Here at Smart Bitches, we like to help you do your holiday shopping. This week’s theme? Games! My husband and I like to play games…wait, that sounds bad. We like to have friends over for game-night. Board games. Totally wholesome. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.
Here are a list of some of my favorites.
Spot-It
Spot-It is an awesome game because it works well for both adults and kids. Each card contains multiple symbols or pictures, and between two cards there is always one (but only one) matching symbol. There are multiple ways to play, but usually you start with one card face up in the center of the table, then everyone has to race to find the matching symbol on their card. It’s harder than you’d think.
This game is great for kids, but it gets surprisingly competitive with adults, especially when they’re drunk.
There are multiple theme packs too–Hipster Spot-It, NHL Spot-It, Disney Princess Spot-It…. The options are endless.
Mindstein
Mindstein is basically a multiple choice trivia game with a word jumble thrown into each round. I love it because it’s challenging in multiple ways–plus the hubby and I kick ass as a team. He’s dyslexic but retains useless trivia facts like nobody’s business. I am the word un-scrambler. Together we form Voltron.
Ubongo
Ubongo is like competitive Tetris, if Tetris were a board game. You have to take geometric shapes and put them together to solve a puzzle while a timer runs down. It’s actually pretty tough.
There’s also a Junior version. For some reason this game is stupid expensive, but it’s a lot of fun when you have several people playing.
(You can also find game sets on eBay.)
Guillotine
Guillotine is a card game where, as the executioner, you want to win by getting the most noble heads. It’s irreverent, easy to learn, and lots of fun.
It’s basically a trump game where you get to behead people.
Mexican Train Dominoes
I actually work with trains that go into and out of Mexico in the real world. Once we accidentally shipped a box of wet hides and it got caught in Laredo for weeks, baking in the sun. We had to take the box to an empty lot and burn it. Fun times.
Anyway, Mexican Train Dominoes is another fun game for adults and kids game. The idea is to match tiles and get rid of yours first.
I’ve been trying to convince my mom to play prison-style and slam her tile down while shouting “Domino muthafucka!” but so far no luck.
(Sarah adds: I had never heard of this game, and was baffled by the name. If, like me, you’re going Wait, what? about the name, I did some Googling. I haven’t been able to accurately trace the origin of the name ‘Mexican Train Dominoes,’ though eHow says it’s related to a Chinese domino game called Pai Gaw. Another source indicates that this game is also similar to a Cuban game called Longana. There’s even an entire website devoted to the game. I found sets for sale under the name at Amazon, ToysRUs, and several local toy stores, too. I had no idea.)
Anomia
Anomia is a game where you have to randomly face off with other players, trying to blurt out a correct answer first.
It gets progressively more fun (and answers get way more interesting) when alcohol is added to the mix.
What about you? Have any great game suggestions? Tell us in the comments. Happy shopping!
Arkham horror: This one takes a while and has a lot of rules, but it’s great for a Saturday game day/evening with your nerd/horror-loving friends.
Clue: I didn’t realize there were so many varieties of Clue, but I know of D&D Clue and Firefly Clue. I’m probably getting one of these for a Christmas party exchange with my nerd/horror-loving friends (see above).
Telestrations! It’s sort of like telephone (the old childhood game) mixed with pictionary. Everyone gets a little booklet of whiteboard material, and draws a card that tells them what to draw. Then after you draw it, you pass it to the next person who guesses what it is, then passes it to the next who draws it, then the next person guesses, and so on. Once everyone gets their original board back you go around and tell the “story” of what happened to whatever you drew and make fun of whoever horribly messed up. My family and friends tend not to play for points, but there is a scoring system for the competitive folk!
Oh, wow.. I’ve been a gamer for years and the hubby and I go to the Origins Game Fair every year for our wedding anniversary…
So let me list a few – and a blatant plug for my blog where I go into more details!
Qwirkle – a great matching-symbol game that you can find anywhere and suitable for all ages.
Flash Point – ever want to be a firefighter? This game lets you BE a firefighter and save people! There’s plenty of expansions so you can go all the way to rescue your people!
Tokaido – a simple travel game without any dice where you travel along an ancient road in Japan and collect goodies… the artwork is breathtaking and even if you lose, you win!
Blatant plug: http://sherylnantus.wordpress.com/ for my reviews on all these games.
And if you can get to Columbus Ohio in June get thee hence to the Origins Game Fair for plenty of faboo games! (and visit the Library to see me and other great authors!)
Mexican Train is a family favourite. Also, in keeping with the train theme, Ticket to Ride is a good game for the family, as long as your kids aren’t too little.
I would recommend Phase 10, Skip-Bo, and Rook. All the various Munchkin card games are fun too, especially if you get a group of friends together to play.
Iota is a great, compact game that’s kinda like a cross between Qwirkle (I second that rec but would suggest the travel version for people with limited space) and Set.
Ooooh thanks for these recs! I only have and know of one of the above. Adding to mah holidaze list now!
My favorite card game, Pit! Fun, fast & loud!
