And if you want to know the criteria that I’m using, or the conversation starting point, you can read that article here.

What Party Games Do I Own?

Let’s go through and make a list of everything, keep in mind this list is split into two parts. The first part is party games I’ve owned and played and the second part I still need to play. And also, let’s see what Board Game Geek calls party games.

• Deception Murder in Hong Kong
• Sushi Go Party
• Skull
• Just One
• Take 5/6 Nimmt
• Wits & Wagers
• PitchCar
• Spot It
• Flip 7
• Ready Set Bet
• Zombie Dice
• Scattergories
• So Clover!
• Tumblin’ Dice
• Letter Jam
• The Gang
• Cross Clues
• Medium
• Green Team Wins
• Fun Facts
• Blank Slate
• Doodle Dash
• The Table is Lava
• Beat the 8 Ball
• Plakks
• Dungeon Party

And now for the ones that I haven’t played.

• Boy Band Builder
• Mutton Bustin
• Mojo
• TAGS
• Crash Octopus
• Wavelength
• Cockroach Poker
• Master Word
• Draft’d
• Ito

Just as a reminder, I am generally going to keep the ones that I haven’t played. Why, because I want to give them a try, so they get a free pass.

The Played Games

So now we need to look at the games on that list and you can break them down into some different categories. There are push your luck games like Flip 7 and Beat the 8 Ball. There are the more classic write something down or trivia style. And then there is a hidden role game on the list because I like Deception: Murder in Hong Kong and dislike basically all the rest of them. And then dexterity games.

Classic Party Games

Let’s really stick to talking about the classic party games here. I think some of the others will show up at other times. And there is not a ton of overlap with them. But that classic write something down or do trivia games, let’s talk about them and see which ones should stick around.

Let’s just put that list together. We have Just One, Wits & Wagers, Scattergories, So Clover!, Medium, Fun Facts, Green Team Wins, Blank Slate, Cross Clues, and Doodle Dash.

The Cooperative Classic Party Games

Then I want to look for where there is overlap. And there is pretty light overlap. But I also want to look for ones that have that element of fun factor that I keep on wanting to come back to as well. Does it feel different and unique enough. Games like Just One and So Clover are always a hit, so even though they are cooperative they both are going to stick around. However, I feel like Cross Clues, another cooperative party game, is a lot of fun, but I like those two cooperative ones better.

The Competitive Classic Party Games

Looking at that list it leaves us quite a number more. One question I think needs to get answered in the long term is do I need both Ito and Fun Facts. Both of those seem like they hit kind of the same thing, even Wavelength also seems to fall into that category. But I haven’t played Ito and Wavelength yet. Green Team Wins is also kind of in this category, and it feels like the loser of the group.

There we have to look at the word based games, Medium and Blank Slate both offer that matching words. But I like both enough that I plan to keep both of them. Scattergories is also in this category ,and I think it’s leaving finally. It stuck around because it was solid as a remote game, I could show the sheet on camera. But there are websites that do that just as easily and we play in person mainly.

Doodle Dash and Wits & Wagers are both kind of different in the group, but still have that classic party feel. Doodle Dash is speed drawing which is a blast, I need to play it again. And then Wits & Wagers is number based trivia with betting. It is one that has been a hit a good number of times, but it hasn’t come off the shelf in a few years at this point, so it is going to leave because while I like it, it just isn’t getting played.

What Party Games are Leaving

So let’s talk about the ones that are leaving here to just recap it. Cross Clues, a fun cooperative party game but won’t get played over So Clover! or Just One. Green Team Wins, kind of that same get to you know you type of game like Fun Facts and Ito, so it is the odd one out. And then Wits & Wagers just because it hasn’t gotten played. And Scattergories is a classic, but I think it’s finally hit end of life for me.

Would you make a different decision than I did? And what are some party games that you own that you know you’ll never get rid of.

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Top 10 Sneaky Party Games

10. Criss Cross

First of only two roll and write games on the list. And both of them are pretty similar in some ways. In Criss Cross you want to fill in a grid so that you score the most points in your rows and columns. This is done by filling in symbols on two dice that are rolled. The more like symbols in a row or a column, the better you do.

The twist on the game comes in that each time the dice are rolled you treat them like a domino. That means that the two faces of the dice always need to be played adjacent to each other. If you aren’t careful you might lock yourself out of being able to completely fill in your board.

The nice thing about this one is that it’s a short and simple. It is the type of game that you are apt to play a few times in a row which is a nice thing for a party game.

9. Knister

Knister is a fair amount like Criss Cross. You want to basically create Yahtzee style groups of five dice in rows and columns and on the diagonal as well. And this is done by rolling two dice and you place the combination of two wherever you want on your board.

This one I put slightly above Criss Cross for a party style game. Mainly because while both of the games are going to work great in a larger group, Knister is a bit easier to teach. Though the game itself is a bit harder to come by. But more people understand the concept of creating runs and pairs with numbers than doing so with symbols or pairs and sets. Plus there is not the domino type rule that people need to internalize.

8. PitchCar

I might have put more dexterity games on the list, but I wanted to keep it away from just being a list of that for alternative party games. PitchCar is the one I picked. It might be easier to get two copies of Ice Cool and play up to eight that way, it’s cheaper for sure. But I think that PitchCar is easier for players to understand.

This is a car racing game where to race you car you just flick it along the track. If you fall off, you go back to where you went. And when there is traffic you might run into traffic and push someone forward or off the track or into a spot where they don’t want to be.

The great thing about PitchCar is how everyone is engaged. In between your turn sure you are chatting, which is great for a party style game. But if someone makes a great shot, or falls off the track for the fourth shot in a row, everyone reacts. Especially for a great shot.

And there is a ton of PitchCar stuff you can get. If you play it a lot as a group, you can add in things like ramps and jumps, narrower tracks, or even a loop. Of course all that adds up and makes it even harder to store.

