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18 games you’ll want to have for all your holiday parties
You’ll keep guests occupied and happy with these party games.
No celebration is complete without your choice of holiday party games for adults and kids. But who wants to play the same games every year?! We hate to break it to you but, yes, even some traditions get boring! So if you’re looking to switch it up, adding one or two of the games on this list to your collection should do the trick. At the same time, depending on the guest list, you might want to keep the NSFW party games in the closet (we’ll leave that up to your discretion).
Best party games for adults
1) Charty Party
Alright nerds, listen up. Charty Party is taking your love for data visualization and graphs to a whole new level with this high-speed party game. Here’s how it works: The judge picks a card and the competition submits the best of their hand to label the Y-axis, giving everyone an answer to the question “what’s this chart about?” But, sometimes the card picked by the judge will say “Extra Special Bonus Round!” which means players have to create labels for both the X and Y-axis. Then the judge picks the winner, the winner keeps the card, the person left to the judge turns into the new judge, and so on and so forth. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins!
Price: $24.99 (regularly $29.99)
2) Reverse Charades
Why put one person on the spot when you can have your entire family act something out, leaving one person to guess the answer? TBH, this is how charades should really be played.
Price: $69.99
3) Telestrations After Dark
Take charades and mash it together with the game of telephone, and boom, you have Telestrations. It’s a guessing game of what the other person was trying to say, without actually saying anything at all. Instead, players have to draw whatever is printed on their cards and everyone else has to guess.
Price: $23.49 (regularly $29.99)
4) Joking Hazard
Do you think you’re funny? Well, this comic-style card game will (dis) prove that. Using prompts and fill in the blank cards, players create their own original comic strips in the style of famous webcomic Cyanide & Happiness. Plus, there are tons of expansion packs for you to add to make gameplay even more ridiculous–our two faves are the very NSFW Stroking Hazard and Toking Hazard expansion packs.
Price: $25
5) Drunk, Stoned, or Stupid
Consider this game to be one giant round of superlatives. Totally NSFW, but also totally fun as you vote which player is most likely to do X while drunk or stoned or just because they’re dumb AF. Here’s a disclaimer for you: if your feelings are easily hurt (which is totally fine, it’s okay to be sensitive!) this game is NOT for you.
Price: $18
6) Dirty Dough
Players decide to play on their own or in teams and then must choose a card from one of the following categories: Sexy, Kinky or Disgusting. Once a card has been picked, it’s that player’s job to handcraft the clue in under 60 seconds using only the dough and tools provided–no hints, cheaters! Then it’s up to everyone else to guess the clue and whoever gets it right wins the card. Sounds a little too easy, right? Well, hold on, there’s more. Players will also compete against Gross Challenge Tiles which turn up the game’s level of difficulty by adding obstacles to the sculptor’s objective–like only being able to sculpt with one hand, having to sculpt with your eyes shut, using your friend as a mannequin instead of the dough, or challenging someone on the other team to a Dough Down Throwdown where you both sculpt the same filthy clue. The first team to guess correctly wins the round!
Price: $18.35
7) What Do You Meme?
This adult party game is played similarly to Cards Against Humanity, except memes are involved. So things are destined to get out of hand, leaving you with a stomach full of stitches. But it’s all in the name of fun! There’s even a stoner expansion pack for those of you looking to really crank up the heat.
Price: $29.99
8) Go Fish Yourself
You played Go Fish as a kid, now you’re all grown up and guess what: so is the game! Go Fish Yourself is similar to Go Fish except the creators have really ramped up the incentive to sabotage other players. As you create pairs, players will find themselves getting really creative as they complete the ridiculous set of rules printed on each card. If you can’t force yourself to play the pair, you’re out.
Price: $10.00
9) Fk. The Game
This pocket-sized party game is one giant brain teaser, so you’ll actually get smarter the more you play it. Players flip cards and shout what they see. But depending on the card you either have to show its background color, what’s depicted or any (swear) words printed on it. Mess up and you collect more cards. The first person to get rid of all their cards wins. TL;DR: don’t fu*k up.
Price: $16.95
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10) Pick Your Poison
In this intense game of “Would You Rather…” a judge creates a horrible scenario by combining cards. Each player is allowed to ask questions about the cards so the judge can give them hints on what is what. Then an unlucky player anonymously picks their poison with hopes that everyone else agrees with them.
Price: $24.99
11) CoolCats and AssHats
How well do you know your friends? This game will tell you. If you guess their likes, you’re a cool cat and get points and stuff. But if you guess wrong, you’re an asshat and everyone laughs at you. This game is meant to be offensive and inappropriate, so if that’s not your style, move along!
Price on Amazon: $25.00 (regularly $29.99)
Best family-friendly party games
1) Headbanz
The holidays are the perfect time to reenact everyone’s favorite scene from The Office. It’s easy to play, too. All you do is ask your fellow players questions that will eventually lead you to discover what you are, such as “Am I a celebrity?”
Price: $11.52 (regularly $15.99)
2) Ticket to Ride
Take your entire family on a cross-country adventure! But winning this strategy game isn’t as clear-cut as just building your track. There are a few other rules that get factored in for points (like who built the longest track) before a winner is announced.
Price: $38.88
3) Taboo
There’s nothing taboo about this! This family-friendly board game is the ultimate guessing game, except all the “obvious” clues are off-limits.
Price: $13.35 (regularly $16.99)
4) Tokaido
This artfully designed strategy game will take you on a journey through Japan’s East Sea Road. Using the Tokaido app alongside its board game, players meet detailed characters, dine on delicious local cuisines, collect items and more in this strategy game.
Price: $64.99
5) Catan
Settle down with your friends, family, food and some beer if you plan to play this, because signing up for Catan means you’re in it for the long haul. Strategically trade items with your opponents while trying to settle and build on the board. The only resources you have are wood, ore, grain, and brick. So you have to really use your noggin in order to monopolize the board.
Price: $29.99
6) Exploding Kittens
This family-friendly card game is truly outrageous. It’s essentially the card game version of Russian Roulette–or so the developers claim. Players draw cards until they pull an exploding kitten, killing them and knocking them out of the game (unless they have a Defuse card which saves them – in that round, anyway). And if you’re looking for an 18+ option, you should check out the Exploding Kittens: NSFW deck.
Price: $19.99
7) Giant Jenga
It’s played just like the regular version (which you can find here), except this version stands five feet tall so you can play on the floor or on a table for an added challenge. Just remember whichever piece you touch you have to pull! And if you’re looking for a new take on the classic game of Jenga, you should check out the all-new Bob’s Burgers edition!
Price: $119.95
MORE BAZAAR DEALS:
- 12 party games for people sick of playing Cards Against Humanity
- 15 Cards Against Humanity expansions that everyone should own
- The 10 best family board games to make game night great again
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