Our preference for games changes as we get older. Some people stay the same playing the kind of games they played when they were kids. On the other hand, some people almost completely grow out of it, until and unless they find something that piques their interest.
Language games are one of those kind. No matter what age you are, language games are always interesting. So, here is a list of ten such games that you could play, if you want to have some fun at times.
1️⃣Scrabble
Creating words with letter tiles, Scrabble is a game that helps build better vocabulary and spelling skills in players. The board of the game is a 15*15 grid of squares in which the squares on the edges are assigned the most value.
The point distribution of the game depends on this as well as the letters used, where less commonly used letters in the language collect more points than the rest.
2️⃣ Mad Libs
Mad Libs is not just about building vocabulary skills but strengthening the grammatical side by teaching the players parts of speech using full sentences. It is not a board game but rather comes in a book or app with sentences with blanks and prompts like verbs, nouns, and adverbs for the participants to fill in.
What makes the game mad is the crazy twists and the comical nature of the sentences used, making it even more fun.
3️⃣ Boggle
Played by 2 to 4 players, Boggle is a word game played with nine dice. The board is divided into of 3*3 grid of squares, with the dice placed on it, each of which shows a random letter.
Unlike Scrabble, words can be formed in any direction, even diagonally, where each letter should be connected to the next one in some way. The points earned do not depend on the letters used but on the number of letters in a word.
4️⃣ Word Association
Word Association is neither a board game nor a book game. All you need is at least two people who are willing to participate in the game.
One of the players can begin by saying a random word and the next person can continue the next word associated with the first one in any way. The game goes on until one of the players cannot think of a new word at all, or within an agreed time.
5️⃣ Pictionary
Pictionary is a rather popular word game played in groups. There will be flash cards on which the names of people, places, objects, movies, animals, and even events are written and kept in a bowl for a player from each team to pick.
The task is to draw clues to the word picked while the team members make guesses based on the drawing, improving vocabulary and speaking skills.
6️⃣ Charades
Charades are similar to Pictionary, except that the clues are not drawn. Here, the players act out the word or phrase they picked, which most often is a movie name or a song.
However, the choices are not restricted to these two and could be practically anything. The players cannot use their voice but communicate with their body movements and the rest of the team members can guess what it is in the language of their choice.
7️⃣ Headlines
Headlines is a game usually meant for developing speaking and listening skills, along with an improved vocabulary, especially in children. It is a drama game where the students stand in a circle and start with one of them saying or writing the first word of the headline.
The one that sits or stands next adds another word to it, continuing the game until everyone involved adds a word to the headline, making it as long as it can get.
8️⃣ Twenty Questions
Twenty Questions is an interesting game where instead of one person asking the questions to the rest of the team, everybody else in the team asks questions to one person.
The person to whom they are asking questions will have a word or idea in their mind, which needs to be figured out by the rest of the players by asking only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. The questions need to be in full sentences and every guess they make will be considered a question.
9️⃣ Go Fish
The card game can be played either between two people or among a group of up to ten players. If one of the players is told to ‘Go Fish’ they can draw a card from the pile, check if it is the kind that they asked for, and then show it to everyone else.
They can continue playing by asking other players for specific cards. The game ends when a player draws a card from the draw pile and it is not the kind that they asked for.
🔟Memory
This is a card game where all the cards are placed face-down on the floor. One of the players will be asked to flip two of them, guessing the matching cards.
If they are matching, they stay the same, whereas if they are not, they will be flipped over again. When a card is flipped over, the player needs to say what it is, without which the game cannot go on.
Most of them being card games, the list constitutes a perfect set of games for anyone and everyone ready to up their language games. There is something in it for everyone, whether you are an adult or a kid, it’s just a matter of taste. So call your friends, set up a game night, and pick one or more of these interesting games to play while improving all of your language skills.
