All that family time during the festive season is made so much more entertaining with a board or card game to play. It's an easy way to get on with your in-laws [1] and bond with everyone. If you're bored of the usual culprits, with their hours of play and argument-inducing set-ups, you'll want to check out our selection of games that won't cause rows or take too long.
We've picked out the best for all family and friend gatherings, whether you're looking for funny offerings to play with your mates or inter-generational fun that the grandparents and little ones will understand too. It doesn't matter if you've only got two players or need to accommodate big teams, or if you've got just 5 minutes to fill or want to while away an hour, we've found options to suit all scenarios. From unusual board games [2] to hilarious card games, browse our picks here.
Exploding Kittens
Are you into kittens, explosions, laser beams and, er, goats? Then Exploding Kittens [3] (£20) is the strategic card game for you. Players draw cards until someone gets an Exploding Kitten, which they have to defuse with things like belly rubs, catnip sandwiches, and laser pointers. It's the most-backed and most-funded game on Kickstarter.
For 2 to 5 players (upto 9 players with 2 decks).
Scotland Yard
Fancy yourself as a detective? In Scotland Yard [4] (£30) you and your fellow detectives work together to track down criminal mastermind Mister X (the other players) using travel tickets to chase him around London.
Suitable for 2 to 4 players, 8 years and up, with an average playing time of 45 minutes.
Mr Lister’s Quiz Shootout
Mr Lister's Quiz Shootout [5] (£10) is a quick-fire quiz game where players divide into 2 teams to answer questions like "List the 10 most popular flavours of Walker's classic crisps" on the 120 Trivia Cards. One player steps up as quiz-master Mr Lister, complete with moustache.
Suitable for 3 to 20 players.
What Do You Meme?
One for the adults, What Do You Meme? [6] (£28) bills itself as a card game for the social media generation. Out-meme your friends IRL by pairing Caption Cards with the Photo Card in play. You'll take it in turns to be judge each round. With mature content cards you'll probably want to keep this one as a mates-only game, rather than get your grandparents involved.
Suitable for 3+ players, ages 18 and up.
Sussed All Sorts
Discover how much you know about your fellow players with Sussed All Sorts [7] (£11), which is designed to inspire face-to-face conversation. There are over 200 scenarios to choose from with multiple choice answers, like: "What do I most wish I could do? A. Speak to animals B. Read people's minds C. Communicate with ghosts".
Suitable for 2 to 10 players, ages 6 and up.
Bananagrams
Think Scrabble but faster and more free — Bananagrams [8] (£12) is made up of short individual rounds of wordplay. Shout "split" and then race to create your own word grid. You can play one hand in just 5 minutes. No pencil, paper, or board is required — just the tiles and a table.
Suitable for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up.
5 Second Rule
You have to think quick in 5 Second Rule [9] (£17), where each question asks you to "Name 3..." of something within 5 seconds. Cue silly answers and fast-paced play.
Suitable for 3 to 6 players, ages 8 and up.
The Chameleon
Bluff your way through the game if you're the eponymous creature in The Chameleon [10] (£25). You won't know the secret word, but everyone else will, and they'll be trying to figure out who's the guilty, while coming up with their own word to to prove they know the secret word. Winner of ukge best party game of 2017.
Suitable for 3 to 8 players, ages 14 and up.
Game Off
Game Off [11] (£13) sets you up for 120 head-to-head battles on everything, from acting, drawing, and throwing to craftsmanship, salesmanship, and storytelling. You might end up with a rap battle between your Mum and Dad, or a table top penalty shootout between you and your Gran. Then the other players act judge and decide who wins.
Suitable for 3+ players, ages 5 and up.
Brainbox World
Brainbox World [12] (£10) is dubbed "The 10-Minute Brain Challenge", although you can choose to play for as long or as little as you like. Study one of the cards for 68 countries for 10 seconds then answer a question based on observation or memory from the back, chosen by the roll of a die. Get it right and keep the card — the player with most cards after a chosen amount of time wins. Learn about animals, buildings, capitals, flags, foods, and sports.
Suitable for 1+ players, ages 8 and up.
Hedbanz
The classic "what am I?" game, but rather than use post-it notes you use the 6 headbands and 68 clue cards with Hedbanz [13] (£9). Start off by narrowing down whether the cartoon on your head is an animal, food, or object, and ask yes/no questions to discover exactly what you are.
Suitable for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up.
Jungle Speed
It's a race to the totem in Jungle Speed [14] (£15), where you compete to match cards and get rid of them first.
Suitable for 2 to 10 players, ages 8 and up, with 15 minutes playing time.
Dobble
Dobble [15] (£10) is a game of reflexes, as you race to match the identical symbol between cards. There are five mini games to extend gameplay. In all, the aim is to be the fastest to spot the matching symbol and name it.
Suitable for 2 to 8 players, ages 6 years and up.
Codenames
It's all about secret agents in Codenames [16] (£15), where you split into two teams to see who can make contact with all of their 25 agents first. The two rival spymasters know the secret identities, and give their teammates one-word clues, while everyone tries to avoid the assassin. You can also play a co-operative version where one team plays against the game itself.
Suitable for 2 to 8 players, ages 14 and up, with a 15-minute playing time.
Randomise
Mash up Articulate, Charades, and Pictionary and you get Randomise [17] (£12), the card game that has teams competing to act, describe, or draw their random identities, like a confused octopus eating spaghetti.
Suitable for 4 to 50 players, ages 8 and up.