15 Great Games to Fill Your Table This Christmas

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Oh, Hello! 0:00
Pictomania 0:56 - bit.ly/3MoQa6e
Cockroach Poker 1:44 - bit.ly/3nX3BA9
Codenames 3:35 - bit.ly/3Pjulqb
Decrypto 4:34 - bit.ly/319y03L
Mysterium 5:48 - bit.ly/3nSk20U
Flamme Rouge 7:11 - bit.ly/3PlbsU9
Flick 'em Up! 7:38 - bit.ly/3PjrjCG
Sushi Go Party! 8:08 - bit.ly/3yQy5KD
Magic Maze 9:13 - bit.ly/2qN6gj3
Shifty Eyed Spies 10:02 - bit.ly/3NV3xvq
Diamant/Incan Gold 10:39 - bit.ly/3OUWnZC
One Night Ultimate Werewolf 11:57 - bit.ly/3bZdVoH
Secret 16th Recommendation 13:59 - bit.ly/3bQWFSs
Sheriff of Nottingham 14:23 - bit.ly/3Pe8Ozb
Monikers 15:11 - bit.ly/3anCqM4
Our stand-alone expansion: bit.ly/3NUX03S
Skull 16:22 - bit.ly/3NVMmd9
Thanks for Watching! 18:14
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[@MordecaiV]

The real secret power of codenames is that you can easily have people drop in and out of the guessing teams, which is very good in a casual party environment.

[@hellabisys]

Grandma! This suitcase is full of crossbows! We've *talked* about this!

[@andersboyum1589]

It's crazy how apt your description of Skull is! I bought it a while ago off your recommendation, and the first time I played it with my friends I could almost visibly see them go "So how is this going to be fun?" Then, during the first three rounds, I saw the revelation of this game's subtlety grow in their minds, and now they ask me if I brought it pretty much any time I come over! Such a good game!

[@rosmith606]

The image of Matt in a reindeer outfit was not one I thought I needed.

[@korenn9381]

Same here. Turns out, I was right.

[@davidwit7749]

It's right up there with the shot of Paul in the Cuddle Room during their "Caverna" review.

[@nathansurgenor]

My immediate thought was "I can't let my wife see this"; she has enough of a crush as it is!

[@blueseqperl]

'Draw me like one of your French girls.'

[@TravisPrebble]

Heck, that just became my Christmas card.

[@eetmorebeets33]

Finally a game board channel that is quick, informative, and no annoying graphics every 5 seconds. Subscribed.

[@tehkyle]

Great list! Alternate title: "Matt moans while touching good games"

[@TrevorusPrime]

This is scarily accurate

[@worldtraveler721]

Well I wonder what else that he touches makes him moan 🤔🤭

[@BardicLiving]

The other edition of Skull has a Día de los Muertos theme, which is nice-looking and quite appropriate.

[@nathansurgenor]

Loved the sugar callback during Flamme Rouge :)

[@philidips]

"Its for energy"

[@andrewmoss5770]

I was half expecting quinns to appear

[@Anergyne]

I was half expecting that track to play.

[@John-ej6wi]

15. Pictomania 14. Cockroach Poker 13. Codenames 12. Decrypto 11. Mysterium 10. Flamme Rouge 9. Flick 'em up 8. Sushi Go Party 7. Magic Maze 6. Shift Eyed Spies 5. Diamant 4. One Night Ultimate Werewolf 3. The Resistance: Avalon 2. Sheriff of Nottingham 1. Monikers 1. Skull

[@a_w_young]

One remark about Monikers.. I love it and own it but if this is meant to be a family list, note that this one is for "adults" and non prudes. Don't end up in a situation where you're inadvertently explaining what a "fluffer" is to some kids or churchy extended family or something.

[@werewolfkai]

Time's Up is the variant for that audience. Same three round tiers. Time's Up Title Recall is my personal favorite.

[@blessingoc3731]

It is also an extremely short run game that is out of stock / expensive everywhere

[@dynamicworlds1]

Hahaha!