7. Strike

Strike is an obvious one for the alternative party games list. Mainly because it’s nothing more than rolling dice and taking pairs. Now, this is a game that only plays up to five. But if you want to play with more you can do like I did and buy another set of the game.

But the great thing, like some other push your luck games higher on the list, this game is simple. It is all push your luck. How many dice do you roll to get a pair? Okay, you didn’t get a pair or set of dice with the same number. Do you roll again or pass and not risk losing more dice. It has that egging people on, and those moments where you clear everything out that is exciting, or those moments where you roll a bunch of dice and somehow manage to get no matches.

6. Unlock Games

This does not need to be only the Unlock escape room style games. I think that Exit games work well as well. I will caveat this a little bit though. If you pick an escape room style game, it should be for when you need a party game at a lower player count. This one makes it on the sneaky party games list because it’s easy to get to the table and everyone generally understands the concept of puzzles and escape rooms. It’s just at higher player counts not everyone can see everything as easily.

The other nice thing is that you can scale or tailor multiple things to your group. Some of it is scaling how hard the puzzle is. They generally give you an idea from easy to hard. But you also can pick a theme. If you know you want to do this with a more casual group but they like The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, there is a pirate themed one. Or maybe they love Lord of the Rings, there is an Exit Game with the Lord of the Rings theme. It will all depend on your group.

5. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

Now, a lot of social deduction games could go on the party games list. I think that most social deduction games are just party games without much actual game behind it. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is going to give you both deduction and social deduction as you try and figure out who the murder is.

But this game has a great twist on the normal social deduction games. Each player has four murder weapons and four clues in front of them. And the murder is going to, during the eyes closed time of the social deduction part of the game, pick one murder weapon and clue in front of them.

So how do the players know, the players can figure it out, with deduction, kind of, through reports sent up by the forensic scientist. Of course, the report might lead them in the wrong direction because they don’t know who the murderer is, so everyone is now suspicious.

It’s a great game to get people talking and engaging with each other. Even if it is just in the game it’s simple enough to keep things moving and works really well.

4. Fiction

People like the game Wordle online or at least they did. I don’t think it’s that people don’t like it anymore, I think that it’s more a lot of people just let it fall by the wayside. Fiction, though, is a one versus everyone Wordle style game. And that works as a party game because you can rotate who is the one. That one person is the keeper of the word. And everyone is going to be the guessers of the word.

Now, does that sound like too many guessers? Yes, it probably does. But there is a nice little twist on the game. The person who is the keeper of the word can also lie. Yup, you heard that right, they can lie. But when they lie, they need to be consistent about their lie. So as you go you might be able to track down or figure out what the lie is in what they are giving you as a clue. then when you either win or fail, you pass that keeper of the word role along and keep playing.

3. Push

The next two games are both of the same type. They are push your luck games. And both of them work well. I put Push slightly below the other one because the other one is easier to learn. But I think I like Push as a better game.

Why does Push work as a party game? I know there is an upper limit of six players, but I’ve played with more. So it works well for that larger group. And with a good party style game people need to be invested or engaged in egging others on or giving them grief. And with Push, you are invested. You want the player to stop if you might get something ideal for your collection. Or you want them to push because if they bust, well that is great for you.

2. Flip 7

Flip 7 has many of the same attributes as Push. But it is simpler in what you do. There isn’t the three piles, you just decide on your turn to draw a card or bank the points that you have. That is as simple as it gets. But it still has the same fun of egging someone on to draw one more card. And if they manage to pull that off, then do they push their luck again. And the same goes for your turn. It’s simple but it works really well as that bigger group party style game.

1. Ready, Set, Bet!

I debated about putting it on the list at all, but if it’s on the list, it’s #1. This is a betting game where a horse race is happening in real time and players are throwing down bets in real time. It’s a chaotic time and you would think that watching two dice being rolled over and over again would keep people engaged. But every time I play the game people end up standing and are highly invested in those two dice roles.

The reason it almost didn’t make the list is that it can have a bit more going on in it. There are prop bets that players can bet on and you need to know how those work. But if you don’t want to learn how those work, that’s okay, you can do great by betting on the right horse at the right time to win big.

What Are You Playing?

Now all of these games are going to have different results for you. So I think you need to know your group. Some of them are going to be better for different player counts as well. But all of them will move you away from those more traditional party games.

Is there one that stands out that you’d love to play with your group? Let me know that down in the comment section below. Or do you have a game that you go to that aren’t traditional party games when you need a party game?

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And for other ideas check out the previous lists.

Two Player Games
Campaign Games
Solo Games

Party Games

Just One

Just One is the first of two cooperative party games on the list. That in and of itself is fairly unique. But these games are great for when you have that person or people you play with who get too competitive or into even party games.

In Just One you give a one word clue to the person who is trying to guess a single word. The trick comes that players aren’t able to know what the other people are writing. And you want to give a different clue. Clues that are the same, both of them are erased and the person guessing gets neither of them. I like that element of the game because you want to be unique, but if you are so unique and far out there it could point someone in the wrong direction. And it is possible that people will completely skip the normal clue or the best option as well.

So Clover

The other of the cooperative party games is So Clover. Both of these games are actually from the same company, Repos Productions, who makes an interesting party game seemingly every year.

This is one that is trickier to explain than Just One. But it reminds me of a Venn Diagram in some ways. You get two words and you need to figure out how those words overlap. But you do that four times, like the shape of a four leaf clover. Each overlap is going to give you a unique combination. And after you pick your words and write them down, you remove the cards with the words, which have four words on them, and add a random other one. The other players need to work together and figure out how to put it back in the right orientation.

This game also has a nice benefit of the flow of the game. Each player can write down their combinations at the same time. And then you just go around taking turns being the person to present your set-up of words.

Ready Set Bet

This is very different from what people think of when they think of party games. But it has the excitement that I expect when I play a party game. Ready Set Bet is a horse racing bidding game that is played in real time.

