Good games for Friday Night Family Night??

My DD1 is 9 yo and for a long time we've tried to set Friday evenings aside as a family night - no telly, just dinner together (usually takeaway or something easy so no one's stuck in the kitchen) and then a game or activity.

However, all the old trusties - Monopoly, Connect 4, Battleship and Uno - are getting BORING (played them too many times). Also word and spelling games are no good cos I win them all the time and no one else enjoys themselves (count out Scrabble and Boggle). We recently stumbled across Cluedo and we're all having a ball with it - it's the first game we've played that we've enjoyed as much as DD.

Does anyone have any other ideas for good board games or card games that are going to engage all the family?

What about some of the interactive ones with the DVD's etc? Spicks and Specks (on the ABC) have released a DVD game recently which I am going to get (more for DH and I though LOL). But there is a trivial pursuit game with a DVD out now too I think. Turn your TV on now though Marydean - being a Saturday morning it is saturated with ads for games etc, especially now it's getting closer to Christmas.

we've had a few games nights lately with my brother and his family - there are a few disney based games out there that are good fun - disney labyrinth/trivial pursuit have been hits here - the different "scene-it" games.... ummmm don't you hate it when you forget what you've played only a couple of weeks back!

oooh, yahtzee is always an old favourite to fall back on too...

Thanks for the tip Sherie, I normally have the tv off this time of day for the very same reason LOL! DD loves Spicks & Specks but we mostly don't know the answers...I wonder if they have the same in an Einstein Factor edition LOL the interactive trivial pursuit sounds good.

Yahtzee - ooooh, that would work a treat, B's girl - will look out for the labyrinth one (sounds intriguing)!

I did type out an answer but must not have hit send. I was going to recommend what Sherie did. We have Disney DVD trivial pursuit and Paris loves it We also have LOTR Trivial pursuit and Scene it

What about Scattergories or Pictionary!!?

Pictionary is great because being a bit older doesn't help. Me and my 8yo niece make a great pictionary team because we seem to understand each others insane scribbles while everyone just doesn't get it lol.
Also it's played in teams so it makes sibling work together.

I just remembered that there are only 3 of you lol.

Scattergories is fun but you might have the same problem as scrabble etc.

ETA - What about SingStar? Do you have a play station? I geuss there are other karaoke games available that you play through you TV.

OoooOoooo Singstar definitely, as well as guitar hero & Buzz (the buzz games are great!)

my family used to play charades - you don't need any special equipment and it's a hoot n a holler.

game of life (board game) I used to love as a kid
cranium (and I think there is a kids version) cause it has a mix of trivia, charades, pictionary etc.
good old twister
a big puzzle if you've got room to store it half done from week to week

Some really fantastic suggestions and no doubt I'll come back to this thread next year too. Chloe, charades is a great idea, we tried it when she was younger and she just didn't grasp it, but she'll love it now (and has a fantastic memory for films and movies too).

*Update* We settled on the electronic "Deal or No Deal" (which conveniently happened to be heavily discounted at Big W) and we also got a Trivial Pursuit (some junior edition).

We love Sing star!! DH even gets into it, Erin thinks its hilarious, Jess just wants to disown us LOL

Oh I'd LOOOOVE sing star but we don't have a playstation. I'm a closet karaoke addict.

what "who am I?" or "celebrity head"

Put a post-it note on your forehead with somebody famous on it, you can only ask yes & no questions to work out who you are. You could theme it.

We've done it with Brat Pack movies of the 80s (both actors and characters).

We've got a PS2 (about to get a PS3) and we love singstar and the dancemat games (exercise while having fun), so is the eyetoy games (which is always a hit at dinner parties when everybody has had a few - watching grown men attempt to "wash windows" with arms flailing is always highly amusing). With PS3 being released, maybe your local EB games or even trading post/ebay will have a cheap PS2 going. I know our personal message centre at work (where people post things for sale) has had a few for sale lately (with games).

Look on ebay for a PS2 as well. Celebrity Head is great, I do it with the kids at school.

How about making a scrapbook together? Is she crafty? I'm not LOL... or even more creative making furniture, like a picture frame and decorate it... Better Homes & Gardens has some great & easy ideas for that. I would love to do a mosaic table.

We play music together, a jazz like thing & give Matilda some drum gear to play along. or percussion.

Card games, like pincoccle or lollie poker...

Have you tried Sequence? It's fun and very simple to learn - a combination of a board and a card game. The concept is basic - make a row of five chips on the board, based on what cards you have in your hand, but you can learn strategy that makes it fun for all ages.
We used to play scattegories without the actual game bought from the store. We would think of ten categories, (ie. body of water, plants, foods, colours, famous people, etc.) then pick a letter, and set a time limit. Everyone had to write down something for each category starting with that letter before the time was up. Then we all read off our words, one category at a time. If any one else had the same word, we lost a point. Each word started with a 10 point value. (So if I wrote down alligator, but my mum and sister did too, it was worth 8 points for each of us.)
And, have you tried speed scrabble? You play without a board, and each person makes their own set-up of words in front of them. You start with 7 letters, and as soon as one person has their seven letters made into words (that connect as they must on a scrabble board) he/she says "pick four" and everyone must pick up four new letters to add to the words in front of them. Again, when one person has used all their letters, everyone must pick up four new ones. The idea is not to get left behind with a pile of unused letters! When there are no letters left to pick up on the table, the first person to use up everything in their hand says "stop", and everyone must stop, and count any letters left in their hand as points against them. (according to the point value on the piece.) Then you count up all the points in the words you made in front of you, and total your score. It's simpler than scrabble, and you don't have to think of long words at all, or worry about placing them strategically on the board, so it's easier for kids. We have a lot of fun with it.
Hope you find something good!

Christy, I'd love to play a musical instrument but usually it's just percussion and dancing at my house! Scrapbooking is a good idea but it will exclude DH.

Cricket I've never heard of sequence but I have memories of playing scattergories the way you've described them. Speed scrabble sounds good too.