Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to 2020. Better late than never, hey? Now we’re a couple of months into the new year, let's talk games!

I know there are many of you looking to repair some relationships after one too many wins during the festive period, so I've picked some fun board games and card games you can enjoy with family. Just remember to give them a chance to win this time. These games are all fast fun affairs so you can easily add some variety to your games night. Or replay a particular favourite. They are also all straightforward to learn, which makes them ideal for all comers, even those unfamiliar with such things. 

So without further ado, here we go:!

Fluxx:

The concept of Fluxx is excellent; the rules of the game are continually changing or 'in Flux'. You never quite know who'll win until they claim victory out of the blue! The victory conditions ALWAYS revolve around having particular cards (or Keepers) on the table in front of you at any given time to meet the Goal. Problem is, the 'Goal' card is just one of many that will change as the game goes on.   

The mechanics behind the game are simple. Start with a hand, and draw a card from the deck, add it to your hand, and finally, play a card. The card that you play can change everything, though. You can even choose to play a new rule card which means you play THREE CARDS or even your entire hand or pick up four cards.

In the Monty Python set, for example, there’s a rule that involves singing! However, this can be overridden by the next player on their turn — putting the rules 'in Flux'.  In changing the rule on their go, they control what action you have to take to complete yours. You could potentially have to pick up more cards or even reset the rules to basic, putting all your hard work to waste! 

There are also 'Surprise' cards (which you can play at any time) and 'Creepers' that attach to your Keepers and stop them from working. No two games of Fluxx ever play the same. Despite all the mayhem, it won't take you longer than half an hour to get through a game, and it's one of my go-to's when I'm after something super easy to bring to the table for a quick bit of fun.  

But the VERY best thing about Fluxx is the sheer amount of versions there are. Barely scratching the surface, to name a few; Zombie Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Firefly Fluxx (Shiny!), Pirate Fluxx, Star Trek Fluxx (even going so far as to cover different series), Monster Fluxx, and of course, Monty Python Fluxx. With each expertly themed and subtly different, it's hard not to overindulge - I own six different versions myself! 

Ticket to Ride

There was no way I could construct this list without including this board game. Winner of more game awards than I've had hot dinners, Ticket to Ride by Alan Moon, is a 15-Year-Old stone-cold classic. Just look at the list of awards it has won! 

Now granted, when described, the concept of this game doesn't sound all that enthralling; you build train lines to connect cities and score points. The game is about trains you see.

Most people, those who don't spend their days on bridges in anoraks and binoculars, probably won't find a game about trains all that interesting. Right? Well, I'm 'most people', and I find Ticket to Ride so much more fun than watching some clapped out diesel locomotives chundering along.

To win this game, you have to have the most points at the end of the game. The game ends as soon as a player runs out of trains.

How do you earn points? Simple. You claim routes. The longer the route, the more points you get. You also get bonus points for the longest overall train line. Coloured routes of different lengths define what you're able to construct. If you don't have the matching colour cards, (you can blind draw two cards or take one of a face-up selection) you can't claim the route. Then, there are secret routes (usually ambitiously long) drawn at the start of the game that you are tasked to claim as well, without the other players realising and thwarting your attempts to claim those bonus points. It's a LOT of fun - I'd say one of the most enjoyable drafting games I've played.

And of course, there are multitudinous expansions and variants you can pick up, some of which are a standalone experience and some of which add various locations to proceedings (the original game features the United States).

I am rather looking forward to getting my hands on the Ticket to Ride Japan expansion, with its sleek bullet trains replacing the humdrum steam locomotives, and that's because I like Japan, not Trains!

So, Ticket to Ride comes highly recommended from me. Known as THE gateway game, I bought a copy for my parents to get them into board games, and it worked a treat. It's an easy game to pick up and learn, and it's always enjoyable to play, especially with family, in fact, it’s just the ‘ticket’.

King of Tokyo

How does a game about giant monsters rampaging all over a city sound? Another winner of multiple gaming awards, King of Tokyo is one of those board games that has endured and endured. It's the perfect game if you need to vent or express yourself through mindless yet harmless destruction.

Oh, and the chap who designed this game also created a very popular card game, one you might have heard of, called Magic: The Gathering.

So it’s a Monster name (sorry) making a Monster game (not sorry).

There is a more involved version of this game available (King of New York) for those that require more depth, but honestly, with King of Tokyo, I think because he got it so right the first time around they didn't need to mess with the formula. 

