AD – collaborative post but all thoughts are my own
Apart from the food and the presents of course, one thing I absolutely LOVE about the festive season is having more time to play games. I love games; whether that’s gaming on the PlayStation alone or playing games with family, it can be such a great activity for many reasons.
When I’m stressed or need to switch off, I find playing games on the PlayStation really relaxing. I’ve been known to spend 6 hours straight playing The Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption because I find getting absorbed into these worlds SO therapeutic.
However I also love game nights with friends and family. We don’t tend to sit around and watch films together, my family. But get out a deck of cards or some board games as we’re there! It’s such a great bonding activity and a great way to get off your phone for a few hours too.
With the festive season here already, it’s time to start chilling out a bit and dedicating a bit more time to relaxation and quality time with family. I book myself a week off over Christmas and you can bet I’ll be playing a lot of games during that time!
Here are 8 fun games to play either alone or with friends over the festive season:
Chess
I was recently sent this gorgeous chess board and my boyfriend and I have been playing a lot of it since. It’s something nice and relaxing to do, away from a screen, when he gets back from work. Although chess is obviously very tactical, it’s still a great game to get your teeth into!
Card games
You can’t beat a card game can you? Whether it’s snap (a great game to play with kids), Rummy or Uno, card games can take up a good few hours of your time and make for a great night in. If you fancy playing some cards but don’t have anyone to play with, check out Solitaire.org for a range of card games you can play online!
The Sims
Oh my gosh, The Sims. Back in the day of The Sims 1, I would spend 12 hours straight playing that game. I absolutely ADORE The Sims and when I was a teenager, I’d sometimes spend all Christmas Day playing. When I get a new laptop next year, I’ll definitely be getting The Sims again. It’s the PERFECT game to play over the festive season for relaxation.
Hidden objects and Match 3 games
Back to Solitaire.org, I particularly loved the hidden objects categories of games; they’re so frustrating when you can’t find something that’s right in front of your face but they’re great quick games which don’t require much brain power to get stuck into on your commute or lunch break! I enjoyed playing Garden Secrets (pictured below) and China Temple!
Another category of games on Solitaire.org were the Match 3 games. I find these type of games SO addictive, so I was playing Treasures of Atlantis (also pictured below) for quite a while! Anything with different coloured bubbles you either have to match up or remove altogether I tend to find really relaxing!
Sudoku, crosswords or word searches
Another great range of games from Solitaire.org are logic puzzles, where you’ll find things like Sudoku, crosswords, word searches and TONS MORE. For anyone that likes logic games, there’s something in here for you. The best thing is is that they’re completely free, so if you’re on a budget (and let’s face it, who isn’t around Christmas) you don’t have to spend loads on puzzle books!
Trivial pursuit
My family and I love a game of trivial pursuit over Christmas, despite the fact that playing this game always makes us all realize how little we REALLY know! Trivial pursuit can get ultra competitive too, so if you’re a competitive family, then watch out when you play this!
Monopoly
You can’t have Christmas without someone throwing the monopoly board up in the air in a fit of rage can you? Monopoly is an absolute classic and again, if you’re a competitive family, then you’ll enjoy a hard fought game of Monopoly to see who can come out on top!
Great ideas…such fun games!!! 🙂
Yes! This is the perfectitme too play board games as long as it isn’t monopoly!
Hahaha monopoly can definitely cause some arguments!
Yes! All the time and I admit I get so angry when I have to pay out money for landing on someone’s stupid property 😩
I love playing Sims! I bought Sims 4 during lockdown, as well as quite a few packs over the months. My friend and I like to facetime each week and build a house or play. Such a lot of fun x
Oh I’m so jealous!!
I loved gaming so much but don’t have the time any more. Hopefully I can snatch a couple of hours over Christmas and get online again!
Georgia
Fingers crossed for you!
the nostalgia when you mentioned the sims! i used to play that game religiously! wish i still owned it to this day! i used to love building houses & would spend hours perfecting them. never really played the actual game part as much though. haha!
Oh same, the house building was my favourite part!
I love these games. I miss big family get together evenings playing monopoly. I shall have to search out my board games.
Yes definitely!
These are all amazing games! So glad to read I wasn’t the only one spending like ten hours playing The SIms, I had to cancel it from my laptop or I couldn’t manage to do much, but always tempted to download it again! We love card games and board games in our family too, they are always a great way to bond and spend time together, monopoly and cards are our favourites x
Haha I am SO desperate to play The Sims!
I have so many different monopoly board 😅 my dad is SO competitive compared to myself and mother.. he mostly always win- but the times I did win him over, he was a bad loser ahah
The one we like the most to play before midnight hits is wii bowling! Again, dad is always the best one at that.. me & mother can barely keep our pro ball ahah
I bet he was a super bad loser hahaha!
You can’t beat playing games over Christmas! I do love playing cards and silly games with the family! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Me too, card games are great fun!
My family are far to competitive for monopoly 😂 but, we love a card game over Christmas!
Hahaha oh non
Oh wow….. I haven’t played Sim for so long. This festive season is a good time to play all these games. Thank you for sharing.
Me neither I need to play it soon!
I used to play monopoly with my cousin and I love that game sooo much. I like to play chess and hidden objects too! I have few games on my computer that I usually play during my break 😀
Hidden objects are a great game for relaxing!
We love a good family game at Christmas but we’re useless at them! I love catch phrase and tipping point because it gets so silly
Rosie
Hahaha never mind!!
I love a good game as a distraction.
Always love to have some on my phone for when my mind is in overdrive.
We have a child free night tomorrow, so may get Monopoly out 🙂
They’re a great way to just chill your mind for sure!
Great suggestions! We are a family who love playing board games, we’ve got a good collection and most Sunday afternoons we’ll get one out. Also, I have just learnt how to play chess, I’m quite enjoying it so far.
That’s great to hear!
Back in the day, our family would play pinochle for hours on Christmas Eve
I’ve never heard of that?
It’s a card game, very popular with Italians. It’s like Euchre, but slower. I like pinochle better.