Monikers

Over the years, our family has picked up a lot of games you can play with no special equipment. Werewolf and charades are always a favorite, all you need are scraps of paper. We also used to play one we called the "3-2-1 Game" (you'll find out why in a second), that starts with all the players writing a bunch of ridiculous clues on scraps of paper. But sometimes you've gotta admit when you're beat, because Monikers is the better version of 3-2-1 and no one at your party has to be a comedian to generate side-busting laughs.

How it works: Each team gets 1 minute to guess as many clues as they can. The cards are largely ridiculous (pop culture references, inappropriate jokes, etc), and are each worth different amounts of points (from 1-4, depending on how difficult the clue is). The catch? You use the same few cards for ALL THREE ROUNDS of the game.

Why it's clever: Here's where the 3-2-1 comes in: in the opening round, you can say as many, and any, words that you want (except for the literal words in the clue). In round two, you can only use a single word (think: the gameshow Password). In the final round, you get no words, and can only use actions (and sounds if your group is chill). Using the same set of cards leads to a compounding effect where jokes mutate and amplify through the rounds. You'll find the game challenging not just for the memory aspect, but from how hard you're laughing.

Price: $25