Lesser-known games to liven up the holidays

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

Family and friends coming together for the holidays is the perfect excuse to dust off the board games and reshuffle the cards; and, for most people, that means playing a few games of tried-and-true favorites like Monopoly, Uno or Clue. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the world of board games is richer and more diverse than these few choices would suggest. Here are a few suggestions to expand your collection and make new memories with loved ones this season.

Look for these recommendations at area game stores like Creations (334 N. First Ave., Suite 213, in Sandpoint) or Uncle’s Games (404 W. Main Ave., in Spokane).

7 Wonders, 2-7 players

Anyone with an affinity for history or who delights in building a Monopoly empire should try 7 Wonders. In this strategy game, each player vies to build an ancient wonder of the world: the Pyramid of Giza, Colossus of Rhodes, Lighthouse of Alexandria, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Players draw cards with various benefits, improving their wealth, trade relations and military prowess across three “ages.” The game ends when one player builds their wonder or the third age ends, and the time of the ancients comes to a close.

A Fake Artist Goes to New York, 5-10 players

A bit like Telephone and Pictionary combined, in this game, one player takes on the role of the question master, writing a category on various dry erase boards and distributing them to players. That is the drawing prompt. Then, each player takes turns drawing one line in the picture before passing it to the next person to add to. The catch is, one player doesn’t actually know the prompt and is hoping no one will notice. If the fake artist contributes well enough to the drawing and goes undetected, both the question master and the faker get a point. If the artists call their bluff, though, they get a point.

Codenames, Wavelength, and Hues and Cues

These three are variations on a similar premise: a guessing game in which winning depends on understanding your teammates’ particular brands of crazy. 

In Codenames, teams work for two rival “spymasters” who know the secret identities of agents in the field. The agents are among the cards laid out on the table, each labeled with a simple word like “India” or “Pool.” It’s the spymaster’s job to give one-word hints that connect the cards they’d like their team to choose, all while avoiding the other players’ agents. Each game requires 4-8 players.

Wavelength tasks teams with guessing where a given hint would fall on a spectrum. One of the 2-12 players chooses a card representing a scale — something like “Hot to Cold” or “Bad Superpower to Good Superpower.” They then spin the wheel to see where on the spectrum their answer should fall, and give a short hint, like “Levitating.” If their teammates can match up approximately where on the spectrum that answer falls, they win points.

Finally, Hues and Cues has individual players guessing colors — so don’t play with your colorblind friend, or do, for an added challenge. The board contains 480 different hues. One player describes their chosen color in one word, and everyone else places their token on their best guess. The closer they are to the correct tile, the more points they get. Play with 3-10 people.

Sheriff of Nottingham, 3-6 players

In this game, based on the stories of Robin Hood, players take on the role of merchants attempting to peddle their wares under the tyrannical eye of the Sheriff of Nottingham, played by a different person each turn. Players draw cards to collect goods — both legal and illegal — and attempt to bring them into the city, either bluffing their way past inspections or choosing only the legal, but less expensive, items. It’s the sheriff’s job to sniff out smugglers and fine the merchants, but incorrect guesses result in reparations. In the end, the player with the most money wins.

Skull, 3-6 players

For a quick and simple bluffing game that’s travel-friendly, reach for Skull (also called Skull and Roses). Each player stacks a tile face down that hides either a skull or a flower. They add to the stack until someone claims that they can flip a certain number of everyone’s tiles and reveal only roses. The other players can up the ante by claiming they can flip more tiles, or they can let the guesser take their chances. The highest bidder turns the tiles over and wins the round if they reveal only flowers. The game ends when one player has won twice.

Viking See-Saw, 2-4 players

In this simple take on a balance and strategy game, players work to load cargo onto a tippy ship as quickly as possible without causing it to teeter. This is made more difficult because each piece is a different shape, weight and material, from marbles to wooden blocks. Players who sway the ship from one side to the other incur a fine; and, in the end, the person with the best stacked cargo wins.

Wilmot’s Warehouse, 2-6 players

This is a cooperative memory game that asks players to sit with the pieces and make up stories or mnemonics to organize their “warehouse.” Players take turns drawing a tile with a unique pattern, then work with the group to place it upside down somewhere on the board that everyone will remember. The tiles are grouped into seven days of the week, with new challenges on each day. When Friday ends, players receive an onslaught of last-minute customers (more tiles) that they have to match up with the corresponding “goods” they’ve laid out on the board. The goal is to match as many tiles as possible in the shortest amount of time.