Christmas Board Games: What To Play With The Whole Family
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Christmas games have a specific job: keep eight people of wildly different ages at one table, after a large meal, without starting a row.
That rules out most of what's on the shelf. Here's what actually works.
Cards for the people you play with
Funny cards, blank inside, drawn and printed by us in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.
The safest bets after dinner
- Articulate - teams, timer, loud. Perfect for the state everyone is in by 4pm.
- Codenames - twenty minutes, teams, and grandparents pick it up quickly.
- Rummikub - familiar to older relatives, no reading, no teams.
- Charades - free, timeless, and you already know how to play.
- Dobble, for when the youngest need including.
Games that need nothing but pen and paper
- Consequences, the picture version especially.
- Categories (Scattergories without the box).
- The name game with folded paper in a bowl - three rounds, same names, different rules.
- A home-made quiz. Our quiz round builder prints one for you.
Longer games for Boxing Day instead
- Catan, Ticket to Ride, Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit all deserve more patience than Christmas Day allows.
- Monopoly is a Boxing Day game. It has never once been a Christmas Day game.
What to avoid
- Anything that takes more than five minutes to explain.
- Anything over an hour before 6pm.
- Anything where one person is eliminated early and has to sit and watch.
- Rude party games with grandparents in the room. You know the ones.
How to write it so it lands
- Pick for the shortest attention span at the table.
- Phones in a bowl. It doubles how long the game lasts.
- Stop while people still want another round.
Where to shop next
- Board games hub
- Best family board games: curated picks
- Board games for adults
- Board games for kids
- Board games for two players
- Board games for toddlers
- Board games for teenagers
- Best card games for families
- Boxing Day games
- Classic vs modern board games
- Quickest board games to learn
- Board games under £20
- Board games for big groups
- Monopoly rules explained
- Uno rules explained
- Articulate rules explained
- Cluedo rules explained
- Games for older relatives
- Kids' party games by age
- Charades word lists
- Free feel good tools
- Shop all cards
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- Pin badges
- All guides
Frequently asked questions
What board games are best for Christmas Day?
Team games that are quick to explain: Articulate, Codenames, charades and Rummikub. All work with a mixed-age group and none need more than a few minutes of rules.
What Christmas games can you play with no equipment?
Charades, consequences, categories and the name-in-a-bowl game. All are free, all work with any number of people, and all suit a full house.
Do you sell board games?
No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, so these picks are simply what we'd recommend to a friend. The cards on this page are ours.