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Twas the month before Christmas and something something here are the best small games to fill your Christmas stocking this Christmas. Christmas. They’re compact, simple to play, and, most importantly, good. Here are Zatu’s top five stocking fillers, in no discernible order whatsoever:
Game of Phones
The first of our stocking fillers is a party card game (of phones), that pits players’ smartphones against one another. A deck of instructions like ‘Open up photos, close your eyes and pick a random picture’ or ‘Play the first song on shuffle’ have your smartphone-based social skills put head-to-head for a judge (who changes each round).
First to win ten rounds reigns victorious. Perfect for parties or family gatherings.
Card Wars
Based on the game featured in the Adventure Time episode of the same name, Card Wars has players take on the roles (and decks) of various characters in a game of creatures, terrain and flooping.
There are a wide array of starter sets, depending on which characters are your favourites. That in mind, we recommend the Lemongrab vs Gunter set so that you can pit citrus against aptenodytes until time ceases.
Love Letter
A game about pouring out your soul on paper, rather than a creature that drains you of abstract intimate sensations. In Love Letter, players compete to get their message of undying affection to a princess in a tower as quickly as possible.
To do so, they must rely on a series of messengers (from clowns to soldiers to priests) in a kind of kingdom-wide romantic relay. It’s a fast-paced card game in which players try to knock opponents out. Of the game, not consciousness.
Lost Legacy: The Starship
A kind of spiritual successor to Love Letter, only with space and no love. Players draw one card and play one card each turn until they reach the end of the deck. Their aim is to find the eponymous starship, and cards each have special effects that aid you in that quest.
It’s a delicate balancing act between searching and eliminating other searchers.
Summoner Wars: Phoenix Elves vs Tundra Orcs
This Summoner Wars starter set improves upon elves and orcs by making them phoenix and tundra respectively. The tundra orcs have systematically cooled down the phoenix elves’ ‘Summerlands’, which are now presumably just called ‘lands’, and now the elves want to take back what’s theirs.
Another from the hugely popular Summoner Wars card game series, this set comes with two full faction decks, ready to play. Choose a side, and outwit and out-strategise your opponent by playing units and spells onto the central battlefield in a mighty battle between nippy and toasty.
So there you have it. More than enough stocking fillers to daintily stuff your garters. Keep your peepers wide over the coming weeks for more Christmas articles.