Fun Family Card Games for $25 or Less
Looking for fun, inexpensive card games for family game night? Look no further! Here you’ll find a list of 5 of our favorite fun family card games for under $25.
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We love playing family board games at the Geek On A Dime household. If you’re like us, you want a game that will entertain you, your spouse, and your kids without spending an arm and a leg (and believe me, there are many expensive ones out there). Card-based games are an awesome choice for family game nights. Luckily, they tend to be on the cheaper side. That’s why Geek On A Dime has compiled this list of our top 5 favorite family card games under $20. Game on!
This article uses a rating scale for several aspects of these games. The definitions of each rating are below.
Rating scales:
Rules complexity: 1 – Very Easy, 2 – Easy, 3 – Medium, 4 – Hard, 5 – Very Hard
Fun factor: 1 – Very frustrating, 2 – Frustrating, 3 – Medium, 4 – Fun, 5 – Very fun
Artwork and quality: 1 – Very poor, 2 – Poor, 3 – Average, 4 – Good, 5 – Very good
Overall scores: 1 – Very bad, 2 – Bad, 3 – Average, 4 – Great, 5 – Awesome
Players: 3-8
Ages: 8+
Average Play Time: 10 minutes
With a name like Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, you know you’re in for a bit of silly fun. What you may not know is how fast-paced this game is. This is extreme Slap Jack, and things can get wild quickly. Each person takes a turn laying a card down in the center while uttering the next word in the sequence “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza”. If the card matches the word just said, all players must slap their hands down on the pile. The last one to slap takes the cards into their hand. To mix things up, there are special rules cards with actions that each player has to perform.
For example, when the gorilla card is placed, each player must beat their chest before slapping the cards. The cards are yours if you do the wrong action or are last to slap. It’s emphasized in the rules to keep the pace going, which soon leads to many laugh-out-loud moments. Be the first to get rid of all your cards by the end of the round and you win.
Rules complexity: 1. Kids under 8 will probably be able to play with a little guidance.
Fun factor: 5, though my son gave it a 1 due to difficulty with the game’s pace.
Artwork and quality: 5. The art is fun and colorful, and the card stock is thick and sturdy.
Overall score: 5. Your family will want to play it several times on game night. Or taco night.
Players: 2-6
Ages: 8+
Average Play Time: 5 – 15 minutes
Judging by the condition of the instruction sheet, Virus is our most often played card game. We found this game in a local store in 2020 (coincidence?) and just had to buy it.
In Virus, the goal is to be the first to build a healthy body using the four body part cards. Each player maintains a 3-card hand and performs one of two actions on each turn: play a card or discard any number of cards, drawing back up to three at the end of their turn. Other players will use special cards to muck up your healthcare plans along the way. Some special cards include “Transplant”, which allows a player to swap organs with another player, “Latex Glove”, which forces all players to discard their hands, except the one who played the card, and various body-part specific disease cards.
The game’s direction can change quickly, as a player on the verge of victory can suddenly lose everything if an opponent plays a particularly devastating special card. Staying on top of your opponent’s body progress is key to strategizing your next move. I can’t tell you how many times the winner was the player who stayed inconspicuous.
Rules complexity: 2. Make sure the instructions are easily accessible for rules on the special cards.
Fun factor: 5. The game is fun and competitive.
Artwork and quality: 4. Bright, whimsical artwork well-suited for the gameplay. The card quality is average playing card stock.
Overall score: 5. The game can be cutthroat, but the fun is contagious!
Players: 2-4
Ages: 9+
Average Play Time: 30 – 45 minutes
This is probably the silliest game on this list. The game is about, well, butts in space, and the theme is as juvenile as you would expect.
Each player gets dealt one of the four Butt characters: Bow Butt, Classy Butt, Hairy Butt, and Butt Butt. The player with the biggest butt in real life goes first and draws 6 cards. Card types include Toilet Paper cards (Common, Rare, or Mythical), Power Farts (rotate the Butts), Underwear (prevent an action), and Spaceship Parts. Players can play as many cards as they want each turn, with the goal being to create sets of Toilet Paper (TP).
How does a Butt make a TP set, you ask? Each TP card has one or two Butt symbols, and you can only play those cards if they match your Butt character. Don’t get too attached to your Butt character, though! Several of the TP cards include actions such as swapping Butts with another player, rotating all of the Butts clockwise, and re-dealing everyone’s hand. You need 3 Common, 2 Rare, or 1 Mythical to make a set. The game continues until all 7 spaceship parts are played. When that happens, players tally up their sets and whichever Butt has the highest score wins!
Rules complexity: 2. The box says 9+, but that has more to do with the theme than the rules.
Fun factor: 4. It’s a game about butts in space. Kids will love it, but the novelty might wear off faster for adults.
Artwork and quality: 3. The artwork nails the theme with simple drawings and colors. Card stock is average.
Overall score: 4. Simple rules, silly art, and fun gameplay. No butts about it!
