Top 8 Best Party Games and Board Games

Looking for the best board game, party game, or family game that will have everyone in the room smiling and laughing? Here are the best party games that have proven to be wonderful crowd pleasers at family gatherings, birthday parties, holiday parties, social events with coworkers, or just a regular Friday night get-together with friends or family.

1: Scattergories - Scattergories is one of the best party games for adults or kids over 12. Each player has a card with a list of categories such as "girl's name" or "TV sitcom". A random letter from the alphabet is selected with the roll of a dice (let's say "F"), and each player has a certain amount of time to write down an item from each category that starts with the letter "F". You might write "Fran" and "Friends" for the girl's name and the TV sitcom, but you only get points for unique answers (if another player writes the same answer, neither of you get any points), so you would probably try to think of more unusual answers like "Felicia" and "Frasier". With all players trying to think of unique items for each Scattergories category, you end up with a lot of wild and hilarious answers, making it a very popular and entertaining party game.

2: Taboo - Taboo is a wildly popular party game. Players draw cards from the Taboo deck that each contain one key word or phrase (let's say "Beatles") and a list of related words (like "band, music, British, Ringo, and Yellow Submarine"). Each player has a fixed amount of time to get his or her team to guess the key word on each card without using any of the related words as hints. For example, the player might say "Can't buy me love" or "John Lennon" as clues. However, if the player accidentally gives the hint "British group", his team would lose points because he used one of the restricted words on the card. It's most fun when playing with people who know each other well because the clues become very personalized like "your favorite group" or "Mom saw them in concert". That's what makes it one of the best party games for a gathering or friends or family.

3: Guesstures - Guesstures is a party game similar to charades but with a time limit. When it is your turn, you draw four cards from the deck, each containing a key word or phrase, and place them in slots on the Guesstures stand. After starting the timer, you have a fixed amount of time to use your charades skills to get your team to guess the key word on each card before they disappear into the slots one by one. The combination of hilarious gestures, silly guesses from your team, and the race against the clock result in a rowdy and fun party game with lots of laughter and movement. For those who are less confident in their charades skills, do not fear. Each card has different levels of key words so that you can choose key words that are easier and earn fewer points or go for harder ones to earn your team more points.

4: Pictionary - Pictionary is one of the best party games of all time for both kids and adults. A key word is randomly selected from the Pictionary deck, and a player from each team goes to the board and tries to draw a picture that will help his his or her team guess the key word or phrase. What makes it a rowdy and fun party game is that most people cannot draw well, so the teams are simultaneously trying to figure out what the drawings are supposed to be and laughing at their own silly guesses. It's always a hit as a party game or a family game for all adults and kids of all ages.

5: Password - Password is the best game that can be played anytime, anywhere. You need nothing but the stack of Password cards. Each card contains a key word or phrase that the player must get his or her partner to guess. However, the player can only give a single word clue each time. After each single word clue, the player's partner can only guess a single word (or single phrase) answer. You get more points if you can get your partner to guess the word using fewer single word clues. For example, if the key word is "football", the player might say "sport", after which his partner might guess "baseball." Then, as his second clue, the player might say "touchdown", after which his partner will probably be able to guess that the word is "football". The player can only give up to 4 clues before having to give up on that card and move on to the next card, so it can be tough if the key word is difficult to describe. It's a great game for road trips or for familes to play in the car or at home. It's also one of the best games for parties with coworkers.

6: Catch Phrase - Catch Phrase is a fun party game that is like a cross between Taboo and Hot Potato. Each player giving clues must hold an electronic disc on which the key word or phrase is displayed, and there are no restricted words as in Taboo. You are also allowed to use gestures as hints. Unlike Taboo, your team does not have an unlimited number of guesses to guess the key word or phrase. The team discusses amongst themselves and then gives one guess. All of this is under time pressure, however, because there is a timer counting down on the electronic disc that is passed between teams, and the team that is not holding the disc when time runs out gets a point. It's one of the best games for large groups.

7: Cranium - Cranium is a classic party game that is essentially a mixture of Trivial Pursuit, Charades, and Pictionary. You can imagine why the combination of the three would make an intense and fun party game or family game. Cranium tends to be geared towards adults because of the trivia questions, but families with older kids will really enjoy it. As far as trivia goes, it is certainly one of the best party games around.

8: Buzzword - Buzzword is another fun and energizing word-guessing party game for groups of friends or family. Each team has a certain amount of time to guess ten phrases that all contain the same buzzword. If the "buzzword" is "ship", you might give your team the clue "The USS Missouri is a..." in order for them to guess "battleship". For the next clue, you might say "Amazon offers free..." in order for them to guess "shipping". This is a fun game for parties and for families, even those with younger kids. It's one of the best party games for large groups because everyone can shout out answers.