Happy Holidays, Everyone!
With the Holidays around the corner, we hope you spend that time with family, friends, and fur friends. We also hope you can avoid those awkward questions and conversations with family (“When are you graduating?” or “Whatever happened to that person you brought home from last Christmas?”) YOU GET THE IDEA. So here are the top ten boardgames we recommend playing over the Holidays with your dear loved ones! If you play any of these games, be sure to post a picture and tag us (@XYZGameLabs)! If we missed any games, comment your must-have games for the holidays and why. Finally, for your convenience, each game is ranked according to competitiveness/likelihood to start family drama on a scale of 1 (Crosswords) to 10 (Uno!). Happy Holiday Gaming!
Light-weight Games
These games are good for people who don’t normally play boardgames and they’re good for all skill levels.
1. coup
2-6 Player Hidden Roll/ Bluffing Game set in a dystopian universe. The object of Coup is to destroy the influence of the other players. Each player get two cards that are face-down with special abilities. Players can manipulate and influence using a combinations of these powers and player actions. The last player with influence is the winner! We like this game because there’s a lot of player-interaction beyond the cards and trying to figure out who has which cards. There’s politics involved in the game, which makes it good for large groups. It’s quick to learn and the games go quick so you can squeeze in a lot of games in one nights. There’s also a lot of strategy to the game the more it’s played and it has such a small footprint it can be played anywhere. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 8/10
2. azul
2-4 Player tile-laying, abstract, pattern building game. The objective of the game is to complete tile art first. Sometimes a game is bought solely on looks so intriguing and beautiful . Sometimes a game has perfectly executed mechanics and mechanisms. Azul has both. It’s no wonder this Drafting and Set Collection game won 2018’s Spiel des Jahres, the German award given out each year to the best overall game. It’s very fun, easy to learn, complex scoring but it’s very good for families, and the artwork is beautiful. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 4/10
3. 5-MINUTE DUNGEON
2- 5 Player cooperative, yet chaotic dungeon crawling card game. Each player gets to pick a fantasy class with a certain power. All players have 5 minutes to escape the dungeon by simultaneously playing and working together to defeat a common boss by defeating a deck full of smaller monsters. It’s quick paced, good for families and building familial communication and teamwork skills. It’s also great because no is competing against each other so zero chances of starting family drama. Because the games are quick multiple games can be played in one night. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 0/10
Mid-Weight Games
Mid-weight games are for people who have played games before or are looking to dip their toe into more advanced games.
4. CAMEL UP
A 3-8 player wagering game where players bet in a camel race. Each round players pick up betting tiles and depending on the outcome of the tiles, win bets. There’s a unique mechanic where different color dice dictate how far a camel runs. We also love the components of the games including a pyramid dice tower that spits out the different color dice. It’s competitive but not too sabotage-y because player tiles can slow down or speed up camels. Best part of this game are the surprising outcomes and dice! Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 6/10
5. Century: Golem Edition
2-5 Player reskin of PlanB’s 2017 hit Century Spice Road. While Spice Road was a fantastic Card Drafting and Set Collection game; Golem Edition made that game play ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! The art, the components and even the playmat (sold seperately) really make this a beautiful experience that even non-gamers fall in love with. In terms of competitiveness, players can take cards before other players, which is just about as competitive or sabotage-y as this game can get. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 6/10
6. LORDS OF VEGAS
2-5 Player, tile placement casino building game. It’s basically Monopoly Plus with a big emphasis on plus because it’s MUCH better. In this game players are casino managers trying to construct consecutive casinos of the same type bordering the Las Vegas Strip. In each round, one type of casino is paid. Players gamble on which type of casino is paid out. Casino Boss and amount of values paid are partially determined by dice placed on the tile. Players can attempt to reorganize the casino and take over as casino boss from another player by rolling dice. We like this game because it’s a cool theme, we like the building aspect, and rolling lots of dice. Also, the money in the game has the rat pack on it. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 6/10
heavy Games
These set of games are for advanced players who frequently play board games. These games are typically longer (1-2 hours).
7. Scythe
1-5 Player, 4X game without expansions. The X’s stand for Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. In an alternate-history 1920’s a capitalistic city-state known only as “The Factory” fueled war between five factions of Eastern Europe. Each player controls one of those factions. This game is NOT for the casual gamer. With lightning fast turns, area control, variable player powers, combat, resource management and engine building all in the mix; Scythe packs a LOT of decision making and excitement into that one box. Also, if there are no other gamers available, this game can be played solo. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 7/10 (Unless you’re playing solo)
8. Wasteland Express
A 2-5 Player, pick up and delivery game with miniatures by Pandasaurus Games. Players are truck drivers of the last remaining delivery service of the post-apocalyptic earth which they can accessorize their rig with weapons, armor, passengers and extra cargo space to maximize trips moving food, water, and ammunition from city to city. It’s not that easy since other players can attack and steal cargo. Or worse they could send NPC bandits after each other! With a modular board and its amazing “market” feature, the same game can’t be played twice. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 7/10 but it’s up the to the players? Nice and be friendly or Naughty and attack everything that moves.
collectible card games
9. MAGIC: THE GATHERING
Magic: The Gathering is a classic and one of the greatest collectible card games. We’re all Magic players and when we get together for the holidays or conventions, we often play this game together. There are a lot of opportunities to play by buying packs and playing draft games. Our group’s favorite format is EDH because it allows for multiple players, it’s fun, political, and that’s just how we at XYZ Game Labs like to roll. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 6-8/10. This depends heavily on the players. 🙂
10. KEYFORGE: Call of the Archons
Keyforge plays very similar to every CCG, TCG and LCG you’re played before, but you’re forging keys instead of attacking life points. Unlike a CCG/TCG where players buy booster packs, players craft personal killer deck based on the cards the players are lucky enough to get. Everyone has the SAME cards but how the cards are combined is really what matters. In Keyforge, players buy only a deck: 1 pre-constructed, algorithmically generated, 100% unique deck of cards. Each deck has 12 cards from each of 3 different factions. The combination of cards in the deck is guaranteed to be 100% unique and not repeated in any other deck anywhere. And to keep all that honest each deck has a Unique Name that is printed on the back of every card AND can be registered online which make both the buying and playing of the game rather exciting. Players have no idea what the other person could be hiding in their deck or what strategy they could be using. And unless players get REALLY into playing the game then they only have to buy a handful of decks ever to enjoy it. Learning the game takes about 10 minutes and after the first match, players will be able to pick and play anytime. Competitiveness / Likelihood of Family Drama: 6/10