Closest Cousin: A Free Family History Game to Find Out How You're Related to Famous Latter-day Saints

Somewhere in your family tree, a line runs back to someone you have heard about all your life. Maybe it is Brigham Young or Eliza R. Snow, or a Three Witness, or a pioneer midwife whose journal you read in Primary. You might be their 5th cousin. You might be their 9th cousin 3× removed. The person sitting next to you in the cultural hall might be closer.

Closest Cousin is a free family history game built around that question. A well-known Latter-day Saint appears on the big screen. Everyone checks the FamilySearch Family Tree on their phone, and the room finds out who is most closely related. The closest cousin takes the crown.

How a round works

1. Everyone joins

The host puts the game on a TV or projector. Players scan the QR code or type the four-letter room code on their phones, pick a nickname, and their names pop up on the big screen.

2. A face appears

The big screen shows a famous Latter-day Saint, with their dates and what they are known for, plus a QR code that opens them in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

3. Guess, then check

Before anyone looks, each player guesses who in the room will be most closely related. A right guess earns 150 points. Then players open the person in FamilySearch, tap View My Relationship and enter what it says with a few taps, such as "4th cousin 1× removed." The phone shows how many family links apart that is. Closer relationships are worth more points.

4. The reveal

The screen counts down from the most distant relative to the closest. The closest cousin gets the crown and 250 bonus points, and the leaderboard updates for the next round.

Then the next face appears, and someone who was a 12th cousin a minute ago suddenly turns out to be a 4th.

Who is in the game

The game includes 61 well-known Latter-day Saints, from Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith to President Russell M. Nelson. Hosts can play a surprise mix or pick a set:

Set	People
Prophets	17
Restoration	14
Pioneers	20
Women of faith	15
Inventors & public life	12
1900s to today	27

You will find familiar names like Hyrum Smith, Emma Hale Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt and Wilford Woodruff. You will also meet people some players have never heard of: Patty Sessions, the pioneer midwife and diarist; Louisa Barnes Pratt, a missionary to the South Pacific; Elijah Abel, an early Black priesthood holder and missionary; and Jacob Hamblin, a missionary and peacemaker in southern Utah and Arizona. Every round is a short Church history lesson, even before anyone checks their tree.

Three ways to play

Room game, for a big screen

Put the host screen on a TV or projector. Players join with a QR code or room code on their phones. No accounts or emails are needed, and up to 80 players can join. Choose 5, 8, 10 or 15 rounds, or all 61. Allow about 90 seconds a round, so 10 people takes about 15 minutes. It is built for ward family history nights, youth activities, classes and family reunions.

One-screen family mode

There's no room code in this mode. Type in your family's names, then each person scans the screen with their own phone and reports what they found. This works well for family home evening, or for the grandparents' living room at Thanksgiving.

My Famous Family, on your own

Work through all 61 people at your own pace, log each connection and build an album you can share. Your album is saved on your own device.

There are extras too. Printable QR cards turn the game into a "Cousin Hunt": post the portrait cards around the cultural hall and let people wander, scan and compare.

How "closest" is worked out

Cousin terms are confusing. Is a 3rd cousin once removed closer than a 4th cousin? Closest Cousin makes it simple by counting family links: the number of parent-and-child steps from you up to the shared ancestor, and back down to the famous person.

• A 1st cousin is 4 links away.
• A 5th cousin is 12 links away.
• Each "removed" adds one link.
• A direct ancestor counts as the closest kind of connection.

Fewer links means closer. So a 3rd cousin once removed is 9 links away, and a 4th cousin is 10. The 3rd cousin wins.

More than a game

A family history night can be hard to get started. Not everyone feels like a genealogist, and an empty pedigree chart is not much of an invitation. Closest Cousin starts somewhere easier, with a question everyone wants answered. Am I related to Brigham Young? How?

The answer is usually yes, by some path, and that path is made of real people. Tap through the relationship on FamilySearch and you will pass great-grandparents whose names you may never have said out loud. That is often where the evening turns from a game into something quieter.

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." (Malachi 4:6)

Every name on the screen was once someone's child, someone's cousin, someone's grandmother. So were the people between you and them. The game is a reminder that the Restoration happened in families, and that ours are still connected to theirs.

Before you host

• Accounts first. Players need a phone and a free FamilySearch account with at least a few generations of their tree filled in. Ask everyone to sign in to FamilySearch before you start. Anyone who needs one can create a free account ahead of time.
• No account? Play as a Guesser. Players without a tree still earn points by guessing who in the room is closest.
• Use a big screen. A TV or projector makes the countdown reveal much more fun.
• Pick a set that fits. Try Women of faith for a Relief Society activity, Pioneers for July, or Prophets for a youth night.

A note on accuracy and privacy

• The results are a starting point, not proof. The game uses whatever the FamilySearch Family Tree says. That tree is shared and built by many people, so some links may be wrong or missing. Use what you find as an invitation to do real research.
• Your information isn't kept. Players use a nickname. Nicknames and answers are deleted when the host ends the game, or automatically after six hours. My Famous Family albums stay in your own browser.
• Only people who have died are included. The game links to their public records in the FamilySearch Family Tree. FamilySearch keeps living people private.

Closest Cousin is an independent game made by Weak Things, a small family business. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by FamilySearch or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Frequently asked questions

Is Closest Cousin free?

Yes. It is free to play, with no accounts or emails needed for the game itself. You will need a free FamilySearch account to look up your relationships.

How many people can play?

Up to 80 players can join a room game.

How long does a game take?

About 90 seconds a round. Ten rounds take about 15 minutes.

Can we play without a projector?

Yes. One-screen family mode works on a single laptop or TV, and My Famous Family works on your own phone.

What if I am not related to someone?

That happens, especially with a smaller tree. Play that round as a Guesser and keep going. Each new person is a new chance.

Can I play with extended family at a reunion?

Yes. Use the room game for a big group, or one-screen family mode around a single TV.

Gather your family, sign in to FamilySearch and find out who in the room is closest to the people who built the Church.

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