10 Essential Board Games to Play with a Big Group

Sometimes the game group picks up a few stragglers. Whether you have friends visiting, are hosting a get-together, or you have enough regular players to get the big guns out – some games are just begging to be played with high participant numbers.

So, here are ten of our favorite games to play together with your group. Starting with-

10. Two Rooms and a Boom (2013)

Starting with a timeless classic, Two Rooms is a party masterpiece that needs to be played at least once in your gaming life. The game sees two teams sequestered in opposite rooms and trade individuals between them over increasingly small time increments. The ultimate aim, to end the game with the secret ‘President’ player in the same room as the ‘bomber’ player. With a wealth of other cards that can alter play (we’re looking at you zombie and president’s daughter cards), each game can be unique and tweaked to match your favorite flavor.

9. Citadels (2000)

Fantasy skulduggery at its most refined, Citadels is a masterpiece from the mind of Bruno Faidutti that involves gold acquisition, bargaining, and just outright lies and violence. Each round sees players pick out a secret ‘role’ that lets them carry outa  unique action, from building new structures, pilfering another player’s gold, or murdering someone and forcing them to skip a turn. Ideal for counts of 5-7 players, this shouty beauty can bring the dullest room to life with the single play of a card. 

8. One Night Ultimate Werewolf (2014)

Mafia…with an app! One night is stripped version of the social deduction masterpiece that is perfect for players looking for a quick-playing game that doesn’t last all evening. With characters randomly assigned at the start of each turn, players have one guess to root out the werewolf as the game’s custom app handles all of the boring admin. Fast, fun, and pitch-perfect at the maximum player count of 10. This is an absolute no-brainer.

7. 7 Wonders (2010)

Ever wanted to play Sid Meier’s civilization in 30 minutes? Bauza has you covered. Released to joyous fanfare in 2010, this tight civilization-building masterpiece still has a place at our tables. Playing up to seven, the game involves careful hand management as you card draft to advance your civilization while dealing with this to the left and right of you. Designed to be played simultaneously, the game clips along without ever sacrificing complexity or fun. And with a set round limit, it never ever outstays its welcome.

6. Flamme Rouge (2016)

A cyclist’s dream, Flamme boils down the strategy of cycling to an hour-long spin around a gorgeous cardboard track. Simple to learn and teach, the game is a deceptively deep game of placement and long-term strategy. However – add the peloton expansion and you can crank the game’s default 4 person player count to an insane 12, giving each player their own racer on the track. Throw in some drinking rules for crashes or picking up exhaustion cards, providing your group with the perfect antithesis to an intensive spin class. 

5. A Fake Artist Goes to New York (2012)

Sometimes the simplest games just turn out to be the best. Part of Oink Games’ small box series, each round has one player designated as a question master who sets a subject for illustration. While most players are handed out a board and their word, one player gets an ‘X’. The rest of the game involves pads being passed around for a collaborative drawing and the player trying to bluff the drawing of their image one stroke at a time. The larger the group the better with the game that is glorious, simple fun that rules out no one. 

4. Funemployed (2013)

Once Cards Against Humanity becomes a little overplayed – and trust us, it will – FunEmployed is the next best thing. Repurposing the card-based format to a job interview, each player’s hand has a number of traits that would make them ideal for the position. Perhaps it’s their nunchakus, their complete lack of shame, or the rat that lives in their hat and tells them what to do.  Perfect for groups that love to show off, having a night-long “who’s the most employable” competition is a fantastic way to share some laughs or use the game’s alternate rules to come up with a home-brewed game that lets you and your friend’s evening truly sing.

3. Panic on Wall Street! (2011)

Combining the unbridled greed and anarchy of wall street, Panic is arguably the best stock simulator on the marketplace. Putting you in the shiny shoes of ‘freewheeling’ (re: reckless) capitalists, the game is built around real-time bidding between two teams of managers and investors that lasts two minutes. Once trades are made, dice are rolled that hit the value of the shares for each player – bringing catastrophe and joy. Simple and energy-filled, cramming the smallest room with ten friends or more simply is the only way to play. 

2. Cosmic Encounter (2008)

I mean…is there no situation where Cosmic isn’t perfect? Built around simple mechanics and swingy as anything, the madness of Cosmic is only improved by adding other players to the mix. And with a range of expansions that add up to eight players to the game, letting the unstoppable Virus and gargantuan Leviathan mix it up with the self-sabotaging Spiff. While table space may be an issue at larger counts, the game’s coaster and counter design let even the biggest numbers cram around the board. Add in the ability to break the game down into teams and complicate, simplify, or tweak the rules as needed and you have a game you can easily play every Friday for the rest of your life and never get bored.

1. Codenames (2015)

Two opposing teams of spies, one board filled with secret agents, and a single word to identify your own spies, or…you get laughed out of the room? Developed by the genius of Vlaada Chvatil, Codenames is the party game to end all party games, where a guesser from each team is tasked with identifying which codenames (one-word clues) belong to your friendly agents. Cue the most tense game of card selection in the world as your team struggles to see what “spaghetti” has to do with any of the names you see in front of you. Easy to pick up, effortless to teach, and a joy from start to finish. Gather everyone you know and play it today.

What games do you play as a group? Share it in the comments below 🙂