[UPDATE: December 2014. In keeping with the times, we’ve added a couple more board games for adults that you might enjoy.]
Remember the charge you got as a child from playing Candyland and Pop-O-Matic? Meanwhile your parents played that boring old Trivial Pursuit? Well, children, you’re now the parents, but that doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to the same box of crap that they did. What follows are our picks for the 10 Best Board Games For Adults. Some are naughty. Some are nice. But most will hold your attention and bring some fun to your table this holiday season.
SEXXXtions – The Hilarious NEW Adult Party Game that turns TMI into Too Much Fun!
Take TMI to a totally different level that you’ll have a hilarious time with your friends any time of the year. Made by Hot Toys, Inc., this game is good for 5 to 8 people and will only set you back less than 50 bucks! Get it from Amazon.
I’ve Never Board Game Adult Version
Dubbed the “outrageous game of truth”, this version of “I’ve Never” is geared towards those of legal age. You know that means a little more fun, a little shock, and little drinking. You can get it from Amazon.
Brian Hersch designed Taboo, a party word game where players take turns describing a word or phrase from a card without using five additional words or phrases also on the card. It’s up to the player’s partner to figure things out and come up with the word being described. While this game isn’t exactly “taboo” for children, it does require a special level of intelligence before you actually enjoy it.
Battle of the Sexes
Battle of the Sexes was first published in 1997, and it pits men versus women in a no-holds-barred game of knowledge to determine once and for all who the superior sex actually is. As with most board games, the object is to move your piece from one end to the other. Along the way, you will answer questions about the opposite sex to test your knowledge and determine placement.
Rockstar Rehab
Rockstar Rehab is one of the first games on this list that isn’t at all appropriate for children. While the others had qualities that might’ve seemed appropriate for children of a higher intelligence level, this is just pure debauchery. With a simple roll of the dice, you can live the life of a rock star, bad decisions and all. This includes going to exclusive nightclubs, VIP house parties, and even ending up in jail. Put the kids away, and have a good time.
Any game that is especially recommended for bachelorette parties is probably not a good idea to introduce to your children. Such is the case with What? Girls Night Edition, a classic and naughty twist on an old favorite. The object: answer three types of questions consisting of General, fill-in-the-blank, and “sticky situation.” Girls can be as honest (or not honest) as they want, but the goal is to fool your friends so they can’t guess the answer.
NFL Rush Zone
This option may be just as good for buying a preteen or teen child as a Christmas or birthday present, but make no mistake: guys can have a lot of fun with this, too, if they can put down the Xbox controller long enough to break out the board game. Using dice, you’ll formulate scoring drives with each roll, all the while fighting off the defense, who is out for blood (and turnovers). Perfect game for playoff season!
Nookii Confidential
Okay, this one’s a bit naughty, so you’d better put the kids to bed again. Nookii Confidential assigns players with a series of sensual tasks that will go a long way in helping you to determine whether you or your partner are the ultimate spymaster or mistress. You’ll use coded messages, secret instructions, and imaginative maneuvers as part of the gameplay. Are you Double O Heaven or The Man With The Golden Bum. Either way, we don’t want to know.
Size Matters
Designed by Larry Bolsamo low and Sandra Bergeson and released in 2006, Size Matters is a fun, suggestive, but not too over-the-top adult board game in which you and the rest of the players determine the “longest, fattest, sickest, and generally biggest things in life,” according to publisher TDC Games, Inc. While this may capture the dirty part of your imagination, don’t get too carried away. After all, it is for ages 13 and up.
American Throttle: The Game
This one dates back to 2003, making this Christmas season the 10-year anniversary of a classic for the 21-and-up crowd. (Or anyone who loves biker culture.) In American Throttle, designers Steve Schader and David Veal have created a game that allows you to have drinks, fun, and laughs, while sharing stories of Sturgis, Daytona, or any other rally you may have been to. According to the publisher, you can “belch a name, take a swig of your drink, tell a joke, name that song, guess who was in that biker movie, or even give unwanted advice.” It’s 15 motorcycle pieces, a deck of poker cards, and a whole lot of bad behavior away from being the best fun you’ve ever had with a board game.
If you plan on playing Till Death Do Us Part, then you’d better not make any other plans for the evening. This one will take you around four hours to play in its purest form. However, when you consider that it accommodates 8 to 10 players and is probably the most complex, story-rich game on our list, you’ll begin to see its virtues. This is for groups of friends who want to plan a murder mystery weekend (without the actual murder, of course). Considering that everyone has a role in the fun, the game will likely be over before you want it to be.
Okay, this one may not exactly be a board game in the strictest sense of the word, but you will enjoy it in the same manner and it certainly delivers on the naughtiness as you and your friends turn it into the raunchiest, most politically incorrect game to ever dust your shelves. Best of all, there is a free version you can download online if you don’t mind putting in the legwork necessary to create your own cards. The object: one player asks a question with their black card and the other players answer with their funniest white. No limits, no decency — how’s that for adult?
Which of these games do you think is the most adult-appropriate, and which ones did we leave off our list? Share your thoughts below!