The best board games to keep your family busy this holiday season

Dune: Imperium is a deck-building game all about galactic warfare.Supplied

In the winter months, when your screen time is at an all-time high and the weather makes you want to hibernate, there’s no better way to bring friends and family together than through board games.

And if you’re looking to spice up your regular rotation of Monopoly, Catan or Scrabble, we asked four experts for their recommendations: Rodney Smith is the host of the YouTube channel WatchItPlayed; Mandi Hutchinson is a content creator on the YouTube and Twitch channels, Salt and Sass Games; Randy Wong is the owner of the Calgary- and Edmonton-based board game café, The Hexagon; and Jenna Beasley is a content creator behind The Board Game Garden on YouTube and Instagram.

They recommend the best games for two players, large groups, people who love Catan and expert players who have patience for long-play times.

Two-person games

Radlands

If you’re looking for a competitive, fast-paced game, Beasley recommends the duelling card game, Radlands. Players act as leaders in a postapocalyptic world where you must protect your spring wells from your rival. “The back and forth play is so intense and fun,” Beasley says.

Jekyll vs. Hyde

In this trick-taking game, each players takes on the titular personalities and have competing goals: Dr. Jekyll wants to maintain balance by winning the same amount of hands as their opponent, while Mr. Hyde’s goal is to dominate Dr. Jekyll’s identity and throw off that balance. “It creates a tense tug of war,” Smith says.

Cascadia

One of the year’s hottest new games, according to Wong, Cascadia is a puzzle tile game featuring beautiful art depicting the Pacific Northwest. Players build their own habitats, populate them with animals and create wildlife corridors to connect the ecosystems. It takes around 30 minutes to play, which makes it prime for multiple rounds.

Easy to learn party games

Just One

Easy to learn and fast to play, in this co-operative game players work together to guess as many mystery words as possible. “Just One is a game where you want to play again immediately after finishing your game,” Hutchinson says.

Green Team Wins

In this party game, the majority rules. Players simultaneously answer one question at a time with the goal of writing down the most popular response amongst the players. Those with the winning answer join the Green Team and score points, while everyone else joins the Orange Team. “It is so much fun trying to read the room,” Beasley says.

Trophies

“This is my favourite game to pull out at any gathering, as it accommodates any number of players, takes 30 seconds to teach, and nobody has to leave their seats,” Smith says. In Trophies, each card features a letter from the alphabet and a list of the categories on the back. The first player to call out a word that matches the category and letter wins a trophy card, and the person with the most cards once the deck runs out wins the game.

Phantom Ink

If you like the classic group game Code Names, Wong recommends Phantom Ink. Split into two teams, players act as mediums trying to figure out a secret word by asking a ghost – a.k.a. one of their teammates – a series of questions. “This game rewards you for being really witty or thinking outside the box,” Wong says. “But it’s easy to learn.”

If you love Catan, try these games

Catan – Dawn of Humankind

In Dawn of Humankind, players guide their tribes around the globe, developing new technologies and abilities.Supplied

A twist on the original game, in Dawn of Humankind players guide their tribes around the globe, developing new technologies and abilities. “Players already comfortable with Catan will find several familiar concepts, including trading and negotiating, but you’ll now be able to branch off in many new directions, no longer restricted by a few roads and cities,” Smith says.

Splendor

For fans of Catan, Wong recommends another resource-collecting game, Splendor. Set in the Renaissance period, it’s a fast-paced game where players are wealthy merchants collecting and selling gems to expand their empires. It’s strategic and competitive, but quick to learn and only takes around 30 minutes to play.

Architects of The West Kingdom

In Architects of The West Kingdom, players are royal architects trying to impress the king and maintain their noble status. “Much like Catan, you are placing workers to gather resources and using those resources to build, hire apprentices and help construct the cathedral,” Beasley says.

Games for the experts

Dune: Imperium

If you’re a board game lover who isn’t afraid of a long play time, Mandi Hutchinson recommends Dune: Imperium. Based on Frank Herbert’s universe and featuring stylized art from the 2021 movie, the deck-building game is all about galactic warfare. “Even if you’re not familiar with the theme, you’ll still enjoy this game’s strategic play,” Hutchinson says.

Décorum

Décorum’s tagline says it all: a game of passive-aggressive cohabitation. Divided into teams, you and your partner take turns decorating your apartment, but you both have different and secret preferences. “With each adjustment your partner will tell you nothing other than whether they like or dislike the new change, perhaps with little more than a snide remark or a smirk,” Smith says.

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