Best Party Games to Bust Out With a Big Family During the Holidays
These games all support a high number of players and have simple rules that can be easily explained in just a few minutes.
With Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Eve coming up in the next couple of weeks, lots of us will be spending tons of time with our extended families. Instead of hashing out about politics across the table, why not put down a relaxing and silly little board game instead?
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We've rounded up a handful of picks for board games—specifically ones that are easy to break out at a party. These games either have no upper limit for players (or at the very least don't lose much by exceeding that recommended player count) and have a ruleset that is super easy to digest. No resource management here, just silly prompts and gambling. Everyone can love that.
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LCR Left Center Right Dice Game | Amazon | Target
This is the prime game to bust out at any family event. It's hectic, it's loud, and you can win a butt-load of cash. The game comes with chips, but I don't know anyone who actually uses them. Real LCR heads just pass singles around the table.
The Gang | Amazon | Target | Walmart
This is one of my favorite new games I've discovered this year. It's co-operative poker. The way it works is that everyone gets dealt two cards, with three shared cards in the middle. It's just Texas Hold'em, except your goal is to figure out how good a hand you have compared to your allies, then accurately guess the ranking of everyone's hands over the course of several rounds. What's nice about this one is that if you are already familiar with poker hands, then you already know 90% of the rules.
Hues and Cues | Amazon | Target | Walmart
This game of colors is always going viral on TikTok because it's good fun and generates natural moments of hilarity. Argue with friends over exactly what shade of purple Grimace is. It's great for all ages.
Top Tier | Amazon
This quirky game has you and your friends ranking all sorts of things from superheroes to reality show contestants to tasty desserts. It's basically the website TierMaker but as a physical board game. Find out who your friends think would be S-Tier at selling vacuums door to door.
Wavelength | Amazon | Walmart | Target
This is the game I just keep in the trunk of my car to always have as an option. It deals with spectrums. Things like hot or cold or hot or ugly. One player comes up with a clue that, in their mind, lands on a specific spot on the spectrum—the two teams must try to accurately assess where on the spectrum that clue would fall. They're hoping to be on the same wavelength as the judge that round. See? Get it?
One Night Ultimate Werewolf | Amazon | Walmart
Nothing like a wee bit of accusing your friends of being evil after dinner. One Night Ultimate Werewolf bakes the popular social deduction game down to 10-minute rounds so it's easy to pop in or pop out.
Monikers | Amazon | Walmart | Target
Monikers is a modernized version of some classic party games. It's all about communication, trying to get your team to say the term or phrase you have on the card in front of you. As the cluegiver, in round 1 you can say anything (save for what's on the card). In round 2, you can say just one word. In round 3, you have to do charades. By the end, you'll have created a lot of laughs and inside jokes, which is the real goal of any party game.