[@llouie4999]

My sister purposefully went through the box and pulled out the "awkward" cards when we played with a group that included our mom. A couple still managed to slip by. Oh well, explaining amusing memes made up for it! *Cue dramatic squirrel*

[@SlowDaddie]

Sheriff of Nottingham = "What's in yer bag, ye bastard!" LOL

[@davidmedina3063]

Got cockroach poker to play with my wife's family. It was a blast. Thanks!!

[@_WhiteMage]

I felt like Sheriff of Nottingham had a weird game theory problem. As sheriff, it's never in your interest to take a bribe to not check someone's bag if you believe it has contraband. Being zero-sum, they're not going to bribe you for more than half of what the bag could benefit them--otherwise the sheriff would be getting more from the exchange than they would. As a result, it only makes sense to *_at least double-bluff,_* e.g. pretending to be an innocent-person-pretending-to-be-guilty while you are in fact guilty, or pretending to be a guilty-person-pretending-to-be-innocent while you are in fact innocent. It really hurt the experience for me because the core draw of being able to simply bribe to get contraband through... just doesn't actually work at that level.

[@horserage]

Variant it, mess with giving king status to contraband at the end of the game. Many people have problems with it, but it is fixable for the group.

[@dedcove7466]

I bought my family Codenames last year for Xmas and they never ended up playing it so I taught it to them this year because I visited and needless to say, they regret not opening that box sooner.

[@zacharys8090]

WE NEED AN UPDATED ONE OF THESE! PLEASE AND THANK YOU! Grandma, get off my keyboard! Now, as I was going to say... Oh.. nevermind. Good job grandma!

[@doutsida6715]

"It's not even 10am!" Me watching this video at 9:59am: :0

[@Milkysragdolls]

hahaha 'whats in ya bag bastards' cracked me up far more than it should of. great video guys.

[@carpemkarzi]

Is anyone else not surprised that Matt has a reindeer onesie?

[@GPlewright]

Carpe Mkarzi But is there a link to buy a reindeer onesie?

[@threepoint14159265]

The hook for Sushi Go is "KAWAII"!

[@definitejohn8831]

I love this channel so much.

[@lmackenzie89]

For Sushi Go I'd recommend playing the unofficial variant rules "Sushi Nope", where you have to minimise your points. Very fun.

[@zerarch77]

Never tried that. Neat idea!

[@richcharters5885]

Congratulations. Your best review so far IMO. Great overviews, great insights. and some good recommendations to boot.

[@buffalobear160]

No mention of the reindeer onesie?

[@mrmaybe79]

Monikers is my all time favorite party/social gathering game for gamers and non-gamers alike. SO much fun. Lol ...and while the expansions seem a little expensive they're all SO good and you get a ton of cards with each one.

[@ThomasG1]

If these look too complicated or if you're family is not big on deception/bluffing games. I suggest the following games: Catch the Moon (Dexterity), Skull King or Parade (Trick-taking Card Games), For Sale (Bidding), Rise of Augustus ("Gamer Bingo"), Just One and Wits & Wager (Party games).

[@bigdream_dreambig]

"Grandma! This suitcase is full of crossbows! We've talked abut this!" 🏹👵🏹 🤣🤣🤣

[@e.m.167]

"Couldn't be more simple if you concussed it with a shovel" caught me so off guard wtfff

[@Soldier7sixx]

Got Skull, Cockroach Poker and Mystrium in this list. All are excellent

[@StarfishChick13531]

code names is perfect. Great with young kids learning words, and easy for people to hop in and join or leave and go check on that turkey

[@anonymousbosch9265]

I have the majority of the games and whole heartedly agree with the list. Kochroach poker and sheriff of Nottingham are our most played

[@benaili8632]

I clicked on this eager to see Matt in a turtleneck sweater and got rewarded with him reclining in a skin-tight raindeer costume! Nice!

[@wizzardoffuzz]

Remember when we were worried about family descending on us at Christmas?… hopefully this year!

