board games and xmas

[racletteyum]

DH and I had a fight over xmas about board games. We loves them whereas I just dont see the point. He was very adamant that everyone plays board games over xmas - it's just what you do. I didnt grow up in the UK and honestly, I have never ones seen my parents play boardgames or any other adult. Is playing board games really such a thing in the UK?

Our favourites are:
TErraforming Mars
Ticket to ride
Through the ages
Exploding Kittens
Carcassone
Dominion
Pentago (I have yet to win)

I got the kids carcassonne for Christmas. Can't wait to play it!

I really like Settlers of Catan and I also enjoy Carcassonne. Boggle, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble are classics that are always fun. Monopoly Deal is INFINITELY better than the original, and the Cluedo card game is also good.

With kids, Pigs in Pants is never not fun. Bingo is simple but good, especially as they get old enough to start doing the calling.

Sorry to hijack thread but I bought Exploding Kittens after seeing rave reviews and it was dull as. Am i missing something? I thought it was crap.

There are so many great board games. I grew up with the classics, but in hindsight you can see there are some issues with the designs (for instance, once somebody gets ahead in monopoly it's hard for them to lose, which can be a bit less fun for everybody else). Some later games are cooperative so can be a good chance to work together against the game (e.g. Pandemic, Mysterium, Forbidden Island). Others have different ways to get points so you can get a bit of a surprise last minute victory. But generally there are loads of really well-designed games to suit everyone. From experience if you don't play games much, I think games where you're trying to guess something like Codenames, Just One and Concept can be a lot of fun. There's a site called Shut Up and Sit Down which does good reviews - I think there's a video on family games for example.

Yes we love board game, exploding kittens, monopoly, charades, trivial persuit, stand up sit down, Disney family fortunes. We got Disney pictopia this year from dsis and had loads of fun playing it. New Year's Eve is board games all the way up till midnight, and the dc love it

@SchrodingersImmigrant DH and I have played a lot of Splendor over the last few years, and still happy to get it out! Dominion is good, and we like Pandemic for two (got the legacy game season 0 for Christmas). Specific two player games I've enjoyed - Santorini, 7 wonders duel, Onitama, Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries and Codenames Duet. And Twilight Struggle if you want to play for several hours! Got Raptor and Patchwork for Christmas too, so can report back on those. And finally one that's not repayable, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - had some good late nights trying to figure things out.

4 teenage kids here - have played board games everyday over the Christmas holidays - the noise levels though!!!! Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk and Chess have been the favourites. Not a board game but Pictionary Air has been a winner too

Thanks @prettygirlincrimsonrose!

Similar to you here OP. Dh likes them a lot more than I do - I only really like Scrabble, and one slightly obscure card game. We don't spend Christmas with extended family and it's never been a specifically Christmas tradition for us, but relatively often he will suggest a game of something and be disappointed when I'm not interested.

We are a word game family
Scrabble and articulate for us cluedo if feeling brainy

We like board games but we love card games. Uno, shithead, sevens, hearts, old maid, sting...

@NorbertMeubles
Each to it's own :) Nobody is going to force you to play. (hopefully)
People love Takenoko, we found it incredibly easy and thus super boring.

DP and I are from different continents, but board games were part of the holiday season for both of us.

It was Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride this year.

However, there are so many much better games around now than the old classics.

We like Pandemic, Ticket To Ride, Just One, Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, Forbidden Island/Desert, Linkee, Munchkin, Exploding Kittens, A Shot In the Dark etc.

Totally agree this. The classic word games like Scrabble and Boggle still have a place, but the likes of Monopoly, Cluedo and Risk have been significantly surpassed. If they were released today, they'd review badly and sink into obscurity.

I'm in the minority in that I absolutely loathe board games, find them so utterly tedious and probably my least favourite thing about this time of year is that everyone wants to play bloody board games 24/7.

It's pretty traditional to play board games at Christmas as well as all sorts of other games. You say you don't see the point - the point is to have fun together! Of course it's fine if board games aren't your thing - you shouldn't have to play them if you don't want to. But as you say you haven't played any you could perhaps try some and you might find something you enjoy. There is a large variety of boardgames covering different topics and types of gameplay.

We got a game called Scotland Yard. One person plays 'Mr X' and has to try and escape the other players work together as detectives to try and capture Mr X - it was really fun.

My parents played a lot of cards or those travel versions of board games when we were camping at Christmas.

Parlour games/board games would of been played traditionally pre-electricity as you need less light than to read.

We just played another new game we got for Christmas. It is called Mysterium park. It is a co-op game where the ghost sends visions to the psychics as to who murdered them and where. The DC absolutely loved it. I found it really fun too but I was the ghost and found it really difficult - it was my first go, though!

Cooperative games have been the new direction for the last couple of years.
We particularly enjoy Codenames, Hanabi and The Game.
Also several on Escape Room type themes.
Of the more traditional games some favourites are Scattegories, Quirkle, Articulate, Labyrinth and Azul.

When I was growing up the Christmas Monopoly game went on for days!

About 12 years ago got into Rumikub - as I've been single for 9 years I don't have anyone to play with anymore.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Since there are so many fans😁 Can anyone recommend 2 player games with good replay value? It seems pain in the arse to find good games for 2.

Dice City is a good one for 2 players & it doesn't take too long either.

Usually get together with the extended family & have a game of articulate which gets very competitive between the family groups. Also usually the game that's taken to friends houses (if they don't already have it!).

Boxing day was often when the board games were brought out over Christmas & someone usually got a new one for Christmas.

We grew up playing board games a lot in our family & also with friends. Also had community whist drives! Would say it crosses all classes.

@bridgetreilly

I really like Settlers of Catan and I also enjoy Carcassonne. Boggle, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble are classics that are always fun. Monopoly Deal is INFINITELY better than the original, and the Cluedo card game is also good.

With kids, Pigs in Pants is never not fun. Bingo is simple but good, especially as they get old enough to start doing the calling.

Yes we are big lovers of carcasonne and catan. Also this year we bought Azul which is also brilliant! Massive board game fans here.

I'm not in the UK and I love boardgames - always have. I'm lucky my husband just goes with it for my sake

I'm not in the UK and I love boardgames - always have. I'm lucky my husband just goes with it for my sake