We need a really good board game - any ideas?

[higgle]

I think Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Headbands etc. have lost their allure through over- use. We will be staking our chocolate money on pontoon and poker but it would be good to have a new board game which will keep me and DH + sons aged 20 and 17, girlfriend 16, and odd visitors happily occupied. We don't mind being silly if there is anything aimed at a much younger age group that might have us ROFL.

The Logo game is good, it can be easy but in a way that's what makes it such good fun. Pass the bomb ok but can be irritating. Articulate good but always seem to finish quick. I still love Cluedo and Monopoly too but our current favourite is Pass the Pigs. Silly but addictive!

Haven't played it but thought Don't Panic looked quite good on the adverts

oooh yes, train dominoes is big in my extended family, another good option!

Haven't played it for ages but we used to play Risk a lot at university.

we have had some fun playing Monopoly Deal (quicker shorter version but just as ruthless!!)
and Agree regarding mexican train game.

I would definitely second Absolute Balderdash - you can play with pretty much any number, it takes no time to learn, is hilariously funny and IME even people who usually hate games will play it and enjoy it.

Agree that Ticket to Ride is also very good.

Cranium! Absolute genius.

scattergories is ace, and for some reason Uno Extreme always combines well with booze.

Card games, with a normal pack of cards, Canasta and New Market are faves in our house.

Has anyone mentioned Articulate, like Pictionary but with words?

We love Fleeced which is a Wallace and Gromit sheep rustling game. We have played it with children and grandparents. Everyone enjoyed it. We also like Pass the Bomb.

Cranium for us too. We also play a card game called pit, that's been in the family since the 60's but you can still get it on amazon. It's really good fun and takes lots of shouting.

Rapidough and articulate, i laugh myself into oblivion with rapidough!

Not funny, but definitely strangely addictive: Carcassonne

Newmarket - horse racing and betting. For loud, noisy, children and adults (once nearly got thrown out of hotel for playing it), Pit - happy families with bad behaviour and shouting.

spendthrift so glad you like pit, I've never know another family that plays it. It's great fun isn't it? WE never bother with the bull or the bear though.

We love Pit too! Gotta have the bull and bear though. Much shouting.

This is a really useful website to check before buying games. You can see what lots of people think about the game, how long it actually took to play and that kind of thing.

We love Pass the Bomb and Scattergories here.

Another vote for Cranium and Uno Extreme.

Both great fun for all ages.

bother - sent response to whiter and wigeon off in the ether somewhere - pit, like UNO, crosses linguistic boundaries. it's fun, drunk and sober - we've played it both ways. One cousin banged the table so hard it collapsed. Do you also play racing demon? another one for bad behaviour and speed.

there's a good paper game that we know called smoky bacon. it's a mixture of pictionary and consequences. Each person has a sheet of paper and a pencil. you write down a well known phrase - eg a rolling stone gathers no moss - and hand it on to the next person. they illustrate it underneath (not taking up all the space), turn down the heading so that the writing disappears, and hand on the paper to the next person, who then writes down a verbal interpretation, passes it on with the picture covered, for illustration by the next person and so on. at the end of the paper you open. it sounds boring like that, but it is playable at all ages and generally causes hilarity. you are not allowed ghosts - they are too easily guessable - and it is much better if you are seriously artistically challenged as we are. At one wedding with a mixed table and where conversation was faltering, love and marriage going together like a horse and carriage got converted into bridal antics of a sort that were not entirely suitable for respectable MNrs - not quite sure if that is a recommendation but kept the boredom seriously at bay.

I've never played racing demon but might give it a go this year now.

Another vote for Rapidough, never gets old in this house (adults and grown-up DDs.) You won't go wrong if that's your choice.

Unlike Panda we love Lego's Creationary - in fact it's probably my favourite game overall - we changed the rules so that we all draw a card and model at the same time and then write down our guesses for others' models after a prearranged time. That avoids any hanging-about feeling when it's not your turn to build. Try that, Panda, it really helps!

You don't need to be a Lego genius for it either, just an impression of your object is all that's needed. Oh and some extra bricks (from your other sets) is good.

Best. Game. Ever.

thanks apples - will try that. I have used lego bricks to make my own pictonary type game for children's parties in the past, and was disappointefd that the offical game wasn't as fun as my made up version. Doing it all together would be much more interesting you are right.

I like Pass the Bomb too, but that might be only because I am extremely good at it.

Are Pass the Bomb and Articulate suitable for a 7 year-old or do you think they will find it too frustrating because of the vocab level needed?