15 Great Games to Fill Your Table This Christmas

hello holiday humans its of course that time of year again when we all mildly panic as family descend upon us like a flock of seagulls around the nice screen you've got two options here you can either sit and slowly have a breakdown whilst your grandma asks you what you do for a job and you fail to explain that to her because or you can play board games and whilst these games will improve any family gathering they are also 100% approved by the spirit of Christmas [Music] come on mate it's not even 10:00 a.m. if you're interested in any of the games we talked about today then you can go to our website there will be a link in the description which will take you to a page so you can watch reviews for lots of these games or find links to where you can buy them in your country now in no particular order let's go everybody's played a game where one person draws something and everyone else has to try and guess what it is well picta mania is a game where everybody draws at the same time whilst also trying to guess what everyone else is drawing at the same time that they are drawing do you double down on your drawing to make sure that everyone else guesses what it is or just watch everyone else like a hawk and try and guess early to get more points for that it's just a great simple electric little game and this new small box version of the game is almost half the price of the original instead of whiteboards and pens coming with they're much more ecologically sustainable and actually twee and charming paper and pencil hmmm recommend it cockroach poker or charcoal Arkin poker as most people have a German copy which is fine because it doesn't really have any words is one of my favorite games of all time it is dastardly hilarious and one of two games in the world that I can and will play at almost any time just because they are so so simple each player is dealt a hand of wonderfully ugly bugs and creatures and is tasked with simply not running out of cards and the game effectively is just sliding people things and saying this that's a spider and at which point somebody slides you a card you can either do one of two things you can either go that's not a spider and flip it and if you're wrong and I was right in this case it's a scorpion then it means that that would go back to whoever gave it to you and sit in front of them if however they said it was a spider and it was it was sit in front of me because I called it wrong when any one player has four of one type of thing in front of them they lose the game if anyone runs out they lose the game there is no winner in cockroach poker only one loser which is absolutely brilliant finally though the thing that makes this really pop is the fact that when somebody slides your card you've got a second option you don't have to call them on it you can instead pick it up this is a spider it's a scorpion you can then press it onto someone else and then it's their choice to work out whether or not they're just gonna accept your truth work out what it is and pass it on to somebody else or take a gambit and that's the whole game it is unbelievably fabulous it's just incredibly tiny incredibly gorgeous essential little box now code names is the game from this list that most people will have played or heard of two teams go head-to-head being given clues by their spy master to try and crack the code before the other team crack theirs you've got a 5x5 grid of words and the spy masters have a little secret card that shows them which of the words in this grid are their teams and verses to the other teams and then you have to give a clue so I could say electricity for meaning there are four words in this grid that you can relate to electricity but no more than that and actually if you get them wrong they were in trouble because you might accidentally choose a word that is the other team's word or you might choose the forbidden words at any point in the grid there is one word that if either team selects it then you lose the game you must not speak the forbidden word it will hear us I forgot how to shush but wait what's this another code cracking game if everyone have gone mad for code names lots of people weren't in the mood for more deciphering of codes but the crypto is actually very different and I might even like it more our teams have four secret code words that are secretly revealed with this wonderful lo-fi tech when slaughtered into their cardboard console and in each round one play on each team draw a card with three numbers on and then have to give three clues to make the rest of their team guess the correct sequence of the four code words that they can see which is easy except the other team is listening in to what you're doing and taking notes and if they crack your code and work out the systems you're using to talk to each other then you're in trouble and you've lost the game so ask code names as a game of precision and clarity the crypto gives you the space to be devilishly clever it's a game of subtle nods and Cheshire cat grins we're so clever they're never going to crack our code and also it's beautiful a wonderful wonderful production a beautiful little box Oh paranormal investigators trying to solve the crime of a murder in a traditional board game murder sense location culprits murder weapon but this is less Colonel Mustard and more professor fermented plums each player has to work out their own little mystery based on the weird dreams they have every night dreams that are given to them by one player who sits playing as the ghost oh I've had a dream about violin on a beach ball with a bed flying around it and put again my imagination is really getting quite dull if you can then hand the right clues to the right players then everybody works together and solves the crimes and wins however the person playing as the ghost is not allowed to talk at all for the duration of the games sitting in silence handing out clues and then turning inside as everyone else doesn't quite understand what they're trying to communicate with these odd pictures it's not a game you can recommend to everyone it's a bit too rules Ian complex for most and if you are playing