My Favorite Board and Card Games

I end up playing a lot of board and card games over the holidays, particularly on New Year's Eve, when I have friends over.

Here's a list of my favorite games:

1) Munchkin (a Steve Jackson game) and the various 'flavors' of Munchkin: Space Munchkin, Munchkin Fu, and Munchkin Bites. It's a card game that makes fun of all the other Magic and Role Play games out there, and doesn't take itself seriously either. Just be sure to declare house rules because the rules are deliberately vague on several points and you'll still have friends at the end of the game. Also, don't expect them to not hold grudges until the next Munchkin game.

There are a few cards that my aunts found objectionable when their children were playing it with me such as the card with the bad donkey (using the other word for donkey) , so if you're concerned about things like that, you may want to remove those cards.

2) Cranium. There are a few variants of this, including a children's version. This game is pictionary, charades, name that tune, trivial pursuit, and more all rolled into one, and it's not as hard as trivial pursuit. It's a great party game as you play with up to 4 teams of 3-4 people. You can play with more people on the teams, but you have to be more careful to make sure that everyone gets a chance to participate.

3) Risk. Despite the fact that my friends are all better at this game than I am, I like playing it with them. For one thing, I learn a lot every time I play.

4) Spoons. For N people playing, you put N-1 spoons out on the table or floor and everyone starts with 4 cards. Everyone passes 1 card to the left, and the first person to get 4 of the same card can take a spoon. As soon as someone takes a spoon, everyone else can try to get one. In my family, this game gets violent as people lunge for the spoons. So I recommend the floor as the spoons can get knocked off the table. There's a game out there called Splash that uses rubber squeaky dolphins instead of spoons, which cuts down on the spoon related injuries.

5) Monopoly. For those of you who complain that the game takes too long, read the rules and stick to them. The game goes by much more quickly if you don't use house rules like putting money on free parking, and there are rules for a short game.

6) Apples to Apples. This is a simple game. Each player takes a turn being the judge, and turns over and adjective card. Everyone else puts down a noun that they think goes with the adjective. The judge picks the one that they think is the best match based on their own criteria, and whoever put down that noun gets a point.

7) TransAmerica. Also a simple game. Everyone gets five cities across the USA that you have to connect with train tracks. The first one to connect all their cities wins that round.

8) 6 Nimmt! (Here in the USA, you can find a re-branded version called Category 5). Everyone is dealt 10 cards and 4 cards are placed on the table, each card being numbered from 1-104 (there are 104 cards). Each card has a point value, and the idea of the game is to get as few points as possible. Everyone puts down a card facedown, and when everyone has put down a card, they are all turned over. They are then placed next to the 4 cards from lowest to highest. So if the 4 cards are 4, 27, 50 and 80, and the lowest card is played that round is 20, it will go next to the 4 because it's higher than 4 and lower than 27. Cards that are lower than all the end cards of the rows have to take an entire row. Also, if you play the 6th card in a row, you have to take that row. My co-workers and I have come up with a lot of variations for this game that have kept us playing this for over a year.

9) Taboo. You get a card with a word that you have to make your team guess what it is without saying the other words on the card, or any word containing those words. Telepathy and movie references help a lot with this game.

10) Loaded Questions. This game is more about how well you know your friends than getting the right answer. You get points by guessing what other people answered.

For other game ideas, go to Link

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