board games for 8 people over xmas

[JeditOjanen]

Don't worry, people will usually want to play more than once. People are always thinking "I'll catch that lying liar next time he lies" after the first game. And of course there are all the different minor roles to explore - the Masons who each know the other started as a Villager, the Hunter who takes whoever he voted for with him if he's lynched, the Insomniac who was up all night so knows what card she's now holding, and the Drunk who was so out of it that all he knows is that he doesn't have the card he started with.

 

[Rroff]

I remember one Christmas we played Munchkin with 8 players but IIRC you need more than one set and it takes a fair bit of adaption especially so people don't get bored. With 6 players if you don't take it too seriously it can be quite a laugh. With more than 6 best off with games you can split into smaller teams.

 

[Russinating]

We just bought Don't Get Got, it 'supports' up to 8 players but you could easily play with more, the extra players just wouldn't have a pouch for their cards but it wouldn't change the game at all.

Bit different since the game just starts but carries on in the background throughout the day whereby you have to complete missions, such as getting another player to scratch your back, do a dance, or changing your ringtone and getting someone to comment without instigating. Me and my OH have just been playing in the background the last couple of days and we all played it at work on the last day and it's quite fun.

 

[unwashed potato!]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had heard of that game and decided to make my own version that plays out throughout the day and can be tailored to who's coming. I didn't realise the official don't get got also has missions to do throughout the day.

That was the plan anyway until Xmas got cancelled

If we manage to reschedule will be giving my home made version a try and maybe buy the game for another time.

 

[JeditOjanen]

If you're willing to do home made, it's quite easy to make up a copy of Dead Last, a game for 6-12 players. Players are participants in a tontine, an investment operation where the last surviving member cashes out. Of course this is illegal, because people inevitably start killing off the other members so that they will be last.

Players are given a set of cards: one vote card for each other player in the game, plus an Ambush card. There is also a deck of cards representing bags of money worth 3-5 points each (26x3, 43x4, 11x5), of which four are placed face down in the centre each round.

Players simultaneously and secretly select a card to play. Once everyone has chosen, the cards are revealed and players are eliminated from the game as follows:

• All players with the most votes are eliminated.
• If you have the most votes but played Ambush, you are not eliminated but instead choose a player who voted for you and eliminate them.
• If you didn't vote for a player with the most votes or successfully Ambush, you are eliminated.

The remaining players then play again until fewer than three players are left. Then the round ends and the four hidden money cards in the centre of the table are split:

• If one player survives, he gets all four bags of money.
• If nobody survives (because everyone voted for a different person) then everyone who wasn't part of the final vote gets one card from the deck.
• If two players survive there is a final showdown. Each player is given three cards - Share, Steal and Grab - and plays one in secret as before. Anyone who chooses Grab gets to take one bag, but his opponent gets the rest (unless he also Grabbed). If both players choose Share then they get two bags each. If one person chooses Steal and the other choose Share, then the Stealer gets all the bags. But if both players Steal, they get nothing and everyone who wasn't in the showdown gets a bag from the deck.

Play rounds until one or more players have 25 points (24 with 10+ players). The players with the most points win.

I made up a copy myself a few years ago and it was well received. It's fast moving, stabby fun.