Winter is just around the corner, and while you’re busy planning your next Christmas getaway, it’s a good time to simultaneously think about what activities and games to host. The recipe for success for any wonderful Christmas party is: good company, a great holiday meal, familiar tunes and lots of fun.
While we all know the classics - Secret Santa, White Elephant and Charades - we want to introduce you to 10 other splendid games that are sure to bring you joy this season. Now, hold back those groans. Before you roll your eyes, hear us out: Board games aren’t just for kids. Whether you’re hosting an office party for your coworkers, a small family reunion or a youth group at church, there are plenty of fun (and free!) options for kids and adults alike. Take the reindeer game or the oven mitt challenge, for example. Your competitive side will come out as you desperately try to open the gift before your turn comes to an abrupt halt. Or the adults-only Hallmark movie drinking game, a fun activity that ups the ante of an innocent movie marathon. Maybe you’re just looking for something simple, like a family game of Pictionary, to get your child to stop playing Fortnite for the evening.
Whatever game you choose, one thing is for sure: it’ll be a Christmas you won’t soon forget, thanks to your new family vacation tradition.
1. Great Christmas Baking Contest
Gather all the bakers in the family, no matter how good they are, and hold a Christmas baking contest. You can score the final product in three categories: presentation, taste and creativity. If it’s too difficult to bake from scratch, you can hold a cookie decorating contest instead. The winner gets to choose which Christmas movie to watch!
Buy: Great Christmas Baking Contest
2. Merry Dissmas: The hilarious family party game
From the creators of the wildly popular What Do You meme comes a slightly irreverent party game that will have the whole family laughing (and squirming at the same time). Kind of like your bumbling uncle.
Buy: Merry Dissmas: The hilarious family party game
3. Santa Claus Go Fish
The vacation version of a classic card game is perfect for keeping younger kids busy.
Buy: Santa Claus Go Fish
4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Twinkle Light Game
Your mission: Help Clark Griswold hang 25,000 twinkling Christmas lights without something going wrong. This 20-minute game is simple to learn and a lot of fun, especially with the classic Christmas movie playing in the background.
Buy: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Twinkle Light Game
5. Play Love Letters: Letters to Santa
Letters to Santa is a spin-off of the Love Letters card game. In this game, 2-4 players compete to get their letters safely to Santa’s HQ. While playing, children can feel like they have helped to get their messages to Santa himself.
Buy: Play Love Letters: Letters to Santa
6. The Hygge Game
Hygge is a Danish word that describes a feeling of intimacy and comfort, and this game facilitates that feeling. This game facilitates that feeling. You will find 300 cards that will encourage you to have pleasant conversations.
Buy: The Hygge Game
7. Codenames
This popular word game tests people’s ability to convey a lot of meaning using a single word. During the game, 4 to 8 players divide into two groups. One member of each team will try to direct the other members of his or her team to choose the right words on the board.
Buy: Codenames
8. Christmas Fun Mad Libs: Deluxe Stocking Stuffer Edition
For a fun and simple Christmas game you can play over dinner, grab this Mad Libs block. Simply put, a pen in each spot and have each guest fill in a word, then pass the block. The person who fills in the last blank reads the hilarious result out loud.
Buy: Christmas Fun Mad Libs: Deluxe Stocking Stuffer Edition
9. Greeting card game for adults
If you love playing Cards Against Humanity, gather your family and friends (adults only!) for an irreverent, energetic, and slightly risque vacation card game.
Buy: Greeting card game for adults
10. Quick Wrap
Here’s a fun way to quickly wrap all those gifts under the tree: Grab a stopwatch and see which family member can wrap the most gifts in the least amount of time. Raise the stakes by enforcing the “one hand” rule.
Buy: Quick Wrap
