Are you looking for the best board games to play at Christmas? So look no further. Christmas is a time to get together with your loved ones, whether they are family, loved ones or friends. So what better way to celebrate the holiday season and embrace the most wonderful time of the year than to spank your grandma's butt in a trivia dare, destroy her on the run? Or get over it in the kitchen? Suck it, grandma.
Yes, Christmas is a time to get together, but there's nothing like a little chaotic fun to spice things up a bit and ruin friendships for good, and there are some great board games available. For PS5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch to offer just that.
If you'd rather play together than alone this Christmas, look no further because we've put together a list of the best board games to keep everyone entertained this holiday season.
Overcooked! All you can eat
Platforms: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox One
Number of players: up to four
Getting ready for Christmas dinner is a nightmare. You can rest assured that the turkey won't defrost, or stop turning on the oven to preheat it, or just forget about an integral part of the feast (where's the stuffing?).
Packing in Overcooked, Overcooked 2 and all available DLC, Overcooked! All you can eat is just as chaotic and maddening as cooking Christmas dinner (maybe even more so). It's a cooking simulation that can be played solo or multiplayer, but multiplayer is much more fun. You must make your way through different cooking levels, aiming to deliver meals to hungry customers and save the onion kingdom. But it's not that simple, and it's not your everyday kitchens, oh no. You'll navigate swamps, haunted castles, and ruined mines while you cook.
You can choose to play together in the two-player campaign mode or go head-to-head in the four-player mode. We recommend versus full house mode, because nothing brings the family together like a culinary disaster.
Super mario party
Platforms: Nintendo switch
Number of players: up to four
There's no party like a Super Mario party, as a Super Mario party can end with Joy-Cons being thrown like snowballs. Nintendo's Super Mario Party for Switch is just that, allowing up to four players to take part in either the original Mario Party board game or Mariothon's skill-based mini-game mode.
With a host of iconic Mario characters, wacky mini-games, and more twists and turns than a particularly curvy pretzel, Super Mario Party delivers all the excitement (and rage) of the original board games, but for the modern age.
Jackbox 8 Party Pack
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, and mobile
Number of players: Up to 10
If you're looking for a board game that's a bit wacky and doesn't limit you to just one title, then a Jackbox Party Pack might be what you're looking for. Jackbox Games releases a new party video game pack for a variety of platforms almost every year, but these aren't your usual trivia and farce games; instead, you can expect a variety of games. Chaotic twists on classics that allow up to 10 players to compete against each other (you can even play from your smartphone, so no additional controllers needed).
Jackbox Party Pack 8 is the latest addition to the series and includes the Drawful Animate Guessing Game, Job Job Interview Game, Poll Mine Survey Game, Weapons Drawn Social Deduction Game and Wheel of Enormous Proportions Trivia Game .
Jackbox Party Pack 8 is available for purchase from Jackbox Games.
Super Smash Bros. Latest
Platforms: Nintendo switch
Number of players: up to eight
Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch may have been released in 2018, but thanks to the network of new fighters over time (which is now over), it's fresher than ever. It might not be the perfect board game to play with your family (since it's primarily a fighting title), it should definitely be a treat with your friends.
Ultimate has more fighters, more stages, and more game modes than its predecessors, which means you'll have plenty of options to choose which Nintendo character you pick to beat your best friend.
Knowledge is power
Platforms: PS4 and PS5
Number of players: up to six
Do you remember Buzz? The trivia game for PlayStation 2 with the enigmatic bevel-headed quiz master? Well, if you were a fan of that, Knowledge is Power is definitely for you, although it doesn't have the button-pushing aggressiveness that Buzz had.
Knowledge is Power is a quirky trivia game from PlayLink that covers a variety of topics from history to music to TV and allows up to six players. Since this is a PlayLink title, you play using smartphones instead of controllers, and there are even some touchscreen challenges thrown in for good measure.
You can get Knowledge is Power from the PlayStation Store; there's even a Knowledge is Power: Decades edition available.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Platforms: Nintendo switch
Number of players: Up to four (or eight connecting multiple consoles)
Would a list of board games really be a list of board games without Mario Kart? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch will bring you all the nostalgia and racing aggression we love from the series. Mom gave you some socks for Christmas again? She throws a banana peel, she will teach you.
The latest Mario Kart adds five new characters and four new multiplayer modes, and features 48 tracks and over 40 racers, so you're sure to be busy this holiday season.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe supports two players in handheld mode, four players on a single TV, but requires additional Joy-Cons for four players, or up to eight if you connect multiple Switch consoles.
It's you
Platforms: PS4 and PS5
Number of players: two to six
Another PlayLink title, That's You is a party quiz for up to six players, and is essentially a group version of Mr and Mrs, a TV quiz for couples that was popular in the UK and Canada at the time.
You'll be asked fun questions like "who is most likely to survive in the wild", and you'll be awarded points for getting to know other players better. Maybe Grandpa is a secret survivor, and he'd spear a trout faster than it would take you to choose him as your option; if so, you will definitely find out here.
Just like knowledge is power, that is you is played with mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, so you only need to download the application.
That's You is available on PlayStation Store.
Band of beasts
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (playable on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 thanks to backwards compatibility)
Number of players: Up to four in a local cooperative
Gang Beasts is possibly our favorite title on this list (and probably the most ridiculous). It takes place in the fictional "meatropolis" of Beef City, where you play as a rubbery character with the goal of defeating your enemies by punching, kicking, and throwing them off buildings and into fire, among other options.
If you have a repressed rage against your loved ones, this is the perfect game to solve it in a harmless and burlesque way. Gang Beasts can be played by up to four players at a time locally, though it's just as fun to watch as it is to play.
sports friends
Platforms: PS4 and PC (playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility)
Number of players: Up to four in some games
Sportfriends is definitely not for everyone, but if you like a game that's a bit different and 100% weird, this is probably the one for you. Sportfriends includes a collection of four retro-style multiplayer games: wacky BariBariBall, Super Pole Riders, ice-hockey-like Hokra, and Johann Sebastian Joust (which looks a lot like it sounds).
Each track is short, but worth trying just for the experience and the chance to play classical music with your grandparents. Some games allow up to four players, but you'll need controllers, while Jousting requires PlayStation Move controllers.
The best Sportsfriends deals of the day
Index / Index
Platforms: Nintendo switch
Number of players: up to six
A modern take on a classic, Clue/Cluedo for the Nintendo Switch might be the perfect game if you're into the old school genre. The game basically works like the desktop version, but the Switch is the gamepad, oh, and Mrs. White was replaced by Dr. Orchid, which apparently happened a few years ago. Who knows?
You can play Clue/Cluedo with up to six players, but each player needs a mobile device and the free Cluesheet Companion or Clue: The Official Edition app to participate. Sometimes the old ones are the good ones.
You can download Clue / Cluedo for Nintendo Switch from the Nintendo Store.