Board games get kind of a bad rap sometimes, but the truth is that they can be pretty fun if you pick the right games and pair them with the right beverages. No home should be without at least a few games that translate well into a bit of drunken fun. My criteria? Simple rules, not too many pieces, and some amount of skill should be required. Games of pure luck are no fun.

My suggestions are below, but as always, feel free to offer suggestions.

1. Pictionary - A standard. Charades is great, but if you have shy guests, they’ll probably be happier playing Pictionary than acting out movie titles.

2. Ring Toss Game Set - Yes, ring toss is a kid game and yes, it’s incredibly cheap - but it’s also a lot of fun, especially when half your team is seeing double.

3. The Paragon Radio Control Soccer Game - Another more physical game, but again, any kind of radio control game is going to be a hit. I played a very similar game at a friend’s party once and it turned into a loud, drunken tournament. The only way it could have been better is with 2-3 sets to go around and plenty of extra batteries.

4. Cranium Board Game - In the last few years, Cranium has become kind of a standard in party gaming. The game places four categories of demands on its players - Creative Cat, which involves artistic ability, Star Performer, which is guaranteed to make your quiet guests cringe (which is where the drinks come in handy), Word Worm for verbal skills, and Data Head for those people who can’t let anyone forget that they actually know the atomic weight of Plutonium and the name of our 19th president.

5. Trivial Pursuit DVD Game: Pop Culture 2nd Edition - The Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture DVD Game is a great way to make a know-it-all, smartypants kind of friend feel like the dummy for a night. It won’t change the fact that he/she is probably earning double your salary, but darn it, it’ll feel awfully good to be the one with all the answers for once.

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