this with a group of seven it does play seven people but you're probably best off splitting into teams it'll go along more easily and again if the only person who really knows how to play the game ends up playing as the ghost that's a problem because you can't talk so not a wild recommendation for everyone but it's such an interesting electric odd game that we felt if you're amiss not to include it on this it's equally big on tablespace but unbelievably easy to learn and play Fram Bruges is the best racing game that money can buy it even as rules that let you carry over your cyclists exhaustion's into future races allowing you to have ongoing tournaments family grudges that last for years and years I know you want some more of those I know you do flam rouge doesn't look like much but it is such a treat if you want something fun and light and silly that kids will love flick them up is a wonderful cowboy playground little wooden Cowboys flicking bullets at each other really good fun it's such a fun family game that I actually don't have my copy anymore I gave it to a family because I thought they'd like it more although as we mentioned in the review if you do pick up flick them up don't bother with the missions that actually come in the booklet just learn the rules and make up your own it is way more fun oh this is a nice one sushi go is a tiny box classic and sushi go party is a deluxe tin version that just has more of everything and plays with up to eight it's a wonderfully colorful simple game in which you get a hand of cards pick one of them to keep and place it on the table to show everyone else what you've got past the rest of your cards for the person your left and then receive new cards and the person on your right keep going around putting things on the table until all of the sushi is out and then you score points give your family bad sushi without repercussions there's no hook to sushi go party there's nothing magical about it I can say you've got to try this it's just really good it's a really solid game and I love the fact that the manual comes with its own little shopping list like a menu of versions of the game you can build to try these cards for this group try these cards for this group it's just a delightfully malleable cute little box little sue shows that sushi boys I love you I love you magic mazes a game in which everybody playing controls all of the pieces at the same time but every person can only do one or two things so maybe your dad can move all of the pieces north but if you want them to go worse then that's on anti Center Sandra stop dropping the ball and you do all of this in real time with up to eight people eight people all playing the game at once oh and finally it's in silence you're not allowed to talk to each other this game is less of an elevator pitch and more of a die hard style elevator explosion it's something you've got to try it's something you'll want to show people it's something people will talk about man in itself is amazing I didn't know it was possible for a room to be raucous whilst also silent finally now it's time for the game that lets you wink at your uncle without causing alarm shifty-eyed spies is possibly the best looking game that money can buy and it couldn't be more simple if you can cast it with a shovel you find the player around the table who's got the character matching the card in your hand and then all you have to do is wink at them and then they in return will look at the location that they need to meet you at but if anybody else sees you doing any of it they can intercept at that location and steal the package like a bad spy and that's the whole game is people just trying to wink at each other without anyone else noticing I mean that's fantastic so perfect next up we have demesne a game originally released under the name Incan gold which sounds like a blend of instant coffee that frankly I wouldn't buy it's a game of pushing your luck getting treasures or going home with nothing apart from maybe a snake you only go home with a snake rule number one of adventure club over the course of the game you'll head out on five expeditions and along the way uncover jewels and gems and treasures and each time a new tile is uncovered you can say to everyone else you know hey you know what guys I've had a great time with this but I'm actually gonna go home now and when you go home you take all of the treasure that has been found so far like some Loki bad Indiana Jones daddy however if anyone else goes home at the same time then you have to share all of that to do with them and you all decide whether or not you're going home at the same time ah you can already say there's gonna be a lot of bluffing I don't know I think I'm gonna call it day a my hell calling a day I'm going into the heart of this cave alone will you come home with a treasure chest full of gems or just get nibbled by spiders I'm gonna get nibbled by spiders it's just who I am if you're a big fan of watching your family fall prey to hubris and diamonds is really good stuff bad news there's a werewolf in town and someone has been murdered didn't use it's mostly been automated by mobile phones one light ultimate werewolf is a streamlined version of a folk game classic you may have played werewolf or mafia before it's a game in which some people pretend to be werewolves or gangsters and that night everyone closes their eyes and the wakes up in the morning and sulla says oh no you're dead somebody murdered you I bet it was that guy we should we should hang him immediately you've still got hidden roles wild accusations but one my ultimate werewolf just lasts one night which means it gets away from the big problem of werewolf or mafia people getting knocked out now if you get eaten at the very start of werewolf then it means you've got to sit there for 15 or 20 minutes in silence just watching everything unfold which can be amazing honestly amazing but try telling that to aunty Sandra when she loses interest and puts the TV on Sandra the EastEnders omnibus will be repeated on Tuesday if you could just concentrate for one night doesn't do that you have an app which you run on your phone or your tablet it tells everybody