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Games To Play With Family This Holiday

Games To Play With Family This Holiday

The holidays are a time for surrounding yourself with the ones you love.  Chances are you’ve already been doing that for most of the year!  Still though, there’s something special about spending time with family during the festive season.  Everyone grows closer, and you share in some memories that you’ll cherish for years to come.

Since this holiday season is going to keep people close together more than any other, you might be looking for some fun ways to spend your time.  There’s sure to be plenty of great food and conversation to be had, but why not gather everyone around the TV for some gaming goodness as well?  Whether you’re in a house full of gamers or family who doesn’t know Mario from Luigi, these titles should be a wonderful way to spread some gaming cheer.


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Among Us

The mystery and intrigue of Among Us could make for the perfect holiday game.  Among Us has been the biggest hit of the year, turning friends and family alike into trustworthy crewmates and cold-blooded killers.  Mixing together those elements with your loved ones could make for some of the most fun yet!  Is grandma sneaking around the ship to pick off her kids?  Is your Dad just doing his duties while Mom is plotting his demise?  Among Us will bring minutes of silence as you sneak around the ship, followed by explosions of finger-pointing and accusations.  The perfect game to facilitate family bonding!

Overcooked!

No matter how much we try, the holidays always seem to result in some family members raising their voices. Why not take those loudmouths and put them to good use in Overcooked!?  This time/resource management game sticks you and your family members in the middle of an absolutely chaotic kitchen, and it’s your job to work together to get meals out.  It can be an absolutely frantic experience, with equal parts craziness and silliness.  Your family will be shouting about orders and meal tickets rather than news and politics!

 

Jackbox Party Packs

There may be no greater games for social settings than those in the Jackbox Party Packs.  From You Don’t Know Jack to Quiplash, there have been 7 installments in the Jackbox Party Pack series so far, and there’s not a bummer in the bunch.  Any of these packs will give you countless hours of fun with family.  The best part is that these games can be played with a smartphone, so anyone in the family should be able to handle that!  It also doesn’t hurt if they have a bit of a raunchy mind, but you can turn on some filters to keep the experience family-friendly as well.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Nintendo has a ton of franchises that are known worldwide, but there may be none with as great a reach as Mario Kart.  You don’t need to know Nintendo’s characters to get behind the virtual wheel and race for the finish line.  Throw out a few Koopa shells and Bob-ombs and you’re in for an absolute blast!  If you’re playing with family members who aren’t familiar with traditional controllers, turn on the motion control options and they should be good to go!  Start a circuit, keep tally of the winners, and see who the real drivers are when Rainbow Road rolls in!

Uno

Don’t have access to a physical deck of Uno cards?  No worries, as you can get the digital version on just about everyone platform, and it’s priced roughly the same!  Uno is an absolutely timeless card game that has only grown in popularity over the years, and its rules are easy enough for anyone to understand.  All you have to do is match a number or color on the card and you’re set.  The digital version of Uno even lets you choose some house rules as well, so you can keep the game moving with a one-draw rule, or pile the picks on grandpa as he desperately tries to find a match.

Wii Sports Bowling

It might not be the newest game in the pack, but it could very well be the best.  Wii Sports Bowling captured the imagination of hundreds of millions when the Wii launched years ago, and the game is still a mainstay in some living rooms to this day.  More than enough time has passed for families to dust off this classic and get back into the alley action.  Again, Wii Sports Bowling has incredibly simple controls that make it easy for anyone to play, and there’s pretty much zero chance you have a family member who isn’t familiar with bowling.  Strike out on your own or form a family league to see the hours just melt away with this one.


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Kevin Cassidy has been covering all things Nintendo for over 15 years now and has been leading the weekly GoNintendo Podcast for just as long. Kevin is also quite passionate about pro wrestling, anime, comic books, and more! Follow Kevin on Twitter via @GoNintendoTweet.