If you’re looking for the best board games for large groups, you’re in the right place. These group board games work well for big groups because they’re easy to learn, good for a variety of ages, and keep everyone involved throughout the game!
I’ve hosted a lot of parties and family game nights (my entire family lives within 20 minutes of us) and have over 400 board games at our house. These are the ones we turn to over and over again when a big group of us wants to play a game together!
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Great Board Games for Groups
Every year since I can remember my dad has given me a board game for Christmas and often times my birthday. I’m kind of a board game addict, okay maybe just a game in general addict since I built an entire business around party games.
I’ve already shared my favorite game night board games, my favorite family card games, and even my favorite board games for kids. But I’ve had so many people ask me on Instagram for large group board games, that I finally got around to writing down my favorites.
Pick the ones you think sound the most fun, skip the others until later, and bookmark this page because I’m constantly updating it as I find new games we love!
And I’ll apologize now, this list does NOT include Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity. I personally hate Apples to Apples, mostly because it was the game we played every single game night for months on end. I just don’t love the put down a card and hope someone subjectively chooses yours game type.
What kind of games are on the list?
- Games that work for 8+ people – that’s what I call a big group because most board games are under that. Many of these work with small groups, but they definitely work for 8+ as well!
- Games that come in a box – I’m calling them all board games but really some of these are dice games, word games, or card games. As long as you can buy it, open it, and play it – I’m calling it a board game!
- Games that are family-friendly – if you’ve read anything on my site, you know everything is family-friendly. That doesn’t mean that some of these games will be geared more toward adults because they’re more challenging, but they will not be inappropriate for kids.
No Skills Required Large Group Board Games
I put these first because these are honestly my favorite type of group games. These games are all learn in under five minutes (or don’t learn at all) type games and ones that it’s really just luck who wins. There’s card flipping, dice rolling, and a lot of fun!
Ponies
I will forever talk about this game because it’s one of my family’s favorites. We’ve played it at family reunions, late night game nights, and even at our most recent book retreat.
The basic idea is that everyone gets cards dealt to them that are associated with horses on the track. Then you roll dice to move those horses and whichever one gets there first wins – and the people who have those cards win. You can either do it with prizes or not, it’s so much fun either way!
Left Right Center
This is another one we’ve been playing forever! I even made my most viral dice gift exchange game inspired by it.
Everyone gets three coins. They go around the circle rolling the dice and trying to keep their coins. You can play with any number of people you want and everyone is in until the very end of the game, even if you think you’re out. It’s hilarious, easy to play, and great for any age! You can absolutely play with just dice or get this set that makes it much easier!
Flip 7
This one has been viral for a while for a good reason. It’s as simple as deciding whether or not you want to flip a card or not while you try to get the most points.
It’s super easy to learn, anyone can play, and you can play with a ton of people! It’s also small so you can toss it in your bag to take places!
Hitster
I’ll admit that I first played this game at a blogger’s retreat this year but ever since then I’ve been hooked. If you like music or musical party games this one is a must-play.
Technically the game is for 10 players but we played with more than that – you’ll just have bigger teams!
It’s a combination of name that tune plus trying to remember what year a song is from. Laughs, memories, and fun are guaranteed!
They have an original game plus expansions like the guilty pleasures and All-American packs for even more fun!
Beat the Heat (aka Take 5)
When I first tried out this game it was called Take 5 but it’s been recently rebranded to Beat the Heat. Same super fun game!
The basic idea is that everyone plays cards at the same time and those cards get put in line in order. If you’re the sixth card in the line, you take the whole row.
The funny part is that no one knows what anyone else will play so anyone could get stuck with a row even if they think they have the perfect card!
Fast-Paced Board Games for Large Groups
These group board games are quick moving games that will keep everyone heavily involved throughout the game. There’s no sitting around, strategizing, or waiting your turn in these games. And that’s the beauty of them – they’re also typically pretty short to play so they are great for adding when you want to play something without taking the entire night!
