Christmas time is the time for families to gather around and spend quality time together. What better way to spend time with family and friends than around a fun Christmas-themed board game? We’ve looked high and low, and checked the list twice to find the best Christmas board games for you and your loved ones this year.
The Santa Claus Game
Have you ever wanted to be Santa Claus? Well, now you can in The Santa Claus Game!
The Santa Claus game is a goofy holiday game in which players race around the board, trying to deliver their presents to all the good boys and girls of the world.
It’s not just a racing game, though. Throughout the game, there are little challenges like dancing, twirling, and, most importantly, belting out a big ol’ Santa HO! HO! HO!
It’s jolly good fun and perfect for the holidays — especially with wiggly kids too excited to go to sleep before the real Santa arrives.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Journey
If you’re a fan of the classic Rudolph claymation movie, then this can easily become a family tradition, especially if you have younger players.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Journey is a simple roll-and-move collection game in which the classic heroes take a journey to the Island of Misfit Toys to collect them and bring them back to Santa’s Workshop.
The gameplay is rather simple, making it easier for younger kids, and has all the classic characters and scenes from the movie.
12 Days
A twist on the classic holiday song, 12 Days is a fast-paced card game in which players try to score the most points.
The card deck follows the familiar verses including a pear tree, two turtle doves, and so on. Each card has a point value and during gameplay, each player passes and plays a card, trying to gain the most points.
It’s the perfect game to kill 15-20 minutes while waiting for the oven timer to ding and finish baking holiday cookies.
Santa’s Workshop
Everyone needs a vacation sometimes… and that is especially true for Santa’s elves in his workshop. What better way to boost company morale than with an end-of-year prize for the most productive team?
This year it’s a beachside all-inclusive vacation, but the elves will need to be the best team in order to claim the grand prize.
In Santa’s Workshop, each player controls a team of elves in this holiday-themed worker placement game. There’s plenty of work to be done and never enough hands to finish it all. Players need to balance their time making toys, caring for the reindeer, and even mining coal (yikes!).
Santa’s Workshop is one of the rare holiday games that feels like a true original board game.
Christmas-opoly
I do enjoy gimmick Monopoly games every now and then, and Christmas-opoly is a nice quick game you can play with the whole family. It’s easy to break out and regardless of how much people claim they hate Monopoly, there are always enough people willing to crack open the box and have a game.
This version is tailored to the season with good and naughty lists, cute themed Christmas trees, and tons of holiday cheer.
Clue: North Pole Holiday Edition
It’s the classic Clue we all know and love, but with a cozy, holiday theme.
Instead of a murder-most-foul, players have to decipher which elf turned naughty and stole the presents. The gameplay is identical to the original Clue, but pieces, board, and theme are all redone around a Christmas holiday setting that’s family-friendly.
One of the great benefits to the North Pole Holiday Edition is that the box comes in a nonstandard box that’s perfect as a last-minute stocking stuffer.
‘Tis the Season: Christmas Trivia Game
‘Tis the Season for trivia!
‘Tis the Season is your standard card box, filled to the brim with Christmas holiday cheer.
Each card has several different trivia categories like history, traditions, pop culture, and literature. It’s a perfect addition to any holiday party, and the cards can even be swapped out with any other trivia game like Trivial Pursuit.
Home Alone Game
The classic Christmas movie comes to the dining room table in this board game adaptation.
Home alone for the holidays, Kevin McCallister is besieged by bumbling bandits. Kevin takes full advantage of the Castle Doctrine and sets up his house with surprisingly non-lethal traps.
The Home Alone game is a blast of ‘90s nostalgia. It’s best with two players, with one person taking control of Kevin and his house of traps, while the other controls Harry and Marv trying to loot the place.
The theme and artwork are all well done and it’s the perfect way to spend an evening — maybe even watching the Christmas classic afterward.
A Christmas Story Card Scramble
If you’re a fan of A Christmas Story, make sure to check out the Card Scramble version. It’s a simple set collection game in which players move around the board, collecting cards and creating sets.
The artwork is well done and taken directly from the film classic with all your favorite scenes and characters.
Llama Drama: Holiday Edition
Llama Drama is a fun little game with ridiculous artwork. The goal of the game is similar to UNO in which players try to get rid of all the cards in their hands.
The twist comes with the adorable llamas and other artwork in the game. Who doesn’t like llamas? Each llama is a goofy-themed picture with some form of a pun. The Holiday Edition comes with all llamas in holiday themes. There are Santa llamas, Christmas light llamas, and every other holiday llama you can think of.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays
We hope you enjoyed our list of best Christmas board games! These games are chock-full of holiday cheer and a cozy way to spend time with your family during this festive season. If you have any questions or comments, we’d love to chat with you. Drop a comment below.
And from all of us at GameCows, Happy Holidays from our herd to yours!
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Before starting GameCows with his wife Kendra, he used to teach English Language Arts in the US. He combined his love of gaming with education to create fun game-based learning lessons until he eventually decided to run GameCows with Kendra full-time. He’s known for pouring over rulebooks in his spare time, being the rule master during game night, and as the perma DM in his DnD group. Bryan loves board games, writing, traveling, and above all his wife and partner in crime, Kendra.
Mike
Sunday 13th of November 2022
There are so many great Christmas themed Board games:
Home Alone Game Santas Workshop Board Game - Rio Grande Games Frosty The Snowman – Follow the Leader - Christmas Card Game Snow Tails dog sled racing game HABA Animal Upon Animal Christmas Wooden Stacking Game Funko Elf - Journey from the North Pole Game Funko Pop! Jingle All the Way: It’s Turbo Time!
Funko Pop! Signature Games: Disney - Chip 'n' Dale Christmas Treasures Game Funko Planes, Trains and Automobiles The Game Christmas Lights: A Card Game
All of these are really fun family games. Enjoy. Happy Gaming. Mike
Evan Shelline
Saturday 23rd of October 2021
Hello, I'm the creator of Holiday Fever: A Family Tradition. I would love to send you a copy of our game, and get on your List of Christmas Board games. Thank you for your time.