Do you hear that? The constant loop of Christmas music in shopping malls can only mean one thing: Brace yourself, Christmas is coming!
Whether it be shopping for a Christmas gift or popping up a game to play during Christmas gathering, we got you covered.
Today, we shall talk about party games. More specifically, the games that you can bring out at gatherings, cater to a big group and have the police turn up at your door because your gaming group is laughing out so loud.
So, here’s our list of the top 10 Party Games, according to our sale figures in 2018.
10. Concept
Players: 4-12
At first glance, Concept looks like a game of Taboo with a game board. Sure, you can’t speak in this game too and all you have is a board and a bunch of tokens to describe the word / phrase to your team mates.
Want to describe Titanic? How about placing said tokens on a movie icon / transport icon / skull icon.
With varying levels of difficulty provided in the cue cards, laugh away as your friends painstakingly struggle to make sense of anything that is placed on the board.
Who will enjoy this? Players who like taboo and players who like to see others fail. I was once stuck at the word “snail”…
9. Unstable Unicorns
Players: 2-8
One of the ever-increasing Million Dollar project that came out from Kickstarter (Yes, the board game industry is lucrative. You can try designing your own game), Unstable Unicorns is a card game about collecting unicorns.
Seriously, that’s the objective of the game.
Along the way, you will gather unicorns that grant you various powers, get to play instant and magic cards to create havoc on the gaming table.
Who will enjoy this? Unicorn lovers. Players who like to see others squirm and roll eyes.
8. Sushi Go Party
Players: 2-8
A game about food. Who would have thought?
Despite the cartoonish artwork and the temptation to eat sushi after finishing a game, Sushi Go Party is fast, light-hearted and makes everyone feel like a winner.
Each turn, players choose 1 card to keep and pass on the rest to the next player. This goes on until the end of the round, where they tally the points from collecting sets of cards.
At the end of the game, everyone’s satisfied with their own collection of sushi and the player with the most points win.
Who will enjoy this? Peaceful players. Sushi eaters. I’m hungry….
7. Deadwood 1876
Players: 2-9
Despite only launching a few months back, Deadwood 1876 is one of our best sellers this year, thanks to the intense amount of betrayal found in the game.
The goal of the game is for a team to acquire the most amount of gold via stealing safes which remain faced down during the game. However, not all safes contain gold, but some contain guns.
Should you trust your team mates and be the winning team to uncover the most gold at the end of the game, be prepared for a final showdown with your team mates where only one sole survivor will walk away with all the gold.
Yup, that’s where the guns from the safes come into play. Your team mates are certainly not the kind souls that you make them out to be.
Who will enjoy this? All my exes.
6. One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Players: 3-10
Ultimate Werewolf is so popular that it has even spanned a variety show about it. I kid you not. Here’s a link.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf version puts a spin on it and plays much faster.
You can still do all the acting and guessing that you want in exactly 10 minutes.
Who will enjoy this? People who likes to speculate alot.
5. Saboteur
Players: 3-10
Saboteur is the game that I whip out constantly for all festive seasons.
It’s a game that can be understood by all ages and it doesn’t matter if you can’t speak the language of English well enough.
All you need to do each turn is to play a card that joins the tunnel routes and hopefully reach the end Gold (see what I did there..) before the deck of cards run out.
If you are the Saboteur, you will be trying to do all kinds of nonsense to impede the progress of the other players.
Who will enjoy this? Team players. Saboteurs.
4. Exploding Kittens
Players: 2-6
One of the first card game that managed to break the $1 million barrier on Kickstarter and to usher in the age of Kickstarter games, Exploding Kittens is a pretty silly game.
Each turn, players play a card and after that, draw a card.
Drew an exploding kitten? Better play a defuse card or you are out of the game.
Out of defuse cards? Well, you can always steal from others and potentially, end all forms of friendship that ever existed between you and said target.
Who will enjoy this? Cat lovers. Kids, especially 6-8 year olds.
3. The Singaporean Dream
Players: 3-6
Do I even need to explain why this ranks so highly here?
It’s truly uniquely Singaporean. Better Chope it before it sells out.
Who will enjoy this? Everyone. Even my overseas friends are having a blast as they learn more about the culture of Singapore through this game than anywhere else.
2. Potato Pirates
Players: 3-6
It’s so fluffy. I’m gonna die.
The main attraction of the box are undeniably the potatoes, which are tiny brown sponge balls.
Though it looks like a serious game to teach kids about the concept of coding, this game plays hilariously well as a party game.
After all, who doesn’t like a last man standing game?
Who will enjoy this? Casual gamers. Families.
1. Resistance Avalon
Players: 5-10
The one game to rule them all, at least on our sales chart.
One of the easiest social deduction games ever, I’ve seen groups play this for hours in a single board gaming session.
The whole premise of this is to act like the good guy, which is sometimes even hard for the good guy themselves.
Deduce who the bad guys is along the way and be the first team to score 3 points.
Who will enjoy this? People who want to join Mediacorp.
Honorable mentions: Codenames, Deception: Murder of Hong Kong, Spyfall, Salem 1692, Coup, Secret Hitler, Cards Against Humanity, Joking Hazard.
Surprised? Expected? Well. The top 10 certainly reflects the preferences of Singaporeans.
Social deduction games are on the rise, thanks to influencers sharing their board gaming nights on social media. Games that always generate laughter are always a plus too.
In a fast paced society like Singapore, it’s always good to have a laugh or two. What better way than to do it with friends.