Players: 2-4
Ages: 8+
Average Play Time: 20 minutes
As the name suggests, players of this game will take on the roles of everyone’s favorite North American scavenger.
Keeping with the theme, the last person to have taken out the trash gets dealt the first card. Cards are then dealt clockwise, with the first player getting 3 cards, the second getting 4, the third getting 5, and the fourth getting 6. The remaining cards are then placed in the center and dubbed the “trash can”. The 6 tokens and one die are placed next to the trash can. Then the fun begins.
The object of the game is to score the most points. To do this you need to embody the essence of a raccoon and stash as much trash (cards) as you can of a particular type. How? I’m glad you asked! On a player’s turn, they roll the die and select the matching token. They can continue to roll to get more tokens or stop and resolve tokens. To continue rolling is risky, for if the die lands on a token you’ve already collected, you “bust” and have to return all tokens. You then draw a card and play continues to the next raccoon…uh, I mean person.
Providing you didn’t bust, there are several interesting actions the tokens perform: double trash cans let you draw 2 cards, trash bag allows you to steal a random card from another player, double trees let you stash up to 2 cards (this is one of a few ways to stash), the tree and trashcan let you pick either to draw a card or stash one. Lastly, there is the mask card. The rules for this card are a bit more involved. First, the player with the token draws a card face up. Then, each other player may stash 1 of that card type face up if they choose. Finally, the player with the token draws cards equal to the number of stashed cards. Whew!
Along the way, players may interfere with each other or give themselves an advantage via the cards in their hands. For example, the card Mmm Pie! lets a player resolve a token twice on their turn, while Yum Yum forces a player to continue rolling for tokens.
The game ends once the trash can is empty. Then, players discard their remaining hands and tally up their stashed cards. The trash panda with the highest score wins the game. Digging through the trash has never been more exciting!
Rules complexity: 4. This is one of the more complex games on this list. However, once a couple of games have been played the rules will be a piece of garbage…uh, I mean cake.
Fun factor: 4. This game can be thrilling, especially when rolling for tokens. Playing and stashing cards takes some strategy, but that’s part of the fun!
Artwork and quality: 5. Despite cards depicting half-eaten pizza slices, fish bones, and moldy bananas, the artwork is superb. Any raccoon would be happy to hang them on their cardboard walls.
Overall score: 4. You’re a sneaky, greedy raccoon on a mission to stash more trash than your friends. It’s a rotten good time!
Players: 2-5
Ages: 8+
Average Play Time: 15-20 minutes
Ramen Fury is a favorite in our household. We like it so much we’ve gifted it to all of our friends. On the surface, it seems very gimmicky. Once you play it, however, you realize it’s much more than a simple food-themed card game.
Players start with 3 ramen bowl cards (noodle side up), 2 spoon tokens, and a hand of 3 cards. The rest of the deck is placed in the middle of the play area, and four cards are laid out face-up in the “pantry”. The goal is to fill your bowl of ramen with up to five ingredients, and then “eat” it for points. Eating a bowl of ramen requires one flavor packet card and 1 to 4 other ingredient cards (protein or vegetable).
The strategy comes from the flavor packets. Each one has a different goal associated with a point total. For example, the shrimp flavor awards 4 points for having one protein and one vegetable, or 8 points for a pair of two.
Players can perform two of several actions per turn: Draw a face-up card from the pantry, or a face-down card from the deck; Restock by discarding the cards in the pantry and drawing four more; Prep, which is playing a card from your hand into your bowl; Spoon by discarding one of the spoon tokens and taking any top ingredient from another player’s bowl; Empty one of your bowls by discarding all of its ingredient cards; Eat one of your ramen bowls by flipping it and its ingredients over.
Along the way, players will come across 2 special cards: Chili Peppers and Nori Garnish. These two cards can be played at any time on any player, and don’t count toward one of the two actions on a turn. Chili peppers subtract one point from a player’s bowl or add two points if a player has the Fury flavor packet. Nori Garnish adds 1 point to any bowl and can be used to bolster your score or thwart another player’s ingredient goal.
Once one player flips all 3 of their bowls, the rest get one more turn and the game ends. Players discard their hands and tally up points to see who won!
Rules complexity: 2. The game is easy to pick up and start playing.
Fun factor: 5. We have a lot of fun putting ingredients in our bowls and sabotaging with the dreaded Chili Peppers.
Artwork and quality: 5. The depictions of the ingredients are colorful and easily recognizable. We often end the game hungry for ramen! The game comes wrapped in a ramen pouch, and the box containing the cards looks like a block of dried noodles. Very creative!
Overall score: 5. It’s fun, slightly competitive, and fast-paced. Kids will pick up the rules easily, and the gameplay will leave you hungry for more!
Voilà! Here are five delightful family card games that will bring laughter and fun to your game nights. Whether you’re gathered around the game table with your favorite snacks or lounging on a lazy Sunday afternoon, these games are sure to become cherished family favorites.
For more from Geek On A Dime, check out this article about some of the best accessories for Dungeons and Dragons.
