I am no good at card games (because I have never been taught how to play - except Snap and Solitaire!) but I just love playing Scrabble.  Board games are great and as a child my family (there were 6 of us) used to play them regularly after Sunday lunch in the Winter.  Far better than children going off to their computers/dvds/playstations in their bedrooms.

Marty, it's the fact that I always win that sends me into a quivering gooey mess of utter bliss!! 

Another game I used to like was Trivial Persuit - for the same reason!! 

We love chess here too. Youngster is in the school chess club and we have a game most days. He can beat his 18 year old brother!  I didn't suggest it for the centre though as it's complicated and a bit intense.  I think something lighter and quicker would be more suitable.

There's no doubt that games bring quality time to families.  As Anty says, much better than X-boxes, Nintendos and tv, although they're ok in moderation.

Alas, Monopoly is banned in this house. Himself who molested his daughter and abused his wife (and went to jail for the first one but is now on the loose again) would throw a screaming fit when he started losing. (And the rest of the house still bears the marks of his presence).

perfectwagnerite,

When I worked for a firm of engineers (!) we had a daily competition to see who could finish the Telegraph crossword first!!  I think a lot of it is getting inside the mind of the setter?  I admit I have never attempted the Guardian crossword, might have a look at that if it is online.

Guardian used to be online, but I have a feeling they went over to subscription a while ago.
The Telegraph has a very strict house style which irons out the differences between most setters, while the Guardian attempts to capitalise on the different styles of its setters. My ex and I used to sit up in bed at the end of the day (when she visited me) or in the bar of her college (when I visited her) and attempt the Guardian crossword. She was extremely good at lateral thinking and visualising words, whereas I was better at analysing the clue. Needless to say, her favourite setter was Rufus, and mine was Araucaria.
When I visit my parents, we often end up sat in the lounge at the end of the day trying to get the last few clues (and often, as a way to wind down, I will steal my Dad's Church Times in order to do the crossword in the back).
My experience of the Telegraph dates back to when I worked for Hallmark cards and would photocopy the crossword during my lunch break.

I've been getting Guardian Xwords off their website since 2001, as I rarely buy the paper. They did start charging a few years ago and I subscribed, but it's recently become a free service again. My favourite setter is Paul - I find him hard but very clever, it can be a delight when I work out one of his clues which I've been puzzling over for ages.

When I worked with a group of fellow Xword enthusiasts some years ago, we used to make several photocopies of the Guardian (from someone who bought it every day but didn't do the Xword), all have a go during the day, then compare results after lunch.

I'm probably out of date here, since my family has been grown up for some time, but to me, it's conversation that brings quality time. You don't really communicate during a game. I suppose you could say there's time for both, but life is pretty busy for most people.

We recently started playing Scrabble at Christmas, because we found that when we were all closeted together for days in a small house in Norfolk, we tended to have rows if we relied on conversation for the entire time! I don't mind Scrabble, because I like words. My younger son usually beats me now, which I find very, very annoying, as I'm supposed to be the wordy one in the family

Crosswords - my father was addicted to Araucaria in the Guardian, but I've never enjoyed crosswords much. I had a friend at university who could finish a difficult crossword almost before I'd read the clues. Perhaps that, and my father forever going on about clever clues, put me off.