Family Games for Thanksgiving

Posted November 23, 2009 - By Andrew Pfister

Family Games for Thanksgiving

If you're packing for your trip home later this week for Thanksgiving, or if you're hosting the familial festivities yourself, perhaps the thought of group video gaming has crossed your mind. But what's good for your eclectic menagerie of friends and endearingly dysfunctional family members to play together on Thursday? Dad will probably prefer to watch the Lions lose to Green Bay than play as them in Madden, and Mom's probably going to be wondering more about your shaggy haircut than your Modern Warfare 2 ranking, so it'd be worth it to change your approach. To help you out, here are a few suggestions for Turkey Day. (Save Left 4 Dead 2 for when everyone else out battling the Mall Horde on Black Friday.)

Appetite Enhancers

While Mom's in the kitchen preparing the feast (and really, Dad should be in there too helping out), use these motion-intensive games to work up an appetite…you're going to need it. These small-bite games are good for people on rotating kitchen duty: bowl a turkey, stuff a turkey!

Wii Sports Resort (Wii) -- Wii bowling has made itself an annual tradition for many, and fencing can be used to resolve any simmering sibling rivalries. The problem might be acquiring enough MotionPlus gadgets, but most events will let you pass the controller.

Samba de Amigo (Wii)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)
Just Dance (Wii)

Rock Band: LEGO (PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360) -- The kids will love the aesthetic and the Super Easy mode, while the grown-ups will appreciate the setlist and a shirtless Lego Iggy Pop.

Rock Band: LEGO

Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked (Wii)
PlayStation Eye -- Mesmerize (PlayStation Network)
Cooking Mama: World Kitchen (Wii)

Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii) -- You could play Jenga and have a good time (or the video game version of Jenga), but blocks of wood lack the charm that you can only get with talking animal blocks of wood. Get Bash Party and you can download many more levels.

Boom Blox Bash Party

Post-Meal Recovery

You just ingested 3000 calories, a couple glasses of wine, and a little amino acid known as tryptophan. You are not moving from that couch, and that's okay, because these games don't require you to.

Scene-It? series (PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360) -- There are few things less physically-intensive than sitting down and watching movies, and shouting out wild guesses about them is something that anyone can enjoy. Put that Adam Sandler movie knowledge to good use.

Scene It

Buzz! series (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3)
Uno (Xbox Live Arcade)

Super Monkey Ball (Wii/GameCube) -- Your Wii, in case you forgot, plays all of your old GameCube games -- and that means Super Monkey Ball's Monkey Target mode. If you have not been fortunate enough to experience the joy of Monkey Target, you are missing out on one of last generation's best social multiplayer experiences. Warning: may cause more family rifts than it bridges.

Super Monkey Ball

Tetris Party (WiiWare)
Mario Party series (Wii/GameCube)

Peggle (Xbox Live Arcade) -- Pass the controller for each new ball, aim, fire, and enjoy. It's Digestion Fever!

Peggle

When the Kids Go to Bed

Full of pie and completely wiped out from the day's activities, the lovable scamps are already dreaming about their Christmas lists. Time to turn the lights down, open another bottle, and do some mature gaming. Be warned, the kids will wake up multiple times and want to play (speaking from prior experience, of course). "10 more minutes" won't hurt anyone.

Rock Band/Guitar Hero (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360) -- Time to up the difficulty a bit and rock out in an 18 and over venue. Rock Band has the Beatles, but Guitar Hero 5 has drop-in/drop-out play. Solution? Have both on hand. Just make sure that if you're assembling instruments and discs from multiple people, everyone's on the same page compatibility-wise.

Rock Band: The Beatles

Karaoke Revolution (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360)
SingStar (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3)

Trivial Pursuit (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360) -- Of course, this family classic is best played in its non-electronic form (something about physically putting in those pie pieces is extremely satisfying), but if you've already run through the question cards multiple times, the video game version is a viable alternative. (The answer is probably "Abraham Lincoln," "Australia," or "Golf.")