[@llouie4999]

What I love about any of the guessing games - Mysterium, Codenames, Monikers, etc. is watching other players that better "get" what the other was trying to say trying to to make sense of someone on a completely different track (and vice versa of course!)

[@skoolier]

How do y'all think of these one-liners? "It couldn't be more simple if you concussed it with a shovel" I'm rolling on the floor oh my goodness hahahahaha

[@StarfishChick13531]

Code Names is a hit with my bf's family. People shuffle in and out of the room, teams change, it's a blast. It's educational for the kids and just good plain fun for the adults.

[@Skull_Gun]

"Jungle Speed" is always a hit if you need something for 5+ people

[@LunarFox__]

It's Nov 23, 2020, and this video hits differently

[@rokin0]

My folks really got on with Hey That's My Fish 🎏 really good!

[@super_7710]

You guys are the best. I wish I had friends who liked board games so I could show your videos to them! I don't have any friends though so I'll just have to watch the video over and over! :D

[@josephvanderhoven9967]

me too man

[@Veslanjejezivot]

maybe go to the local club or shop where people with the same interest are hanging out?

[@radred609]

I bought my dad flamme rouge for christmas last year. The family was super dubious about sitting around with a board game, but after a few rounds of flamme rouge (and a few rounds of port) everyone was clammouring to keep playing

[@CreatedBy_official]

I hadn't heard of that spy game, thanks for mentioning it!

[@whatnojoe1]

I’ve done it but over several separate games . Imperial assault skirmish 2 games . For every rebel victory the player gains one sabatage token to place on any imperial system in the rebellion game. every imperial victory an extra probe card . For legion every rebel victory you reduce the number of imperial ground troop units by three and vice versa . Same principle in armada . Rebel victory reduces the number of big ships by 2 units and vice versa . And X wing same principle only with small ships . All these games are played before playing the final game showdown of rebellion. Also if any of you decide to field hero’s in the smaller games before rebellion ( say you use Han Solo in your legion game and he gets killed he is taken out of the hero pool in the rebellion game .

[@ethanf.6848]

Small box = good game

[@mtthwdicken]

Don't you get to choose which coaster you discard if you hit your own skull? Anyway, Matt in a reindeer suit is the biggest Christmas treat of all. Great video SU&SD

[@Fatpie42]

Diamant is an upgraded version of Incan Gold with less ambiguous stay and go cards and about the same price? I never knew this existed!

[@curumu_yt]

Sushi Go Party is really fun

[@samuelalphabet5360]

16:00 I was not expecting a sad panda reference on this channel lmao

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

Very well done video. Clear, brief explanations and clever humor. This guy's good!

[@dheuseveldt]

What a great video! Thanks for the recommendation on Cockroach Poker; my wife is a fan of the movie "How to lose a guy in 10 days" in which they play a similar game; I think I can easily get her on board with this :-D

[@Jessie_Helms]

Cockroach poker sounds like a slightly modified version of the card game “BS” haha.

[@MrFett-od3xn]

it does i like its aesthetic though

[@OldSkooolGamer]

So good and funny reviews. Matt is definitely the best presenter of SUSD to me! Keep up the good work! Not interested in any of these games (or i already got them) but boy that was entertaining!

[@trodomir]

oh, deer Matt.

[@marytankersley3550]

I played Skull & Roses years ago but could never remember what it was called! I'll have to get that one

[@tdecastra126]

What's in yer bag ye bastard, that's when this video went up a notch in my estimation. Good video and good game choices

[@Nortic111]

1:15 Mermaid! Anxiety! No, Plymouth!

[@tomasxfranco]

LOL. The spirit of Christmass.

[@MozilloGames]

I've been hungrily seeking Monikers for so long. I may not have any friends to play with, but it's just a nifty box! Decrypto also looks like a really interesting next step on something like Codenames that I feel like i should get, but I again have no friends... Board games is hard.

