Our family is a board game family. Let me tell you, we know a thing or two about board games for large groups because with 7 kids and two adults, we can’t just pick the regular 4-6 players games! We also love to have friends and family over to play games. Sometimes, there are more than 50 of us!
Family game nights are a great way to form connection, build memories, strengthen relationships, reinforce learning concepts in a fun way, and spend screen free time.
We’ve tried a lot of games over the years. I’ve compiled a list of some of our favourites for large groups (more than 10) and another list for games we like for between 4 and 10 players.
The Best Board Games for Large Groups:
Taboo – I have been playing this game since I was a teenager. We especially like to play a guys vs. girls version of this. So much fun! The object of the game is to have your team guess the word you’re describing except that there are certain buzz words you’re not allowed to say. It’s done in speed rounds which only adds to the fun.
What’s Yours Like? – We’ve had a lot of laughs with this game. When you play with adults only, the answers can quickly take on double meanings which gets pretty funny. You can also play it with kids or groups of kids and adults though. You just need to keep your answers PG for that!
Mafia – While not exactly a board game, I’m saying it still counts because it involves a deck of cards. This game is a favourite of ours for playing out by the campfire. We’ve played with as many as 45 people before. It’s fun for all!
Heads-Up – While there is a board game version of this popular game, I suggest that you get the mobile app version. If one person in your group downloads it to their phone, you can all use that phone for hours of fun. This is another one that we’ve played in our living room with a large gathering. We usually play boys against the girls.
Charades – This is the ultimate game for a large group when you don’t have any board games handy. Just use a pen and slips of paper to create your own version. Have everyone write down ideas to make it extra fun.
Pictionary (or the new high tech Pictionary Air) – The nice thing about this classic is that the worse your art skills, the funnier it is! Fun for all ages.
What Do You Meme – This game brings the relatively new popularity of memes into the board game world and can be played with up to 20 people.
Blurt – Funny game that can be played with up to 12 players.
Taboo Board Game
What’s Yours Like? Party EditionMafia CardsHeads Up Party GameSpeed CharadesPictionaryPictionary AirWHAT DO YOU MEME?
The Best Board Games for 4-10 players:
Pit – 3-8 players – This game is an awesome ice breaker! One thing it isn’t though is quiet as people shout out their bids. It’s kind of a commodities trading market gone wild.
Codenames – 2-8+ players – I find that this is a great ice breaker. If you’ve got people who are just getting to know each other, this is the one to start with. You’ll all be comfortable with each other in no time.
The Resistance – 5-10 players – This can be a team game so it’s quite interactive which we like.
Sequence – 2-12 players – One of our sons gave us this for Christmas one year and it soon became a family favourite. It’s easy to learn and appeals to a wide audience from kids to grandparents.
Five Crowns – 2-7 players – I chose this game at the store because of its small size as I wanted to pack it along on a camping trip. It turned out to be a great purchase and has been played often since. This award winner is a rummy style card game with a twist.
Apples to Apples – 4-10 players – There are many variations of this popular word game. It’s a nice one for playing with multiple ages.
Wizard – 3-6 players
Pit GameCzech Games CodenamesThe ResistanceSequenceFive Crowns Card GameApples to Apples Party in a BoxWizard Card Game
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If you’re looking for large group games that are more interactive, then check out some of our Minute to Win It challenges:
Minute to Win It Family Fun Night
Thanksgiving Minute to Win It Games
The games can be played a couple of different ways. You can create teams and have a member from each team go head to head against each other or you can play as individuals in a “beat the clock” type of fashion.
The object of this game is to retrieve all the pumpkins out of your pie. To set up, place candy pumpkins on the bottom of each pie plate. Cover with whipping cream. Each player sits with their hands behind their backs and has to find the pumpkins and move them out of the pie using only their mouth.
In this game, players need to attempt to keep their feather in the air for a full minute by blowing it up. It’s harder than it sounds. If a player’s feather touches the ground or a surface, they are out of the game.
To set this game up, pour some pumpkin seeds onto a paper plate for each player. Set that down next to an empty plate. To play, each person puts a straw in their mouth and attempts to transfer all the pumpkin seeds to the empty plate in less than one minute. If you’re playing head to head, then then the person who transfers all of their pumpkin seeds the fastest is the winner.
Place one candy pumpkin (or candy corn) on a spoon. Have players race holding onto their spoon with one hand (you can allow younger kids to use both hands). If their candy drops off, they are eliminated or have to start back at the beginning.
Give each person a turkey baster and balloon. The goal of this Minute to Win It challenge is to get the balloon across the table lengthwise using only the air from the turkey baster. You are not allowed to touch the balloon with the turkey baster. This can be played to beat the one minute timer or played head to head with the winner earning one point for their team.
Interactive activities are a great way to make lasting memories. These Christmas party games encourage participation and fun for all.
Instead of gingerbread houses, we make Rice Krispie houses. That way, they can be shaped into trees or any type of building shape and can still be decorated the same way a gingerbread house would be.
The object of this game is to stack 3 golf balls on top of each other. The balls must remain stacked for 3 seconds to win. You can either play head to head or individually. If playing head to head, the first one to complete their stack and have it stay in place for 3 seconds is the winner.
To set up this game, slice a watermelon in half and prop it up on a picnic table or other flat surface. Have each player stand at a distance from the watermelon and throw cards one at a time in an attempt to get a card in the watermelon. The object of the game is to get one of the cards to stick in the watermelon in under a minute.
Set the cans up in a pyramid on a flat surface such as a folding table or picnic table. Give each player elastics. The object of this game is to knock over all 6 cans using elastics in under a minute. Again, you can determine how far away players must stand depending on age.
Give each player a set of chopsticks, 2 graham crackers, a marshmallow, and 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate. The object of this game is to assemble a s’more using only the chopsticks in less than a minute.
Blow up the balloons. You’ll need 3 if doing this individually or 6 if you’ll have people competing head to head. The goal of this one is to keep all 3 balloons in the air for 60 seconds without having any of them touch the ground.
Whether you’re planning a large holiday party or a small family gathering, these games will bring laughter and fun. (You can also check out our 
This is a great game to play in a large group. Everyone can play at the same time or you can play head to head.
The player starts with the other end of the ribbon in their mouth. They then have one minute to attempt to swing the ribbon and land the pompom onto their nose and stick there. No hands are allowed to be used in this challenge.
Blow the cards gently to move them across the table. The goal is to have one card hang over the edge of the table without falling off. Each player has one minute and ten tries to reach the objective.
Have the player stand on the chair and drop candy canes, attempting to have them hang on the garland. You can have another player on the opposite chair playing at the same time.
For young children, use the wider craft sticks. To make it more challenging for adults, use regular sized popsicle sticks. You can also vary the size of the jingle bells to create more difficulty.
This game is quite challenging, so for younger kids, start with less pompoms or cotton balls in their bowl.
The goal of the game is to move 5 candy canes out of the bowl. The time to beat is one minute.
The player must pick up all the candy using only the spaghetti noodle in their mouth. They must stack all six candies onto their noodle in under one minute.
This game works with groups as a relay or with two players racing against each other. Each of the players places a white pompom (snowball) on a plastic spoon and races to place it in a bucket across the room. The player or team to fill the bucket with the most “snowballs” in one minute wins.
See how many gifts players can open in one minute while wearing oven mitts. This is quite a funny one to watch!
The team that completely uses their toilet paper first wins. It’s fun to see what method the teams come up with to do this quickly.
