Here in Florida and right across the United States, the countdown to the holiday season has begun. Before you know it, we’ll all be dressed up for Halloween, before quickly sliding into Thanksgiving, and then Christmas.
During these three months that make up the holiday season, many of us will come together with friends and loved ones to celebrate, eat too much food, and enjoy each other’s company.
We all have our own traditions over the holidays, but one common option is playing games. While companies like Nintendo have invested heavily in creating content that can be enjoyed together around one screen, video games are only part of the story.
Instead, their older cousins – board and card games, remain a common choice during the holidays. Part of this is down to the social aspect that comes from crowding around a table, encouraging conversation between participants. But playing this way also carries with it a sense of nostalgia which is why many enjoy them during this time of year.
In the last few years, we’ve seen board and card games enjoy a resurgence as new options have hit the market. Of course, many traditional titles remain popular too, so we’re likely to see a mix of these in demand this holiday season – including these options below.
Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the easiest card games to learn, which is why it’s become of the most played in the world. Despite its simplicity, however, it offers dedicated players a lifetime of fun as they refine their playing strategy.
In it, one or more players compete against the dealer to make the strongest hand. The aim is to make your cards add up to 21, or as close to that number as you can get without going over.
Of course, the popularity of this casino favorite has been helped greatly by the fact that the internet has allowed players to enjoy blackjack online with several different variants to choose from, including classic, premium, and high roller.
While online blackjack is fast becoming the most popular way to enjoy the game, during the holiday season, many people will be playing it at home. In addition to its easy-to-understand rules and strategic challenge, post-turkey blackjack games only require you to have a standard deck of cards and a flat surface.
Cards Against Humanity
While games like blackjack use the usual four suits we’re all familiar with, non-standard decks have become very fashionable in recent years.
Arguably, the game that started that fashion was Cards Against Humanity, an adult party game that requires you to use your cards to fill in the blanks from a sentence.
Each player receives ten white cards, each with a unique word or phrase on. Then a black card is turned over and each player must use a white card to give an answer, with all answers placed face-down and then shuffled.
The person who picked the black card then chooses the answer they find the funniest, resulting in the one who submitted it receiving a point.
It offers a lot of opportunity for creativity and, with the myriad of expansion packs now on the market, it can always offer something new and interesting.
The James O’Brien Mystery Hour Game
James O’Brien is a British talk radio presenter for the LBC station. His uniquely insightful take on many contemporary topics has made his show the biggest in the United Kingdom and won him a lot of international fame.
However, a weekly segment from his show, known as Mystery Hour has recently been turned into a board game.
The board game version mirrors the rules of the original radio contest, with a few minor tweaks. In it, players are tasked with trying to guess the correct answer to a question from the several they are presented.
They are general-knowledge-based, with many inspired by real questions asked on O’Brien’s show.
You don’t need to be a listener or even British to play, which is why it’s likely to be a big hit among Americans this holiday season too.
