WIRED updates family board game guide with 35 screen-free titles
The publication’s July 2026 revision removes Monopoly and Scrabble in favour of strategy games like Azul and MicroMacro: Crime City, while advising families to ban phones and set time limits.
WIRED published an updated edition of its guide titled "The 35 Best Board Games for Family Game Night" on 20 July 2026. The list features 35 titles designed to encourage screen-free entertainment, highlighting specific games such as Boss Fighters QR, MicroMacro: Crime City, and Azul. The update, which includes new additions like Sell Me a Sasquatch and In a World, was curated with input from the author’s children, who are now aged 14 and 17.
The article provides practical advice for hosting game nights, including setting time limits, banning phones, and selecting cooperative games to mitigate conflict. It notably excludes traditional classics such as Monopoly, Clue, and Scrabble. The guide focuses on games that move away from screen-based entertainment, although some titles like Boss Fighters QR incorporate mobile apps for strategic deck-building.
Several older games were removed from the list during this update, and prices for some games were updated in the July 2026 revision. The author notes that their children, now aged 14 and 17, helped select the games, having been aged 8 and 11 when the guide was first written. The publication suggests cooperative games for competitive families to avoid arguments, citing titles like Pandemic and Horrified as effective tools for smoothing over sibling rivalries.
The guide offers tips for a successful game night, including watching YouTube tutorials for rules, preparing snacks in advance, using themed soundtracks, ensuring good visibility, and allowing children to take turns picking games. Specific titles mentioned include MicroMacro: Crime City—Full House at $35 and Horrified: American Monsters at $40, though the publication notes these prices may vary by retailer and region.
The source text contains an internal date inconsistency: the summary states the guide was published on 20 July 2026, while the text body mentions "Updated July 2026" but also references the author's eldest child being 13 in the description of Catan, which conflicts with the stated current ages of 14 and 17. Despite this, the core event remains the publication of the revised 35-game list aimed at modern family leisure.
