The holidays continue apace, grinding us to cinnamon scented dust in the yule gears of inevitable time. What can we do to distract ourselves?
Well, if you're like me, or even in the much more likely event that you're not, you can play some games!
Now the biggest issue with board games is, especially around the Holidays, is "What can I play with this many people?".
Ok, so, ok, no, that's actually not remotely true. Outside the holidays it's more like, who even wants to play board games, and even when I find people that do, when are they going to be able to play. Then at a Christmas or New Years party the biggest issue is getting anyone to actually pay attention long enough to learn how to play Pictionary.
But of course when you do somehow work out when you're all free, where you can play, how to manage family, who wants to play, and what can keep the kids busy there's always one too many people there.
Well, I'm here to help, with a collection of actually interesting games for more than 6. Here we go!
10: The Village
This is the lowest on the list for one simple reason: you can die in this game and be out of it in the first two minutes, then have to sit there like a doofus for what may take upwards of thirty minutes to resolve.
But it is also probably the best known on the list and for good reason. This is a slightly beefed-up version of Werewolf, or as you may have heard of it, Mafia or even Murderer.
Everyone gets an identity card at the start and is either a villager or a werewolf. Some of the villagers (and in this version, even some of the wolves) have special abilities like being able to see other player's roles or raising the dead.
The game has two phases, night, where people take their secret actions (most notably the werewolves eating people), and day, where everyone has a friendly chat about it then the mob kills someone for being a werewolf.
This version has many expansions in it, so lots of new roles, and also has buildings the players can inhabit that give them special powers that everyone actually just plain knows about (though not, of course, whose benefit they will use them towards).
This game can play up to an insane 18 players, and with some pen and paper there's nothing saying you can't make your own cards for everyone and crank that up even further.
More than any other, the success of a round of werewolf depends on the person running it. Someone has to ref the game, and a really one really goes a long way into breathing life into the scenario much like a roleplaying Game Master.
In my old board game group we'd use massive games of werewolf to close out the nights. It allowed us all to play together, and if you had to go early, you could always just start acting like a werewolf to get killed quick.
9: Kill the overlord
Based on a game called Hex Hex Next, a game with a very paper thin theme of tossing curses around a table, KtO adds an actual story.
Here we are all citizens in a fantasy (specifically anime inspired) kingdom where the power dynamics are constantly shifting from the Overlord down to a Peasant. Depending on what rank you are, you get different amounts of money each turn and have different powers.
At the start of each round, the overlord player hands out an execution order to one of the other players. That player then has a chance to play cards from their hand to pass that execution order onward.
The game is fast and easy to understand, with only the sorting of the roles at the start of the next round being a bit of a hiccup, and the theme is engaging and lets people jump right into roleplaying obsequious counselors and terrified commoners.
8: Jungle Speed
Easily the most insane game on the list. This package recommends at most 8 players, but the real limiting factor is just how many people you can cram around a table.
The game comes with little cards with patterns on them in different shapes and colors, along with a tiny plastic totem. You put the totem in the middle of the game, pass out the cards, then each player in turn flips a card out in front of them. If at any time you match with another player, you both have to reach for the totem. Who ever grabs it first gets to dump all their revealed cards onto the other player. If you get rid of all your cards, you win! That's it!
It's playable by pretty much anyone (though you may want to limit any specific game to roughly equal arm size for obvious reasons), it's exciting, and you don't have to spend a lot of time on the rules. Just remember that as you get bigger in player size it gets tougher for the one flipping the cards (those watching only have to remember what their own card is and see if it matches, while the flipper has to watch for any matches).
Something I've always wanted to try is a whole house version where the person who loses the first duel gets to put the totem in another room. Of course seeing how into it people already get just with grabbing it off a table, this would probably require some air-tight liability waivers.
7: One-night Revolution
This a streamlined version of Werewolf with a shorter play time and no requirement for a ref. It's still not my favorite version, but it does have a much cooler, sci-fi theme.
Somewhat ironically, in trying to strip down the experience this version actually comes out a bit more confusing at first. A dab hand running it helps somewhat but I've played many a game of there where the players didn't really understand their own role very well all the way through until the end (when I and others were running, so it's not only my ineptitude).
6: Sushi Go
As you may have noticed, this version is limited to 5. There is a party version that goes up to 8, though.
Sushi go is a drafting game. That means you start with a hand of cards, pick one, then pass your hand to the next player.
It really is that simple. You get points at the end of each round depending on which sushi you were able to collect, or at the end of the game in the case of puddings. Despite it's simplicity, however, there is still room for strategy not just in what you collect, but it what you are willing to pass on the the next player, and in what you can expect to get passed to you.
This one is great for kids and has a colorful and cute theme to boot. Kids might not really know what is going on with the scoring but since all they have to do is pick a card and pass the rest on, they can still participate (and ruin your plans).
$ 5: 7 Wonders
Like Sushi Go this is a drafting game, but unlike Sushi Go this is not a simple one. 7 Wonders is about as close as you can get to a civilization game in a drafting card game.
