Christmas is a time for celebrating with loved ones, and along with exchanging gifts and indulging in festive feasts, playing board games has become one of the most popular festive traditions.
From board to parlour games, they can create hours of entertainment, make us feel sentimental, and even work as a way to break the ice.
But competition can also bring out the worst in us, and it’s easy for an innocent game to turn into a seasonal showdown.
A new survey from Betway polled 2,000 Brits and asked them which Christmas games are their favourite to play, which ones they find the most nostalgic, and which are the most frustrating.
When it came to the nation’s most favoured game, over half of Brits picked Monopoly as their top choice (54%). The board game, which first originated in the US in the early 20th century, was initially known as The Landlord’s Game, with a British version set in London released in the 1930s. The game sees players roll the dice and make their way around the board, buying and trading properties and trying to pass the finish line first.
Scrabble followed behind in second position, as 1 in 3 (34%) opted for the word game as their preferred choice. The board-and-tile puzzle was invented in 1939 by a New York architect. The basic rule is that a player must combine two or more of their tiles to form a word and place them on the board either across or down.
Despite its popularity, Monopoly was also ranked as the most frustrating board game, with nearly half of participants (49%) choosing it as the top culprit. Known for its marathon length, the game can easily stretch on for hours, so it’s no surprise that tensions might run high – even on the merriest of Christmas Days.
While Scrabble also proved to be a top choice in the best board games category, it was voted the second most frustrating to play by a quarter of respondents (25%). Arguments may break out during the game due to people making words up or using their phones to help them cheat.
Meanwhile, survey participants also pointed to Jenga (21%), Charades (18%), and the aptly named game Frustration as particularly infuriating pastimes.
As for nostalgic favourites, nearly half of Brits (44%) chose Snakes and Ladders as the game most likely to bring back fond memories.
Thought to have originated in 13th century India, the game sees players roll the dice to move their counters towards the finish line. Landing on the bottom of a ladder allows players to climb closer to victory, while landing on a snake sends them tumbling back.
Other timeless picks included Game of Life (21%), Top Trumps (19%), and Checkers (18%).
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