Gaming in the Christmas spirit

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is getting to spend quality time with my family, and there’s nothing better than playing a good board game after a nice lunch. Here are some of the very best games to pull you out of that food coma.

Trivial Pursuit

Trivial Pursuit is a great way to pass the evening – it doesn’t take all evening like other games (I’m looking at you, Monopoly), so you can actually complete a game before falling asleep. There are so many different versions you can buy to test your knowledge on a certain topic – the usual version, the Friends edition or the Harry Potter edition. Or, alternatively, there is a family edition with slightly easier questions if there are younger children in the family.

Also, because you can play in teams, there’s no real upper limit to the amount of people you can have – a perfect board game if you have a particularly large family.

Chase the Ace

I’m not sure how much of a cult Christmas classic this card game is, but it certainly is in my family. We’ve played this almost every Christmas for as long as I can remember because the rules are so easy and simple – it doesn’t require much thinking. After your younger brother wakes you up at 5am and you’ve eaten your body weight in roast potatoes, the last thing you want to do is think to play a game. All Chase the Ace requires is making sure that you don’t have the smallest card at the end of the round, basically if you have a low card, pass it on to the person next to you.

Cluedo

Another classic board game which doesn’t take hours, Cluedo is great family fun. This one requires slightly more thinking, so maybe not ideal if you’ve already eaten your body weight in roast potatoes. This one is great for smaller groups, as it is up to six players and also has varying editions – such as junior, Downton Abbey and Sherlock.

Charades

Would it be Christmas without a game of Charades? This one doesn’t require any extra materials, just your own ability to act out a word. Like Trivial Pursuit, this game doesn’t have an upper or lower limit of players, so is great for whatever your family size. Like all the games discussed here, it doesn’t take a huge amount of time, because you can stop whenever and there’s no real ‘end’ to the game.

Speak Out

This one definitely isn’t a classic because it has only been on the shelves for a few years. But it does certainly make for an evening of fun. Even if you don’t personally want to put the mouth piece in, you can still get hours of fun just from watching the game and trying to guess what people are saying.