10+ Fabulous Games That Don’t Require Reading

Piles
If we are talking about one of the most popular games in our house right now, this is it! It is so fast-paced, and large groups of people can play at a time. It’s a simple card game where you have to match clothing items – so no reading required at all!

Gnoming Around
This is a really beautifully illustrated card game version of Golf, where you’re going for the lowest possible score. Tally and I play this one together all the time, but you can have a whole bunch of people play too, which is great.

Set
I grew up playing this pattern spotting game and now my girls love to play it too. This is a great one for a group or just two people (in fact, Tally loves to play it on her own!).

Bears & Bees
This is a simple but surprisingly fun game where you’re matching colors to make a giant beehive. It’s pretty quick and has a small deck, so it’s perfect for taking along with you or playing a quick game before dinner or bedtime. (Do I always accidentally call it “the birds and the bees”? Yes, I do). Also, it’s just so PRETTY.

Spot It
Spot It is a long-time family favorite that’s been getting a lot of play time in our family recently as Tally discovers the joy of this super simple game.

Qwixx
We learned this over the summer with Bart’s family. We played it nonstop and I absolutely love it! (There is both a card version and a dice version – they’re pretty similar, so if you already own the dice version, it’s probably not worth buying the card version).

QWIRKLE
This was a game we gave our girls as a family gift for Christmas and it has been a big hit. It’s so fun that we can all play it together and it doesn’t take that long. Plus, it’s just so pretty – think of it like Scrabble but with shapes and colors.

Azul
We got hooked on it this game over Christmas break several years ago when some friends of ours brought it over and taught it to us. It’s kind of a pattern making game and it’s easy to learn but has enough strategy to keep it interesting game after game.

Splendor
This was our game of 2020. We played it with Ella (and sometimes Ani) at least a few times a week and Bart and I often played 2-3 games of it in a row several nights a week after the girls went to bed (this is what happens when you don’t have any show you’re watching). I LOVE this game and if I had to choose a single favorite game, it would be this one!

Enchanted Forest 
I grew up playing this game and it’s one I still really enjoy playing with my girls. You zip around the enchanted forest peeking under trees and trying to find (and remember!) where the fairy tale story accessories are hidden.

Sequence
I love this simple game of cards and tokens. Work with your teammate or on your own to get a sequence of five tokens in a row on the game board!

Karuba
I gave this one to Bart for Christmas but mainly Ella and I or Tally and I play (you can play with up to four people). You use tiles to build a path from your four starting points to your four end points, hoping to get there before your teammates and it’s quite different from any of our other games. I especially love this one!