The best family-friendly and adult games to buy in time for Christmas 2019

20 December 2019, 11:00

By Emma Gritt

@emmagritt

Don't dread awkward conversations with people you've not seen for a year this Christmas, these fun games will keep everyone in a cheery mood.... unless someone's a sore loser.

Boardgames have come a long way from snakes and ladders and Monopoly, and there's no better excuse to invest in a couple of new ones than Christmas.

Here are some of the best ones available right now - and while most are family friendly, we've picked a couple that are ideal for getting out once the kids have gone to bed...

Orangutwang

Take it in turns hanging fruit from a cute orangutang hanging from a vine... and see how much he can take before he goes 'twaaang' and sends it flying everywhere.

Kids will love this game of skill and suspense, and an extra bonus is that it doesn't need batteries.

Buy it for for £15 from Argos.

ROXi

The ROXi is the ultimate home karaoke machine, and perfect for getting the whole family off their devices and united in song.

Aimed at household audiences including families with children and older users, its voice controls means it can also be used to listen to 40 million songs, to dance, to sing, to play music games, to do yoga, meditation and more.

If you don't think you can handle another rendition of Let It Go, or I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, it can be turned in to a therapeutic Sound Machine for yoga and meditation - so it'll keep you smiling through the festive madness and be there for when you embrace a New Year New You mentality.

The set-top box is priced at £99.95 including a 1-year Premium Music Pass from buyroxi.com, with additional ROXi microphone (for duets!) available for £19.95.

Relative Insanity – Hilarious family game 

Up to 12 people can play this hilarious game that lets you pick the funniest response to an everyday family situation.

Players take it in turns to read a setup card aloud, like: “When my brother brought out his new baby to show the family, Granny blurted out…” Then everyone else chooses one of their punch line cards to finish the phrase, like: “You are not the father!” or “Somebody took a trip to the land of bad decisions,” etc.

The reader picks the funniest one to give that player a point. No two games are ever the same, meaning you can play it more than once and have just as much fun.

Buy it from Amazon for £25.

Harry Potter Top Trumps Match

Think Connect 4 but with your favourite Harry Potter characters!

Suitable for players aged 4 and up, push through the cubes to be the first to match five of your favourite Wizarding World characters in a row, including Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore and Voldermort.

All cubes pack into the plastic grid, meaning no mess and it is great for on-the-go.

Currently available from Wilko priced £12.75.

The Best of Christmas

The Best of Christmas is a LOGO style game for festive fun at Christmas - if you're not familiar with The LOGO Game it's also worth checking out.

For the Christmas version, which cleverly uses a board shaped like a Christmas tree, you are split in to two teams.

Each right answer means you get to hang decorations on the tree - the first to the top wins!

Available now for £10 from The Works.

Articulate Phrases

Classic board game Articulate has had a revamp and is now challenging people to guess these famous phrases.

The team who gets the most phrases right and moves around the board the fastest are the winners!

Buy now from Argos for £23.

What Came First

Take a guess and bet your chips on what our who is older in this past-paced party trivia game!

The more you bet, the more you stand to win, but beware – get it wrong and you’ll be moving back in a hurry.

Recommended for 2+ players and ages 10+, this game will have the whole family on the edge of their seats.

Buy now from Amazon for £25.

Clickbait

If you think you've seen every piece of fake news on the Internet, you'll love this game.

The aim is to captivate your audience by writing an advert that nobody could resist.

Just pick a product, roll the dice and use the letters to create a juicy bit of clickbait. The player that writes the best tagline, wins.

Available at Amazon for £17.99.

Disney Guess the Film

Are your family Disney movie experts? Well it's time to put your knowledge to the test with this fun and exciting game.

Take turns rolling the dice and open the window with the corresponding colour to the die. Each coloured window reveals part of an image from an iconic Disney film and it's down to you to guess which film the image is from.

There are three different difficulties to play, meaning younger kids can join in too.

Buy now for £24 from Amazon.

Fog of Love

This two-player game lets you act out your very own romcom - ideal for people who think that the best thing about Christmas is watching a LOT of soppy movies.

This brand-new (and slightly complicated) board game lets players roleplay as couples in various stages of a relationship – the perfect gift for friends who’ve always fancied themselves as the star of their very own love story.

Currently on sale for £35 at Amazon.

Jaws

Love the film, then you'll love the game! One player menaces the island of Amity as the three-ton Great White, while the other players go on the hunt as Brody, Hooper and Quint. 

Suitable for 2-4 players, this watery game is packed with post-turkey dinner tension and strategy.

Priced £24.99 from John Lewis.

TV show Monopoly

It's the game that can either make or break a family Christmas, but Monopoly is now available in special TV show editions.

Only Fools and Horses and EastEnders get the boardgame treatment - and now you're fighting to buy some of your favourite telly landmarks.

Both games available from The Works priced £29.99 each.

Beat That!

Bounce, flip, stack, hop, roll, blow, balance and catapult your way to victory as you bet on your ability to successfully complete a series of dexterity-based challenges.

Designed for 2-8 players aged 11 and over, there are 160 funny, tricky and outrageous challenges to test your skills and challenge other players to 'beat that!'

Buy now from Amazon priced £24.99.