Go, which somehow seems like a different game if played by just children or just adults.
Love board games. Sadly last time I played was too long ago. Think it was Scattegories. This game too takes on special fun when played over cocktails. 😉
Think I’ll add Spot It to this years “Family” gift request to Santa. He brings the board games.
Pandemic! It’s a cooperative game where the players each take a role like scientist, medic, dispatcher and work together to stop diseases that are spreading worldwide scary-fast. It’s really challenging to prevent the collapse of global civilization.
I’ve always loved Wise and Otherwise. Players have to finish a wise saying from another culture (usually left off at the point that sounds the craziest). They write their completed saying down and give it to that round’s “editor,” who writes down the real answer. The editor then reads all the choices out loud and people vote on which one they think is the real one. You get points for picking the real one and for people picking yours. It’s great fun to play with imaginative people.
We are a gaming household too. Love both Guillotine and Anomia, and my kids do too (they are 10 and 12).
Here are a couple of others:
Talisman – kind of like a role-playing game, only on a board.
Carcassonne — the best tile-laying game ever.
Lords of Waterdeep — another RPG-like board game
Apples to Apples — really fun party word game, using cards
All of the Fluxx card games (we have Monty Python Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx and Pirate Fluxx).
And Ticket to Ride as well.
I hate the games (but not the players)(sometimes also the players).
I was raised by hippies, and competition makes me miserable. I can manage games if we all work together, and everyone wins. Jigsaw puzzles, for example, don’t make me shake and vomit, although I still feel vaguely guilty for wasting time.
No one feels my pain. They talk about ‘fun’ and other mysteries.
I have endured a lot of Ticket to Ride, Set, Qwirkle, Bananagrams, Apples to Apples, although that has now been largely eclipsed by Cards Against Humanity. And apparently Scrabble, Pictionary and Backgammon are never going to go away. Rumor has it all these games provide ‘entertainment’ and ‘enjoyment.’
I like to play Guillotine, Quirkle, Pandemic, Phase 10, cribbage, and UNO. There is also a very unpolitically correct redneck version of Life – friends played with us on NY Eve.
kkw, I sympathize. I was not raised by hippies, but games often trigger my social anxiety. I prefer spending parties in conversation, but my social circle is full of avid gamers.
There’s some faboo co-operative games out there – I suggest Pandemic (already mentioned) and Elder Sign off the top of my head for two great co-op games. Elder Sign is a dice roller game from Fantasy Flight Games and you all work together to keep an Old One from breaking free!
Pandemic is… well, Pandemic!
I do suggest Tokaido if you’re looking for a calm game – it’s not a case of racing to the end, there’s plenty of strategy and no dice at all – while there is a “winner” it’s really more fun to play whether you win or lose!
As an avid/rabid gamer, I could use up all the memory on the Internet gushing about my favorites. Many of my reviews are up at the Armchair Critic http://thearmchaircritic.blogspot.com/ under the keyword “Games.” So to be (relatively) brief:
— GREAT GAMES ALREADY MENTIONED: Ubongo, Telestrations, the Munchkin games, Pandemic, Carcassonne (which, on BSW, I’ve played 4,508 times and won 65% of them), Apples to Apples, Fluxx (which now has a Holiday version!), Ticket to Ride, and Cards Against Humanity.
— HEROES WANTED: You’re wannabe superheroes taking on wannabe villains and their henchmen/minions. Gameplay is easy to learn and strategic, the two-card combos for heroes and villains are amusing (Brunch Giraffe, Danger Blade, Mistress Skunk, Cat Taco), and there’s some t’riffic flavor text. (Danger: “Actually, my middle name is Dennis.” Ham: “This little piggy went to taekwondo.”)
–WIZ-WAR: Wizards run around dungeons, trying to win by either blasting an opponent to oblivion or stealing two of their treasures and putting them in their home space. There’s plenty of strategy, and two expansions. (BESTIAL FORCES lets you get monstrous minions!)
— KING OF TOKYO and KING OF NEW YORK: This uses Yahtzee-type dice rolling and kaiju-stype giant monsters to slug it out to win! KING OF NEW YORK has more strategy, while KING OF TOKYO is easier to first learn and play.
–SMASH UP: This (sort of) settles which geek faction would win in a fight, as groups of two battle it out for control of bases. (My personal and effective combo: the “Plan 9 from Outer Space” mix of Aliens and Zombies.) And lots of expansions means lots of new factions!
–SETTLERS OF CATAN: It’s a classic for a reason. This game involves settlement, development, and making deals with the people you’re trying to beat.
–SMALLWORLD: It’s like RISK, but with mythological creatures — and the ability to retire your race when it’s reached its limit to start over with a new one.
–BLOOD BOWL: Mix football, rugby, and mythological creatures and you have this competition to win games, get rewards, and win with the most fans!
–COSMIC ENCOUNTER: Attack, negotiate, and bargain your way to victory; plus, every player is a unique alien with a unique ability! (And the expansions add more races; though COSMIC STORM is the weakest of those.)
