Language Games You Wanted For Christmas

Even though you're probably hungover, bloated or both, there are a few things you probably wish you had done differently over the holidays. We have a few of the games you wish you had played rather than eating that extra piece of turkey...

Articulate

When it doesn't descend into an argument, this is a great game. Players move around the board based on the number of words their partner can guess in a given time period. They must describe the words without saying a part of the word or spelling the word. A great way to test your linguistic capabilities.

Scrabble

The original language board game. Scrabble tests your abilities with letters and lexicon. Now with the addition of 2-letter words, people can get annoyed by your use of za and qi.

Bananagrams

A bit like Scrabble, but not exactly the same. In Bananagrams you have to make words using all the tiles you have in a form similar to a crossword. Every time a player has used all their tiles everyone takes an extra tile. The player who finishes when there are no spare tiles left is declared the winner. Humorous banana puns included.

Hangman

You should know this game. You know how many letters are in the word. You guess a letter. Every time you get it wrong you lose a "life" and error by error you build the gallows to hang yourself. Of course there are plastic versions of this game but it can be played with a paper and pen.

Boggle

Dice with letters? Boggle is another game involving anagrams. Shake up the dice and see how many words you can find in a given time period. The longer the better.

Pass The Bomb

How are you with suffixes, prefixes or just words in general? In Pass the Bomb you are given a combination of letters that must be in either the beginning, the end or in any part of a word. Start the bomb and you can only pass it on once you've thought of a word. If the bomb blows up in your hands... unlucky.

Crosswords

Maybe your patience was stretched thin by your family. If so, crosswords are the ultimate solo sport. Sit down, relax, grab a pen and train your brain with general knowledge combined with word placement.

Scattergories

You're given a list of 12 categories and a starting letter. A timer is started for 3 minutes, and you have to come up with a word that starts with the chosen letter that fits in each category. You don't get any points if someone has the same word as you, so you better come up with creative answers that nobody else has thought of if you want to win!

Word-search

Probably easier than the other options but a classic for school-kids. A grid of letters with words hidden somewhere in them. Simple.

Word Ladder/Word Golf

Start with one word. Answer a question. The answer to the next question will be almost identical to the previous, except one letter has changed. CART becomes DART becomes MART becomes MARK. Get it? Good.

Now get back to recovering from the Yuletide excess.