Consumer Reports' favorite outdoor games for 2026

From the casual toss of a Frisbee to the satisfying clang of a ringer in horseshoes, backyard games have been a staple of American summers for decades. The options available today span a wide range of formats, skill levels, and group sizes, making it harder than ever to choose the right game for a given gathering. As more households invest in outdoor living spaces, a well-chosen game can anchor an afternoon in ways that a second cooler or another folding chair simply cannot.

Consumer Reports asked its staff to name their favorite outdoor games and explain what keeps them coming back year after year. Here are 10 picks worth adding to your backyard rotation.

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At $8.99 for a bat and ball set, Wiffle ball is the most affordable entry on this list and the one most likely to produce a story worth retelling for decades. Consumer Reports contributor Chris Raymond recalled a game in which his grandmother, standing barely 5 feet tall, launched skyward in a floral print dress and white flats to make a leaping, bare-handed catch in shallow right field. CR says that moment, from the crack of the bat to the shock that rippled through the family, is exactly the kind of memory a low-cost Wiffle bat and ball set can deliver to any family picnic. No other game on this list costs less or asks less of its players while promising so much.

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The Frisbee Official Ultimate 175g Flying Disc is available starting at $16.99 and requires no setup, no teams, and no score. Consumer Reports contributor Danielle Claro described a recurring scene on her shared property in which multiple discs got going at once, back and forth and crisscrossing, drawing in friends of all ages and skill levels without any plan or announcement. CR calls it the best kind of summer fun, the spontaneous kind that happens when one person takes aim and sends an unexpected Frisbee sailing toward whoever happens to be nearby. The 175g weight is the standard for competitive Ultimate and gives the disc the stability needed to fly true even in a light breeze.

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The KanJam Original costs $39.99 at multiple retailers and has the rare quality of pulling people away from food and conversation the moment it appears at an outdoor gathering. Consumer Reports contributor Patrick Van Tassell wrote that all it takes is a mention of the game's presence for eyes to light up, chairs to rearrange, and the competition to begin. CR says the game rewards finesse, with a three-point slam through the top slot delivering a rush comparable to a playground dunk, while botched throws and failed diving saves produce the kind of laughter that keeps a party going. Two teams, two Kans, and one flying disc make for a setup that travels easily and works on any flat surface.

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Priced at $99.99, the GoSports Solid Wood Portable Cornhole Set offers official 27-foot board spacing in a package that breaks down and stores in a garage without taking over the space. Consumer Reports contributor Michael McCormick says the game's setup looks simple but generates enough competitive stakes to draw trash talk from neighborhood regulars, and it works for all ages. CR notes that the game respects the rhythm of a summer afternoon, keeping one hand free and never demanding more athleticism than the moment allows. The solid wood construction holds up to repeated outdoor use better than hollow or composite alternatives.

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The St. Pierre American Presidential Horseshoe Set is priced at $94.90, and the quality no beanbag game can replicate is the sound it makes. Consumer Reports contributor Allen St. John made the case that the horseshoe is an object with genuine history, with metal shoes dating to the Roman Empire and forged by hand from molten steel, connecting a player to imagery spanning John Ford $F Westerns and F. Scott Fitzgerald. CR highlights the architecture of a throwing horseshoe, noting that weight concentrated toward the tips aids rotation, and that a ringer-breaker, a gentle bump inside the U, prevents the shoe from bouncing out when it lands flush on the stake. That resonant clang when shoe meets stake, the sound of a ringer, is what CR says makes horseshoes unlike any other yard game.

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The Baden Champions Badminton Set retails for $89.99 and has proven durable enough to survive eight consecutive outdoor seasons in the household of Consumer Reports contributor Paul Hope. Consumer Reports says the set functions as a seasonal marker in his family, with its annual setup signaling that the worst weather is behind them and that outdoor time is back on the table. CR notes its ability to draw in players across a wide age range, from elementary-school children to college-age kids home for the summer, sustaining round-robin tournaments that carry into dinners and planned rematches. The lightweight net and post design breaks down quickly enough to move out of the way when the grass needs cutting or a storm rolls in.

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Starting at $7.16, a double-six dominoes set is the least equipment-intensive game on this list and the one most dependent on who is sitting around the table. Consumer Reports contributor Tanya Christian described a backyard tradition in which West Indian family and friends would arrive at a South Jersey cookout, bypass the inground pool spanning three-fourths of the yard, and go straight to the old laminate folding table kept specifically for dominoes. CR says the sound of tiles hitting the table with a thump, punctuated by trash talk in a warmly familiar Caribbean dialect, was always louder than the soca and calypso playing in the background. Any set of 28 double-six tiles delivers that experience, and the included case keeps them organized between uses.

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A two-pack of Bicycle Pinochle Cards is available starting at $9.99 and carries enough nostalgia to anchor a holiday gathering the way a game with far more moving parts cannot. Consumer Reports contributor Keith Flamer traced his introduction to the French-inspired trick-taking game to age nine, when his father taught him on the Fourth of July alongside charcoal-smoked chili dogs and Motown hits. CR says the game sharpened a fierce competitiveness in him, one that eventually caught the eye of a Cincinnati Reds scout, built entirely around bragging rights and a father's compliments on adolescent card-shark skills. Two decks mean two tables can run simultaneously, which matters when the adults eventually take over.

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Few backyard games turn casual players into rule-conscious competitors as quickly as the Baden Champions Bocce Ball Set, priced at $99.99. Consumer Reports contributor James K. Willcox described starting out using it as a drinking game at a Hamptons rental, tossing at the pallino with no regard for scoring, before he and his friends started buying a tape measure to settle disputes about which ball sat closest. CR says the set attracted players from neighboring houses and became a weekly ritual, and that the following summer's rental felt noticeably worse for lacking a bocce court. Eight weighted resin balls and a pallino are all the equipment needed to replicate that dynamic on any flat lawn.

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For $44.99, the GoSports Kubb Yard Game Set Backyard Size plays more like a chess match than a throwing competition once both teams understand the rules. Consumer Reports contributor Catherine Roberts described discovering the game, sometimes called Viking chess, through an internet search for a camping activity requiring minimal equipment and no particular athleticism. CR says the game involves two teams knocking over wooden kubbs with small batons, recovering knocked-down blocks, and repositioning them strategically on the pitch before the king block in the center can be toppled. Roberts noted that playing with only 75% of the rules intact produced delightfully chaotic fun, but that learning the full ruleset revealed just how much scheme is layered into what looks like a simple throwing game.