–SPACE CADETS: Everyone works together, playing their own mini-game to keep the starship working and to achieve their goals. But damage can make everyone swap roles… (There’s also a more combat-based dice one: SPACE CADETS: DICE DUELS.)
–BETRAYAL AT HOUSE ON THE HILL: This is a must-have for the horror fan. Players are characters exploring a creepy old house. But when the haunt begins (as it invariably will), players find themselves in one of 50 (!) different scenarios, with one player turning traitor. This is creepy, fun, and had amazing replayability.
This is the best, it’s always fun to see what games everyone else recommends.
But I’m a little surprised no one’s recommended TableTop yet, which is Will Weaton’s gameplaying YouTube show. Each episode is a different game and they’re currently on their third season.
They’ve actually done quite a few of the recommended games in the comments, so if you find yourself unsure of a game look it up and you can watch someone else play it first. Even if you’re not unsure it’s lots of fun watching Will (who will invariably lose) and his friends play games. And it’s a good way to expose yourself to new games either way.
What about Uno? No, not the gentlemanly or ladylike game where you take turns, oh no! This is Combat Uno where you slap down the card whenever you think it fits (the way my family plays it, minus the Comments mentioned above, except perhaps the occasional Mwa ha ha).
JUST TODAY played Uno Attack! We had our Thanksgiving feast today, and instead of naps and staring at each other, played Uno. Kindness to the dear daughter or parents left the building, as we strategize to make the others have more cards than me. Sometimes, plays were made that were more about sabatoging someone than making the best play for one’s self!
For groups I love Encore. For some reason I don’t understand, I seem to be the only person who owns this game. I see it every where at Christmas. It is so much fun. Board and cards with multiple words/themes. You must sing eight consecutive words of a song lyric containing your word or that fits a theme. Let me repeat, YOU MUST SING. It’s in the rules. It’s not as easy as it sounds and you spend the entire ride home and next day coming up with the lyrics you couldn’t think of during the game. The bigger the group, the more fun it is. But don’t play with people who went to Bible camp. I swear the former roommate and her cousin were making stuff up, and we had no way to call them on it. “We sang it all the time at Bible Camp.” with big innocent eyes. Bitches.
Hearty seconds to Wise and Otherwise, Iota, SET, Fluxx, and Bananagrams.
My teen and her friends loved Loot and Save the Whales (a co-operative game).
A great two player thinking game is Quarto; it’s also a very attractive game as it’s made from wood.
@KKW I also feel your pain. I was raised by hippies. I do like games, but they cause great social anxiety. My one set of relative plays in a cut throat, but still fun style that drives me up a wall. Sometimes their cutthroatness gets so bad even they cry. Lovely!
I’m bookmarking this page for Black Friday 🙂
Do you know if Catan or Carcassone need to be native-language-translated (my family is non-English speaking), or can I buy them from an English/German website?
Fabulous thread! Spot It looks great for my kid w/some developmental vision challenges.
I can say the kids in my neighborhood all play Apples to Apples Junior independently w/out adults, which is fabulous and fun to hear them – it doesn’t seem that competitive (at least it’s the only game where I haven’t heard crying and kicking board over).
The child who loves Ticket to Ride also loves Milles Bournes (we have the TinTin version, which is adorable) … but the other kid won’t play those, so it’s challenging to find the right moment.
Monopoly is the game I want to die – there was epic cousin Monopoly last summer. Sigh.
And the game we take everywhere … UNO.
I’m the crazy aunt/godmother/cousin/friend/what-have-you who buys books, calendars, & games for people every year, so I so appreciate this thread – thank you!
We play a fair amount of games in my house, but when we play with our friends, we all get so silly & stupid about it all (& I swear, there is no drinking involved) that sometimes we forget to keep track of who is winning! Mind you, this works better with the trivia/do funny action/type games….
That might help with the social anxiety of it – play with silly people who don’t get all cutthroat about it all….it’s probably better for the sanity anyway.
A couple of our faves are VH1’s Pop-Up Video and 20 Questions…yeah, they’re old, but they’re fun!
[…] Smart Bitches Gift Guide: Games. […]
Miranda suggested Arkham Horror, which I also FULLY endorse. However, if you want to start with a less complex game (there’s lots of unique card piles and various fiddly bits) but still want to play in a Lovecraftian setting, you can try Eldritch Horror, made by the same company (Fantasy Flight Games). The gameplay is less complex and a single session can run three to four hours rather than six to eight, which is typical for even a non-expanded Arkham Horror session. If you’re like me, though, and you like sitting around a table with your friends from noon to nine p.m. (with a break for dinner) playing a cooperative game where you’re trying to either prevent the ascension of an ancient Elder God or, if that fails, kill it, then Arkham Horror is for you!
[…] Recently a blog I visit discussed games for the holidays and some of the posters were bemoaning the lack of co-op games that they could play – some people don’t want the competitive-type of play and I can’t blame them. There’s times when it’s just nice to chill and have fun and not have to either be the punching bag for an aggressive player or go postal on your friends and family. This is perfect for those types of games! […]