Penguins Huddle Up
Ages 6+, 2-4 players
Penguins need to huddle up to keep warm – but right now they are scattered across the ice. In this sweet family game, players must race to re-united their groups of penguins while blocking their opponents from trying to do the same.
(£24.99, smarttoysandgames.co.uk)
Beat the Parents
Ages 8+, 2-4 players
Who should really be running the household? This trivia game will settle it once and for all. Parents answer questions about children’s stuff, while kids answer questions parents should know – all while encountering other unexpected challenges as they move along the board.
(£14.99, Smyths)
Marvel Race Home
Ages 6+, 2-4 players
Whether it’s Spiderman or Thanos, children get to live as their favourite Marvel Avengers characters and use their 3D playing pieces to race across the board. Fastest to get back to the Star Lab wins.
(£26.99, hmv.com)
Incohearent
Ages 17+, 2-20 players
From the makers of the hit game What Do You Meme?, players must decipher words which sound like gibberish. Competing against others as well as the timer, Incohearent is great fun and guaranteed to make people laugh.
(£21.99, Amazon, Smyths, Waterstones)
Mind Meld
Ages 10+, two or more players
Inspired by the hugely popular TikTok trend, Mind Meld comes with a simple yet addictive challenge: compete against your friends to think of matching words based on the prompt cards.
(£12.99, Argos, Amazon, Sainsbury’s)
Crack List
Ages 8+, 2-8 players
Based on the premise of a simple game of Categories, Crack List provides endless entertainment. The object of the game is to get rid of your cards by listing as many in the category as you can – just hope no one picks up an “action” card while you are at it, which turns the whole thing upside down…
(£20, Waterstones, amazon.co.uk and all good Hobby Stores)
Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel Game
Ages 10+, two or more players
The comedian’s TV game show is just as fun when played as a board game. Spin the wheel, answer the set of seven questions, and hope that you don’t get dizzy with nerves when you are faced with one final quizzing.
(£27.99, John Lewis, Amazon)
This Side Up
Ages 8+, one or more players
A highly entertaining interactive game, This Side Up gets players to listen to voice commands in order to keep the parcel facing the right way up. As the instructions get faster, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep up and avoid dropping the box and “breaking” the contents…
(£22.99, Smyths, Argos)
John Adams Smash Down Trivia Game
Ages 8+, three or more players
Who knew a trivia game could be so high-octane? Smash Down sees a question master reading out a question from a card, while the players must race to locate the answer that is hidden somewhere on the double-sided game boards. The first person to slam their finger pointer in the correct place wins the card.
(£14.99, John Lewis)
Lost 4 Words
Ages 7+, 2-4 players
A fast-paced family game, Lost 4 Words requires players to find the single word which can be added to the front or end of each of the four words on a card. The first player or team to identify the connecting word on 15 different cards and reach the finish line on the scoreboard wins.
(£19.99, happypuzzle.co.uk)
League of the Lexicon
Ages 10+, 2-6 players
One for the lovers of language and linguistics, League of the Lexicon is a beautifully designed game which tests players on everything from definitions to etymology. It comes with 2,000 questions, five question categories and two levels of difficulty, so can provide hours of joy for linguaphiles.
(£35, Waterstones)
Camp Bestival Monopoly
Ages 10+, 2-8 players
A glorious twist on Monopoly, Monopoly Camp Bestival allows players to buy Lulworth Castle or Weston Park, claim rent on The Big Top and park up at the Dingly Dell. This is a lovely limited edition run of the the iconic game.
(£41, campbestival.net)