Best Christmas and Winter Board Games for Families

Boop the Halls

This game will break your adorable meeter for sure! Boop the Halls takes the fan favorite two player game Boop and adds a healthy dose of Christmas Spirit! Now you have a chance to be a Naughty Kitty and boop your opponents ornaments right off the four tiered game board (aka tree) to win! Or line up three cats if you want to be Nice.

Santa’s Workshop

A lovely introductory worker placement game all about helping Santa get ready for Christmas. Players play as elves and help make toys, tend reindeer, and keep the workshop cheer levels high.

Rifle Paper Co Nutcracker Playing Card Set

You’ll love playing your favorite card games on this *stunning* set of Nutcracker playing cards. The art feels instantly nostalgic; the cards will soon be filled with all the memories you make playing games under the Christmas tree lights.

Jewels for the Emperor Penguin

A winter themed game with adorable penguins and surprising strategy! Jewels for the Emperor Penguin is a cozy, winter-themed game where penguins race to collect sparkling gems on icy slopes. It’s quick to play, easy to learn, and perfect for family nights when you want something festive and fun.

Flip 7 Grinch Edition

This Grinch‑spun version of Flip 7 turns card‑flipping into holiday mischief. You’ll bank your points… until someone dares to flip seven in a row and steals the spotlight (and maybe some Who‑ville cheer). Perfect for family game night when you want something fast, light, and a little cheeky under the mistletoe.

Nunatak: Temple of Ice

Nunatak: Temple of Ice drops you into a snowy, wintry world where every move counts. You’re racing to build the tallest ice temple before the frost closes in. Quick to learn and full of strategy, it’s perfect for an icy themed game during the cold winter months.

Winter

Perhaps a bit on the nose, but hey, it’s winter, why not play Winter? In this two player game, you’re maneuvering pieces across a snowy landscape, trying to outsmart your opponent with each move. It’s perfect for a quick, wintry game night when you want something simple, clever, and cozy.

Holly Jolly

I absolutely love this little cutie. You’ll string the tree with lights and tinsel. Use simple addition to know which ornaments you can select, and then work to get high scoring sets of ornaments and the best presents from under the tree.

Christmas Lights – A Card Game

The most fun way to untangle the Christmas lights! You’ll try to untangle and replace broken bulbs by swapping, trading, and completing your sets of lights first. This also comes with 12 bonus games so you can adjust to fit the ages of your players and use the cards in a variety of fun ways!

Cover Your Cookies

The delicious edition of Cover Your Assets you didn’t know you needed! Cover Your Assets is one of our favorite family games and now in Cover Your Cookies you’ll be swapping cookies and protecting your best batches. It’s the perfect game for families and the Cover Your Assets theme our kids unanimously declare their favorite.

Ticket to Ride — Nordic Countries

Maybe you just want a winter themed game? Now is the perfect time to pick up Nordic Countries! We love the tight board that’s designed for 2-3 players, making the game much more competitive for smaller groups.

Ghosts of Christmas

The first of three games on this list themed around Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This one is a trick-taker where players bid on how many tricks they will win while adding cards to the past, present, and future. We love a trick taking game and can’t wait to add this one to our Christmas stash.

12 Days

Inspired by the 12 days of Christmas song, players give gifts over 12 rounds in this trick-taking game. The game is simple to learn and fast to play you’ll be done before the you can sing about the 12 lords a leaping.

The Kringle Caper -Mini Escape Room Game

This 18-card escape room game is a fun way to spend a night as a family. It takes about 60 minutes to solve it and is nondestructable, so once you are done, you can gift it at your next white elephant exchange.

Gudetama Holiday Edition:

This cutie trick taking game is one you’re going to want to bring to your holiday gatherings! You don’t have to win every trick, you just can’t lose the last trick. It’s all about hand management! Plays quick and supports up to 7 players, this one works really well for players both young and old! Plus the Christmas edition is too perfect! Imagine multiple generations playing this together around the table!

Santa Cookie Elf Candy Snowman

It is all the same frantic fun as Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza but with added holiday hijinks as specialty cards will have you making antlers and doing your best little drummer boy impression. We love how this game plays so well across generations.

Something Wild! Marvel – Holiday Baby Groot

Something Wild! is a simple set collection card game that mixes up the gameplay with unique power. There are tons of different themed versions available, but we love the Holiday Baby Groot figure in this set. Something Wild is one our kids can frequently be found playing on their own in the mornings.

Animal Upon Animal – A Christmas Stacking Game

There is a Christmas-themed version of our favorite family stacking game. Christmas trees, sleds, reindeer, and more have replaced the classic animals. A fun seasonal game that can double as an advent calendar as each day you attempt to add a new wooden piece onto the mountain.

Patchwork Christmas Edition

This cutie Christmas spin on one of our favorite two player games is definitely one to put on your radar! It comes with a cookie cutter too to help make your cookie decorating a little more fun!

Super-Skill Pinball Holiday Special

Super-Skill Pinball is an excellent roll-and-write game that does a fantastic job of simulating the pinball experience. This holiday special adds three new tables to play themed around classic Christmas movies. This is a stand-alone game so you do not need the original game to get in on the holiday cheer. In fact, you can try a print-n-play Christmas table for free by downloading the sheets and rules here

Chip ‘n’ Dale Christmas Treasure

This quick card game is part memory, part push-your-luck as you collect items from the Christmas tree while avoiding Pluto. This game paired with watching the classic 1952 short film Pluto’s Christmas Tree makes for the perfect holiday pairing, just don’t forget the hot cocoa and the popcorn.

Grinch Grow Your Heart! Card Game

Players take turns playing as the Grinch and The Who’s throughout the game. You’re working to collect and score set collections while the Grinch can steal from your discard piles. The perfect game to play before watching a Christmas classic!

Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game

A cooperative game designed to play with kids age 4 and up, you are building simple puzzles. The game difficulty can be adjusted to make it more challenging as you bring it out each holiday season to enjoy with your growing young gamers.

This one is harder to find, so if you see it at a thrift store or local game store, don’t pass it by!

Elf Snowball Showdown

Throw sets of snowball cards at players; dodge to avoid them. The last elf standing wins! The perfect game to play before watching the movie together!

The Muppet Christmas Carol – Spirit of Giving Game

You’re working to collect sets to score points, but in the spirit of giving, if you complete another players’ set you’ll be rewarded too!