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Whether we’re ready for it or not, Christmas is right around the corner! Lights will be going up, Christmas trees bought, food purchased in bulk and present ideas being sent round to family members.
And what better a present for Christmas, than a new board game getting added to the ever growing collection.
I actually keep a board game wish list throughout the year, which is currently standing at just a miserly 46 games. But so I don’t send my poor family and friends into debt, and to stop myself turning this blog into a dissertation, I have narrowed my Christmas board game wish list into six games I really want to find under the tree this year!
Each game caters for a different category that I think will work as an excellent Christmas gift, which can be either opened on Christmas day with a light ruleset and a Baileys in hand, or as a boxing day treat with my fellow board gamers to gear up for a 6 hour long session. Also with a Baileys in hand, it is Christmas after all.
1. Decrypto (Party Game)
If you’re wanting a game you can open on Christmas day and setup after lunch to get people laughing, then what you want is a party game. They are quick, easy to learn, and can easily get any family members involved.
I already own a good plethora of great party games that I am planning to bring for Xmas day. Monikers, Sounds Fishy and Green Team Wins I can’t wait to play this holiday season! But if I am thinking of a new party game that I think my family would love, then I think Father Christmas needs to bring me Decrypto.
Similar in style to another game I love, Codenames, in Decrypto you work in two teams trying to crack the opposing team’s code by correctly guessing their worded clues, while still making sure your clues are clear enough for your own teammates to interpret your coded worded messages.
While similar to Codenames, I love the idea of turning a word game into a clever decipher breaking exercise. And unlike in Codenames, you have to be even cleverer with the clues you give. If you make it too obvious, the opposing team will easily decipher your message and win the game. But if its too cryptic, your team won’t understand you, and guess what, you’ll lose the game!
Its this brilliant puzzle that Decrypto creates that is so intriguing, while still being light enough on rules to make it simple for anyone. And who doesn’t love a bit of code breaking on Christmas!
I can see this being such a hit with my family, and would love to add it my collection.
2. Courtisans (Card Game)
A good, simple card game is always a fantastic gift for Christmas, easy to setup, teach and play. Throw in a bit of backstabbing, screwing people over and courtly intrigue, and you might have the perfect Christmas game! As such, I am hoping I can get Courtisans to the Christmas table.
Ideal as a stocking filler, Courtisans is a card game that feels like it will play best in larger groups, as you represent a noble family looking to gain influence around court. Each turn you receive three cards, one you play at the queens table to gain said influence, one in your domain, and most intriguingly of all, one in your opponents, as you look to cause as much detriment to their points total as possible.
A quick, ultra-competitive game that has more theme and excitement than a standard card game you might play at Christmas, while also not going on for hours like a Monopoly, Courtisans from what I have seen has that sense of familiarity, a game you may have played for years arguing with your siblings as they feel particularly attacked by your card choices, despite the fact it was only released this year!
It really feels like it ticks all the good Christmas gift boxes, inexpensive, easy to play, short and sweet, it was an easy choice for my Christmas Wishlist this year.
3. Horrified (Co-op game)
Co-op games are the ideal way to get non board gamers into playing something they might have otherwise thought was too complicated, and as such are probably the genre I most aim for at Christmas.
Horrified is one I have been meaning to get for some time, and I am thinking this Christmas is the one where me and my family get to battle some fabled creatures.
In Horrified, you work together as a team to defeat three creatures of legend. Depending on the set you buy, you might battle some famous American monsters like Bigfoot, or if you prefer a Greek legend you can go to war with the minotaur. You and your team need to pick up items, save townsfolk and strategize wisely in order to win, and the push-pull of the game has always massively appealed to me.
Before seeing it be played I was worried it might be a little light on theme and strategy for me, but since watching it I couldn’t have been more wrong. It looks like such a good time, and if you want to add a little Christmas theming to it you can even now get the Krampus expansion!
