Our Family’s New Favorite Board Game Is Clever and Easy to Play

Our family is always on the lookout for fun board games — especially ones that are easy to set up and play. As we balance school and work, art classes and lacrosse games, we love having an activity with easy entry that gets us all together. And one of our favorite new board games is Hues and Cues from The Op Games.

Hues and Cues is a delightful game that involves helping other players guess colors from a large palette by offering short clues that represent or feature that color. It’s as simple as that.

The game board is laid out with hundreds of colors arranged in a spectrum. A player draws a card that lists a set of four hues (identified by coordinates). They pick one of the hues and then only get three words total, shared over two rounds, to get the other players to guess the exact hue. A turn could include the card-holder offering a two-word clue, players placing their pieces at their first guest, then the card-holder offering an additional one-word clue, and players making a second guess. Players then score points based on how close they came to the correct hue with their guesses.

The key, obviously, is that the card-holder can’t use common color names like “red” or “blue” or “orange,” and they can’t refer to the color of objects in the room. But they can use more dynamic vocabulary for colors, like “chartreuse” or “lavender” or “taupe.” Or any other object, situation, or place that might help others figure out the correct hue.

The game can be played with anywhere from three to 10 players, and it packs up nicely to bring along on family vacations. It’s intended for 8 years of age and up, and in our experience it’s proven to be easy to learn. We love that it also involves some critical thinking and creative vocabulary. And honestly, it’s fun to see how people interpret and communicate different colors. What color do you think of when someone says “winter sky” or “terra-cotta” or “fresh pumpkin?”

Ever since we discovered Hues and Cues, it’s become part of our regular rotation for family game nights. With the vast amount of colors featured and the endless ways you can describe them, I don’t see us getting tired of the game anytime soon.