So with the Christmas season coming up and Thanksgiving just having happened, it is a good time to introduce your family, friends, and relatives to many different nerdy things. Whether it is playing board games with family or marathoning Lord of the Rings, there are many different things that you can do to make your holidays nerdy.

Stocking Stuffers (quick and easy):

There are tons of small board games that make awesome stocking stuffers. Games like Fluxx, We Didn’t Playtest This At All, and Love Letter make super small and easy gifts. Love Letter in particular is a very small, very simple game that is easy for the whole family to play.

Presents Under the Tree (a bit more time):

Doctor Who has a Christmas special every single year. It airs on Christmas day and is on BBC America for those of us over here. Generally not tied into the current series at all, it is a great way to relax after a busy morning of opening presents and trying to keep up with any small relatives that might be around. The Christmas Special is always appropriately winter-themed, and takes Doctor Who up a level in goofiness. A good spot for those relatives who haven’t watched Doctor Who before to jump in on a festive day.

Christmas Dinner (the long haul):

By the time Christmas arrives, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will have come out. Most likely you’ll have already seen it once or twice (or a dozen times if it’s good). But take your family and go see it again. Figure out which sibling is the best able to explain it all to your parent who doesn’t remember or hasn’t seen any of the previous ones (in my family, it is not me), figure out the seating arrangements, grab some popcorn, and settle in for the long haul.

Over the River (and you thought a movie was the longest time you could get them to be nerdy):

If you are really daring, there are lot of different options. Arkham Horror is a long, long game that is quite involved. If you have a lot of time to fill and your family is already somewhat nerdy or if there’s someone in it who already loves H.P. Lovecraft, jump into a game of Arkham Horror at noon, take a break for dinner, and finish it up sometime before midnight. Or if that isn’t your speed, there are only 14 episodes in the show Firefly — set-up a two-day marathon with your family. You could even make a drinking game out of it with your siblings, if you’re into that sort of thing. Or better yet, make up your own drinks that epitomize the characters in the show.

Now, this is far from an exhaustive list as to what you can do, and I even mentioned a Lord of the Rings marathon before. There are many different games, shows, and crafts that you can do with your family to get into the Christmas spirit (and into the Christmas spirits). These are just a few examples, but the point is, jump into something nerdy with your family. In my family, my mother isn’t all that nerdy, but my dad will gladly learn a new board game or go see the newest superhero or sci-fi movie with us. You might be surprised at just how nerdy your relatives can be, even the ones who don’t seem like it, and something like a board game is always great for family time. So I’ll leave you with my top recommended game list to play with family:

The List:

• Phase 10
• Yahtzee
• Ticket to Ride (my highest recommendation from this list)
• Settlers of Catan
• Unspeakable Words
• Bananagrams
• Five Crowns

These are good games for talking and playing (minus Bananagrams, which is fast, hectic and requires close attention, though it is easy to pick up), and great for family time. There are many other classics or different party games that are good choices for this as well. And if you are really daring, try Cards Against Humanity, but only if you’re quite sure everyone’s fine with (very) NSFW.