5 Games to Play Over the Holidays

Games are a great way to spend time with your family, especially over the holidays. With all of the streaming services that are available, it may be tempting to veg out in front of the screen after all the gifts are unwrapped and the dishes are soaking. My family will probably do some of that this Christmas, but the strongest memories we have were built at the table, both during dinner and after when we pulled out our favorite games. So here are five game recommendations for you to enjoy with your family (and friends) this holiday season. I even have links to the game (and these are not referrals, so feel free to shop there or, better yet, at your local game store!).

1. Dominion. This 2-4 player game lets players use coin cards (bronze, silver, and gold) to buy various attack, defense, and action cards to build a deck that will allow them to purchase victory points and sabotage their opponents. The base game comes with dozens of action cards to choose from, and players will set up each game with a selection of 10 stacks to choose from. Various expansions can allow players to make hundreds of combinations, giving the game almost infinite replayability. And the cards tell players how to use them, making the game easy to understand and very approachable.

2. Castle Panic. This game allows 1-6 players to work together to fend off a horde of orcs who are attacking a castle in the middle of the board. A cooperative game, Castle Panic keeps players working against the game itself, using various soldier cards to do damage to slowly advancing enemies who want to smash the castle’s outer walls and tear down the center tower. The rules are straightforward and exciting for the entire family!

3. Here to Slay. From the Tee Turtle team who brought me my favorite t-shirts, Here to Slay is for 2-6 players who want to slay monsters and tell heroic adventures. It adds some roleplaying elements, allowing each player to build a band of adventurers all helping the player’s hero destroy the monsters terrorizing the world. The art is adorable, and the rules are simple, making it another great game for the entire family.

4. Carcassonne. This is the first board game my wife and I bought for our nerdy game collection. It’s for 2-5 players who take turns placing tiles to build castles, roads, and farms, each claimed by a little wooden figure, called a Meeple. Once all of the tiles are placed, the game is over, and players add up their scores. This is yet another family friendly game, and it’s quick enough to get through two or three sessions in a single evening.

5. Ticket to Ride. For 2-5 players, each person has to place trains to claim routes across the map, which varies depending on the version you’re playing (there are a lot of versions!). Each train route is worth a certain amount of points, depending on how many trains are required to complete it, and players work to claim routes that complete a series of connections through multiple cities to fulfill ticket requirements that score more points (or force players to lose points if incomplete). This game takes a bit more setup, and while the box says a single play through is 30-60 minutes, I’ve found that it usually takes closer to two hours.

There are many more games out there, but these five should keep you busy for a few hours!