Best board games to play with the family this Christmas... and beyond

Are you a gaming family or not? Would you rather not collapse in front of the telly after the festive feed? Or do you usually play board games together but you could do with introducing something new this year?

Whichever habit your fam follows, we’ve chosen our favourite games that all the clan – young or old – can play.

Related: Magical Harry Potter games for Christmas that fans will not want to miss

Best board games for Christmas

1. Articulate for Kids

Suitable for ages six and up, this is the family version of the traditional descriptive board game. You play in teams of at least two (so you need at least four people to play) with each team making their way around the board to pass the finish line. The more cards one team member describes and the other team members guess correctly, the further ahead you can move.

If you’ve played classic Articulate before, these words are a little less taxing than the original version and you’ll know that mouthing, rhyming or spelling the words are strict no-nos. Definitely one worth getting your nan to play after one too many sherries…

Buy now: Drumond Park Articulate! For Kids, £16, John Lewis & Partners

2. Dobble 123

The majority of family games are usually too sophisticated for children under six to play so if you are looking for something that everyone can get involved in, try this version of the popular card game, Dobble. Pretty simple and straightforward, aimed at ages three and up, Dobble 123 doesn’t require any complex strategy or technique – you just need to match the same shapes and/or numbers between cards.

Usually a game that children excel in more than adults thanks to their lightening quick reactions, this will even help little ones with motor skills and recognition of numbers, colours and shapes.

Buy now: Dobble 123, £12.99, Waterstones

3. Trivial Pursuit: Family Edition

Now in its 37th year, Trivial Pursuit is something of a classic with questions testing your knowledge of geography, entertainment, history, art & culture, science & nature and sport & leisure. This edition features a deck of question and answer cards for adults and a separate (easier) one for children, so anyone over the age of eight can play. Expect this to be the one and only time your teenager argues that they’re still officially a child!

Buy now: Hasbro Gaming Trivial Pursuit Family Edition, £24, Argos

4. Roxi: Name That Song!

While fans of The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent are bound to love this brilliant karaoke kit, the built-in multiple choice game – Name That Song! – is sure to get the whole family belting out a banger. Taking a mere two minutes to set up (all you need is a flatscreen TV and Wi-Fi for it for it to work), ROXi features tens of millions of songs, all of which can be selected using the easy-to-use voice search function (so you don’t have to spend ages typing the name of the song out on screen).

What’s more, you can link up an external Bluetooth speaker to it to ramp up the volume – perfect if family members are feeling too shy to croon the tunes.

Buy now: ROXi music entertainment system in Red, £99.95 or five monthy payments of £19.99, buyroxi.com

5. Splendor

While not necessarily one for younger kids (the recommended playing age is 10 and up), this two to four player game is mercifully short. Each game lasts a mere 30 minutes which is welcome relief from the usual endless game of Monopoly that invariably descends into arguments. While it doesn’t sound particularly exciting – the premise is based on Renaissance merchant guilds and the acquisition of gemstones and patrons – it is very easy to play and really rather addictive.

Buy now: Space Cowboys Splendor board game, £22.49, Amazon

We're sure that, among these, you're guaranteed to find a game that keeps everyone entertained until it’s time for turkey sandwiches…