13 Best Games to Play with Family During the Holidays

There are so many wonderful things about the holidays that make it one of the happiest times of the year. But inevitably, we find ourselves with more downtime than we know what to do with. Well, we think you should fill that time with some good family competition and board game time.

There’s something so cozy about hunkering down with your family members during the holidays and playing a game together. Whether it’s a strategy-based game, a competition-heavy game, or one that’s just meant to make you laugh, board games will bring you and your family together.

This list curates 13 of the best board games we recommend to play with your family during the holidays.

1. Red Dragon Inn

Ever wonder what happens after the Dungeons and Dragons adventure? This unique game combines cards, gambling, bar fights, and grog all into one action-packed game. Easy to learn rules for the family and simple game mechanics help the whole family learn this wonderful game. Take turns trying to make your friends and family “pass out” from drinking or run out of coins and get kicked out of the pub. This game is only limited by the number of characters you have collected; with nine full expansion packs and 16 single-character expansions that introduce brand-new characters into the game, there is no end to the chaos that can be created. Great for big families!

2. Munchkin

A game of bartering for help while exploring dungeons and fighting legendary beasts, Munchkin is designed to backstab and help your family all at the same time. With a slogan of “Kill the monsters, Steal the treasure, Stab your buddy,” it can’t be a surprise that this game allows you to take revenge on whoever you see fit — like your least favorite uncle who took the last piece of dark meat at dinner. You can easily refuse to help him defeat a monster and send him all the way back to the beginning of the game.

Munchkin is designed for those who love to poke fun at Dungeons and Dragons and simplifies the game into a fun and easy-to-learn adventure for everyone.

3. Fluxx

It’s no secret that setting up for the holidays can be exhausting. That’s where Fluxx comes in! You won’t have a board to worry about, only cards. With Fluxx, the rules and objects of the game are ever-changing, with each card you put down demanding different requests. There are lots of different expansion packs you can get (like Zombie Fluxx, Pirate Fluxx, Nature Fluxx, and more) that change the theme, actions, and requests of the game. This game is easy to learn and will keep everyone on their toes.

4. Exploding Kittens

Similar to Russian Roulette-style games, this game is, at its core, very simple: avoid drawing an “Exploding Kitten” card. Drawing this card means immediately losing the game. Every turn ends with drawing a card from the ever-shrinking deck and hoping you’re not met with an exploding kitten. There are many ways to avoid drawing cards, as well as strategies that allow you to manipulate the deck in order to avoid drawing any cards.

Ultimately, only one person will remain victorious while the others head to the kitchen for leftovers early.

5. Jackbox

Have a family member that won’t get off their cell phone? We’ve got just the game for them. Jackbox offers a wildly unique bunch of games that ask players to use their phones as part of the game. Players can join the game by visiting a website and using the room code on the host’s screen. If you’re playing in person, the host’s screen will be visible to the whole room, and players respond to prompts, answer questions, draw, and more — all with the goal of reigning victorious.

You can even turn on the family-friendly setting, where suggestive prompts and content will be filtered out of the game.

6. Codenames

Think you know your family well? Codenames will put this claim to the test. This clever word association game asks you to break into two teams. You compete by each giving one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. The other players on the team attempt to guess their team’s words while avoiding the words of the other team. One of the fun and devious parts of this game is that you can rely on inside jokes or obscure, niche references that only you and your partner would understand.

Codenames will reveal just how well you really know your family.

7. Root

Root blends fantasy and real life. It features four unique factions you can master to earn victory points and claim the forest as your own. Not only is each faction completely unique, but the board has two sides and can be changed, allowing endless replayability. With adorable artwork and the option to work with or against your family as allies or enemies, Root is a more thoughtful strategy game to occupy you while the turkey is in the oven.

8. Scrabble

Sorry not sorry, but Scrabble is fun. And it’s perfect for family gatherings during the holidays. Not only is it a great game to exercise multiple different parts of the brain, improve vocabulary and literacy, and suit big groups of people, but it’s wildly competitive. We promise you’ve never had more fun learning while obliterating your cousin at a game than with Scrabble.

9. Do You Really Know Your Family?

As much as we all love gathering for the holidays, it’s no secret that we sometimes run out of things to talk about. After all, you probably think you know everything there is to know about your family members. Well, think again. Do You Really Know Your Family makes you question if you even know anything about the people you say you’re related to. You win the game by proving you know your family best by answering questions about them, doing impressions of them, making assumptions about them, and more. This game will facilitate some of the most hilarious family memories, all while inserting a healthy dose of competition to the dinner table.

10. Dungeons & Dragons

Simply put, this is a classic board game and family tradition in the making. The unlimited possibilities of Dungeons & Dragons enable your family to use their imagination in order to create a fun and exciting world. D&D gives the illusion of a time-eater game, but with One-Off campaigns available and written by the Dungeons & Dragons team, you could be playing within just a few minutes of setup and be finished within a few hours. If you and your family wish to escape to a fantasy land of adventure for a few hours or even a whole night, this game is perfect for you.

11. Carcassonne

Harkening back to the days of old, you and your family will be creating an old medieval countryside map using tiles to score points by creating beautiful cities, roads, and farmlands. This game of strategy and chance is a great opportunity to get to know your family’s play style and figure out ways to quickly steal points for your population and lock out your opponent’s expansion on one tile at a time. This game provides quick gameplay and easy-to-learn rules so family members can easily learn and cycle out for a new family member to take on the current “rulers” of your family’s game night.

12. Throw Throw Burrito

Annoying uncle annoying you again at the dinner party? Throw Throw Burrito finally gives you the chance to do something about it. A self-professed “dodgeball card game,” Throw Throw Burrito asks players to place a pair of throwable (soft) burritos on the table and deal out the cards. Earn points by collecting three of a kind. Pulling certain cards leads to forcing players into battle, in which the burritos are literally thrown at each other to determine the winner of the duel.

What’s Christmas dinner without a little violence?

13. A Christmas Crime

If you’re looking to get super into the Christmas spirit, A Christmas Crime is the game for you. According to the company, this murder mystery takes place at Santa’s launch party unveiling an exciting new toy. Everyone from the Christmas Board of Directors will be present as well as Elves from all departments all over the workshop. But as these things go, something goes amiss and it is your job to figure out what happened. To really set the scene, the game suggests dressing up in character, playing Christmas music, putting together a dinner party menu, and decorating accordingly.