One person is going to be running the race. They, in real time, are rolling dice which moves horses down the track. The other players are all betting on the race in real time. Once someone takes a spot that spot is gone. So rolling two dice you think that 7 would win most of the time, it might, but if you roll the same number twice in a row, it causes it to surge ahead. And of course, there is luck of the dice.

This game is a bit more of a game than a lot of the other ones. Those tend to be experiences. Here you need to learn a few rules and be up for adding in a bit of complexity as you go. But it still has those stand-up moments as people are racing for a betting spot, or at the end of the race, everyone is holding their breath or cheering loudly for their horse, or the one they bet the most on, to win.

Medium

Now we go to more traditional party games, though this one is still unique. In Medium you and another player partner up for a turn. It isn’t a cooperative game, but you both want to match up. That is common for party games. But here, it feels more unique because you each pick a word to play, and then you both need to come up with a word that connects the two. If you don’t on the first try, you use the words you just said and try again. You get three tries with fewer and fewer points you get each time. After a few rounds, player with the most points wins.

I like this game because it leads to weird situations. You might go in two opposite directions with what connects or is between the two. Or you might both pick different synonyms and now you need to make that work for the next guess. And as the person who is watching people guess you always know what they should say. But as the guesser you second guess yourself so much.

Blank Slate

Finally for the party games we have Blank Slate, the most traditional of the party games. In this one you are filling in a blank, so it’d be like [your word] Slate for example. And you want to match with one person with the word you write down. If you watch one with person you both get three points. Match with no one and you get no points. Or match with more people and you all get one point. The game is a race to 20 points or so, and it’s a lot of fun.

I like this one better than a lot of games like it though. It almost has a Apples to Apples feel to it, but you get to be creative. You pick the word you want to play, not some random words that you have in your hand that might not match. And you play the people around the table as well. I might find a great sports word to fill in, but if that doesn’t match the interests of the people at the table, probably not the best play.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good party games out there. I still even enjoy the classic party game of Scattergories. But a lot of people have played the few party games from the 80’s and 90’s a lot at this point. So these games are all newer, sometimes familiar and sometimes different, add them into your gaming rotation with friends and family around the holidays. Or give them to people so you aren’t always stuck playing the same games over and over again with them.

What is your favorite party game?

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That one is trickier, in some ways, to pick out games for. Because, it isn’t like I can pull out a heavy board game off the shelf to play with. It is often too many people to do that with. And I need to think about the different levels of gamer and numbers as well. I like to theme the nights, as well, so people know what they are getting into.

Top 5 Themes for Board Game Night

5. Racing Games

Kicking off this board game theme list is racing games. And this actually catches some games in other categories that I came up with as well. But racing games work well because racing is a theme that people understand. I want to finish the race first. Or, a lot of racing games, I want to win the most money because I bet best on the racing games. It might be more about the betting than the racing, but people understand it either way.

The downside to some racing games, Formula D for example, is that they can take a while. But then there are other ones that are fast and action filled. You might even decide to play a dexterity game like Pitchcar in this as well. And that one might take a bit, but it has some other benefits which we’ll talk about coming up. But racing games often play a number of people, you just want to make sure they are fast moving ones, as a race should be.

4. Roll and Writes

Roll and write style games work well for a board game night as well. Mainly, again, a lot of them play higher player counts. It might be a bit solitaire in what the players are doing, but it works because everyone is playing off of the dice on their own sheet of paper.

I think of games like Cartographers, or Paper Dungeons, though, that offer a little bit of interaction that makes it work. Or other games, though, like Trek 12, Welcome To… or Railroad Ink that offer less. So you can choose between a few options, but generally you’ll find that you play a few more of these that work well as competitive but non confrontational games.

3. Dexterity Games

Now, this type of board game might seem odd to be in there for an adult group playing games. But dexterity games really do work great for a board game night. They provide a party game atmosphere without having to play party games every time. And some of them definitely handle a high player count well.

And for me, one thing that I really love is that they are light and silly, but they offer feel good moments. For example, with Pitchcar, a game of racing disc cars around a track, when someone makes an amazing shot, everyone is excited. Why, because it is an amazing shot. And even if you play the game a lot there is an element of luck to pull off an amazing shot.

2. Drafting Games

Next I want to talk about drafting games, because they are an interesting sort of game for a game night. A good drafting game is going to stand out in that it can handle a lot of people. Why, because a lot of the drafting games are fairly simple and they keep everyone engaged at the same time.

I think of games like 7 Wonders, Sushi Go Party! or any of the Ecosystem games. They all run off of a similar systems. When I am drafting a card, so are you. Everyone is involved at the same time. And 7 Wonders and Sushi Go Party! both work with a higher player count. The others could as well, it’s just fewer cards, so that limits the player count. But because you all play at once, there is no downtime which makes it easier.

1. Party Games

This is an obvious one. However, I will say, this doesn’t mean Taboo, Balderdash, Catch Phrase, and Cards Against Humanity. Thankfully, now is a good time for party games. And it is also a time where there are several cooperative ones, so it’s easy to sit down with a group and enjoy without it becoming too competitive. Which is something that is needed for some groups.

When we play party games, I think of games like Doodle Dash, Just One, Blank Slate, Medium, and So Clover that top the list. All of these are solid games with solid theories behind them as to how they work. And they provide humor and a good time through the players versus something like Cards Against Humanity which tries to add that via the cards only.

Final Thoughts

There are a ton of different themes. And often times i look at it and I think, I could mix in another type of game, or it might change based on player count. If we end up with just a few people, sure, I’m going to pull out a couple of heavier games, or even a couple of games that play at a lower player count. We get ten players, it might pivot to party game night, or we might split into two groups. It is about knowing your group for a game night.

At the same time, it’s fun to give a theme or an idea of what games are coming. Why, because then people can decide if it’s a night for them or not. Maybe you don’t like roll and write games, that is fine, you skip the board game night where it is roll and writes. But as someone coming, you now know what is coming to help you make a decision.

