This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at JCU chapter.
One of the most fun things to do with your friends is playing board and card games. Whether I’m at home with my family or at school with my friends, there’s always a good round of Uno to be had. Put on some music, pull out the snacks and settle in with one of these games for maximum fun!
- Jenga- Jenga actually stresses me out kind of a lot, but I admit I always have fun when I play. Even more fun is when you have a set of “personalized Jenga,” where each block has a question, game, or rule on it. Obeying the instructions on the block you pull out can make the game easier or harder, but always more fun!
- Mafia- All you need for this game is a deck of cards. Though I’ve seen it played a lot of different ways, the gist of it is that someone (or multiple someones) in your group are the “mafia” or killers, taking out townspeople one by one. It’s everyone else’s job to figure out who the killers are, sometimes with the help of a sheriff, a nurse, or other town characters. This is particularly fun to play with people you don’t know as well–guessing people’s roles when you don’t know their personalities is even trickier.
- Telestrations- Remember telephone, where you whisper something in somebody’s ear and you have to go all the way around the circle then see if you can figure out the original phrase? Telestrations is like that, except you draw the phrases and have to guess based on the drawings. This game is particularly fun in my household because we’re all pretty bad artists. You send your booklet around, drawing and guessing until you reach the end and everyone has to reveal what they had, and believe me, hilarity ensues.
- Cards Against Humanity/Apples to Apples- Depending on whether you want the adult version or the kid-friendly version, these games have the same idea. Change up the group you’re playing with to get some crazy new answers and learn all about your friends’ personalities. Will they reward an ironic answer or a serious one? Put down your best guess and see if you were right.
- Monopoly- Nothing ends a good friendship like Monopoly. Kidding–mostly. There’s tons of different versions of Monopoly out there, electronic versions, versions based off sports teams and movie franchises, with something for everyone. But the basic rules are always the same, and people take it seriously. But it’s really a lot of fun!
Some of my best memories both in college and growing up have been made sitting around a board game or deck of cards. So next time you’re looking for something to do with your friends, dust off that stack of board games in your closet and pull up some chairs. You’ll be laughing in no time.