Christmas - parlour games?

joedenise

One of our family favourites is Yahtze (sp) - dice game. You can buy the pads for a couple of pounds and you just need 5 dice to play it.

Denise

Dieselberry

Hi

One of our favourite games is Pass The Bomb great for all ages, really simple to play.
Any amount of people can play you have cards with 3 random letters and you have to say a word containing the letters in order then pass the ticking bomb onto the next player. You are out if the bomb goes off while you are holding it.

Its not very expensive and we play it every year educational too.

CapricornLass

Beetle is very popular with us - all you need is a dice, paper and pencil. Need a 6 to start, and then you can draw a body. 5 = head, 4 = tail, 3 = legs (you need six of those) 2= 1 eye, and you need two, 1 = antenna, and you need two of those. First one to complete shouts 'Beetle' and the game stops. Just repeat as required until you feel you've played enough!

They used to have Beetle Drives in the 70s for fundraising events.

jvccoke

A game which we did last year and was a hit with all ages, which we have called the dice game...
I bought a load of cheap (think poundland/99p store) items and wrapped them in cheap xmas paper and put them all in one of those large xmas sacks. Everyone rolls a dice - if you get a six you get to take a present from the sack and unwrap it - if you get a one you have to take a present from someone else. Once the last present is taken from the sack everyone keeps what presents they have at the time.
I bought a few silly things that no-one really wants and some good things which most people wanted.
It worked really well and gave everyone a laugh as the things were passed around.

albionsarah

The best game we've played in ages is called Articulate.

You get a card with different categories on (kind of like Trivial Pursuit) and you have to describe the objects/people/tv shows etc on the card to the rest of your team without saying the word itself before your time runs out.

It is so much fun! Girls v boys at our house

MessyBetty1

:hello: I played rapidough once and remember that to be fun you can make the playdough so it doesn't need to cost. You will need different colours for each team, on pieces of paper/card write an item (you could have a childrens and adults pile) one member from each team looks at the item and has to create it out of playdough the winning team is the one to correctly guess the item first, all the losing teams have a 'plug' of playdough removed by the winning team. It becomes trickier as the playdough reduces. You could have a Christmas theme e.g. Christmas tree, mince pie, gift etc. I would suggest using a egg cup, or a small pastry cutter as a 'plug' cutter.

I have played Logo and it was great fun, however I do think younger players would struggle with some questions, we love Uno.

I hope everyone has a fun filled Christmas time :j

UserX

I thought I ought to add a game of my own. This only works if most of the people in the group don't know the game, so my own family can't play it any more!

The Moon is Round

Player one starts by drawing a circle (on the floor or any surface or in the air) then dotting two eyes, a nose and a mouth. While they do it, they say "The moon is round, it has two eyes, a nose and a mouth"

The next person in the group is encouraged to copy what player one has just don't and they get told if they have passed, or not.

To 'pass', when you draw your 'moon' you must ensure that your bottom is lifted up out of your chair - only, of course, you don't tell the group that this is the rule.

Continue going around and around the circle until everyone has cottoned on. Players get very frustrated when they pass on one round but don't know why, and then fail the next round. As more & more people cotton on, it starts becoming a bit more obvious that the people passing are lifting their bottoms (the 'moon') and almost invariably there will be someone slow who takes an age to catch on.

We used to find it quite hilarious as kids when new people came to join our get togethers and we had fresh victims!

zippychick

as this has dropped down the OS board, I've moved this to families board for you to see if you get some more ideas over here. Happy Christmas:)

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Zip

Money_maker

The beetle game is good, remember the beetle drives as a small child and fun then, too.

We have logo & best of british but confirm this is best for older teens and adults. I tend to win as I know my biscuits and choccies!

Card games should be ok, even something like snap is fun for Christmas. We have an annual after dinner Christmas quiz which one person prepares and everyone joins in with. Usually is seasonal questions such as dates, reindeer names etc. Or you could do sort of 'name that tune' with the first bar or two of a Christmas song?

tibawo

Not sure what people have already posted but card, dice and dominoes from our after dinner games. We play for pennies. It is supposedly for the kids but I think the adults are just as competitive.

As it is kids geared we play chase the ace and dominoes with cards. We have normal dominoes and then a game with our own end, blind and one were you can block an end with a double and only you can release it.

With the dice with have five in the tub. We all start with the same money, five lives. If any of your dice is a four then it goes in the pot. If it is a five you give a coin I.e. Life to the person whose turn is next as if a three it goes to the person previous. The winner is the person with the only life left on the table. (I'm not very good at explaining so hope it makes sense.)