On the ninth day of Christmas…
the GameShelf offered me – … nine family fun games.
Family fun! That’s what Christmas is all about, and a game is a perfect way to keep the fun going even after you’ve indulged in all the good food. Plus, what better incentive to get the dishes done and out of the way?
Card games, dice games, board games, party games… they are all great ways to gather the family around the (now clean) table; and we have lots of choice.
Great card games for a range of ages include Phase 10 (which also has a dice variant), the ever-popular Uno, Set, Five Crowns, Oh Hell – just too many to count. Blink is a great card game based on speed; and fast reflexes are the order of the day for Dutch Blitz (for those who find Dutch Blitz a little slow or restricted, Ligretto allows you to add three colours of deck to play up to twelve(!) people at once).
Dice games include the ever-popular Yahtzee , in both the regular and Pokemon version (we also stock extra score pads); Farkle – which allows you to push your luck (just hope that you don’t bust); and Perudo, the South American Liar’s Dice. But dice doesn’t have to mean numbers – they come with letters, too. The old favourites Boggle and Perquackey still charm, and are great for hours of solitaire anagram fun.
Board games are a great way to spend holiday evenings, too. From old favourites like Monopoly (in many vaiations like Monopoly City, Monopoly Championship edition, Monopoly Town for the small ones and even the new Monopoly Deal card game ), Sorry (and it’s great new shuffleboard-like variation, Sorry Sliders), and Clue (with the new Secrets and Spies version), to great new games like Duck, Duck, Go; Killer Bunnies with all its expansions(not to mention the Journey to Jupiter edition) and Zooloretto, board games can fill the bill.
And then there are the party games – great for a crowd. Apples to Apples (and the Jr version) are great games of comparing one thing to another; Wits and Wagers has you betting on what your opponents really know, while Things in a Box makes you guess who answered what. Linq takes that to the next level – can you guess who thinks like you do? Guesstures is a fast-paced charade game, and Time’s Up gives you three chances to make your opponent guess the celebrity (including acting it out). Mumbo Jumbo is another game of clues that has you humming, guessing and acting – but you can only choose one. A party game with a new twist, Telestrations is a funny cross between the old “telephone” whispering game and quick doodling. It may start as “kickball”, but once it’s been through the family, it looks like “Swiss Cheese”. And let’s not forget Catch Phrase, which has been hugely popular this year (yes, we still have some in stock).
Scattergories tests your knowledge of both the alphabet and taxonomy, while Quelf (like Cranium) gives you a choice of tasks. Speaking of Cranium, Cranium Conga is a game that lets you pick something (or someone) and choose how to get them to guess it. And Cranium Hullabaloo is great for the little ones – a dancing, twisting, bouncing good time.
Trivia games still rank highly – we have the anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit, but a rarer find is the All Canadian Trivia game. But for more co-operative activities, we have a great selection of family jigsaw puzzles, with small pieces for big hands and big pieces for small hands so that everyone can work together.
Of course, we could go on and on – but it’s probably best to come into the store and just look around for yourself. The choices are many, the fun is endless – and none of it is restricted to Christmas. Try a great game for friends and family this New Year’s eve, and laugh in 2010!