Night is a fun family trivia game that really is all-inclusive with graded questions suitable for kids and adults so that all players have an equal opportunity to join in and even win, the youngest players are able to play against adults without being disadvantaged. Game play is approx. 1 hour for 4 players (for us anyway) and we thought this was about the correct length to be long enough to enjoy and keep the children’s attention.
We have all really enjoyed playing Cheatwell Games Family Quiz Night, the kids loved being able to join in (and being able to beat the adults) and us adults enjoyed it as we could play a more “grown-up” game but with the kids, without having to come up with our own adaptations so that they were able to join in. Both children keep asking to play it, so it gets their seal of approval meaning that it can’t be a bad game.
An excellent fun and entertaining trivia game that families can enjoy together, with lots of laughter too. So easy to set up and play with simple rules of play that everybody can easily understand. It can also be played adult vs adult, child vs child, kids vs adults and as individuals or teams. It really is a very versatile game. Hopefully expansion question card sets will be available in the future so that we can refresh the questions as this is going to be a favourite for a very long time (note: there are 1200 questions with the game so we won’t get through them that quickly).
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £30
For more information, visit cheatwell.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