And that formula? Well, it's simple, a selection of well known yet copyright-friendly generic monsters, some upgrade cards, and some dice. You roll your dice, rerolling what you want to (up to two times) before arriving at your final result. Then, based upon your die roll, you either attack, gain health, gain energy, or if you roll three or more of one number result, gain some points. You also score points for being the King of Tokyo and occupying the city. Watch out though, if you are King, everyone's attacks will damage you and vice versa! If there are many players, that's a lot of damage to take in one round.

Will you be able to hang on to the city long enough to rack up the twenty points you need and claim victory as King? You can use energy to buy upgrade cards to increase your chances, but if you lose all your health, you're out of the game, so you need to judge carefully.

 Whether you play to the points required to win or until the last monster is standing, King of Tokyo is a great game to play with family - it's fun for all ages, and you can play a full game in around thirty minutes. 

The art style and theme are spot-on too. It's rare for owners of this game to only play once after it hits the tabletop (which often happens with board games and card games) as it's perfect for repeat play and never really gets old. If things start going stale, again, like the other games I've recommended, there are plenty of add-on monster packs to liven things up. That's if you want something beyond what comes in the core box, of course. With every monster add-on, a new evolution mechanic gets introduced too, giving even more reason to expand your core game if the time comes.

Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island is just one of three 'Forbidden' games out there. The other two being Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky. Of the trio, Forbidden Island is by far the most user-friendly and easy to pick up. The game is based around one simple premise; you're trapped on an island that is slowly sinking, get the treasures and escape! 

In this board game, tiles make-up the island, and each tile features an area of the island. On every turn, you take three actions, such as moving to another location or shoring up a tile (flipping it from flooded to unflooded), alongside drawing a card from the "Treasure Deck" which you need to claim the treasure and the "Location Deck" which have island locations on them. 

The first time a location gets drawn, the associated tile gets flipped over to the flooded side. Then if the same location card gets drawn a second time, you remove the tile for that location from the tabletop. Each location appears only once in the deck, and even though that doesn't sound so bad, seeded in the Treasure Deck are cards that cause flooded locations to be returned to the Location Deck. Anyone who has played Pandemic - coincidentally a game also by the same designer, Matt Leacock - will be familiar with this mechanic and the tension that it can cause!

The problem is, if you lose too many tiles, you will lose the game. Each of the treasures can be found in two locations only, and if they both sink, you're never going to win. If the Helipad sinks, it's game over! 

You see, with Matt Leacock's games, there are many ways to lose and only one to win: get the four treasures, get all the players to the Helipad and escape the island. This board game relies on luck as much as it does player strategy - you can often lose the game with a bad draw of cards. However, you never feel unduly punished by the game, and the different roles you can play as, each with their own special rules, again mitigate the impact. If you are smart with your actions, you have a good chance of keeping your head above the water.

It's one of those games that once again, is super easy to bring to the table and quick to play (around half an hour in total) so don't be surprised if you end up paying more than once in a session as well, especially if the Forbidden Island beats you the first time!

Exploding Kittens:

 Disclaimer: No baby cats will ever be injured when playing this game (not even in the NSFW version). All implied feline related violence is creatively portrayed in delightful character art and often humourous card names, including the Titular Exploding Kitten. This card is BAD news. Thankfully, kitten 'defuse' cards exist in the deck, which is good news. Trust me.

Exploding Kittens is a game that everyone should have in their collection. It's always a riot and fun, and endlessly replayable with each game taking around 15 minutes to play.

The devious thing is that the Exploding Kitten card goes BACK into the deck. Its precise location is chosen by the player who had (or didn't) the defuse card, opening up the opportunity to play fiendish mind games and entrap opponents. Return the Exploding Kitten to the deck, three cards deep or even the next card, so you're not the only one potentially going out with a bang! 

Although, as the rest of a deck (and therefore players hand) is full of cards that can skip turns, make a player take two cards and so on, nothing is for certain. Your trap could fall flat. Cue mind games as you desperately try NOT to be the player to get the Exploding Kitten card after all defuse cards have been used. How do you win the game? Simple, be the last one standing.

Note, if you're considering the NFSW version of Exploding Kittens, just know - I had a whale of time choosing cards to photograph to show in this family-friendly blog!

If you’re interested in this game, you can find the core set, various expansions and more, here.

So that's five fun family games you can play without falling out with the family, and they won't take hours on end. Ticket to Ride is the longest of the recommendations, and that only takes around 90 minutes, after you're fully 'trained' in how-to-play (sorry - last one I promise).

I have some more great examples in mind, so let me know what you think and if you'd like a follow-up article.