Do you find that your game group gravitates towards different types of themes in board games?

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Party Games

Just a quick disclaimer. I picked party games for the party game list, that makes sense. What I didn’t do was pick games that work well in big groups, though all of these do. That’s because there are some games that work well in big groups but aren’t party games. That list will come up soon.

Doodle Dash

Let’s start out with a drawing game, and a speed drawing game. If you feel like you can’t draw, that’s fine Doodle Dash is about speed too. In Doodle Dash, one person doesn’t know what everyone else is drawing. And they want to guess it on the first try. But everyone else is vying to be that first try, so they are drawing as fast as they can to be the first one ready.

When you think your picture is good enough, you grab the first player marker. The second person, who will get their picture looked at next, grabs a die and starts rolling. That die has a stop on it, once that stop is hit, everyone else stops drawing. Then the guesser sees the first and fastest picture and see if they can get it. If not, they go to the second one, and if not, they go to the rest of them to try and guess it. But the points get lower the further you go.

This game will have everyone laughing as they play it. It’s light, it’s made to be silly, and it’s a drawing game where how good you are at drawing really doesn’t matter.

Fun Facts

Next up we have Fun Facts, a new party game as well. Repos Productions has two other games on the list coming up. Fun Facts is all about how well your group knows each other because this is a cooperative game. But it isn’t one where a single person can decide everything. Every player is making the choice on their own even though you win a whole group.

The game asks you a question about yourself, like on a scale of 1 to 100, how much do you like the season fall? I don’t know, maybe 47, I like the temps but not that winter is coming here in MN. Then the person who read the question puts theirs face down. Everyone goes around adding theirs to the column of face down. All the time hoping they are putting it in the right spot. The more in the right order you get, the more points you have.

It’s a simple game, it’s kind of an ice breaker, get to know you sort of game. But it works a whole lot better than a lot of ice breakers. You find out about people and there are some good laughs too as someone widely overestimates how much they like fall or how much more than everyone they’d pay to go actually visit Jurassic Park.

Medium

Now we’re onto a game that is about working together but is not in the cooperative party games category. Medium is about matching up with the person that you teamed up with. You play a word, I play a word and we need to come up with the word that connects those two.

It’s not bad if it’s “cat” and “baby”, we’ll both likely end on “kitten”. But if we differ, now we need to come up with a new word that connects are two new words. Hopefully we got closer than we were before. Because if we didn’t different directions on it, it might be even harder to connect now. And if we miss a second time, we have a third and final shot at it. The sooner you get it, the high points you get. And if you don’t match at all, no points.

Most points at the end of the game wins. But that’s not the fun of the game, the fun of the game is watching people try to come up with a word knowing you’re doing just as poorly when it’s your turn. And when people just miss by going robber and criminal when the words were “steal” and “burglary”, everyone one having a good laugh. Or wondering when the two people take it opposite directions how they’re going to get “cactus” and “car” to work together.

So Clover

Now we’re back for some more cooperative party games. The next two are that, actually before I end on a competitive one to make an even three and three in each area. But So Clover is a great cooperative party game of having a grid of words, might be “cactus” and “car” and needing to come up with a word that connects them.

This sounds a whole lot like Medium. But the player don’t just have one of those two do, they have four of them, one for each side of the clover. And on the card there isn’t just one word, there are four, one for each side of the square card. So you need to get four clues written down one for each. Then those cards come off, a random one is mixed in, and everyone else is trying to figure out how to put it back together.

It’s fun to see how crazy some of the clues have to be to try and connect things. Or how you figure out what goes on one side, like if it’s “steal” then “robber” and “burglar” might make perfect sense. But those cards share overlap with two other clues, one on the left and one on the right, so how do you get those clues to match up right?

Just One

Then there is Just One, which might be my favorite party game, for sure is my favorite in the cooperative party games category. Just One is about giving a one word clue, one per player, to the person guessing their single word without overlapping on any of the clue words.

You see, players write down their clues and without the guesser looking all the players compare. If there is any overlap, well, those two or more that overlap are all gone. The player then only gets to see the remaining words to guess as to what their word is.

So you want to be creative as you play, you want to give a clue that others won’t likely think of, but also not too obscure that it throws off the whole guess. It’s possible to get a really confusing one in there if you aren’t careful, one that makes everything else feel different to the guesser.

Just One has those moments where you’re really happy with a clever clue that you’ve given. Or those moments where you wonder if the guesser will be able to get it because there could have been six clues and now it’s down to just two. Are those two enough for them to be able to get it? And then the moments of elation when someone gets some weird clues but still gets it anyways. A great fun time.

Blank Slate

Finally we have Blank Slate, and I think that Blank Slate is one of those party games that works well with everyone. The system is simple and it feels familiar so it’ll work well with people who maybe played games like Balderdash before or others along those lines. But this time, it’s even simpler.

In Blank Slate you are given a word and either a blank spot before or after it. You might get the world “truck” followed by a blank. Everyone writes down a word to fill in that blank. If you match with no one, you don’t get any points. If you match with just one other person both of you get three points. And if you match with more than just one person, all of you get one point.

I really like this system of wanting someone to match with you but not wanting everyone to. It’s that question, like with Just One, of how obscure do I go or how much of a stretch do I go for, versus do I play it so safe that I’ll likely overlap with more? You just never really know how it’s going to go because you might find that you’re just thinking too much like everyone else.

Final Thoughts

I know that as someone who likes board games a lot, you’re probably reading this or looking at this list wondering if these games are for you. Or you remember when party games came out before and how disappointing they were. Well, I do want to say that these aren’t your parents party games, they aren’t like Taboo or Catch Phrase or the dozen other games that were about the same.