Jungle Speed
Players have to look at cards and be the first to recognize when a pair of cards matches and to grab a totem out of the middle of the group. Beware, the cards are all REALLY similar, which leads to a lot of laughs and wrong totem grabs.
I personally love this game but do want to caveat that it can be a bit tricky to play if you have older generations who may not be able to read and process the cards as quick. But it’s great for everyone else!
Tapple
This is a game of speed where you have to come up with words that start with letters in certain categories. It’s probably best for older kids and up just because I’m not sure my six year old for instance would be able to come up with words that work.
It’s a race to come up with words, games are only about 15 minutes long, and it’s hilarious to see what people come up with!
Words are Hard
This word game is simple to learn but harder than you’d think to play! When a card gets played, you have to be the first one to come up with a word that starts with the same letter as that picture to win the card.
There’s a lot of slapping, shouting, and so much fun.
You Can’t Say Umm
This one is a little like Catch Phrase where you have to describe silly word combinations to your team but if you use any filler words you get buzzed by the other team!
It gets even funnier as you pickup challenge cards that make it even harder to describe the phrases, things like you can’t use any words with the letter C or you have to say everything in an accent. We’ve played this one for girls night so many times, and it’s just as funny every time!
Piles
This is another one of those super easy to learn, super easy to play games. The goal is to make sets by swapping cards with other people in a lot of fast-paced chaos.
I’ve played this one with my girlfriends, my family, even my kids and it’s always a huge hit.
Moose Mayhem
If you like games that cause mayhem, this one is for you! It reminds me a bit of games like Curses or Quelf that include challenges, curses, and rules.
You start with two rules then just keep adding on as you go, trying to remember which rules to follow and not get penalties. It can be a little confusing but honestly that’s part of what makes it so fun because people messing up the rules is hilarious!
Quick Quick Quick
This game is about as easy as it gets. A card gets flipped over and whoever’s turn it is has 45 seconds to come up with three answers before the timer runs out.
But the funny thing is that the cards are crazy phrases like “Share 3 bad ideas for blueberries,” and “Say 3 things you should not put in a pinata.”
You never know what’s going to come out of someone’s mouth when they’re on the clock and there’s always something funny and unexpected that ends up coming out!
Beat That!
If you like minute to win it games, you’ll love this game. It’s a complete set of silly challenges that you complete as an individual, as teams, and sometimes even as larger groups and they all remind me of classic minute to win it games!
Everything you need for all of the challenges is included in the box, making it a super easy just open and start playing kind of game!
Strategy Games for Big Groups
I’m calling these strategy games but really they just take a little more thinking and strategy than the previous ones. Like deciding whether to stay in or get out of the round and choosing how much to wager on trivia answers. Nothing crazy like some of the actual strategy board games out there.
Wits and Wagers
My dad loves this game probably because he’s one of the people who actually knows some of these super obscure trivia questions!
You break into teams and make wagers on some crazy trivia questions like how many feet are there between here and Jupiter. The goal isn’t to get the answer right, the goal is to be wager on the answers you think are the closest to the correct one.
Incan Gold
This is one of the only games on this list that only works with eight people, but it’s great so I included it anyway!
This is a risk and reward type game. People have to decide if they want to stay “in” for the chance of a reward in the face of danger or do they play it safe and pull out for a smaller reward. We’ve actually made some of our party games inspired by this idea over the years!
Hues and Clues
This game is like nothing you’ve played before. Can you describe a color to the other players correctly? It’s harder than it sounds.
This one is great when you want something slower paced, easy to learn, and fun for any age. Even my youngest was able to play with this one, we just had to adjust out clues a bit to make sure they were things he might know!
Herd Mentality
This game doesn’t require you to know the right answers, it just requires you to guess the same answer at the majority of people playing!
This game works for up to 20 people and the more the better in my opinion because then the majority isn’t just like three people.
It’s even more fun because of a little pink cow that travels around if you don’t match anyone, blocking people from winning until they get rid of the pink cow!
Oh Crud
This card game can be played with up to 12 players. It takes a few minutes to explain but once you’ve played once, it’s super easy to remember every time!
