Best board games, group party games?

[rambone]

Anybody here into playing board/party games with your family? Think games like Scattergories, Taboo, Buzzword, etc.

What are your favorites?

I'm looking for a gift idea.

 

[Benny]

Apples to Apples.

It's fun for just about any age and you'll laugh until you cry.

Buy it, wrap it, give it for a gift and wait for your "thank you." I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy playing.

 

[Double T]

Cornhole for cookouts. Indoors we play euchre. Monopoly is good too

 

[G_Stines]

or Quelf. It take a group of people that are willing to have fun. It is insanely quirky with only a very simple set of rules. Anyone can pick it up and play.

 

[Benny]

Cornhole for cookouts. Indoors we play euchre. Monopoly is good too

He asked for a good board game as a gift idea.

 

[ATM]

Last Word. It's the IBTL of board games.

Amazon.com: Last Word: Toys & Games

 

[G_Stines]

Last Word. It's the IBTL of board games.

Amazon.com: Last Word: Toys & Games

Sweet! I'll look into that one!

 

[smokingman]

Sorry,Risk,Yahtzee,scrabble,and trivial pursuit are my favorites.

 

[jd4320t]

Pictureka.

Hasbro Games - Pictureka

 

[Double T]

He asked for a good board game as a gift idea.

He also asked for group/party games

 

[sepe]

Apples to Apples.

It's fun for just about any age and you'll laugh until you cry.

Buy it, wrap it, give it for a gift and wait for your "thank you." I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy playing.

Played that a few times with booze mixed in. Good times were had by all.

 

[jfed85]

Catchphrase is insanely fun, x10 if alcohol is involved.

 

[JohnP82]

My favorites have been scattergories and trivial pursuit

 

[tmccorkel]

+1 on apples to apples.. Pit is another good one.

 

[voodoo304]

Mad Gab. Fun and hilarious! My family plays this often and it never gets old.

 

[indysims]

I played [Ticket To Ride] and [Sequence] at a recent couples holiday party, both were fun and competitive.

 

[Bigc177]

Jenga, Uno, Sorry, and Operation are our favorites to play w/ the kids. We really get a kick out of Jenga!

 

[random_eyes]

I've found Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Dominion all to be excellent strategy games, playable by either 2,3, or 4 players. (And I think Settlers might have an optional 5th and 6th player expansion). Having one child, the 2 or 3 is desirable, and now she frequently has her friend over, so the 4th player is a great way to engage everyone.

These games are simple once you have the rules down pat (remember how hard Euchre seemed before you played a few rounds?) but it might take a couple botched rounds to figure out the subtleties. So, they require just a bit of patience to study the rules or muddle through, or having someone else teach you how to play (which takes them all of about 30 seconds).

Also, there is a local store in Bloomington and Indianapolis called Game Preserve (The Game Preserve Stores: Hand-picked board games, cards, chess) that seem to be staffed by knowledgable gamers. Any time I've gone in and named a few games I like, they have been able to quickly recommend something that has been a big hit.

 

[snowdrifter]

We've been on a Scrabble kck lately. Bought the deluxe version of the game and the official Scrabble dictionary, totally worth it. Apples to Apples was fun, and we just tried "LOGO" a couple weeks ago, also a fun game, kind of an updated Trivial Pursuit.

 

[MrsXtremeVel]

I'm a fan of Backgammon!