I think that party games have come a long ways in a lot of good ways. These all feel familiar, but add in more fun. And I think with party games, that is a big thing. You want the game to be fun without being repetitive. And with the cooperative games in there, it’s a chance for even very competitive people to join in.

Do you play a certain party game around the holidays? Do you think that any of these could bump that one from the rotation?

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Again, this isn’t a bad thing, tastes change over time. What I like today doesn’t mean what I liked yesterday or five years ago in board games was bad. It’s an evolution and a journey. And remembering that is not a bad thing. So as I put together my list, I can think of positive experiences with all of them, it’s just now that I’ve cooled on them.

Top 5 Board Games I Cooled On

5. Munchkin

I don’t think this is one that would surprise a lot of people. This is one of those games that shows up often when you start playing board games. It’s a silly system of kicking open doors and hoping you have enough to fight a monster so you can level up. Or you might need to run away.

There are two things that dropped this on my list. The first being the length of the game. It might be over fast, but it might overstay it’s welcome, especially with a larger group of players. If I could guarantee it is a half hour filler for four people, I’d probably still own a copy.

The other thing is how the game ends. A normal, I feel like Munchkin game goes until two players, normally, reach that second to last level. The first player gets a monster that would get them to that last level. Everyone plays their good cards to stop them. Then the second player to kick down the door to win does so, and they get an easy monster and they win because people spent their cards. It’s kind of anticlimactic. It does keep the same shorter, but not that interestingly.

4. Catan

Catan is another classic that I think it’s in favor to say that it’s a bad game now. Or that it is kind of a kids game now. I don’t own it anymore, but I’d have no problem playing it. Why, because there is strategy and a bunch of luck to it.

My issue or why I cooled on Splendor is that I’ve played it dozens of times. I guess that with it being the first game I was introduced to as a modern board game, I probably have played it fifty times. That is a lot to play a game that generally plays out fairly similarly with no one wanting sheep.

Now, I want to say that there are expansions as well. Some of them make the game more interesting, some more complex, and some longer. But generally what they add hasn’t moved it back up on the list for me of games that I really enjoy.

3. Splendor

Splendor falls into the same camp as Catan. Less luck, but one that I played a ton of times. And as I play it, I never think that Splendor is going to end differently or that this game is going to be that different.

Splendor has two strategies. You buy small cards until everything expensive is cheaper and discounted enough so you can get them very fast. Or you save up and buy bigger cards for the points. Which is a better strategy, it at times comes down to which cards are flipped over on the next flip of the piles.

So there is a luck element to the game. But it is really that Splendor doesn’t offer enough exploration of the game for me, at this point. I play Splendor and nothing is different from game to game. Which is a common problem or a common reason for games to drop or get cooled on.

2. Dominion

Now, Dominion is one I know a ton of people still love. And this one, I understand why people still like it a lot. I understand why new sets sell like hot cakes. But, for me, Dominion lost it’s luster pretty quickly and dropped for me.

The big reason is the fixed market. I find that if one person knows Dominion strategy well, they pick the best or most optimal play and stick with it. Dominion is winnable at the start of the game, and then you play the whole game still.

I also find that I want to explore a game and it’s strategies. When I play Ascension, I adapt to what comes out. I need to play different strategies depending on the situation. In Dominion, the exploration is solving that one puzzle first. And if I play with people who like to explore it as well, we play suboptimal and enjoy. But one person who knows how to win at Dominion, it lessens or makes that experience not that fun.

1. Cards Against Humanity

Finally is Cards Against Humanity. I am 100% done with the game. While I might play Dominion and Splendor again, and I would play Munchkin and Catan again, I will not play Cards Against Humanity again. And I do think some of it is that my tastes have matured. Cards Against Humanity uses sophomoric and gross out humor in it’s game. That is not a game just to use those. And not every party game needs to add a NSFW expansion.

But that is not the main reason. The main reason is that when you play you see most of the cards. At least that is my finding. People play and go through the cards in a big group in a sitting or two. So now each time after no card is new to you. It is why the expansions are so successful for it. I know all the cards, the jokes, potty humor, whatever it is, aren’t as funny anymore. So people buy more cards and more cards in hopes it will still be good.

But the cycle is there. Once you start, the same thing happens over and over again. And I don’t want to spend money each time I play in hopes I get new cards that make me laugh. That is where I felt like Cards Against Humanity, and a lot of party games let me down. And it makes much more particular with the party games I buy.

Final Thoughts

I hope even with Cards Against Humanity, I laid out well why it doesn’t work for me. If that is a game you love, play it. My theory is play more games, even if they aren’t ones I like, still play them. And explore more games because it is fun.

I know my tastes have changed over time. And I know my tastes are even changing now. I love dungeon crawler and campaign games, that might never change. But even with those, I am becoming more particular about what I back and what I play. Why, because I own and play a lot of them. But I don’t have time to own and play them all.

What are some games that you have cooled on during your time as a gamer?

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So looking at this topic, I don’t just want to give you a list. I will give a few at the end that I like. But instead, I want to create, like I did for campaign games here, a guide to help you find good big group board games for yourself. What are some qualities to look for?

How To Find Good Big Group Board Games?

All my categories are going to be compared, at least to some extent, against party games. Because what I am looking for is an alternative to party games. Something that can play at six or more, it might only be up to seven, but offers that fun experience and offers that big group experience.

Downtime

So firstly, the game should limit downtime. Downtime is an major enemy in big group games. Or even in a lot of games. If a game plays in the time frame given with two players does it with four or six players. Often times that time frame grows considerably the more you add players. So a good big group board game is going to keep to a minimum.

For party games this is often done by putting you on teams. So half the time you are playing some element of the game. Or another way is when everyone is doing something, writing an answer, picking cards, at the same time. Everyone is engaged. To successfully move from party games, keeping downtime to a minimum is going to be key.

Complexity

Next up is complexity, keep it simple, stupid. Again to compare to party games, they are dead simple. Often times the most complex part is how scoring is done, and that is a detriment to the game. And with moving out of party games into big group games, keep it simple.