There are really only a few things to differentiate this from it's little brother: You have limits on what you can play out of your hand based on money, building materials, and a player board that lets you build a wonder that provides a unique bonus. Otherwise the play is identical.
The real difference is mostly size 7 Wonders is massively more complicated, with many more things to keep track of. This means that while it is more engaging, it can also be more than a bit overwhelming the first time you try.
4: Shadow Hunters
There are evil shadows lurking in the...err...regular shadows, I guess. It's up to the Hunters to destroy them. Also there are neutrals too I guess.
Ok that makes it sound like the neutrals suck but they're actually the best part...hold up let me explain the game itself first.
Everyone has a secret identity of one of the three factions. They each have a special power. By default, however, each of the players' identities are hidden. Only by revealing yourself can you use your power. You actually play the game by hopping between spaces that let you draw weapons, healing items, or hermit cards, which can reveal secrets about the other players in the game. If you end up in the same area as another player, you can also choose to attack them. Which of course you would only do if you knew that they were on the other team, right?
Well...no, actually, for a few reasons.
First off, people are kinda dumb and often cruel. A solid quarter of all people I've played this game with basically just attack every time, just because they can.
Secondly, the neutrals. The Shadows and Hunter's victory conditions are simply to kill each other. The neutrals are all out for themselves, however. One doesn't care about the war, she just wants to be alive when it ends. Another wants to kill a player only once 3 others are dead. Another wants to be the first to die.
The only real problem with the game is that once you are dead you are out of the game, and it can last for some time. But there are few hidden identity games that are balanced as well as this one (and in my opinion, only one that's better).
3: Dixit
This is probably the simplest game on this list from a gameplay perspective, especially if you have someone to do the scoring for you.
Everyone gets a hand of cards with dreamlike images on them. On your turn, you choose one of those cards then say a phrase or make a sound or even a gesture then put the card face down. Everyone else then chooses a card as well, then they are mixed up and turned over.
In simplest terms, ideally you want just one person to vote for your card. Worst case is if either no one or everyone votes for it, as then you get no points. Any of the other players that manages to fool people into choosing their card also gets a point per vote.
This means that you want to use inside jokes and references that as few people as possible, though at least one, will get.
It also is just entertaining to get a glimpse into the way people's minds work. It is a special joy when your mom reveals a picture of a mouse with a sword about to go through a giant door was the one she played for the phrase bean burrito.
2: Between Two Cities
So we come to what is probably the most meaty game on this list. Between two cities is a drafting tile placement game where you are building a city between yourself and both your neighbors. At the end of the game whoever has the highest score on their lowest city is the winner.
You work out the placement with the other players as you go. Each type of building scores based on its placement and the number of that building on the board. You want three square parks, rows of shops, houses without factories near them, offices with taverns nearby, and the most factories of any city. It is ridiculously easy to set up and the rules are so simple anyone can play, but it takes real planning and care to actually be able juggle all you need to consider.
It is, quite simply, just about the perfect gamerly party game...except...
1: The Resistance: Avalon
If I had made this list in 2009, I would have put Battlestar Galactica at the top of it.
I love hidden traitor games, and I've had so many crazy moments with Battlestar. As Balthar (and a Cylon) I once convinced the other players that each of them in turn was a cylon, having them each jailed one at a time, starting with my future wife.
But there is no denying that the game is fiddly, and it's a lot of work. Not to mention the time investment.
So when I first played the Resistance, it was a revelation. Here's a game you can play with up to ten people that captures all the intrigue and tension of Battlestar with none of the more fiddly bits.
The regular version is great but Avalon adds a few extra characters and powers. My favorite is Merlin, who can see who the bad guys are but if the bad guys guess who he is in the end then they win. The Merlin player has to be very careful to try and drop hints to the other players without making it too obvious.
So, that's my list!
If any of those sound good I highly recommend you check them out! Do you have a favorite gamerly party game, or just a general favorite? Let me know in the comments!
I played Dixit at a party and it was so much fun! I almost won (but made a wrong choice at the second to last play). Thanks for the other game recommendations, I love board games and always looking for new ones to try.
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I have never heard of any of these games. They look so interesting. Unfortunately I think I am the only one in my family that is interested in these style of games. Booo lol.
Board games aren't too popular in our country these days. People are stuck on their phones with mobile games. It is great to play board games for a change. Maybe will buy a game one of these days. The only challenge is to get my kids interested. Maybe I should cut off the power and internet for a day lol.
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TrufflePigGood list. I didn't know you were familiar with Shadow Hunters. I've played that one a handful of times, and always really enjoyed it. I agree that the addition of the neutrals is the best part. A small addition that creates a lot more depth.
Between my son and his gf and one of my best friends we have a game night at least once every 3 months. Sadly, I have not seen any of those. Might have to find them and give them a try. I wish I knew the name of some of the games we have played off the top of my head. We're a big gamers... in every aspect.
I have not played any of these, but they all sound really interesting :D
Friend tried to get me to play Avalon, but really, the only board game I've played are.... Splendor, Monopoly, and Mafia/Werewolf
And I didn't play any of them as board games either (I played them online !!)
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