It’s a trick taking card game but the most fun part is that was round the rules change so the first round for instance each trump card might be worth a trick, the second round every wild card might be worth a point, and so on.
If you like card games, this one is a blast.
The Chameleon
This game is only for eight people but if you have a group of eight, it’s one of the most fun games.
If you’ve seen the game imposter on TikTok or Instagram, it’s similar to that but in a board game.
One person gets a chameleon card, everyone gets get actually cards. People give clues trying to let other people know they’re not the imposter while also not giving away the actual word to the chameleon. We always end up dying with laughter playing this one!
Wavelength
Can you get on the same wavelength as your team? That’s the goal of this hilarious game that makes people choose where on a scale to put different things.
It’s hilarious because everyone’s opinion is a little different so it’s harder to match up than you might think! One example would be on a scale of hot to cold, where would you put coffee? It’s totally different than any other game I’ve played and a really fun one!
Sounds Fishy
If you ever played the board game Balderdash back in the day, this one always reminds me of that because people have to write down fake answers that they want the guesser to believe are true.
One person reads a statement like “In South Dakota where is it illegal to fall asleep.” Everyone else can see the true answer and then has to write down a fake one. The guesser has to try and earn points by picking out the ones that are wrong! It’s hilarious to see what people come up with!
Classic Board Games for Big Groups
I’m calling these classic because they’re board games I’ve been playing since a kid. That doesn’t mean they are any less fun – these are ones we still pull out and play all the time because they’re still great!
Catch Phrase
This is of my all-time favorite games where players try to get other people to guess a word by describing a word or catch phrase. I have never once played with this game without laughing my head off because in the heat of the moment, it’s pretty hard to get someone to guess the word coil.
There’s no learning curve involved, you can play with as many people as you want, and unless there’s a language barrier everyone is pretty even!
Reverse Charades
We’ve all played charades before. I mean honestly you may have even played our Halloween charades or Christmas charades games. But have you ever played reverse charades?
Instead of one person acting the word out, the entire team acts it out while one person tries to guess. There’s a reason this is one of my favorite party games for adults!
Scattergories
I know this is still a super popular game because so many people have downloaded our New Year’s Eve scattergories game. It’s a classic that so many people still love!
In the game, you have to write down words that start with a particular letter and match a category, all while trying to write down something no one else wrote. This one is better for teens and adults, though older kids could likely play as well.
Taboo
This is about as classic as it gets but with an updated version to make it more modern!
One player has to describe a word to their team (similar to Catch Phrase) but it’s harder because there is a set of taboo words they can’t say to describe it, making it so much funnier to see how they do!
This one’s fun because you really can play it with as many people as you want, just take turns letting people give clues and guess!
Werewolf
I put this one on here because we went to my family reunion and the teens played it for hours on end together and had a blast. He came home wanting to play it over and over again, and I forgot how much fun it could be!
If you’ve never played Werewolf, basically everyone gets assigned a character. Two to three people are werewolves, most are villagers, and then there are some other special ones. At night everyone “goes to sleep” other than the werewolves and they choose someone to die. The group tries to decide who the werewolf is – this continues until you catch the werewolf or no villagers are left!
More Fun Games for Large Groups
While these aren’t board games that you can open a box and play, they are great games for large groups! They’re all ones my family plays over and over again!
- Music Bingo – a musical twist on classic bingo, there are 40+ unique cards plus two different playlists so this ones work for any group and any age!
- Double down dice game – a super easy dice game that works for any size group! The goal is to roll as many different numbers on dice as you can without rolling doubles and losing all your earnings!
- Pop a Prize Game – put balloons in prizes, roll the dice to pop balloons, and hopefully win prizes! This one is hilarious and so much fun!
- The Floor Game – if you’ve seen the TV show The Floor, this lets you play it at home! It’s a fast paced guess the thing you see kind of game and always a huge hit!
- Name that Tune – see which team can guess songs the fastest! This is one of my family’s all-time favorite games and perfect for large groups!
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