While some friends play games to bond or create lovely memories, other friend groups understand the true meaning of competition: starting arguments. With that in mind, this list is focused on games designed around doing just that.
So you’re looking for games guaranteed to get you and your friends arguing? You’ve come to the right place. If you and your friends love verbal sparring, embrace the joy of debate, or really, genuinely just want to start fights, these are the perfect games to bring to your next get-together.
11Snake Oil
Hasbro’s Snake Oilputs you in the shoes of an old-timey con man looking to sell, well, snake oil. To play, your friend chooses a customer card, and then you and the rest of the party each choose two words and create a pitch based on them. The customer then receives a thirty-second pitch for each product and decides the winner.
This is a game that asks two very critical questions of you. Are you persuasive? And! Are youfunny?Hopefully, your friends will answer yes to both. Either way, you’re opening yourself up to judgment.
10Funemployed
Funemployed, created by Anthony Conta, takes a source of stress, job interviews, and makes them fun. Now you can say everything you wouldn’t dare tell a real interviewer. To play, you compete with others for a real job (something like librarian).
The twist? There’s a series of specific qualifications you draw that you have to base all of your arguments on. Although it’s designed to be lighthearted and silly, at the end of the day, there’s only one position available. Let’s see how qualified your friends really think you are.
9Debatable
Mindmade’s Debatableis a card game that has you and your friends acting as politicians. Not only do you draw a topic to debate, but each debater also draws a debate strategy, such as “deny everything,” to spice up the gameplay.
Since this game contains more than just silly topics, including controversial topics and real hot-button political topics, its description warns against playing with sensitive friends. Sounds like a great choice for your next family reunion!
8But Wait, There’s More!
But Wait, There’s More!,published by Toy Vault, Inc., is a game for your inner entrepreneur.Much like the Jackbox Game Patently Stupid,this game is all about pitching silly products. Everyone is pitching the same base product, but the core fun of the game comes from the additional features.
Each player pitches their product with an additional feature card, and then in the middle of their pitch, the title comes into play: “But wait, there’s more!” and a second feature must be incorporated on the fly. It’s a game for quick thinkers that can easily leave your friends in the dust and feeling frustrated.
7Diplomacy
Diplomacy, originally created by Allan B. Calhamer, is a classic game for people who feel Risk needs more arguments.A game designed for intermediate players,Diplomacy lets you choose one of seven nations in Europe prior to WW1. The game is played in two seasons per year over the course of multiple years, and each season gives you four options for what to do with your military.
Other than that? Everything is negotiation. No dice rolls. No other mechanics. This game is so aware of its prowess at showing which of your friends will gleefully stab you in the back that it actually released shirts at one point that read “Destroying Friendships since 1959.”
6Superfight
Superfight, designed by Skybound Entertainment,is a game that takes those old-age internet debates about “who would win if—” to the next level. To play, you and a friend choose a fighter, one asset, and then pick a random second asset. For example, “a politician, with four legs, who’s ten stories tall.”
The rest of the game is now fully up to you, as you have to debate the outcome. Since the rest of your friends vote for the winner, it’s up to who’s the most convincing (or maybe just the most popular). Talk about testing loyalties!
5Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment, by Guillotine Games LLC,is a game of judging worsts. You and your friends will each draw cards containing various things, pick the one you think is the worst, and then present it to the judge. Each of you then has to make an argument to prove yours is really the worst.
This game is great for those who like quick card games and who like judging other people. Be careful, though, you never know who at your table you might be offending with your roasts.
4Trial By Trolley
Cyanide and Happiness' Trial by Trolleytakes the trolley problem to the next level. First, split your friends into two teams and one conductor. Then both teams will set up three things on each set of tracks to be run over by the trolley. The point of the game is to keep your track safe and convince the conductor to choose the other team’s track.
Besides being based around arguments, this game is intentionally crass, encouraging you to argue about why certain people should die. Unsurprisingly, your friends might not take kindly to this, especially if you win your round.
3Priorities
Claredon Game’s Prioritiesis a game that tests how well you really know your friends. After a random assortment of topics is drawn, you’re tasked with putting them in order of your preference. Everyone else playing then has to try and replicate that order. Each correct placement wins you a letter, and the first person to collect the whole word “priorities” wins.
Since the game is personal and doesn’t shy away from political topics, you’re going to be revealing a lot about your own preferences. You’ll also find out who among your friends actually knows you and who’s just been pretending to listen to all your interests.
2Judge Your Friends
Judge Your Friends, by University Games,encourages you to do exactly what it says on the tin. Not only do players make judgments about whether you’re guilty or not guilty of doing certain things (like littering), but you also have to be honest about whether they’re right.
Depending on what your friends think of you or what they admit to doing, you might want to changeyour game night into a murder mystery night. But if you all survive, you’ll come out of it having learned a lot more about each other. For better and for worse.
