Waiting around at a restaurant is so boring. What do you do to pass the time with your hungry children? Well, if you are The Family Gamers, you play games, of course!

What is your favorite game to play in a restaurant?

First, we announce a new winner of the BattleGoats giveaway, since Spencer Williams (marriedwithbg.com) gracefully declined. The new winner is Harley Winfrey. Congratulations, Harley!

What we’ve been playing:

Pirate Ships

Mmm!

Tumble Tree

Parent Quiz

more Box of Rocks

Rare Replay – R.C. Pro-Am, Snake Rattle & Roll, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day (Note: Conker is DEFINITELY NOT for children. College-level humor.)

Overcooked

Special mention this week for our toddler’s current favorites: an interactive storybook for “Green Eggs & Ham”, and iWriteWords ($3) – if it sounds interesting, try iWriteWords Lite for free.

Sponsor

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Go to thefamilygamers.com/datenight for more information.

 

What Makes a Good Restaurant Game?

It should be small and easily portable.

You can use the tabletop, so it doesn’t have to be handheld like a car game.

You want it to be something that won’t delay your meal once it arrives, so the best choices either have short rounds or an undefined endpoint. If you want to play a game that is slightly more involved, it should be very easy to quickly pack up in a “saved” state and re-open to finish later.

Our Top Ten (ish) Games to Play in a Restaurant

Story Cubes (this is, without question, our #1 choice)

Zombie Dice and/or Batman the Animated Series Dice

Knot Dice (with a few caveats; these games are quick but most play best with only 2 players, as stated in our recent review, but the puzzles are good for co-operating)

Pass the Pigs

The Parent Quiz, Box of Rocks (in a noisy restaurant), or a similar lightweight trivia game

Zitternix – not as small as the other games, but still small enough to fit in a pencil case or quart sized zip-top bag

Scattergories – easy to stop the round when food arrives.

Digit’y Do would work well, as long as you bring an extra bag as a way to “save state” if the game gets interrupted.

If you didn’t come prepared with a game in your pocket, but you have access to a pencil and some paper, you can play Dots, also known as Dots and Boxes (Wikipedia has instructions)

If you do want to play a card game, the Card Caddy could help with transportation and saving state.