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8 Board Games You Should Convince Your Family to Play This Holiday Season (Instead of Arguing About Politics)
We all have that uncle or cousin who thrives in heated arguments over the immigrant caravan or gun control/ownership/whatever. Holidays can turn relatives against each other before they even finish the appetizers. This makes the prospect of sitting down to a meal and dessert together less appetizing than fruitcake (seriously, why?).
Even if you just want to prevent your great aunt from her yearly questions about your spinsterhood/bachelorhood, playing a board game can give your relatives something positive to feel united over instead of their collective animosity.
So, what game should you bring to save the holiday season? Read on to find my top grandma-friendly picks.
Maybe your family has memorized all the Apples to Apples cards, and their unique combinations no longer surprise anyone. Cards Against Humanity may be a little much for your grandmother (though you’re positive your grandfather would get a kick out of it). Monopoly is too involved and takes too long to play. And, you have a personal ambition to never again sit through your grandmother attempting to convey brazen serpent in Pictionary while everyone looks on in horror.
While some families may love playing Risk or Settlers of Catan while holiday music blares in the background, the games on this list are social games with little barrier to entry. Most take only 10-30 minutes to play.
When I Dream
When I Dream offers lots of opportunities for familial bonding. You can laugh and grimace together over this game’s comical and unsettling illustrations. It even has roles that let your family members take turns being the bad guy: lying, deceiving, convincing a blindfolded player of their trustworthiness.
Each player takes a turn as The Dreamer and while blindfolded, listens to other players’ clues to determine unknown words.
This game is easy enough that anyone who can read and understands lying can play. It accommodates 4-10 players.
Spyfall
Spyfall: another game for the liars in your family. This social game doesn’t even have a board, so all your family members need to keep track of is their card. The premise is simple: everyone has a role linked to the same location (i.e. a hospital, or night club). They might work at the location (doctor, janitor) or not (patient, visitor). But one player has no idea of the location because they are—wait for it—a spy. Through probing questions, the other players try to figure out who the spy is, while the spy tries to figure out the location.
Each round takes 8 minutes and can accommodate 3-8 players. With Spyfall 2, up to 12 players can play, in which case each round takes about 15 minutes. It might take a few rounds to get the hang of it.
Decrypto
We all have that relative who’s really into conspiracy theories and secret messages. This game’s for them. But also for everyone else. Decrypto is a team game that’s best played while not too intoxicated. In Decrypto, two competing teams try to unscramble their own and the opposite team’s secret codes.
The back of the box says 3-8 players can play. But I’ve found as long as everyone can see the board, you can add extra players to the mix. It should take around 30 minutes to play, unless you have a family of perfectionists who take forever to make clues. (Decrypto includes a timer for this purpose.) Maybe playing on a team with your uncle Tim will help you ignore his years of sexist comments. But then again, maybe not.
Codenames
I don’t know why so many of these games have to do with spies and secret messages. While this game requires a surface to place word cards on, your family members don’t have to hold anything, which can go a long way with some of them.
In Codenames, you divide up into two opposing spy organizations—blue and red. Despite the obvious implication, I don’t actually recommend dividing on political lines.
Each team will need a mostly sober, competent leader to give good clues in order to make the game enjoyable. So if your dad has already knocked back more than his share, don’t give him this role. It requires meticulous planning and attention to detail.
Codenames is the first game in a series. So if you played before and loved it or are interested in trying it out, you may want to check out the other variations.
- Codenames Pictures – A version containing no words and only pictures
- Codenames Duet – A two-player version of the classic game
- Disney Family Edition Codenames – The family friendly version containing both words and pictures
- Marvel Codenames – Another version kids would love, featuring characters from the Marvel universe
- Harry Potter Codenames – The rules change in this take on Codenames, turning it into a deduction game
- Codenames Deep Undercover – An risque adult version of the game
Secret Hitler
Secret Hitler is the only game on the list I don’t own, though I’ve played it often enough that it feels like I do.
Even if your family doesn’t agree on much, they can probably all agree that Hitler was the worst person ever. So why not play a moderately-offensive game that forces them to secretly support him and propel him into power? If that wasn’t enough to convince Uncle Steve, who says no to almost every attempt at being a social human being, you get to say “Ja!” or “Nein!” when voting.
In this game, one player is secretly Hitler, and he must hide his identity while the secret fascists sneakily propel him into power. The liberals do their best to catch the fascists at their game and deny their legislation to win. This game accommodates 5-10 players and lasts 30-60 minutes.
