Four Classic Games that are Still Fun Today

It's been almost ten minutes since Mom started her turn, and I am pretty sure there is no way to get the tiles back to their original configuration again, so we’re stuck. This might not sound like fun, but the first game on our list of classics is a puzzler called Rummikub. It’s pronounced “roomie cube”, by the way. People were doing clever spellings even back in 1977 when this was first published. 

In this classic you are placing tiles numbered 1-13, in four different colors, in either sets of the same number, but not matching colors, or in a numerical run of the same color. The "puzzly" part is that you can take a tile from your board and shuffle previously played tiles on the table in different ways to make your tile fit. There are two wild joker tiles that can replace previously played tiles as well.

Despite being nearly 50 years old, Rummikub still shines at the family game table. Even young children get the concept and can play with adults (with a little help). The game has spawned a dedicated fan site and annual tournaments. They have a running list of famous people who play the game including Gal Gadot and Rebel Wilson. 

Players: 2-4

Ages: 6+

Time: 45 min, but can be longer. We never play with the included sand timer. Maybe we should. 🤔

Buy it here

The oldest game on the list was first published in 1956. I was reintroduced to this game a few years ago visiting an inmate in prison. As you might imagine, the prison board game collection is pitiful. But we pulled it out and found the fun again.  Each player is on the verge of winning at the same time... every game. The first person to finish yells “Rack-O” (quietly in the prison - no reason to alarm the guards), and inevitably everyone else was “just one card away!”

In Rack-O, a simple deck of cards numbering 1-60 is shuffled and 10 cards are dealt face down to each player. Players then place the cards in the order they were dealt into a card holding tray. The game involves drawing and discarding cards one at a time, and swapping with a card in your tray until the cards are all in ascending numerical order. Extra points for closing gaps in the numbers, but we almost never do. Ironically, I know of no other game that uses this precise mechanism. 

Players: 2-4

Ages: 8+

Time: 30 min

Buy it here

Fast forward a couple of decades for this next one. You would think a board with 34 moving tiles shifting all the time would be a total mess, but it works. Labyrinth was first published in 1986 and I have lots of fond memories of playing with my brothers. 

The mechanism here is simple. Each turn you take the one spare tile that is not on the board and slide it into one of the rows or columns, pushing the other tiles. Each tile has a path printed on it that opens, or closes, trails that you can then move your playing piece along. Players can be pushed off the edge of the board and reappear on the other side. Each player has a treasure card they are trying to run down, but often the path will shift before it gets to your turn, sometimes helping and sometimes frustrating. 

There are lots of variations that have been published since the game first came out. Publisher Ravensburger claims 60 different variations, including Harry Potter, Star Wars and we recently picked up a Pokémon version. No reading required, making this a good one for young pre-readers. 

Players: 2-4

Ages: 5+

Time: 20 min

Buy it here

At what point is a game a classic? There are lots of older games, but when I think about older games that get to the table, this one immediately comes to mind. It is coming up on its 30th anniversary so it makes the list. How good is Five Crowns? For some reason we have 2-3 extra copies in our collection all the time, including unopened sets and sets that are so worn and tattered that they really need to be tossed. This great little card game comes out to the table at family gatherings on a regular basis. 

Each round, the count of cards in your hand goes up, starting at three. The wild cards are the round number. Meaning if you have four cards in your hand, then fours are wild. It trips players up from time to time, and inevitably someone at the table suddenly realizes the hand they thought was terrible is actually full of wild cards. 

Players take turns drawing and discarding to make sets and runs, and once someone goes out, everyone else gets just one more turn to try to lay down cards and avoid the big penalty points. The wild scoring swings keep everyone in the game right up until the end. The only downside is that it can be tough for young hands to hold all 13 cards for the last round, but they usually get by.   

Players: 1-7 and yes, there is a really decent solo player puzzle that comes with the game.

Ages: 8+

Time: 30 min

Buy it here