Ten Family Games to Play this Christmas

Uno

A game I have loved since my own childhood, that has been a joy to introduce our children to, is Uno. Uno is a classic card game that is simple to pick up and hard to put down! Aimed at ages 7+, the aim is to get rid of your cards by matching the colour or number of the last card put on the discard pile.

There are wild cards - where the colour in play can change - and cards that will see play reversing and you picking up extra cards or forfeiting your go. It's fast paced and great fun - you'll all be shouting Uno in no time!

Colour Brain Junior

Colour Brain is one of our favourite games and we loved discovering Colour Brain Junior to get the kids involved in the fun too. Split into two teams, it's a game of general knowledge and speed, rushing to see who knows the colour of anything from the carpet at a film premiere to Strawberry Millions or the EU flag.

We love this game as adults won't know half the answers - the questions feature so many children's cartoon characters - and kids won't know all of them either. So you have to team up to make sure you know a bit of everything, a great introduction to general knowledge for children and a game that really tests your memory too.

You can get all the Colour Brain games from the Big Potato shop.

Exploding Kittens

A fairly new discovery for us, Exploding Kittens is for age 7+ and takes just 15 minutes to play each game. It's a perfect way to start a games night and great if you're short of time. The aim is simple - don't get blown up! Children will find this game hilarious - it's full of goats, magical enchiladas, and kittens that can kill you!

You play by picking up cards, trying to avoid the exploding kittens along the way. If you do end up with an exploding kitten card, defuse it with something like laser pointers or catnip sandwiches. It's totally bonkers, so funny and a game of real quick thinking strategy.

The Muddles

Even young children will love The Muddles and it's one that will make the whole family laugh. The idea of the game is to put two real animals together to make a completely new one. You collect points for each Muddle - with the highest scoring being a Bellyfish, half bee, half jellyfish!

The Muddles takes just 20 minutes to play and is a simple strategy game full of Pogs, Jellycows, Wees and Frugs! I guarantee you won't be able to stop yourself laughing out loud at every turn.

Rummikub

Not quite a card game or a board game but another that I've loved since childhood, Rummikub is a twist on the Rummy card game and I'm always amazed at how quickly children pick it up.

A real game of strategy, the aim is to get rid of all your tiles. You do this by making runs or sets of numbers. Each turn you can move sets around that are already on the table or make new sets. It really gets you thinking! Although for 2-4 players, we have played in teams before to get more people involved. The more the merrier!

P for Pizza

A great general knowledge wordy game for the whole family is P for Pizza. So simple to play, you have to think of something in each category beginning with a specified letter. A scientist beginning with T or a type of hat beginning with M?

This game is fast paced and has us all shouting out answers. It's so funny hearing the things that people think of - and their explanations of how they fit into the category too! The winner is the player who creates a giant slice of pizza by winning nine cards and each game takes roughly twenty minutes.

Dobble Kids

Although I've said Dobble Kids, any Dobble game is great to play with family over Christmas. The idea is simple - two cards only ever have one picture the same between them and you need to be the quickest to spot that matching pair.

There are a variety of different mini games you can play with Dobble cards and we usually work through them all when we're playing, trying to spot those pesky pairs the quickest!

Slam It!

Quick fire card games are always the best aren't they? Slam is super simple to pick up and a game that's as frustrating as it is fun! If you're winning, it's great and if you're losing everyone else finds it hilarious!

The games is played by counting as you take turns to put cards down. If the number you say matches the card you put down you have to slam your hand onto the pile. The last person to put their hand down has to pick up the pile. The person to get rid of their cards first, wins. Slam also includes reverse direction and skip a go cards to keep players on their toes and three levels of difficulty to tailor the game to the people playing.

OK Play

OK Play is our go to game for any gathering and one we always take on holidays and weekends away too. Each player has a set of coloured tiles and you simply have to get five in a row. But, it's harder than it sounds!

A really strategic game, you have to be sly and cunning whilst keeping an eye on the opposition. Make sure no-one gets four in a row, and if they do you need to stop them from putting a fifth one down - or rely on the other players to stop them! It's so easy to play but so hard to win!

Bananagrams

Unlike the other games here, Bananagrams you effectively play on your own. It's one person Scrabble that you play side by side - and the first person to use all their pieces wins! You start off with tiles and make them into your own little word grid, picking up more tiles from the rest of the bunch on the table as play continues. You have to keep rearranging your letters to make new words as you pick tiles up - it's a game that will really keep you on your toes!

Another game that's perfect for taking away with you, it's aimed at age 7+ and can be played with up to six players. When playing with adults and children we'll team up to make it fairer and each game lasts up to around half an hour.

So that’s our top ten family games for playing this Christmas. Most of them are fast paced, don't take a huge amount of time to play and can be picked up easily. They're all games that once you play them you'll want to play again and again!

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