Board games for adults over Christmas?

Codenames - https://gamersworld.ie/product/codenames/ - A team game where you play as two teams of spies trying to identify your opponents spies in the field. Each team has one Spymaster that gives a clue. The clue is one word that relates to the clues on the board, and one number that says how many clues that word relates to. First team to find all the enemies spies without finding the assassin, wins! You would probably want at least 4 players for this one. About 30 minutes a go.

Secret Hitler - https://gamersworld.ie/product/secret-hitler/ - This one only works with 5 people minimum. But it's another team game with hidden roles. One team are liberals, the others are fascists secretly plotting to pass fascist agendas and elect Hitler as Chancellor. This is a ton of fun and my group played it regularly before covid. Roughly 20-30 minutes a go depending on how good people are at reading lies :P

Pandemic - https://gamersworld.ie/product/pandemic/ - A co-op game for 2-4 players. You all work together to cure a set of 4 diseases around the world, while fighting epidemics and outbreaks. A topical game, but it encourages teamplay and is very satisfying to complete. Takes about 40-60 minutes, first game may take longer as you learn the rules.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf - https://gamersworld.ie/product/one-night-ultimate-werewolf/ - Another hidden role game with a 3 person minimum, but I find it works best with at least 5 players. Can accommodate up to 10 players. Takes place in two phases, night time and day time. At night, everyone closes their eyes and then players can open their eyes depending on their cards special ability. There's a really handy app that you can download that will call out when a player can make their move at night. Then in the day time, players discuss about their roles and what they did at night time, but they only have a certain amount of time (you choose how long this phase lasts) to find who the werewolves are. At the end of the time, players vote on who they think is a werewolf. If they find a werewolf, they win! If not, the werewolves win! Honestly my favourite game here. It's really fun and can take 10 minutes per game.

Coup - https://gamersworld.ie/product/coup/ - Another hidden role game. Your goal is to ruin the influence of the other players at court and seize power for yourself. Use your cards ability to perform actions on your turn to strengthen your place in court and weaken your opponents. Probably want at least 3 for this, takes about 30 minutes a game.

Exploding Kittens - https://gamersworld.ie/product/exploding-kittens/ - Card game, you draw and play cards to ruin your opponents. Players can draw cards until they find an exploding kitten, which they must defuse, if they can't defuse it, they're out of the game. This one can be fun, but I find if it's played too often, it gets monotonous. This varies a lot in how long it takes to play due to the cards etc that can be played.

Cockroach Poker - https://gamersworld.ie/product/cockroach-poker-board-party-game/ - A reverse set collecting game. Players have a hand of cards that are one of 8 animals/insects and the goal is to force another player to collect 4 of the same card. You take a card from your hand and pass it to another player telling them, (or lying) what it is. More details on the game page. This one I haven't personally played yet, but it looks like a bit of fun. Takes about 20 minutes.


Dixit - https://gamersworld.ie/product/dixit/ - You have a hand of cards with various pictures on them. You vaguely describe one card and other players play a card from their hand that they think matches the description. You then shuffle all cards together and then everyone else has to guess which was your card. About 30 minutes a game.


Sheriff of Nottingham - https://gamersworld.ie/product/sheriff-of-nottingham-2nd-edition/ - Players take turns playing the Sheriff, looking for contraband goods, and the Merchants trying to stock their Stall with the best goods. The Sheriff can inspect any bag they want, but they must be careful, as they’ll have to pay a penalty if they find the Merchants were telling the truth. You're looking at about an hour a game with this one.


The Resistance - https://gamersworld.ie/product/the-resistance/ - Very similar to Secret Hitler. There are two teams, The Resistance and The Empire. The Resistance's goal is to overthrow The Empire. The Empire's goal is to infiltrate The Resistance and thwart their rebellion. About a half an hour per game.

Catan - https://gamersworld.ie/product/catan/ - Classic. Build settlements by securing land and trading with other players. 45-60 minutes.

Ticket to Ride - https://gamersworld.ie/product/75/ - Another classic. Work to build train routes across Europe. 45-60 minutes.

Love Letter - https://gamersworld.ie/product/love-letter/ - The aim of this game is to get your love letter in to the hands of the princess. Super fun game with a max of 4 players. Honestly a very enjoyable and simple game. Games take 5-10 minutes a go.


Small World - https://gamersworld.ie/product/small-world-2/ - Players work against each other to conquer a world that's too small for everyone. A strategy game of worker placement. Use your race and special abilities to take over regions and earn victory points. The person with the most points at the end of the 10 rounds wins. Can take upwards of an hour for 2-5 players.

TRS30 wrote: »

Twister.

Wing126 wrote: »

Hope this helps. These are some of my favourite games. Don't be put off by the "childish" artwork on some of these games, they can have a lot of depth and even if they don't have depth, they're all very fun. I've linked them all on Gamers World, which is based in Dublin, but obviously you can find them anywhere that sells boardgames. There's also a ton of videos on youtube of playthroughs and rules explanations for all of them so you can check them out and see if it's something you would enjoy.