Top 5 Family Games This Christmas

Speak Out

Speak Out is a game in which players must communicate without the use of their lips. Eschewing the scalpel included in initial versions, the game has players inserting a mouthpiece that efficiently and attractively peels them back from the teeth.

They must then read a word or phrase from a card while friends and family try their best to decipher the garbled mess. The perfect way to laugh both with and at your close relatives.

Codenames

A spymaster on each team knows the location of 25 agents on the table. Half of them red, the other blue. It is their job to make their respective teams aware of their locations.

Teams must guess words of the right colour based on clues given by the spymasters, masters of spies. They must avoid agents of the opposing colour. They must definitely avoid the assassin. You are permitted to use your lips in this one.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

A quick but fun 10-minute (ultimate) game in which every player gets a different role. They may be an eponymous werewolf, a Seer, a Troublemaker, or maybe even something else. It takes place over one fateful night, during which the werewolves prowl and the rest hope for the best.

The aim of the game is to identify the werewolves, but each role has its own unique abilities that shake up the core mechanics. The perfect game to chain-play.

Colt Express

Players take on the roles of bandits with guns attempting to rob a train. The board is a 3D cardboard train, full of loot. Players can work their way through said train, shooting and punching rival bandits, in a bid to rob the most innocent people of their things.

There are six playable characters, each with a unique ability. Like having a bigger gun, or being attractive.

Disney Pictopia

The well-known, well-loved family game has a Disney edition, as demonstrated by the extra word. Trivia questions are seamlessly combined with guess-my-answer questions which demonstrate just how important your family really is to you through the medium of Disney.

Move away from the starched confines of Trivial Pursuit and try the less predatory Disney Pictopia.

Keep your peepers peeled for more Christmas posts in the coming weeks!

Editors note: This blog was originally published on November 25th, 2016. Updated on November 16th, 2021 to improve the information available.