Wordsy
If Secret Hitler and games of deception will weigh too heavily on Nana’s soul, give Wordsy a try while you wait to digest enough of your dinner to think about dessert.
With Wordsy, you don’t have to worry about buzzkill Cousin Dave annoyingly earning 22 points for forming Qi or fa or some other equally asinine word on the Scrabble board. Players earn points for spelling long words using the round’s selected bonus letters. But you aren’t limited to those letters—you can use any extra letters you want.
Wordsy takes about 20 minutes for 1-6 players, so if you’re dead set on not socializing with your family, you can always play by yourself.
Two Rooms and a Boom
In Two Rooms and a Boom, players are divided into opposing teams with secret roles. Unlike other social deduction games, Two Rooms physically separates players into two different rooms, intermixing the players on opposing teams. The blue team wants to keep their president safe from the red team’s bomber. The red team wants the bomber to end the last round of the game in the same room as the president, where he will sacrifice himself in the name of terror and assassination. By talking and strategizing, players negotiate the exchange of hostages at the end of each round.
Gameplay varies depending on the cards you include, but the manual provides a basic setup option to get started. Two Rooms and a Boom game accommodates 6-30 players and takes between 7-20 minutes. The box says even eight-year-olds can play; that is, if you want to explain to them what a hostage situation means and further develop their ability to lie under pressure.
Jackbox Games
Disclaimer: this is not a board game. But it is perfect for your family members who just want to look at their phones instead of socializing. Jackbox Games lets your whole family look at their phones together while playing a variety of different games. While Jackbox has released multiple series of Party Packs, Party Pack 3 is the hands-down favorite.
It does require a platform to play, but even Comcast Xfinity and Android TV can be used in lieu of a video game system.
Most Jackbox games can have up to 8 players, but others can join the audience and participate minimally in the game. Everyone needs a device capable of accessing the internet: smart phone, tablet, or computer.
Hopefully one of the games on this list can help your family find common ground this holiday season!
Products mentioned in this post:
Which game are you most interested in trying out?
Let me know in the comments below.
Heather Hobbs has a board game obsessed husband and has attended her share of game nights. She writes freelance content and blog posts for companies and bloggers.
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Nate
12 Dec 2018Secret Hitler looks like a really fun game to play! LOL.
On a second note, Spyfall looks fun as well. This is perfect for the holidays when you spend them with your family.
Cathy
12 Dec 2018When I Dream sounds like a fun game!
Sandy
12 Dec 2018I haven’t heard of any of these games! Thanks so much for the great ideas!
Chad
12 Dec 2018We can’t help but arguing about politics lol but these are amazing, thank you so much for the great recos.
Chad
http://www.mosaicslab.com
Alayna
12 Dec 2018I don’t know about the Hitler game. I get the concept, and can see it being an educational experience. There’s just something about making one of the greatest human tragedies part of family game night that feels weird.
Karmin
12 Dec 2018Code Names looks like tons of fun! I like the idea of all the spy games, I think it will help your family have a fun, but combative good time
Kaeleigh
13 Dec 2018These all look like great games to play over the holidays!
Adriana
13 Dec 2018Code Names looks like so much fun. I love family game night.
Clare Minall
13 Dec 2018Wow, such a great list of board games. Playing with the whole fam is such a great idea this Holiday.
Preet
13 Dec 2018Love those board games. Meand my family loves having an activity that can make us really happy. Quality time is really important especially to kids.
Joseph Abimbola
13 Dec 2018These are all wonderful games and i will really like to try some of them this holiday. Thanks for making me see the importance.
Catherine Santiago Jose
14 Dec 2018I have never tried to play board games with my family for a long time and every board games that you mentioned sounds really a lot of fun to play with most especially on this Christmas Eve.
Bree
14 Dec 2018Wordsy looks fun! I hate when people do that and so this seems better than scrabble! haha! love the title too!
Justyna Butler
14 Dec 2018Those are the best games to connect with love ones just playing games!
love faith more
14 Dec 2018Two rooms in a boom sounds interesting for me. So exciting to imagine the role of playing this game. You have to be a good liar at some point, LOL.
Sue-Tanya Mchorgh
14 Dec 2018I love playing board games with my family. The When I Dream game looks interesting.
Bindu Thomas
15 Dec 2018The codenames and secret hitler looks like really nice games. I love the idea of making the whole family fun during the holiday. Thank you so much for sharing.