Sometimes the best way to enjoy your relatives at the holidays is a little friendly competition. Or maybe sometimes the best way to keep your family from arguing about politics and ideology is to quiet them with a little family bonding. If they are playing a game, they can’t talk, right? Board games are a great way to bring the family together. Put down the solo iPads or even the family Call of Duty video games, and pick up one of these new games we tested for you.
DISNEY POP-UP MAGIC FROZEN ($11.99)
Who: 2 to 3 players, ages 3 and up
What: Pick a character — Elsa, Olaf or Anna — and try to be the first player to reach the finish line. If you land on a token square, you could advance more spaces. If you land on a Hans picture, you move back three spaces.
What we thought: The game is so simple, it’s best for younger kids. If you already own the larger Princess Pop-Up Magic game, the “Frozen” board can connect to it, which will make play time longer and include other Disney princesses. The only disappointment for one “Frozen” fan: Elsa’s pop-up castle doesn’t live up to expectations.
Rating: 3 stars
SCRABBLE ELECTRONIC SCORING ($21.99)
Who: 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up
What: The classic word game adds an electronic scorekeeping unit, in case you don’t like to add. A timer mode on the scorekeeper can make the game move faster, allowing players just 60 seconds a turn.
What we thought: If you already have Scrabble, there’s no need to get this version. For the electronic scorekeeper, you use a dial to enter each player’s score after each turn. Players still need to keep track of the bonus squares to enter the correct number of points in the scorekeeper.
Rating: 2 stars
ZIPPITY DO! ($10)
Who: 2 to 6 players, ages 4 and up
What: Lay out six picture cards from a deck of 64 with the image-side up. Players look at the cards and try to be the first to name a song featuring one of the images in the lyrics. If you name the song first, you get the card. Continue replacing the cards with another from the deck. The first player to get five cards wins.
What we thought: Fun for players who know many song lyrics, although players may find themselves repeating songs in subsequent games. For younger kids who may struggle to remember the words, an alternate approach is to let them make up their own songs. It’s not as challenging but may be more entertaining.
Rating: 3 stars
TOASTED OR ROASTED ($11.40)
Who: 2 to 4 players, ages 6 and up
What: This is an offensive-defensive game where players try to be the first to start their campfire and toast three marshmallows. Sounds simple enough. But when you add cards that allow your opponents to rain on your fire or use wind to blow out your fire or Roasty to burn your marshmallows, you add an element of diabolical fun.
What we thought: We had a blast with this one. Winning takes a bit of skill, a little luck and a lot of negotiation skills (I’ll spare your marshmallow if you spare my fire).
Rating: 3.5 stars
CATCHPHRASE DECADES ($14.76)
Who: Ages 10 and up, suitable for a crowd
What: A combination of the old Password game (guess the word or phrase from clues given) and hot potato (you lose if you are caught holding the device), this game is always a family favorite. In this new version, the categories have clues from the decades: ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s and ’10s.
What we thought: Though it’s for 10 and up, younger players had a hard time with the earlier decades. Plus some of the words and phrases you had to guess seemed quite out there (“keytar,” for example) or hard to get someone to guess (“What does it mean?”).
Rating: 2 stars
SWITCHEROO ($11.99)
Who: Ages 7 and up, for 2 to 4 players (though we had no problem playing with 6)
What: Players try to get rid of their cards first by matching response cards to letter cards. For example, two cards are up at a time. One may say: Something that bounces. The other is an “R” card. You have to play something from your hand that matches one of those. In my hand I had two plays: A “C” for check (that bounces) and a card that said “Movie that makes people cry” (“Rudy”). A timer gives you 15 seconds to lay down a card, or you draw another.
What we thought: Any game that moves this fast is bound to be fun for a big group. Most of us loved the fast pace of this one.
Rating: 3 stars
BANG! WALKING DEAD ($16.29)
Who: 4-7 players, ages 13 and up
What: It’s a card game where you try to get your characters to survive to the end. Play as Michonne, Rick, Carl, Andrea and many others. Battle cards reveal walker herds, infections and more.
What we thought: With so many different cards that have different actions, it takes a while to understand. But once you get going, the strategy takes over, and it can become quite addicting. Because you don’t necessarily know whose side everyone is on, the deceptive nature of the game is particularly fun.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Note: All of these games can be found on Amazon.com, and prices listed are the ones on Amazon at press time. Many are stocked at most mass-market retailers that sell board games.
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