There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, it keeps downtime to a minimum. So see above how that is important. If the decision making space is simple enough, turns won’t take a long. Secondly, it makes it easier to teach, and you will teach this game a lot if it’s a good one. Because with a larger group you are more apt to have someone who doesn’t know the game. You might not, but it is more likely. Thirdly, it keeps the stakes of the game lower. And you might want them higher, but we are replacing a party game, so nothing too cut throat or where it feels like a wrong move and you lost the game.

On the flip side, as you try and replace a party game. Do not go too simple. The goal is not to replace a party game with another party game. So the complexity is going to be higher, but just keep in mind that Twilight Imperium and Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea play over six but wouldn’t be a good replacement.

Game Length

This one there is more wiggle room on. But I would argue that is because of a mistake that party games make. They don’t give you a good end point. This is again part of the too complex rules for scoring. If it is too complex, no one knows how or when the game ends, so you just play as long as you want. Often times this is until after the game has worn out it’s welcome.

So there is room in this one, but often times you want that filler length game, that twenty minutes, maybe up to forty. Something that can fit between games as a bit of a breather. And the reason for this is that with a lower complexity the longer a game goes, the less interesting it might be. Now there are ways around it, it might be simple but you do more or have more choices as the game goes on. So that is a smart build. But often times with a more limited decision making space, you want to limit how long the game goes.

Theme

Theme matters here, because a party game generally has an innocuous theme. Now, an easy exception to that is Cards Against Humanity with has a very specific target audience for it’s theme. But most of them give you a friendly theme or no theme at all.

As you move away from big group games just being party games you need to consider the theme. If it’s a bloody heroes killing monsters with dark artwork, that might not work for your group. Keep the theme more generic when you play a big group game. That is going to cast a larger net and catch a bigger group who might want to play.

Decision Making

Finally, and this one I touched on with complexity, but give a good but limited decision making space. And I think this is where a good big group game diverges from a party game. Often times you can, at least in some party games, put in a random card or answer and win just as often or more than if you put in thought to it.

So a good big group games is going to add in some real decision making while keeping the game pretty simple. You don’t want it to feel like you are playing the next big game. But at the same time, you don’t want it to just be another dumb game or a game purely with luck. A good replacement big group game is going to offer a limited window of choices.

What Are Some Examples?

Via Magica

Via Magica, and another below, I qualify as a gamers bingo. Something is drawn and everyone places in this case an animus or spirit on a portal that they are trying to open. Then another is drawn, and you do so again. You try and complete opening portals and first to seven ends the game, then you tally up points.

This one works well because the basic actions of the game are simple. You draw and place. And everyone is doing that at the same time from a single draw of a token. The decision making comes in two areas, firstly where you place on your portals, though that is a bit of a looser decision space. The other way is in what portal you get so you can push for more points or getting bonuses. That is where the game gives you most decision making.

Sushi Go Party

Sushi Go Party is another great options. This one offers, I think, a larger decision making space. But it keeps it limited. You setup a group of sushi and other food from a Japanese restaurant and shuffle those cards together. Then over a series of three rounds you draft cards. And that drafting is all done at the same time making it the speed no matter the player count.

This is definitely one with a few more decision. While the core mechanics stay the same, you need to learn the set of cards you are drafting from. Once you know them, it makes the turns simpler. So the game actually picks up speed as time goes on, because you learn more about the pool you are drafting from and what you want to go for.

Super Mega Lucky Box

This is the other bingo game. And it is much more bingo. As you complete columns or rows on cards you get bonuses that allow you to complete more. And you get points for completing 3 by 3 grids completely. Much like Via Magica, as cards are flipped with numbers for your bingo grid, you fill in a spot. And everyone does so at the same time.

This one I think offers more decision making, though, because of the bonuses, you might really be pushing for a bonus. And it offers more ways or more consistency in manipulating the number. While Via Magica lets you turn some things into wilds, if you get the right cards, Super Mega Lucky Box, always offers a way to do that, assuming you collect the right resource.

The Great Split

Next up we have The Great Split. This one kind of has the feel of drafting but the main mechanic in the game is I split and you choose. That I think makes it different for a bigger group game. Because everyone is picking a combination of things and splitting it into two groups.

I also think that The Great Split is one where it does offer more decision making space. Creating that good split where you’ll get back what you want but you won’t be giving your opponent too much is an interesting conundrum. For that reason, this game might run longer because some players will need more time to create that split. But every player is overlapping on when they create their split.

The game is really about going up on tracks to get the most points possible. And it pulls that off well. You are nudged in a direction by the starting card you get, but then you can really play around with it. And there’s enough variability to keep the game feeling different.

Welcome To…

Finally, and I could have picked a number here, we have Welcome To… It’s like all the rest in that everyone is doing stuff at once. You have a a setup of three pairs of cards and you activate one to work on building out your perfect town. Plus there is more going on with it.

This one has a bit more of a teach than some of them. Mainly because there are a number of moving pieces and how scoring in a lot of different areas works. But the game offers you just the right number of choices, so you always are considering what is going to be the best option for you.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good games out there for bigger groups. But getting that one that hits the right combination is big. Because so many when you go below this level that I put out here, tend to not offer anything more than a party game. But going too far in the other direction, now you out of that almost filler type of category. So it is a balancing act.

Now, with all of this said. If you enjoy a good party game, that is great. I have party games in my collection that will stay because I really enjoy them. But sometimes you get tired of always pulling out a party game for a big group. Hopefully this helps find games that work for big groups, but aren’t too much to handle.

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Medium

This is s party game that you really don’t need to teach how to play the game, the game is that simple. You just start playing it. Each player has a hand of six cards, one person plays down a card and the person they are paired with plays down a card. Then you need to come up with a word between those two.

