So, get reading, downloading, playing (and practising) some of these absolute corkers, so you’re raring to go when the big day arrives.

1. Just Dance 2022 

Available to play on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch
Just Dance is back for another round, pre-loaded with all your favourite anthems. All you need is your console’s controller to sync up with the game. And this isn’t absolutely necessary, but it would be our advice to play this one before Christmas dinner.
 

2. ARMS

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

ARMS is a beat ’em up with a difference. All the characters (apart from Twintelle, who throws down with her hair) have springs for arms, with enormous boxing gloves on the end. And by using the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers, you have to physically launch the punches. Our editor has confirmed ARMS is “great, exhausting fun for all.”

3. Rocket League 

Available to play on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch

Rocket League is tons of fun, offering one simple objective – get the ball in the net. The thing that slightly differentiates it from football is that the players are supercharged, Hot Wheels-esque cars, able to drive up walls, leap from the ground, and blast through the air. But there is a goal and there is a ball. So, you know… horses for courses.

4. 1-2 Switch

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

This one is an instant party classic. Instead of looking at the screen, players must look at each other as they replicate real-world tasks using the Joy-Con controllers. And because they’re not looking at the screen, it makes for a hilarious spectator sport.
 

5. Big Brain Academy: Brain Vs Brain 

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

BBA pits families and friends against each other with a series of brain-teasing mini games. Solve the puzzle first and reap the rewards, but if you’re not tuned in, you’ll be left doing the dishes.

6. Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

Smash Bros has been a mainstay on Nintendo since it landed on the N64 in 1999, putting Nintendo’s greatest heroes head-to-head in multiplayer madness. With characters from franchises across the Nintendo spectrum, including: Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Yoshi, Kirby, Star Fox, and Pokémon, it’s loads of fun for all.
 

7. Mario Party Superstars

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

The OG party game master himself brings a plethora of classic minigames and courses from Mario Partys gone by in Mario Party Superstars. It’ll offer a satisfying dose of nostalgia for legacy players, while still promising plenty of pure, uninhibited fun for newcomers.

8. Monopoly

Available to play on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch

It’s a bona fide Christmas classic of a board game, which can easily stretch over a few days depending on how conniving the players are. And you don’t need to even set it up, which is always a bit of pain, because digital versions of the board game exist on the internet. Dibs on the top hat.

9. Scrabble

Available to play on PlayStation and Xbox

In a similar vein to the people’s favourite, Monopoly, Scrabble too is available in a digital format. You can play with those in your house, or online with friends or relatives elsewhere. And with a built in Scrabble dictionary, there’ll be no more arguments over whether “Xi” on a triple-word score is permitted.
 

10. Beat The Intro

Available to play online

Put your musical know-how to the test and compete with friends with this ingenious game. Speed is key, as the sooner you guess the song, the more points you score. Fast-paced gaming fun at its finest.

As well as being available on iOS, this Christmas you can now play Beat The Intro on video chat for up to ten teams. Simply share a link, join a room and compete for the ultimate music bragging rights.

There’s a wide variety of categories to choose from, including songs by decade, songs by genre and, brilliantly, Christmas songs, too. Whether you’re after current chart hits or the classics, there’s something for everyone.

Try Beat The Intro now
 

11. Psych! Outwit Your Friends

Available to play on Android

Trick and outwit your family with this bonkers app that sees contestants attempt to lure one another into selecting fake answers to real trivia questions. First man on the moon? Buzz Lightyear, surely.

12. Gang Beasts

Available to play on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Mac and Wii U

If there’s a more satisfyingly harmless but slightly violent way to vent some of those good ol’ family frustrations than Gang Beasts, in which you kick, punch, throw and generally duke it out as soft, cuddly “beasts” in various environments, we haven’t heard of it.

13. Uno

Available to play on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS and Mac

If, like us, your set of IRL Uno cards were lost in a freak boating accident back in 1993, then this equally amazing video game version is a more than suitable substitute.

14. 51 Worldwide Games

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

In another game that does exactly what it says on the tin, this handy little title offers up a jaw-dropping 51 separate card, board and parlour games to enjoy. Sure, arrogant older brother Timmy may be backgammon master, but can he handle younger brother Jimmy’s Hanafuda skills? There’s only one way to find out…

15. Wattam

Available to play on PC, PS4 and Mac

Another absolutely bonkers game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, Wattam is his latest quirky, charming creation, focusing on bringing lonely, increasingly surreal objects and pairings back together. Strange, simple fun at its absolute best.

16. Heads Up!

Available to play on Android and iOS

Effectively Charades but on your phone, this cracking and easily accessible little app brings a legendary party game into the 21st Century. There’s no shortage to the number of laughs that can be had with this one.

17. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Available to play on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch

Though Mario Kart will always, in our (potentially controversial) opinion, be the king of kart racing, Crash Bandicoot and his pals are a close contender for the crown should Mario ever abdicate, especially when it comes to this recent remake of the legendary kart racer.

18. Push Me Pull You

Available to play PC, PS4 and Mac

Untitled Goose Game developers House House once again combine weirdness with fun with this innovative party game that sees players pushing, pulling and attempting to wrestle two sausage-like people and take possession of a small ball. It’s like FIFA, except way, way weirder and, well, not remotely like FIFA.

19. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Available to play on Nintendo Switch

We’re not saying you haven’t lived if you’ve never experienced the sheer thrill of blue-shelling your older siblings or sending your children into the Rainbow Road-flanking shadow realm, but you’re undoubtedly missing out on creating some formative, highly interesting family time memories.
 

20. The Jackbox Party Pack 6

Available to play on PC, Mac and Android

This stunning game is the closest we’ve come to being on a real game show since our disastrous stint on Mastermind. Five hilarious minigames allow groups from two to ten players to compete in increasingly nonsensical challenges, where the sole purpose is to basically have everyone rolling on the floor laughing come the end of the round.

Christmas has come early

This year we’re bringing Christmas early with gifts and giveaways, plus check out all your Christmas TV, movie and sport listings and tips on what to watch and play!