what to do which means no one needs to run the game it lasts 10 minutes and then you can play it again no one gets knocked out if you've ever wanted to lie to your family and then eat them then you should probably you've probably got more important things to worry about but forget about that and really consider werewolf so good games that let you lie to people you know and love without it being morally repugnant or wrong and it's just allowed us so much fun but of course they're quite intense so werewolf will not be for everyone and if you're worried that accusations of your liar could bring up some old bad family history then avoid avoid also they don't work all the time like I'm particularly good at lying games and yet it turns out I cannot lie to my mum just doesn't work she just sees through it every single time but if your family or friend boo loves these kind of games then it's something else to go check out that's right it's a secret 16th people recommendation the resistance Avalon this is as good as it gets when it comes to deception games deduction games it's just a box of joy it rules a bit harder to explain but when you get people into this it's like nothing else this is wheels within wheels of lies now I'm thinking of wheels of cheese well I still aboard the fun light range Sheriff of Nottingham plays with up to six with the expansion and sheriff of nauseam is basically customs the game or as my brother quite aptly calls it what's in your bag dear bastard players pop goods and maybe some contraband into little bags that then get handed to an inspector who then interrogate stomachs thoughts and basic does whatever they want maybe they should open this how much week you pay me not to open this and the expansion means that each round you can have two players checking everyone's luggage the sheriff of Nottingham's horrid looking minions what a fun dynamic there adds to a family table should we trust grammar can we trust grandma shall we open grandma's suitcase grandma this suitcases full of crossbows we've talked about this Monika's is a fantastically crafted version of a public domain game commonly known as fishbowl or celebrity in which two teams of players go head to head trying to guess what's on cards drawn from a big box of options in the first round you give clues for each carbon out saying anything at the top of the card but anything else for as long as you want in the second round you use the same deck of cards but you're only allowed to say one word as a clue for each thing free willy a whale easy in the third round you use that same deck of cards again but this time you just have to mine this is an excellent gorgeous party game in a box but Baba sound the due diligence alarm we should point out the fact that we like this game so much that we actually made an expansion for it called the nonsense box which is really good you can buy I'm already proud of that however that means we literally have a vested interest in this game so you just need to know that we couldn't not put it in the list it's my wife's favorite party game it's really really good we're gonna be playing it this Christmas but yeah just important that you know the connection make your own decision knowledge is power do with it whatever you will finally and maybe I have saved the best till last year this is the second game that I can and will play at any time skull it's the toothy essence of poker boiled down to the absolute basics each player has four disks that make up their hand of cards three of which have nothing on and one of which has a skull players keep putting disks down and going in a circle until somebody calls out a number and says I'm gonna flip three disks and if no one bits any higher then you've got to flip that many disks and the sole rule here is that whenever you are the person that is gonna flip them over the highest bidder you have to start by flipping your disks first which is a real game changer because if at any point you flip disks and hit a skull you will randomly lose one of the four disks in your hand it is such a devilishly simple game that really when you get explained to you it doesn't seem like there's really any game there at all but ask anyone who's played it and it is a stone-cold classic it takes minutes to teach you can jump straight into it and then it's a game in which players learn the nuances and depth and interesting things about the game as they play it something that just naturally unfurls in front of people and you can watch people going oh as they finally work out this little game is all about it's the best thing to play with people place with six it's so good and also this is the uglier version of the game there's a brand new version of it it's not even that new it's been half like half a decade I keep meaning to buy it because this one's kind of ugly although I do like the skull though it's purple than you one it's great I'm rambling just buy this game if you buy one game it's it's this one skull that's all for today's video all of those fantastic games and you'll find a link in the description for this video so you can go to our website and watch reviews or find links of where you can buy them oh what a great Christmas treat I hope you guys have a fantastic year and don't see anything quite as frightening as this for sometime and yeah if this is the first time on the channel I apologize please like and subscribe for more videos we've got so so many of them anyway I best get back to Christmas I [Music] [Applause] love Christmas

Channel: Shut Up & Sit Down

Views: 453,796

Rating: 4.9455781 out of 5

Keywords: Board Games, Boardgame, Tabletop, Fun Games, Christmas, Gift Ideas, Pictomania, Cockroach Poker, Codenames, Decrypto, Mysterium, flamme rouge, Flick 'em Up!, Sushi Go Party!, Magic Maze, Shifty Eyed Spies, Diamant, Incan Gold, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Sheriff of Nottingham, Monikers, Skull, Flamme Rouge: peloton, review, Kaker Laken Poker, The Resistance, The resistance: Avalon, Skull & Roses, family games, party games, 8 player games, top 10, Catan, Monopoly

Id: wzhUXlGIDFY

Length: 18min 49sec (1129 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 30 2018