So if the words were muffin and scone, it might be breakfast. It’s not between, but it’s what links both. But then if the guessers, the people who played the cards, guessed breakfast and pastry, now they need to come up with a word linking or between those. You take points depending on how many times it takes you trying to match up. And you can try up to three rounds.

The game offers a good challenge as you try and match up with someone, but also good laughs. Plus, the number of times I pick between two words and the other person picks the other, it’s way too high. But it’s a concept so simple that everyone can play and have fun with it.

Cross Clues

If you want something more challenging, Cross Clues offers that. It is two axis of cards with words on them. So rows numbers 1 through 5 and columns A through E. Each of those is matched up with a word, and players each of a card that is one of those axis.

An example of play would be that I have A3, the word on A is stick the word on 3 is wind. I might give the clue, and only a one word clue, kite. But maybe B’s word is tail, do I want to give that clue and have people choose between those two?

It’s a clever game that can be timed, which would make it very hectic. I prefer without a timer and just enjoy it more that way. It’s a good one though, because everyone is a clue giver. No turn orders, whenever you come up with a clue, you say it and players come to a consensus and guess on it. So it’s a cooperative party game.

Wits & Wagers

Maybe the people you play with like trivia. Wits & Wagers is the best trivia game that I have found. Why, because you don’t need to know trivia. You need to know who, in your group, might know the answer. Wits & Wagers is a trivia game where everyone answer is a number. And like Price is Right you’re trying to guess the closest without going over.

But what works really well is that you guess, the numbers are sorted, and then you bet on what you think the right answer is going to be. The closer to the middle of the group the better the odds. The further the worse they are, but if it’s the closest without going over, you can make a lot of money.

The concept is very simple but it feels better. Trivial Pursuit, Dicecapdes, or Cranium, if you don’t know the answer, you fail. And that isn’t fun. But betting on what answer is closest, that means you don’t need to know. It makes it so you n ever feel like you are out of the game.

Tsuro

Maybe you want less of a party game, but a game where you can plwty it with a big group. Tsuro is a very simple game, the way of the path. You are just putting down tiles to make a path, and following that path, as you do. Your goal is to be the last one on the board and to avoid hitting any other pieces.

This game works well because you can play with up to 8 people and it plays fast. There are some interesting decisions to make, though, in the game. Do you stay away from people or try and get close to them and knock them off the board? And it’s one that even with eight, you will probably play, then shuffle up the tiles and play again.

Welcome To…

A roll and write game for the list, this is by far the heaviest of the games. But it can play an infinite number of people. You just need a way for them to be able to see everything. This game is about building your perfect town. You put down house numbers, build fences, parks, and pools, and advertise your neighborhoods to get the most points.

It is a theme that people can get into. And it’s a game that is pretty easy when you get into it. You, on every turn, put down a house number and a second card that will have another ability. There are three pairs of cards you look at each round. And it’s just a race to see who can get the most points. The game ends when you can’t put down a house number enough times, you fill in all the house numbers, or someone completes the four building goals.

This is one that I’d recommend if you have a bit more of a gamer family. Like I said, the most complex on the list, though not too bad once you get into it. There are just some minor rules that make it a little bit harder. I do have easier roll and write games that I could recommend, Second Chance can also play with a lot of people, but Welcome To… is just more engaging.

Honorable Mention Board Games

There are so many of them, but a lot of not so great games as well. If you want something more color bases, Hues and Cues is great. It is trickier, and not color blind friendly. If you want Apples or Apples or Cards Against Humanity, but with more variety, Stipulations is great. I didn’t put down any Mafia or Werewolf type games, but Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a good big group game in that style that I really like.

Or if you have a smaller group, there are other games you can pick as well. But that’s going to be more focused on gateway games. Plus there are classic games that can still be fun. Scrabble and Clue, I like them both still. But for some you need to make sure, like Scrabble, you’re kind of on the same level of knowledge.

What are some board games you grew up playing at the holidays? What games do you bring along now?

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Ohanami

Ohanami is probably the easiest game on the list and the most traditional. You are playing cards down in order, but it has a twist on that. In Ohanami you draft two cards from a hand and add them to any of three columns in front of you. The cards must be higher, or lower than the number at the bottom of top of the column. Basically you’re creating three numerical columns.

But the twist comes in, besides drafting being new to some people, in how the scoring works. You draft three hands, each hand you score different things. But the same things. So the first hand you score blue cards, next, blue and green. So even though blue cards are worth only three points, if you can score them all three times, you got nine points. Get a blue card that last round, and you only score three points for it. So there is strategy of what you draft and when you draft it. That’s the general twist, but it’s still a very easy game to play.

Claim

This is a trick taking game for maybe that person who likes trick taking but wants more. While it generally follows the standard trick taking focus of higher card beats lower card and following suits, Claim does a lot of things differently. In particular that you play two hands. The first hand, you are trying to win tricks to win cards for your second hand. You either are trying to win a face up card with a higher value, or lose a trick to get the card off the top of draw pile of the face up card is low. Then you use those cards to win majority in the different suits.

This game has a fantasy theme. That means it might not work as well for everyone. But it also is a theme that allows the game to have powers. If, for example, you win a trick that where you led dwarves, the person with the lower dwarf value takes the cards. You still lead the next trick though. Or a knight will always beat a goblin, if you can short suit yourself.

A lot of trick taking games can take too long when they try and be clever, but Claim does not fall into that trap. The game still plays very fast, and there are multiple sets so you can try a lot of different combinations of suits and powers if you want. This game also would be a great stocking stuffer.

Point Salad

This game has a goofy name, but it is about making a salad, so it makes sense. In Point Salad, you are collecting different vegetables to make a salad that is worth the most points. This is done by drafting two vegetables from a tableau in the middle of the board to add to your own tableau.

Point Salad, again, does something different, though, in how you score at the end of the game. As well as drafting vegetables you also draft cards that will score, for you. So I might draft a card that says per every two onions I have, I get five points. Now, I am going to be drafting as many onions as I can. I might get another scoring card that says, every onion and tomato pair is worth six points, so now if I can get tomatoes, my onions will help me score even more.