[@celinedeknop8888]

Decrypto is awsome ! (But can start fights with picky people. I had to ask the creators on facebook to end the argument x) ). Beware that it can't be played by less than 3, and plays better starting at 4, then every even number above that ;)

[@josephbromley3364]

Grab Time’s Up: Title Recall, it’s the same game but better (using movie, TV, book and song titles rather than famous people).

[@kas9402]

I was sort of interested in decrypto too, but my friend I often play games with is colorblind so it might be a problem...

[@celinedeknop8888]

@@kas9402 It shouldn't be, unless they can't see red *at all*. The "put the text behind a colored sheet of paper" is actually a trick used by color blind people to be able to know the color of something ;)

[@TheNightKicker]

Onscreen graphic says Skull plays "2-6 players" -- from what I can tell, it's actually 3-6. :)

[@fireant202]

Now that's a sexy reindeer.

[@JKT84]

A bold move, indeed

[@l.p.7585]

playing skull at the pub with coasters good times

[@victoriabishop9042]

Camel Up is missing! Such a great family game

[@MagikanVearlae]

Victoria Bishop Camel Up is my favoured choice with larger groups. The races always seem close thanks to the oasis/mirage mechanic and nothing gets a bigger laugh than being half way round the course and somehow all 5 camels are on the same space and you just hope your camel bet is the one left on top after all the shuffling!

[@davek2906]

Best game reviewers on KZbin.

[@courtneylloyd3400]

Great job as usual, Matt. Small correction though... Diamant actually came out before Incan Gold. This is a new release of the original, which I liked a bit better than Incan Gold (even though they're mostly the same).

[@rexbaumeister7377]

My family tried playing Magic Maze once. It ended up just being me silently yelling at everyone with that "do something" token.

[@mbl26]

This made me giggle a few times.

[@KitSixty322]

All with a family-friendly rollneck jumper!

[@Marscow]

I love RoboRally for gatherings, too. There is enough chaos and luck to make people feel like they aren't inherently at a disadvantage for not being familiar with board games. It can run long on big maps, though.

[@jasonjanisewski78]

Robo Rally is an amazing game

[@namephanan]

I really like your energy and enthusiasm. Subscribed

[@Junius01]

I love Sherrif of Nothingham and Mysterium. I haven't played any of the others.

[@r1c3b4nd1t]

Excellent video! Excellent list! I'm planning to bring games to our family gathering this Christmas and I already have some of the games mentioned :)

[@jadonwilder2653]

U

[@PetrVojtech]

Great list. Thanks! I hope to play Skull, Shadows: Amsterdam and Downforce with a family this year.

[@zachpower2192]

One of my favourite games for bigger groups is Kill Doctor Lucky, although it’s terribly hard to find

[@andreagrisell763]

I would have to Celstia to this list. Push your luck shenanigans are always fun.

[@MagikanVearlae]

Andrea Grisell Great suggestion! Whilst I haven’t played it with family yet, it has become a fast favourite with my more casual board gaming groups.

[@Zwerggoldhamster]

I think a game everybody should have played is TAC. Maybe not that much of a family's game, but we still play it in our family once or twice a month. It's just so good and clean! :D

[@Bodyknock]

Good list. Personally I'd change a couple of games, just my own taste: - Replace Mysterium with Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. Very similar feeling games but Deception is more streamlined and easier to get into. It also has the traitor mechanic which makes things interesting. (If traitors aren't your thing though then Mysterium would be the way to go since it's fully cooperative.) - For traitor games my favorite is still Secret Hitler, I prefer that game to both One Night Ultimate Werewolf and The Resistance (Avalon). It's easy to teach, the retail version has great looking components and it has some interesting twists that make things kind of interesting (e.g. Hitler doesn't know who his fascist allies are) - In terms of team versus team word guessing games I think Werewords (or if you prefer the very similar game Insider) is fantastic. It's 20 questions with a traitor trying to throw the guessers off the scent. (I haven't played Decrypto so I can't say how it compares, just that Werewords seems like a good fit to the list.) Finally, regarding Codenames, I highly recommend getting Codenames: Duet as an expansion to allow you to play Codenames as a two or four player cooperative game. It plays almost exactly like normal team vs team Codenames but in this case the two teams are trying to jointly clear their agents on the board before time runs out. It's a great variant on the original game for people, like myself and my friends, who like cooperative games as much or more than competitive ones.

