Vintage Board Games for Family Game Night

Here are our picks for vintage board games perfect for Family Game Night! With such a long winter, breaking out new vintage games is such a fun way to pass the time! We have found many board games for real bargains, sometimes only costing $1–and, yes, all the pieces were there. Definitely check that before you purchase a vintage game.

Look for some of these unique antique board games at an Indiana antique shop near you! Affiliates links are included below. If you make a purchase, I get a small kick-back.

Vintage Board Games for Family Game Night

Gnomes by Parker Brothers — Our four year old, our eight year old, and even neighborhood teenagers pull this game out. I found it at a yard sale when we lived just outside Seattle, Washington (while my husband was stationed there) several years ago but it sat, untouched, until a few years ago. Now, everyone loves this 1979 game! The drawings are fun, the game play typically moves quickly, and the added element of drawing cards, and possibly snagging more gnomes makes it fun!

Tilt by Lakeside — A new favorite of our boys, this 1970s produced game is a bit like Aggravation, in that it uses marbles and you can send opponents back to home, however, this game board sits on a tilt! One move of your marble and you can zip to the finish or end back at home base! I’d recommend play with four players to keep it fast-paced and interesting.

Stay Alive Board Game 1978 Edition— Without “testing” an area, pull or push the lever to make your opponents marbles drop off the game board–and hopefully not take yours along with it! Younger players can simply pull out the levers while older players may try to be more strategic. Great 1978 game and fun for all. Our youngest will even take it down and play by himself.

Merry Go Round Game by Whitman — I have never seen a vintage board game with this sort of board! A moving plastic piece with paths marked on it located in the middle of the game may get turned depending on where the spinner takes you on the board–and changes whether or not you can make it to the exit! It can turn into a long game but most play pretty fast. Produced in 1965, it’s a real winner for both of our boys!

Milton Bradley – FIREBALL ISLAND – adventure game (Rare)— Unfortunately, our game lost a few pieces in our move back to Indiana! We’ve substituted as best we can and still love this game. It can be a long game so four players are key here to move things along. Try to snag the jewel (or steal it from an opponent) and get to safety without getting nailed by a fireball!  It’s a lot of fun and comes with a very large, unique raised board. It’s really neat!

Booby-Trap Parker Brothers Action Game – Original 1965 Version— Again, even our youngest can play this one from the 1960s! Set up the wooden pieces on the board. Take turns trying to remove one piece–without making the wooden peg shift too much! If you can, you get to keep your points. If you can’t, you lose them! It’s an easy to play game that’s a fun change of pace.

Family Game Night with Vintage Games

You can almost feel the fun, right? If you have a vintage board game that you truly enjoy, please share it below in the comments so everyone can benefit. Look out for more of our favorite games next week!

Small Towns: Destinations, not Drive-Thrus! I’m Jessica Nunemaker and THIS is little Indiana!

Just don’t forget to tell ’em that little Indiana sent you!