While that might sound like there is a lot to keep track of, there really isn’t. Either you pick a scoring card or two vegetable cards. The game works well at all player counts, and it is one that is easy to shuffle up and play a number of times in a sitting, especially in smaller groups.

Parade

This is a game where you don’t want to get cards, but how you get cards is done in a very cool way. You play from a hand of cards to a big line of cards. The number on the card determines how many cards you can ignore. After that you take any card that matches the color of the card you took, or is lower in value.

But you don’t want cards, so you need to plan out your turns to get as little as possible. You score the point value of the cards you have at the end of the game. Unless you have collected more of a color than anyone else. Those cards are worth a point per card instead of face value. So you can push for a lot in one color to try and score as little as possible that way. Lowest score wins.

Not Alone

This one is going to be very different for people who know card games. This is a one versus all game where a spaceship has crashed onto a hostile planet and the planet is trying to kill them. The one person plays the planet and the monsters and things on the planet. The other people are playing the crew members who are trying to survive long enough for a ship to be sent to rescue them.

It’s a really fun game of cat and mouse. And it is just done with cards. The crew can go to different locations, based off of cards that they play. And the person playing the planet/monster can go to one location to try and stop the players from activating the ability at that location and dealing them damage. I like that the players can discuss what they want to do as much as they want, but the person who is the planet needs to be able to hear them.

Honorable Mentions

There are obviously a ton of card games out there. Something like Medium is a good card party game where people are trying to guess the same word between two prompt words. Or Marvel Champions is a card game, it is just a much bigger and more in depth super hero game. Hats is a fun puzzle of a game where you are collection sets of hats and trying to manipulate it so you score lots of points.

And that’s barely scratching the surface. Do you have a go to card game as a gift?

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Hues and Cues

This is a pretty new game that people might not have noticed. I believe it came out in 2020 or the very end of 2019, not an ideal time for group games, This is a game that is very different than most group games that you’ve played. I think it plays really different than a lot of party games, but still has a party feel to it.

In Hues and Cues you try to get players to guess your color on a massive grid of colors. You give a one word clue, everyone guesses, and then a clue that is up to two words. The person giving the clue gets points for people being close to their color. Right on or one away. Guessers get points for being right one the color, one away, or two away. It’s fun because only one person can get it perfect but everyone else can still get points for being close.

Wits & Wagers

Using a similar concept to Hues and Cues about being close, Wits & Wagers is a trivia game where knowing the answer doesn’t matter as much. What matters is betting on the closest answer without going over. All the questions have numerical based answers so everyone writes down their answer. Then you bet on which one is correct.

This game might not work the best with complete strangers, but if you know your players you might know who to bid on. I know sports fairly well, so if a sports question comes up, then you might bet on my answer. But most of the time, the answers towards the middle tend to be right, even with people guessing. It’s a good one for playing with parents or grandparents as well.

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

This is my social deduction game for the list. Honestly, I don’t like most social deduction games, but they do work well on big groups. I do, however, like Deception: Murder in Hong Kong a lot. That’s because you start knowing information. This might sound odd, but too many social deduction games you don’t know anything.

Here, there has been a murder committed and everyone is trying to figure out the murder weapon and the clue. Well, everyone except the murder, their accomplice, and the forensic scientist. The forensic scientist is giving clues to point people in the right direction. But they can only do this off of tiles that they have which might have stuff like the age of the victim on it or different locations where the murder happened.

So, you can see how you always know something. The murder and accomplice are trying to keep people off the trail. There is a witness who knows murder is but not the weapon or clue who is trying to keep the focus on the murderer but not too much. It leads to some great moments of discussion and accusation. And it’s always interesting at the end of the game to hear the story the forensic scientist had in their head to get people to guess.

Sushi Go Party!

While it has party in the name, Sushi Go Party isn’t so much a party game. It’s a drafting and set collection game that works well with any number of players. You are drafting a card out of a hand and then playing it .You pass your hand and draft another card, but there are so many ways to score points in this game.

Sometimes you are trying to collect as many of one thing as you can. If you get a lot of dumplings that’s worth a lot of points. Or with tofu, you get the most points if you have exactly two tofu. There are deserts which score you points at the end of the game as you collect more. Or there are some where you want to be the first to a certain number of them. Plus there are specials that let you score in different ways. Wasabi gives you extra points for the next nigiri you get.

This game really works well and it doesn’t take much longer the more people you have. That’s a nice thing about drafting games is that everyone plays at the same time. And with Sushi Go Party, as compared to Sushi Go, you can change up the board between games, so the game feels different every time.

Welcome To…

This is the final game on the list. I could put in a whole lot more, but you can find some of those on your own. There are a lot of good big groups games out there. I wanted to put a roll and write on the list. I did a holiday list already for roll and write games, which you can read here. Some roll and writes just work well for large groups and Welcome To is one of them.

In this game you are building your perfect suburb. Putting up white picket fences, getting your neighborhoods all set-up. You score points for the sizes of neighborhoods you have, how many parks there are, how you advertise, how many pools there are, and more. It’s a game where everyone fills out their sheet at the same time. It works for basically an infinite number of players as long as people can see the cards.

Honorable Mention

There are a lot of games that can work well for this list. I skipped a ton of roll and writes, in fact I could have just make a list of roll and write games that an play an infinite number of players. But that’d be boring. I also didn’t do some bigger games that play up to six like Nemesis, Deep Madness or Unfathomable. They aren’t quite the games that work well for a holiday, unless your group is really into gaming.

I could have also added games like Unlock and Exit or any escape room style game. Those technically can play with an infinite number of players. I prefer them though with less than six because you need to be able to see the cards and I think four tends to be about the right number for that.

What games do you pull out with your family or friends around the holidays?

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