Family-friendly Games for the Holiday Season
Your whole family is getting together, and you need some kind of activity to liven up the party. When you think of wholesome multiplayer games, you probably think of Mario Kart or Mario Party, but there are other options! Here are some games that you might not know of that are fun to play together and don’t have questionable content to offend anyone attending.
Boomerang Fu
This party game supports up to six players, where you are all playing as food-themed characters and are trying to slice your friends and family members with boomerangs. This edible, food-themed world has you battling in over 30 Kung Fu arenas, each with its own traps and unique tools to use. Some allow you to trigger moving walls to squash your foes, and others have you jumping over moving platforms or hiding in foliage to attack your enemy. The controls are very simple and only require three buttons to learn, so anyone can play, though the more hardcore players will enjoy the more advanced moves that you can use against the enemy.
You won’t be relying only on your boomerang while you play. There are power-ups that you can pick up and combine in unexpected ways, like teleporting across the screen and disguising yourself as a tree, patiently waiting for the right time to spring out, and throwing your boomerang right in their face. Though there is a chance that this could backfire, it is sure to result in a lot of laughter.
If you don’t have a lot of people to play with, there is always the option of turning on some AI bots to face off against, or in the case of my family, to eliminate before we turn against each other. Boomerang Fu has great catchy music, bright and cute characters, and stages that are a blast to play. Pair that with instant replays of your best kills, and you will have a game that you will continue to play for many years!
Boomerang Fu is available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
King of the Hats
This title is a newer addition to my collection, as I saw a trailer for it on TV and was intrigued. Additionally, my children had seen people play it on YouTube, and they insisted that I pick it up. The game costs about £17 ($20 USD) so it felt like it would be a worthwhile investment.
King of the Hats is a crazy game that has you throwing hats at your opponents while at the same time trying to jump on the headwear of the other players. There are a lot of different characters and colours to select from, including washing machines, question marks, and the main character named Birthday. I will never get sick of the announcer saying “washing machine” when going through all of the competitors of this battle. There is even a Washing Machine Jr. to unlock!
The controls may seem a little odd at first because, besides just throwing your hat and jumping, you can also use the right analogue stick to move your hat around the level to avoid being stomped on. Each of the characters has their own special ability and strength, like being able to double jump or even teleport around the level if you have the MagiCat, so it may take a bit of time to learn. If that sounds too confusing, you can also take a more simple character like Birthday or a Washing Machine — its hat is a basket of laundry; it’s genius.
This game can be played with up to four players at the same time. If you are short on players, add in some AI opponents whose difficulty you can adjust to your liking.
King of the Hats is available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Tricky Towers
If you have ever played Tetris before — I would be surprised if you haven’t — or even Jenga, you have an idea of how one part of this game plays. You are trying to build a tower high enough to cross the line on the screen, but the tower has to be stable or it will collapse into the water below. This isn’t the only obstacle that you will have to face; all of the opponents you are playing against have magic attacks that can be used against you, like making all of your upcoming blocks huge and heavy so that they don’t fit or directly attack your tower.
This physics-based game is super challenging and chaotic, but a lot of fun to play against other people. If I have any advice, be sure that your base is stable and strong, or it will be difficult to build a tower that isn’t leaning or crumbling apart! This might not be the best game for little kids, as they may find it difficult, but it’s a good choice for the “bigger” kids who grew up playing titles like Tetris and know what it takes to make Tetrinos fit together.
Tricky Towers is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
So there you have it, a selection of games that you will have a tonne of fun playing with family and friends this holiday season, and doesn’t have content that will offend anyone. However, I will say that I am not responsible for any foul language that may result from playing; that is on you!
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