When it comes to facilitating family engagement, the best technology is the kind that disappears into the experience. In other words, if you're going to play a digital game with your family, ask yourself this... when you're telling stories or laughing about something that happened in the game, what are you talking about? Are you talking about the actual technology? If so, you're probably doing it wrong. The things you remember about family game time should be the personal interactions between members. You should laugh at dad because he did something goofy, not because he didn't know how to add experience points to his avatar. These apps will leave you with good stories....
Heads Up
This app came from the Ellen Degeneres show and is one of the most entertaining of apps I've seen in a while. One player holds the phone/tablet on his forehead while his teammates try to get him to guess what word is on the screen before the timer runs out. Guess it right and tilt the screen down to get points and a new word, tilt up to pass. There are a ton of different categories and subtle changes that have a dramatic impact on how the game is played. I recently played with my extended family (men against women) and everyone had blast and was able to participate. In fact, I've played this game with my 3-year-old son. He's not able to read the word so we chose the "animals" category and then whispered in his ear what animal he was supposed to be. He loved it. It's definitely worth the 99 cents.
See in in the app store here.
See in in the app store here.
Phrase Party
This is essentially Catch Phrase for phones and tablets. A word is displayed on the screen and the person holding it has to get the members of his team to guess what it is while a timer runs. Pretty standard but one of the best ways to use technology with your family. The interesting twist on this app is that the camera shoots video during the game so there's video proof of you making a fool of yourself. This is one of my favorites and I encourage all families to download it.
See it in the app store here.
See it in the app store here.
Charades (and Charades Kids)
It's Charades so you know the concept. Here's the digital twist.... the person doing the guessing holds the tablet to their forehead while the other person does the acting. If they pull the tablet down the word disappears. This game gets funny in a hurry. I did a presentation recently with a large group of parents who were sitting at tables together but didn't know each other. I asked them to play this game and within about 2 minutes there was laughter coming from just about every table. Try it with your family. It's tough to not enjoy it.
See it in the app store here.
See it in the app store here.
Reverse Charades
Same concept as the apps above where team members try to get one person to guess the word but without all the holding the tablet to the head business.
See it in the app store here.
See it in the app store here.
Just Say It
Taboo for phones and tablets. Get your team members to guess the word without using the list of words beneath it. Lots of fun for families with kids over the age of about 10.
See it in the app store here.
See it in the app store here.
Party Doodles
Digital pictionary. Get teammates to guess words using your drawing ability....which means if I get any card other than "stick people", I have no chance.
See it in the app store here.
See it in the app store here.