The perfect solution to rainy days, livening up the room after food comas or when someone starts to talk politics at the dinner table: party games. Whether you host a weekly games night or only dabble in a bit of charades at parties, here are 10 family friendly games you need to try this festive period.
One to test your rhyming skills
Full of weird and wonderful rhymes like Cara Delavigne on a washing machine and 50 cent laying cement, each card will have you acting, decoding, or describing celebrities involved in all sorts of activities.
One for music lovers
Picture the riff-off scene from Pitch Perfect in your own living room but with absolutely no tunefulness required. If you’re that person that knows every word of every song, this game couldn’t be more you. Destined to get the whole room singing along, this one is great for any age and any occasion to boost spirits.
One to test your memory
Four on a couch
All you need for this one is a sofa with space for four people, a pen and a piece of paper. This a fun, strategic memory game for medium to large groups. The aim of the game is to get all your team members on the sofa.
Split your group into two teams. Sit four people on the sofa (two from each team) then create a circle of people sat around it, with one space left empty. Everyone writes their own name on a piece of paper and puts it into a bag or hat. All players then pick out a piece of paper, the name they pick out is their new name. The person to the right of the empty space calls out a name from the group and the person who now has that name moves into the empty spot. All players need to do is try and remember everyone’s new names rather than their actual ones and remove players from the opposite team from the sofa and fill it with members of their own. The team that is first to get the sofa filled with all their team members wins.
Sounds complicated we know, but it’s not and this YouTube video shows you how to play it!
One to test your trivia
Trivia with a twist, in this light-hearted game you guess the right answers but also the wrong ones. Perfect for anyone who loves a quiz, silly guesses and lots of laughter.
One to break the ice
The hat game
The perfect game to get everyone animated, all you need for this is paper, a pen and a hat. All players get given five squares of blank paper and a pen to write down 10 celebrities. Your group is then split into two and player by player, they will get one minute to pick a name from the hat. In the first round, the player describes the celebrity to their team, and they guess who it is. Every correct guess is a point which gets tallied up. When the hat is empty, all the names are put back in and the second round begins. This time players can only describe the celebrity in one word. In the last round, they have to act out their celebrity. When the last round ends, all points are counted and the team with the most points wins.
One that kids will love
Like Cards Against Humanity but appropriate for kids! Perfect for all ages of and levels of mischievousness. The cards are full of random and cheeky answers that will have them laughing their little socks off.
One on an app
If you’ve ever played the boardgame Balderdash, you’ve already got the basics of this one. From the creators of Head’s Up, this game has a variety of categories that will give you tasks such as creating made-up meanings for obscure words or creating imaginary plot twists for niche movies, all with the aim of getting others to vote for your answer. Guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing and get some serious belly laughs. The best bit? You don’t even have to be in the same room, so you can play this with friends and family in different households over the holidays.
One with cards
As bonkers as it sounds, this quirky game is easy to grasp and one that kids will love too. Each round can be finished in 10-15 minutes so this is a great one to play in between other games or activities and for group members you know can’t hold attention for a whole Monopoly session.
One for all the family
If you’ve ever seen the gameshow Pointless, this is the complete opposite. The aim of the game is to pick the same answer as everyone else playing. With weird and wacky questions like ‘What’s the biggest animal you could take in a fight?’ or ‘Would you rather have robot arms or robot legs?’ - it’s thought provoking, lots of fun and great for all ages to get involved.
One to play if you’re not together
The DIY quiz
If last year’s festive period taught us anything, it’s that we need to make a back-up plan. If you’re not able to be with friends and family in person, a quiz via video call is the perfect way to feel connected. Make this one personal. Create your own questions that include the group members. Dig deep for some old Facebook statuses or funny photos for a ‘guess who’ round or put out a questionnaire beforehand and include questions such as ‘How many times a day did X say they thought about food?’. Hopefully this festive season we won’t need a back-up Zoom quiz, but what’s great is that a DIY quiz is great fun online or in person.
