We love visiting our local thrift stores to see what games someone may have donated that could become our next big treasure. We’ve found a lot of random games that end up being played once and getting re-donated, but we have also found a good number of games that we end up adoring and not only hanging on to, but also playing quite frequently.
So, without further ado, in no particular order, here are the top 15 games that we’ve acquired by thrift shopping!

1. Connect 4 Launchers – This game has brought us a huge amount of enjoyment since we bought it. We happened to find a 4-player deluxe version, which seemed to be a rarity when we looked it up online afterwards. The box was a little dinged up, but the contents were actually still sealed! For around $5.00, it has been well worth the buy. [It’s also quite hilarious while drunk!]

2. Electronic Mall Madness – Though I had the 2005 version as a kid, I wanted this out of a lot of nostalgia. Not only was it unpunched, which made it a steal, but it ended up being better than the version I was used to. It’s a lot nicer looking and it allows you to play to 6 or 10 items, which I appreciate to allow for more opportunities for catch up. It’s a super simple game, that doesn’t require any skill, but the minimal amount of strategy of deciding where to shop next is just enough to make this a game worth keeping. So happy we found this.

3. Don’t Wake Daddy – This “jump scare” game, as we like to call it, has brought a lot of laughs to our group since we got it. For the low price of $3, we have been able to watch our friends quiver in fear while clicking the clock, and freak out when daddy wakes up! We liked this one so much that we ended up buying a second daddy that we found  to add in some more choice to the game. Which daddy is the safer option?? An amazing find that I recommend to everyone haha.

4. DICEcapades – We bought this one because we loved the dice. Some were super tiny, some had letters, some had pictures… We thought at first that it would be far too silly but, hey, at least we would get a bunch of nifty dice out of it! Turned out to be a favorite party game amongst our group! The different activities throughout the game are fun and just the right level of silly. The trivia isn’t anything special, but even with this flaw, it is a great game, and we’re so glad we found it complete.

5. Image – Picked this one up because it sounded similar to the game Concept. The look is super simple and clean, and it allows you to pick the “image” you’re thinking of, rather than having you draw cards that decide it. It obviously leaves a lot to the imagination and can get very competitive. A really great game that we’ve already gotten a lot of plays out of. Really happy to have picked this up!

6. Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem – This one was a surprising find, mostly because it came along with both expansions for only like 10 dollars. This was a really good game that we super enjoyed because there was a lot more too it than we thought there’d be. It’s definitely one we’ll be playing often, when we get enough players. Doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love SOA either.

7. Box of Golf – I honestly did not want to buy this game. I saw golf and thought “Boooo!! Golf!!” Translation – it would be boring and slow. Though it’s definitely light, it was really entertaining. The theme made sense with the game play, it was nice looking, and it was well-balanced. It’s not something we look to pick up constantly, but it is a nice game to play after something more intense, for instance.

8. Concentration – This was a game we picked up purely because it was old looking and that speaks to our souls. The paper is super old and fragile, so we have to be insanely careful when turning it to the next puzzle. But, it’s still awesome. The puzzles are a great level of tricky and good for a wide range of ages. We ended up finding a second copy of a different edition at another point and picked that up too for more puzzles!!

9. Funglish – Another great party game! [a copy thrift store item] You have to describe the words on your card with tons of adjectives, but it’s harder than you think. It really challenges your brain because you’re trying to use things that make sense, while also keeping in mind how others might think of the words. We usually end up playing multiple rounds at a time because it gets super addictive.

10. Exalted: War for the Throne – This game was like $7 and was complete with TONS of minis. It was worth it just for that. A pretty interesting theme/game overall, this was quite the exciting find.

11. Bugs in the Kitchen – My boyfriend was super excited for this one, as it’s something he always wanted. The bug and board are both very nifty and unique, and the game is cute, though it drags on a little long. It was in great condition so we were happy about this find!

12. Tales of the Crystals – After hearing about this quality game on the Flip the Table Podcast, we freaked out when we found it new in shrink at a thrift store for $6. It was just as cheesy, weird, and obscure as the podcast led us to believe, and it was most definitely not aimed at our age group, but we are a silly bunch, so we had a great time laughing about this one while playing the first scenario. 100% worth the buy.

13. Watch Ya’ Mouth – We found this for $5 new in shrink. We already owned “Speak Out,” so we knew we liked the game. Bought it mostly for the additional mouth pieces, and more funny phrase cards to avoid people memorizing them. A pretty good steal for a new game!

14. San Juan – A simple card game, this was definitely one of the better games we found at a thrift store. We were surprised to see something like this, since we had heard positive reviews about it and it wasn’t something unknown, totally obscure, or for kids. Still, it’s another great game we’ve found and we’re really excited it was only a few bucks!

15. Smog – We love to pick up old/vintage board games when we see them because they’re usually either better than we assume, or they end up being ridiculous and, so, very funny. Smog was the latter. In theory, it is a pretty cool game that can really teach kids and adults a lot about pollution. However, the gameplay is a little messy [especially with 3 players, like we had] and the components are really finicky. Nevertheless, we had a great time playing this one… and earning so many negative points that we had to stop calculating since you can’t go below zero! haha