So you have Friends...
So you've got some friends coming over to casually play some games.... but what game should you introduce? A party game is great for a crowd, but for the game to be a hit it has to mesh well with the personality of your guests.
Say Anything
Say Anything is a light-hearted game about what you and your friends think. It gives you the chance to settle questions that have been hotly debated for centuries. For instance, "What is the most overrated band of all time?" or "Which celebrity would be the most fun to hang out with for a day?" So dig deep into your heart or just come up with something witty - this is your chance to Say Anything!
Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples consists only of two decks of cards: Things and Descriptions. Each turn, the current referee selects a Description and players try to pick, from the cards in their hands, the Things that best match that Description. The referee then chooses the Thing that appeals most and awards the card to the player who played it. The unusual combinations of Things and Descriptions are humorous to the extreme, and will quickly have the entire room in an uproar. Once a player has won a pre-determined number of cards, that player wins.
Aye, Dark Overlord
Aye, Dark Overlord! (a.k.a. "Sì, Oscuro Signore!") is a fantasy party game filled with humor, fast to play and easy to learn.
Each player is an evil goblin servant of the evil Dark Overlord (Rigor Mortis, the Master of all Evils), and all the servants are gathered at the Dark Overlord knees to explain why they brought that last important mission, ordered by 'His evil Excellence' himself, to a failure again. Panic wraps you in its freezing grip, what can you do to save your poor skin? Could you say you are not the one to blame, but your inept companions?
Yes of course, that's the solution! There is only one little problem: they've probably got exactly the same idea... and the Dark Overlord it's not known by his mercifulness...
This roleplaying game is all about telling lies and shifting the blame on your poor fellow ones, so the right Wrath of your Master can give them what they deserve!
Backseat Drawing
"Two teams race to identify drawings done by their own team members. But the artists don’t know what they are drawing—they can only follow the instructions given by another team member. Laughter erupts as players attempt to follow direction and to guess what is being drawn.
With Backseat Drawing, there’s no time to stop and ask directions— the fun never stops!"
Beyond Balderdash
Beyond Balderdash is the expanded second edition of Balderdash. Balderdash is based on bluffing your opponents into guessing your false definitions to obscure words. Beyond Balderdash adds several new categories to the mix: Movies (make up a plot), Dates (say what happened on it), People (say what the person did), and Initials (make up what they stand for). The real answers are often even more outrageous than the bluffs, so the game offers plenty of laughs.
The UK version of Absolute Balderdash is a different variation with different questions. Notably, the UK Absolute Balderdash features a "Law" category, where you complete the law given on the card. Beyond Balderdash is lacking that category, and features in its place a "Date" category, where you are given a date and must come up with the historical significance. The Canadian and Australian versions of Absolute Balderdash also feature the Date category instead of Law.
Curses
You have two actions in each turn of this party game, the first is to draw a challenge card, which will give you an action that you must perform. It could be a role you have to act out, a story to tell, or an opinion to explain. this really doesn't have any direct bearing on the game. It is a means to get to and then play off of the second type of card you draw at the end of your turn, which is a curse card.
The curse cards are played on other players and force them to continually perform certain actions, such as barking like a dog whenever the player to the right reads a card or hold on to the card with both hands at all times. If another player notices that you are not performing your action, you "break the curse" and turn it face down in front of you. In fairy tales, breaking a curse is a good thing, but not in this game. When you break three curses, you are eliminated from the game, although you are still available to have actions performed on (such as "The other people in the room are electrified. Each time you contact one of them you get a big shock.")
The last player with a curse remaining wins.
Like Minds
Would you write the same things down when you are asked to make a list of pizza toppings? Things found in a fish tank? TV game shows?
You'll find out when you play Like Minds.
Players sit across from their game partner. The Like Mind's brain is put in reach of everyone. The category is read out loud for all players to hear ...but only ONE player from each team knows how many matches are needed to win the round.
Everyone starts writing answers to the category. As soon as you think you and your partner have the number of matches needed, you grab the brain. Now compare your list with your partner's.
Here's an example: The category is "things teenagers do in their spare time." You know you and your partner only need three matches. You write down whatever comes to mind, hoping that it comes to your partner's mind too. "Listen to music", "watch TV", "play sports", "use the internet".
Did you match at least three? If so, you win the round and get to move ahead on the game board. The more matches you and your teammate make, the faster you'll get to Brain Central and the win!
You'll find out when you play Like Minds.
Players sit across from their game partner. The Like Mind's brain is put in reach of everyone. The category is read out loud for all players to hear ...but only ONE player from each team knows how many matches are needed to win the round.
Everyone starts writing answers to the category. As soon as you think you and your partner have the number of matches needed, you grab the brain. Now compare your list with your partner's.
Here's an example: The category is "things teenagers do in their spare time." You know you and your partner only need three matches. You write down whatever comes to mind, hoping that it comes to your partner's mind too. "Listen to music", "watch TV", "play sports", "use the internet".
Did you match at least three? If so, you win the round and get to move ahead on the game board. The more matches you and your teammate make, the faster you'll get to Brain Central and the win!
Loaded Questions
"If you were invisible, where would you go?" "If you could be a member of any TV-sitcom family, what would you choose?" Rated one of the hottest new board games by USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle and Games Magazine, Loaded Questions is the hilarious new board game that tests players on how well they know each other with over 500 fun personality-filled questions.
Telestrations
"Each player begins by sketching a TELESTRATIONS word dictated by the roll of a die. The old fashioned sand timer may limit the amount of time they get to execute their sketch, but it certainly doesn't limit creativity! Time's up! All players, all at the same time, pass their sketch to the next player, who must guess what's been drawn. Players then simultaneously pass their guess -- which hopefully matches the original word (or does it??) -- to the next player who must try to draw the word they see -- and so on."
"Telestrations contains eight erasable sketchbooks and markers, a die, a 90 second sand-timer and 2,400 words to choose from."
Red Dragon Inn
In Red Dragon Inn, you and your friends are a party of heroic, fantasy adventurers. You've raided the dungeon, killed the monsters, and taken their treasure. Now you're back, and what better way to celebrate your most recent victory than to spend an evening at the Red Dragon Inn. You and your adventuring companions will spend the night drinking, gambling, and roughhousing. The last person who is both sober enough to remain conscious and shrewd enough to hold onto his Gold Coins wins the game.
Visual Eyes
A dice game requiring recalling acceptable words and phrases. In each round 18 large picture dice are shaken in the box, with one other die marked "slow play" or "fast play" indicating how the round is played. With "slow play", a sand timer is turned over and each writes words/phrases on their own pad. Making words/phrases requires using a pair of picture dice for each word/phrase. For example a picture of a snowflake and a picture of an eye can make "cold stare". Once time is up, each player compares their list, only scoring a point for the word/phrase no-one else has written. In "fast play", all players shout out the word/phrase, the quicker player removing the pair of dice from the box. Once all the dice are removed or no-one can make an acceptable word, each player scores a point for each pair of dice. After several rounds, first player to 20 points wins the game.
Bohnanza
As card games go, this one is quite revolutionary. Perhaps its oddest feature is that you cannot rearrange your hand, as you need to play the cards in the order that you draw them. The cards are colorful depictions of beans in various descriptive poses, and the object is to make coins by planting fields (sets) of these beans and then harvesting them. To help players match their cards up, the game features extensive trading and deal making.
Note: Game descriptions are mostly all from boardgamegeek.com
