author image

(Andrea Colarieti/EyeEm/Getty)

Christmas is one of the best times of year to get out a board game and sit around the table with your family, but theres no need to stick to only the usual suspects…

God Of WarMetro GameCentral Video Games Top 20 of 2018 – from God Of War to Dead Cells

The best board games can bring all members of the family together, being accessible for players of all ages as well as offering plenty of laughs.

Last year we shared with you a list of some of the best alternative games that you could choose to play and this year we have even more.

If youre looking to avoid the usual Monopoly arguments and constantly losing at Trivial Pursuit, then here are some of the best alternative games you can play this Christmas.

Telestrations

Image result for telestrations

This is a game that isnt particularly competitive but it can produce a lot of laughs.

Each person is secretly given a word that they have to draw on a whiteboard and then once they finish they hand it to the next person who has to write down what they think the drawing is.

The next person then sees the word and has to draw it and this continues until the whiteboard pad returns to the original person and then everyone reveals the results which usually leads to hilarious moments.

The game can include four to eight players and you can find it at retailers including Debenhams, as well as various game stores and online.

Alternatively, Big Potato Games have a game that works in a similar way but is a more adult version with captions instead of one word choices to draw.

Skull

Related image

If you have some poker fans in the family then they are likely to enjoy Skull, which offers a similar bluffing experience.

Each player is given four circular cards, but one of them has a skull printed on it.

You take turns secretly placing a mat face down in a circle and this continues until someone bets how many cards they can turn over without revealing a skull.

Players can try to outbid each other and the winning bidder must then try to overturn the number of cards they bid, starting with their own cards.

If they succeed then they get a point (two points are needed to win the game) but if they fail then they lose one of their four cards.

The game can include up to six players and its considered to be one of the best simple party games and one that can be played almost anywhere.

If you have a bigger group of players then you could even buy two sets and then play with up to 12 people.

Cockroach Poker

Image result for cockroach poker

Cockroach Poker can work well for younger players as it is a game that doesnt require any reading and the gameplay is straightforward.

Each player is given a hand of cards with various critters and instead of having a winner, the game ends once there is a loser.

You lose by having four cards of the same critter laid out in front of you or if you are the first person to lose all the cards in your hand.

Each turn a player takes a card from their hand and gives it to a player of their choice, while claiming that the card is a certain critter. The receiving player can then either say whether it is true or false and if they are wrong the card is laid out in front of them, but if they are right then the original player has the card put in front of them instead.

Alternatively, the player can choose to look at the card and then hand it to another play and claim what critter it is and this can keep going until it has passed through all the players.

The game can played by between two and six players and offers the chance to do plenty of bluffing.

Weird Things Humans Search For

Weird Things Humans Search For is a party game that asks players to guess what are the most popular endings of various Google searches.

It works almost like a modern version of the popular game show Family Fortunes and it gives you the start of a search query like What cant I… and then you have to make two guesses of what you think will be the most popular questions for that search.

You can earn extra points depending on how highly your guess ranks and the person or team with most points after five rounds is the winner.

The game can be played by up to 20 players or even more if you want, as you work in teams to try to get the highest score each round.

It joins the ever growing line-up of party games from Big Potato Games including The Chameleon, Scrawl, and Clickbait.

Whitehall Mystery

Image result for whitehall mystery

Whitehall Mystery takes players back to the 1800s at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.

One of you takes the role of Jack and have to sneak to four different locations to drop off body parts without being caught by the police, who are controlled by the other players.

This one-against-all game can create a lot of tension as players try to track down Jack, getting close on numerous occasions as they investigate various areas to get clues.

It is a pure hidden movement game that is likely to be something that your family has never played before but this version is quite accessible and straightforward, especially compared to its older brother Letters from Whitechapel which is a similar experience but on a bigger scale.

The game is for two to four players and might not be suitable for younger players, but for teenagers and adults it can provide an hour of tense cat and mouse fun.

Email [email protected], leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter

Advertisement

Advertisement