Guest blog: The Best Board Games for Christmas 2022

Board is here to help you choose the best game this Christmas!

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Ah Christmas, the time for food, merriment, endless hours of trailing around a board with your thimble slowly going bankrupt and flicking through a dictionary every few minutes to see if ‘CUPBOARDY’ or ‘IQ’ is a real word or not. Fear not everyone, we’re here to help with Board’s guide to the best board games for Christmas 2022. From party games that are great for NYE or for a Boxing Day afternoon crunchy heavyweight game for experience players, stocking stuffers and Secret Santa we’ve got you covered!

Let’s start with something that we can’t keep on our shelves and is one of our most played games at the cafe, Muffin Time. This silly card game pits you against the other players to collect 10 cards in your hand before the other but of course it’s not that easy! Stealing cards and making players discard them is a key element to this zippy, jokey game that will have you shouting ‘Hah! Take that!’ in no time. With a player count of 2-8 its perfect for all occasions and laughs are guaranteed with the chaotic Muffin Time.

Another great small game is Cockroach Poker. Want to bluff and lie to your friends and family whilst tricking them into collecting bugs and insects? Then this game is for you! Slide a card across the table face down to an opponent and tell them what’s on the card. A Rat? A stink bug? A cockroach? Tell the truth or lie it’s up to you. If the person receiving the cards guesses right, you keep the card but if you successfully trick them then they get the card. Scared of collecting the card? Take a peek and pass it on but put yourself in danger by doing so! Collect too many cards and you’ll lose in this deceivingly simple yet tactical game for 2-6 people.

Perfect for parties or gatherings with lots of people are Codenames and Secret Identity. In codenames your helping your teammates guess secret words without having them guess the opposing teams or the assassin words. This modern classic is fantastic and everyone I've ever taught this game to have loved it and bought themselves a copy. With a pictures version, a cooperative 2 player version and even the naughty after dark ‘Deep Undercover’ copy; there’s a codenames for all. In secret identity you’re using emoji pictograms to guide the other players toward your secret person. Maybe it’s the the Dali lama or maybe its Rachel from friends, help your friends guess your true identity.

Our favourite family game we’ve recently played is the wonderful Yak. The main draw of Yak is the beautiful artwork and stunning huge yaks that pull the carts around offering you different coloured stones to build your tower with each turn. Each yak will only accept certain payments of food so collect your food wisely to snatch the stones you want before the other players and score the most points. Beware of fog which turns the yaks around scuppering your plans and making the game way tenser. Or try Catch The Moon for a quick dexterity Jenga-esque game for 1-6 players. Yes you read right! It can be played solo!

We have some award winners in at the moment too. In Living Forest (Game of the Year 2022) you are a spirit of one of the four seasons calling on the beautiful animals of the forest to help you toward becoming the Grand Protector and aide you in your fight against the foreboding attacks of the terrible Onibi.

For the experienced gamers out there or people wanting to step up their strategy level we have the fantastic and extremely high regarded Terraforming Mars as well as the streamlined 4X (explore, expand, exploit and exterminate) game based on north mythology Northgard Uncharted Lands. We also have all the classics you can think of like Catan, Pandemic, Spendor, Carcassonne and more!

We understand games can be daunting but fear not! You are more capable than you give yourself credit for. And if you struggle with rulebooks the internet is your friend! You can find fantastic YouTube videos teaching you how to play with step by step guides of how to set up and play (Psst… and even tactics to win!)

All games mentioned are available to purchase from Board in store, from our retail section as well as many others we couldn’t fit into this article - so pop on down to get a recommendation from our team for your next favourite board game for this Christmas!