I really don’t mind which version as well, they all look fantastic, so I am not even being picky here! If someone can find it in their heart to get me Horrified, I will be a happy vampire hunter this Christmas!
4. Unmatched Set (Expansion)
There’s always room in Santas sack to add something to a game you already own, and on my Wishlist I would love a new Unmatched set.
I currently own Battle of Legends volume one, and like I said in Horrified, I am not too fussy which expansion someone gets me. Slings & Arrows and Cobble & Fog add some really interesting new characters to play as, but I also would love some of the Jurassic park sets, though I am bit more reticent to say one of these as they only add two new characters rather than the usual four. But blimey I bet those raptors are fun to play as, and who wouldn’t want to see some dinosaurs go up against King Arthur.
The other reason I would love an Unmatched set for Christmas might be an interesting one, in that I wasn’t actually totally sold on my first one. With just four characters it does quickly become quite samey, and while it’s a nice two player game to get out occasionally (for me it definitely doesn’t work at any other player counts), there are quite a few other two player games in my collection I prefer.
But I could see adding some new characters and depth into Unmatched could be my way of becoming a bigger fan of the game, so if anyone is feeling generous this Christmas but doesn’t think I need a whole new board game to learn and play, then a new Unmatched set is the way to go.
5. Kings Dilemma (Legacy Game)
The next two games on my list steer away from the format of games you can open on Christmas day and play, and are far more personal, bigger, and don’t say it too loudly… expensive.
I am currently halfway through Pandemic Season 1, my first foray into legacy games, and am having quite possibly the best experience I’ve felt in the hobby. They are hard to organise, hard to finish and often can take up whole days, but seeing what legacy games can do for board gaming has turned me into a proper superfan.
Kings Dilemma is something I have had my eye on for a while. Essentially Game of Thrones but roleplaying, in this narrative legacy game you and your friends each represent a house and its interests, as you are presented with morally complex dilemmas which you and the other houses must come to agree on how to resolve. But what works best for your house might not work best for others, and sometimes the potentially morally questionable decisions might be of greatest benefit to you.
I have avoided all lets plays to not spoil it, but from just reading reviews of it, Kings Dilemma just sounds like a world and game I could completely lose myself in. If I could find a group of people who just immerse themselves into the roleplaying elements, who miss the early seasons of Game of Thrones when it was still good, and who don’t mind the odd argument over morally complex issues, I think Kings Dilemma could quickly become my favourite game.
So while I know I will probably never finish it, and know that being an adult with adult things to do will probably constantly get in the way of my gaming sessions, I can’t help but hope I get Kings Dilemma this Christmas.
6. Blood on the Clocktower (Social Deduction Game)
Look, I know this pick is bold, I know its basically impossible to get a game together as you need such a large group of people to make it work, and even if you manage to you then have to explain fairly complicated rules to people whose patience for large rule explanations might be thin.
I know its larger than most people’s cupboards, and I know it’s at a price that I could buy most of the games above this together for. But come on, Its Blood on the Clocktower!
I have watched it be played on YouTube, and I have dreamt at how fun I think this game could be. I would love taking on that role of storyteller as the Demons and their Minions tried to hide from the Townsfolk, and how I could cleverly weave a narrative that might make this some people’s favourite board game experience.
I love social deduction. The Thing which I bought earlier this year has become one of my favourite board games, despite only playing it once. I also adore the TV show The Traitors, and Blood on the Clocktower is Traitors turned up to 11.
If I can somehow muster all my organising energy, and get a group of eight to ten people together, round my house with the lights off and candles on, atmospheric music playing in the background as I gather everyone to Ravenswood Bluff to try and catch a demon, then I would be a very happy man. And isn’t that what Christmas is for, to make dreams come true. At least that is what I will be telling my family.
So ignore the price tag and the practicalities, and please can someone put in a word with Father Christmas and see if he can fit room in his sleigh for Blood on the Clocktower. Though the sheer size of it might cause a crash landing. Sorry Santa.