Topic: Top Games for the whole family

I have 2 small kids and a non-gaming wife. What do you consider great games for the whole family?

When you say "non-gaming wife" do you mean completely non-gaming, or more "casual gaming"? I ask because my wife is not a big gamer, but enjoys the MySims games, Boom Blox, Animal Crossing, Puzzle Genre games, and occasionally Smash Bros.

I would say non-gamer. She does play Wii sports tennis and bowling. Occasionally will do PacMan but that is about it. I suspect she will do Boom Blox when I get it.

Mario kart is a great family game

Yeah she should like Boom Blox. I've heard good things about Disney Think Fast...I plan on picking it up at some point since all 4 of us are big Disney buffs. It is also a bargain purchase at $20 from Wal-Mart. If she likes tennis and bowling, then Wii Sports Resort will obviously be a great family pick next month. There are several others that we play as a family (most of the multiplayer games I mentioned in your Boom Blox thread) but I'm not sure whether or not your wife will like any of those.

You might try Mario Kart Wii...we've had success getting a number of complete non-gamers to give that one a try and have fun with it (including my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my mom, and several others.) My wife plays it occasionally, but unfortunately games with moving cameras (such as racing games) make her sick if she plays for more than 15-20 minutes.

EDIT - You might also give Dr.Mario and/or Tetris Party for WiiWare a shot. Puzzle genre games like that are almost always a great way to introduce non-gamers to gaming. My mom used to keep me up until 1 or 2 in the morning playing Tetris, Dr. Mario and Lemmings on my Super Nintendo years ago when I was still in school and living at home. I'd be trying to go to bed since I had school in the morning and she'd keep saying "just one more level!"

Thanks so much (again).

No problem Also, I edited my post above to add Tetris and Dr.Mario as WiiWare suggestions.

Wii Play is good for family and non gamers and comes with a Wiimote.

I'm not really into casual games but bought this as it was about £5 more expensive than buying the Wiimote on its own, so if your thinking about picking up another Wiimote and looking for family friendly gaming i would definitely consider this.

Let's face it. Most supposedly family friendly games suck, such as the Game Party series and Carnival Games. However, we do have some great family games for the Wii and their are some that I recommend:

Tetris Party: 18 modes includes normal Tetris, co-op Tetris, mutiplayer Tetris, online Tetris, and even Balance Board Tetris. A fun and addicting way to get the whole family in the living room and staying there for hours on end.

Bomberman Blast: If you like blowing up stuff, Bomberman is here to satisfying the family! Being able to play with three other members of your family offline with five modes and almost all of them are playable online! A intense and enjoyable family action for the whole family, and best of all, it only cost 800 Wii Points.

Retails games are also good. Let's take a look at a couple of them:

Boom Blox: Bash Party: Remember the original? It was simple, yet addicting! Throw block to destroy things! It was so original! This time, they improve on the concept with 400 levels, more mutiplayer modes, better stage creator, and able to trade stages online! That's a party everyone wants!

Mario Kart Wii! Play as 24 of your favorite Mario series character in the wildest kart racer yet! Race through 32 courses, half new, half retro! Battle your family in 10 stages, half new, half from your memories. Also, you can play online with 11 other players, making this game even more intense and enjoyable! For only $49.99 with Wii Wheel bundled, what more can you ask for?

And there's plenty more of them!

I agree with most of the games listed here, although when my in-laws come over, they like to play Brain Academy as well. Mainly Wii sports though, and Wii Play (my dad likes the pool game). Hey, speaking of which, does anyone know of a better, more realistic Pool game for wii? Depending on how small your kids are, Mario Party and MySims are good picks. Colorful and friendly.

Mario Kart is pretty good, I played it with my bro today, it had been a while, I kinda forgot how fun it was!
(Especially compared to Double Dash.) (Shudders)

Pool revolution cuesports is pretty realistic. Plus, it also has snooker, 9 ball and 8 ball, and is only 500 points.

Wii Sports is a game anyone can get into and it's pretty damned fun! It's the first game I actually got my sister to play with me. After a while, she was playing more than I was.

Wii Sports, SSBB, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Play.