Trivial Pursuit

Wii Play (Wii)
Bomberman Live (Xbox Live Arcade)
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 (Xbox Live Arcade)

Pac-Man Championship Edition (Xbox Live Arcade) -- Everyone loves Pac-Man, and the quick session, score-based Championship Edition is easy for anyone to understand and perfect for taking turns. If you want to go fully retro, break out the refreshed versions of Space Invaders and Galaga.

Pac-Man Championship Edition

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BONUS TIP: If you're in charge of bringing over the gaming gear, make sure you've got enough controllers (charged/with batteries), any necessary memory cards, and the right cables for an unfamiliar TV. I've done this too many times to count, ruining Thanksgiving for everyone.

What are your suggestions for Thanksgiving gaming?

Sonic the Hedgehog balloon

Tags: PlayStation 3, Videogames, Wii, Xbox 360

Comments

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Displaying 1–10 of 10

xPs360x

MARIO PARTY 8 big time

Posted: November 24, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
BigDizzleBizzle

My family is just gonna have to suck it up and play some L4D2 and MW2 if they want to play video games during Thanksgiving.

Posted: November 24, 2009 11:00 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
DemitriVampiro

@ thesilentmole

there are great party games on the ps3 try buying some psn arcade games or playing some retail games do research buddy. party doesnt always mean 4 players just means multi and two is more than 1 making it multi. i would name some but im assuming (and probably correct) you only own a wii. *Mumbles* effing casual gamers *mumbles* wtf ill name some: burn zombie burn, resistance 2 online co-op, fat princess, little big planet, super stardust hd etc. dont try to put someone opinion down if yours is garbage cause frankly from my experience having siblings and parents we do not PARTY with the nintendo wii and me and my bro/sis usually play co-op more on my ps3 cause if you do some research youll fine some nice to great party games on it

but again i have a good feeling you are a casual gamer and they: do not like anything long and takes time, hard to accomplish, slow paste etc. which are the characteristics of doing research.

i also bet youre one of the people who gave me a thumbs down LOL

Posted: November 24, 2009 5:41 AM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
dragonkingdj

Those are some good games but the only party games that i need and already have are Super Smash Bros.Brawl,Mario Kart Wii,and Mario Power Tennis (new wii controls version)

Posted: November 23, 2009 4:43 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

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RockieOllie

What i'll be stuffing my Wii, While my Mom is stuffing the turkey while my my dad is stuffing her; is Super Smash bros brawl. I don't see any point in the Food network game, Whats more satisfying: being able to create the most difficult dish(with no achievements or rewards) or creating a dish in real life and being able to taste it?

Posted: November 23, 2009 4:05 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Trikkey

Just had to mention that Uno and and bomberman are available through psn.Different version of bomberman though I think.

Posted: November 23, 2009 3:58 PM | Reply | Report

-1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
dantastic4

Great advice Mister_Sr plenty of grandparents will just adore watching their grandchildren run threw an airport as a terrorist and gun down innocent civilians.Hey for after dinner why don't we sit the whole family together and watch some wholesome family films like Zak and Miri make a porno and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.I real don't see the point of trying to pick on a console or games that other people like to play with their families.Man childern on this site really need to get a life.

Posted: November 23, 2009 3:45 PM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
thesilentmole

maybe most the games are for Wii because the Wii is a great party console? just a thought...

Posted: November 23, 2009 3:41 PM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Mister_Sr

how bout some Uncharted 2 and MW2. That always makes me hungry.

Posted: November 23, 2009 2:24 PM | Reply | Report

+3 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
DemitriVampiro

Most of all these games are wii, so i doubt ill be using any of those to spend time with my family. ALSO i dont understand why people will play these two games: Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked,
Cooking Mama: World Kitchen, why not just help your mom out and get actual experience cooking with great quality time with your mom (or dad if he cooks too)?

Posted: November 23, 2009 2:16 PM | Reply | Report

-1 thumbs up thumbs down

2 Replies