[@kas9402]

I came to the comments to recommend Secret Hitler! I don't actually like playing it myself because I don't like games where you have to lie. It's a mechanic that just makes me uncomfortable personally. However, most people love this game and every time we play there's always laughter and loud arguments and witnessing your friends being totally horrible at understanding each other's personalities, so yeah!

[@Natdegen]

That deer do be packin tho

[@jamesprosser7236]

Dixit would be another great choice!

[@BardicLiving]

That's definitely one of the better clue-guessing games, and easy for any group to pick up. Maybe they thought it was too similar to Mysterium.

[@StrummervilleDM]

Monikers isn't available! Stop making me want a game I can't have!

[@MrGpdp]

Time's Up by R&R games is the same game as monikers and available on the publishers site

[@sertaki]

@@MrGpdp It is definitely based on the same concept - but from the card pictures I have seen, Monikers is much more absurd in its execution and looks to be generally more fun.

[@MrGpdp]

@@sertaki You are correct Monikers is more "hip" than Times Up, so depends on the age group. Im in my 40's and i've enjoyed times up more than Monikers, and the 20 - 30 crowd have enjoyed monikers more. may also due to the fact i have older version of times up so younger people my not know i.e. Dirty Harry

[@alxhague]

We're back in stock on Monday! (Dec 3)

[@sertaki]

@@alxhague does this include a newly translated German version? :'( One can dream.

[@TomK32]

Nitpicker here, Diamant is pronounced De-a-mant, keep the i and a separate. You got the "a" spot on :) The English translation is of course diamond.

[@AllyStevenSeveri]

Give also "Get The Gun Shoot THE SNITCH" a try.

[@RicBret]

Diamant came first, in German, French and Italian. Incan Gold, the English version, came out in 2006, the following year.

[@ProgShell]

For an extra laugh keep your eyes fixed on the Shifty Eyed Spies box.

[@TheManofDew]

Funny, Creepy, and Oddly Informative. What a perfect formula for a KZbin video. 😜👍

[@gavinctaylor]

“Bit Rulesy”

[@leifarn1886]

bought cockroach poker right away thanx

[@ToClose2Human]

Skull can be played with playing cards (how I do it as a student) but make sure to pay for it if you have the money?

[@StuffOffYouStuff]

Those curls....real or augmented? Nice porcelain on the wall too

[@jenspoder8322]

Spirit of Christmas was the best!

[@lumberking5612]

Best "spirit of Christmas" ever!

[@SrStakeholder]

I brought Secret Hitler and an airsoft Mauser gun for my family reunion.

[@ren8140]

NO! I'm not a human, you're a human!

[@broceollomon]

No Tokaido? It's Monopoly, but it's quicker and doesn't end in a table flipping induced argument.

[@clearnoise]

You in your PJs is disturbing but wow great job on this video. Very entertaining and I put 4 of your your recommendations in my Amazon cart for later purchase!

[@Spudst3r]

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is better than Mysterium.

[@luiscarlosqg]

Such good games. I want them.

[@mattrobinson973]

You can see his Rudolph

[@mrtalos]

I'd hate to think of the mime for free Willy.

[@werewolfkai]

That's where the memories form for this game. Not always pleasant ones, to be sure, but memorable.

[@carelesshx]

If you get Codenames, get the pictures version, it’s much better.

[@llouie4999]

Very fun! Albeit extra hilarity if you have players that don't see well (we had someone miss the giant nuclear power plant stack and told us "power" and wondered why we pointed to said card with it)

[@air139]

flamme rouge looks like a simpler Formula D

[@carpemkarzi]

Perfect timing, I always pick up a new game for Christmas and I am looking for this years.

[@Jammybee]

That's a sweet 'meet me at mcdonalds' going on.