5 Classic Games We Played in the 90s
Before tablets, smartphones and endless streaming, there was a much simpler way to fill an afternoon: pull out a game, clear the table and start playing.
For many families who grew up in the 1990s, games were a big part of weekends, holidays, rainy afternoons and time spent with friends. Some were competitive, some were ridiculous, and some could turn a quiet family night into a full-blown rivalry.
Here are five classic games that bring back plenty of 90s memories and are still great fun to play with kids today.
1. UNO
UNO was one of those games almost everyone seemed to have in a cupboard somewhere.
The rules were simple enough for kids to learn quickly: match the colour or number and try to get rid of your cards before everyone else. Of course, things could change very quickly when someone dropped a Draw Two, Skip or Reverse card.
And then there was the dreaded Wild Draw Four.
UNO worked because it was quick, portable and easy to play almost anywhere. It was just as good around the kitchen table as it was on a camping trip or family holiday.
Even today, it is a great game for helping younger children practise colours, numbers, taking turns and basic strategy.
2. Pass the Pigs
Pass the Pigs might be one of the strangest games to explain to someone who has never played it.
Instead of rolling dice, you roll two tiny pigs.
How the pigs land determines how many points you score. They might land on their sides, stand on their feet or end up in one of the more unusual positions that can earn you a big score.
The challenge is deciding whether to keep rolling and risk losing your points or play it safe and pass the pigs to the next player.
It is small, silly and surprisingly competitive.
Pass the Pigs was also perfect for holidays because the entire game could easily fit into a bag or suitcase.
3. Dominoes
Dominoes had already been around for generations by the time the 90s arrived, but it remained a classic game in plenty of Australian homes.
The traditional game involves matching numbered ends while trying to be the first player to use all your dominoes.
For younger kids, dominoes are also a great introduction to counting, matching and simple strategy.
And even when nobody felt like playing the actual game, dominoes usually found another purpose.
You could line them up across the floor, build towers or create elaborate domino runs before knocking the first one over and watching the whole thing collapse.
Simple toys often leave the most room for imagination.
4. Guess Who?
“Does your person have glasses?”
“Does your person have a hat?”
“Is your person bald?”
Guess Who? was basically a childhood interrogation game.
Each player secretly selected a character and then took turns asking yes-or-no questions to eliminate people from their board.
The satisfying click of flipping down rows of faces was almost as much fun as actually winning.
Guess Who? also taught kids something surprisingly useful: how to ask good questions.
The better your question, the more characters you could eliminate.
And there was always that risky moment when you thought you knew the answer and decided to make your final guess.
5. Monopoly
No list of classic family games would be complete without Monopoly.
Monopoly could start as a friendly family activity and finish several hours later with someone owning half the board, another person completely bankrupt and at least one argument about whether putting fines in the middle of the board was actually part of the rules.
Buying properties, building houses and collecting rent made Monopoly feel incredibly serious when you were a kid.
Everyone had their favourite playing piece, favourite properties and their own strategy for trying to take over the board.
Games could sometimes last forever, but that was also part of the fun.
Bring Back the Family Game Night
The great thing about these games is that they do not need batteries, subscriptions, Wi-Fi or software updates.
You just need a few people around a table.
UNO, Pass the Pigs, Dominoes, Guess Who? and Monopoly gave families plenty of laughs throughout the 90s, and they can do exactly the same thing today.
You do not even need to organise a huge family game night. Put the phones away for 20 minutes, grab a game and see what happens.
Sometimes the simplest moments are the ones kids remember.