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Relocate from the kitchen table to the computer to play games and spend time with your family

Take your family game night online

Relocate from the kitchen table to the computer to play games and spend time with your family

By Marc Saltzman

Not too long ago “family game night” meant hovering over a square piece of cardboard, rolling dice and arguing with someone too slow in taking his or her turn. Ah, those 20th-century memories.

In today's digital age, games are no longer limited to four family players living under one roof.

Now the weekly family game night can also include Grandma in Florida, college-student Johnny in upstate New York and even crazy Aunt May in France. With your Windows Vista-powered PC and an Internet connection, you're ready to join in on the fun.

Let's look at some of the best family-friendly, multiplayer diversions for players eight to 108.

A new twist on the classics

Sure, you could blow the dust off the ol' Trivial Pursuit board game, but the multimedia version is so much cooler.

Atari's Trivial Pursuit: Unhinged (rated "Everyone" by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board) is an enhanced version of the world's most popular trivia game. Your family can enjoy the electronic version's fresh take on the game, with such advancements as:

  • Three game modes
  • New and customizable game features
  • Support for up to six players on one personal computer or over the Internet

With Trivial Pursuit: Unhinged, you also get hundreds of multimedia clips and special game spaces that add a twist to the action. Celebrities such as Terry Bradshaw, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Nye "The Science Guy" and John Ratzenberger host the categories, adding to the fun.

You can also play Scrabble Online for Windows, which includes:

  • Internet play
  • Online tournaments
  • E-mail play
  • Solo versions for when the rest of the family is elsewhere

The freebies

Some games require players to first purchase a CD-ROM, while others let customers download a one-hour demo and then pay to unlock the full version if they want to keep playing. Still others are completely free. MSN Games, for example, offers dozens of free board, card and tile-based games for solo or group play, such as:

  • Spades
  • Backgammon
  • Euchre
  • Chess
  • Reversi
  • Cribbage
  • Go
  • Bridge

And talk about popular: more than 160,000 players were engaged in games during a recent visit to the site at 1:30 pm on a weekday. Not only is it free to play at MSN Games, but it's also easy to get started. Players simply visit a game's lobby and then click to host, join or watch a game. Instructions are available to those who need them. Best of all, you can chat while playing these online games, too.

Gaming with Windows Vista

MSN Games offers a category of titles that are enhanced for Windows Vista, meaning they deliver improved graphics and sound and can be played using the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows, which plugs into the computer via USB. Some popular examples of Vista-enhanced games include Geometry Wars, Crystal Quest and Jewel Quest II.

Windows Live Messenger: more than just IM

Instant messaging is one of the hottest ways to communicate over the Internet. But did you know that you can play great computer games with your family over the Internet by using the free Windows Live Messenger?

To play a game with one of your Live Messenger contacts, simply start a conversation with them, click the Games tab from within the chat window and choose which game to play. The game will launch in a separate window so you can chat and play at the same time.

There are more than a dozen Windows Live Messenger games offered through MSN Instant Games, including:

  • Bejeweled
  • Checkers
  • Minesweeper Flags
  • Rock, Paper, Scissors
  • Uno

If your family wants to play with premium titles, you can subscribe to GameSpring through the MSN Games Zone. For a monthly subscription, players can enjoy unlimited ad-free access to all games in the GameSpring library. One popular favourite is Monopoly: Here & Now, based on the hit board game.

There's a lot to offer the family that stays connected. Whether classic games gone digital or new games that give our savvy kids the advantage, family game nights will never be the same.