Ideas to get a guest involved in Christmas "fun"

[CandlesandClemantines]

We have a very sweet guest coming whose ultra sensitive, lives alone and is hyper sensitive on their needs and why they are the way the are (brilliant BTW)
I think because they live alone they don't have that interaction with someone helping to move on from things.
They are wonderful company and we are low on family and I do love hosting them but I wish they would do a tenny bit more interaction with Xmas games.

For the dc so it's not adult talking.

He doesn't like anything that seems to test his intellect.
Murder mystery? Anything like that anyone can recommend?

He normally arrives at 2 to 3 ish... Chats and then we eat at ish, then try and watch a film or have background on whilst more chat but that's hard to please him with also.

A jigsaw puzzle is a good idea, I think. Not necessarily to do as an activity, but the rest of you could play games or do whatever it is you want to do, and hopefully the puzzle will keep him occupied.

Oh just saw your reply regarding puzzles...

Never mind.

Sock Game

age dependent, wrt your children (as some questions are a bit risqué) he may be able to stretch to Cards Against Humanity?

Jenga or Pictionary work well with a big age range.

Gosh, I can't believe there are so many boring people on Mumsnet who dislike games!
How about Twister? That doesn't require intellect and is fun to watch if you don't want to participate.

Jenga excellent idea. Also the game where you pull sticks out of a tube without dislodging marbles. Neither games requires anyone to be the fun person they don't want to be.

I like games but would loath anything that involved ad libbing or making yourself looks silly. So no pictionary or charades or cards against humanity.
How old are the DC?
Could you prewarn him that you want to keep the kids off the TV during the afternoon so are hoping to play a board game or 2? No surprises then and word it so you are making it clear that's what your family want to do.

Depending on age of kids-
Cluedo
Articulate (if he likes talking!!)
What about word games- bananagrams?
Or patterns. Quirkle is brilliant.

Puzzle Post sell collaborative Escape Room puzzle type games

No, only a spot of personal humiliation. What fun for all 😅 (especially elderly friends)
I'd be volunteering to hold the spinner so fast you would all be dizzy 🤣

Does he hate all games? If so, fine to say "James, I've promised the kids that we'll have a Dobble (or whatever) tournament but we won't be at all offended if you want to sneak off and read/watch the telly."

He sounds like hard work tbh.

Murder mysteries are fun but quite hard work and everyone has to throw themselves into acting.

Old-fashioned pen and paper games like Consequences? Or quite rule-focused board games like Ticket to Ride?

And there we have the exact issue " Omg you're soooo boring" just because you don't want to do things someone else thinks are fabulous. There is nothing more boring than forced fun ( my walking group and their obsession with space hopper races and pogo stick races everytime we attempt a non-walking social get together. Deeply tedious)

I agree. While I love joining in DH absolutely loathes it. He won't be forced to join in at all and would just leave and go for a walk.

Just do what you normally do with your family and invite him to join in. If he declines just accept gracefully but carry on without him. You can't force any one to join in if they don't want to.

Same but for me some games help as they give a focus.
So nothing that makes me look silly or requires imagination. But numbers or letters games are ideal.

And although he shouldn't be forced- it's also not ok for him to dominate the afternoon with his own conversation amd no thought to involving the kids. Something that is less boring than listening to adults talk seems fair.

Games that are entirely luck based? No test of intellect or skill at all. Snakes and Ladders? Candyland? Does Mousetrap still exist?

The issue is that he’s dominating conversation by the sound of it, and preventing other people having fun.

I’d do lots of little things. Announce what ‘we are doing next’ and he doesn’t have to join in but can’t stop everyone else.

We did crackers with a game in- wind up toy sledge races, was one.
Whistles with music to follow was another- like handbell ringing but with whistles. Between us we made a tune!
Make full use of the cracker jokes.

we have a celebrity quiz- photos cut from magazines to identify the celebrity. Include some kids characters too. Makes it fair. Prize for the winner.Have several different sheets so they circulate round the room.

And I a second the sock game- several socks so everyone is doing one.

If he doesn't want to play he doesn't want to play.
Leave him alone to watch.

Honestly this. At least warn him. If stuff like this was sprung on me, I'd really hate it. Whether I decided to come once I knew about it would depend on how much I enjoyed the hosts' company overall.

This ^^ in a nutshell.

Can't you just accept that people have different ideas of fun? My parter has a huge family and a lot of them like playing games, but equally there are a couple of us who just chill with a drink, listen to some music and soak up the atmosphere. That's enough for us. Don't force what they don't want. Christmas is supposed to be about everyone having fun.

why though @maddiemookins16mum ? being shy is not a personality fault.

@JoanOgden he's actually excellent at acting and if I could get a cracker set with something short ish like murder mystery I think that would be amazing.
I don't expect hours of games but at the table to break up adults talking I want something light hearted.
Can I create my own and make my own crashers?