It’s the most wonderful time of year, which means lots of family get-togethers. I firmly believe board games are one of the best ways to spend quality time with other people. Whether you know everyone well, or only see them a couple of times a year for major holidays or special occasions, playing games is an excellent way to create lasting memories.
These party game suggestions give everyone something to do before and after dinner is served. Since holiday gatherings bring together family members of all ages, I like to choose family-friendly games that can accommodate a large number of players and have rules that are quick and easy to explain.
Not Parent Approved
Not Parent Approved is one of my daughter’s favorites to take along during holiday travel. Using the hand they were dealt, players must select one card to fill in the blank of the sentence on the blue card. It’s full of kid humor, which makes it family-friendly yet fun for all ages.
This game is great to play with relatives because you can easily accommodate a large number of players, you don’t have to keep score, and you can engage family members of multiple age groups!
Telestrations
Telestrations, from the OP (formerly USAopoly), is another family favorite. It takes the classic game of telephone and turns it into a drawing and guessing game. As the dry-erase book is passed around the group, players alternate between guessing what the previous person drew and trying to draw what the previous player wrote as their guess. It’s a lot of fun to see how well — or not — the final drawing matches the original prompt!
This game is best with a larger group, and it is so much fun. You don’t have to keep score and you don’t have to draw well: win-win. We own the six-player set, but there’s also a larger party set for up to 12 players.
Codenames
Codenames is great for parties, but it does involve a little more strategy. Players divide into two teams and take turns trying to figure out where their characters are located among the cards based on one-word clues.
There are several theme variations of Codenames, too, so if your family loves Disney or Harry Potter, you’ll want to grab that fandom edition. Bonus: The game accommodates a large group of players and it gets everyone working together.
Carpool Karaoke
Carpool Karaoke is a new game, from Big G Creative, for three or more players based on the popular show with James Corden. Challenge each other to sing and dance to music from your favorite app or streaming service. It’s perfect to play with your favorite holiday songs!
Speechless
Speechless, from Arcane Wonders, is a fun twist on the classic game of charades. Instead of splitting into teams with one person acting out a prompt and their team shouting guesses, each player acts out three clues, and the rest of the players write down their guesses.
While the game only comes with a certain number of dry-erase boards, you could add additional players writing their guesses on a piece of paper. Depending on how many relatives are visiting, you could split into pairs or small teams if needed.
Balderdash
Balderdash is one of my favorite party games. This one is better suited to playing with tweens, teens, and adults. There is a lot more reading and writing involved in this one, but it is guaranteed to result in lots of laughs.
In Balderdash, one player reads a prompt from the card (there are several categories), and everyone else makes up an answer. The player then reads all of the made-up answers and the real answer, which the other players vote on. This is a great game to play with relatives because you are sure to make hilarious memories.
Hive Mind
Hive Mind, from Calliope Games, is a great trivia-style game for people who do not like trivia. It’s not all about getting the answer right, it’s about thinking like the other players. You want to have the same answers to earn more points and stay in the hive.
The game’s collaborative nature makes it great to play with relatives and prompts everyone to share stories related to the answers they gave. It’s interesting to see how the answers vary across age groups, too. You can have as many players as you want as you make some new memories together.
Monikers
Monikers is a party game in which players get their teams to guess which celebrity they are describing or imitating. There are three rounds, during which the types of clues change. In the first round, players can say anything except the name. In the second round, they can only give one-word clues. In the third round, they can’t say anything and can only act out clues. Monikers accommodates a large number of players and can get really silly!
We hope you make lots of memories and strengthen family connections playing these games with relatives throughout the holidays. If you are traveling, check out this roundup of board games to take on a trip or our list of games you can play on road trips.
