Ethan Walker

I have spent more hours than I would like to admit watching coworkers stare at their phones during lunch, wishing there was something better to do. So our team spent six weeks testing 30-plus games in actual office break rooms across three companies, ranging from a 12-person marketing agency to a 200-person tech support floor. … Read more

I remember the day I pulled out a memory game during a long afternoon with my 2-year-old nephew. Within five minutes he was flipping tiles with intense focus, shouting “same!” every time he found a pair. That moment convinced me that the best matching games for toddlers do more than pass the time. They build … Read more

Memory games are some of the simplest tools a parent can hand a child, yet they do serious work behind the scenes. Every flip of a card, every repeated light pattern, and every matched pair fires up the neural pathways responsible for focus, recall, and visual recognition. Our team has spent the past several months … Read more

We have spent months on the road testing card games, dice games, and compact board games inside everything from VW conversions to Sprinter builds. The best games for camper van trips share a few traits: they take up almost no storage space, they play fast, and they keep everyone laughing after a long day of … Read more

I spent the last three weekends testing the best games for glamping weekends with a rotating crew of six friends at a Canvas Cabin site in Mendocino. We hauled everything from a vintage Hasbro deck to a glow-in-the-dark dart set, played through sun and rain, and argued vigorously about which ones earned a permanent spot … Read more

When my grandmother moved into her assisted living community three years ago, I watched her retreat into silence. The move was hard on her. Then her activity director started a weekly game night with UNO and large-print bingo cards, and something shifted in her. She laughed again. She made friends over the bingo cage. That … Read more

Running a scout troop is rewarding work, but finding the best games for scout troops that actually keep a room full of 11-year-olds engaged is a different kind of challenge. I’ve been a scout leader for six years, and I’ve spent more evenings than I’d like to admit watching my troop glaze over during what … Read more

I’ve hosted backyard barbecues for over a decade, and I’ll tell you something the food alone never solves: guests standing around with a plate in one hand and nothing to do with the other. That’s where the best games for summer barbecues come in. They turn a cookout into a memory. Our team spent the … Read more

Last summer, I hosted a lakeside cookout for 14 friends and watched the same thing happen every year: people drifted toward the dock with drinks in hand, conversation petered out, and someone pulled out the same old cornhole set we’ve used since college. Within twenty minutes, half the group was sitting on lawn chairs checking … Read more

Looking for the best games for hot tub nights? I tested a dozen waterproof and floating games with my family across three summer weekends in our 6-person spa. We soaked, splashed, laughed, dropped a few cards into the jets, and figured out what actually holds up when your hands are prune-wrinkled and the bubbles are … Read more