Instead of just sitting around staring at each other at your next gathering of friends, try mixing up the entertainment by bringing some fun, new games that are sure to break up the monotonous weekend nights. Here are some to try:

New games1.) UpWordsAges: 10 years and upPlayers: Two to fourMedium: 3-D boardThis 3-D crossword style game is similar to Scrabble, but more challenging. Players use the letter tiles to build words not only across and down the board, but also up, creating words on top of words. For example, ‘smack’ becomes ‘stack’ becomes ‘steak’ with a few moves.

2.) CraniumAges: 12 years and upPlayers: Four or moreMedium: BoardThis game is truly for the multi-talented – it has four categories – Star Performer, Creative Cat, Data Head and Word Worm, each containing sub-categories. The game challenges players to use all their skills to spell words backward, sculpt a shape out of clay, hum and act or even draw with their eyes closed.

3.) Scene It? The DVD EditionAges: 8 years and upPlayers: Two or moreMedium: DVDMovie buffs rejoice – your game is here. With several versions, Scene It? will keep gamers entertained for hours. Players watch clips from movies and attempt to guess where they came from. A recently released ‘Harry Potter’ edition will get you psyched up for the new film.

4.) WizardAges: 10 years and upPlayers: Three to 10Medium: Playing cardsThis challenging game could stump even the biggest card sharks. Players bet how many hands they will win in a given round, and points are added and subtracted according to the outcome. The points fluctuate greatly throughout the game so the winner and loser can interchange at almost any moment – the game is never dull.

5.) ScenariosAges: 18 years and upPlayers: Three to sixMedium: Scenario cardsEach played has to guess how the other players would act in the scenarios listed on the cards – there are four choices on each. The scenarios put people in hilarious and entertaining situations, and this game is perfect for a small gathering of friends.

Golden Oldies1.) Candyland2.) Scrabble3.) Life4.) Yahtzee 5.) Twister6.) Clue7.) Sorry!8.) Monopoly9.) Battleship10.) Trivial Pursuit

VarietyMonopoly: Something to satisfy even the pickiest gamer – everything from the Star Wars Edition and Pretty Pretty Princess to Times Square and a variety of sports teams are featured in the many versions.

Scene It?: For those who aren’t satisfied with the basic DVD edition, there’s the television edition, new ‘Harry Potter’ edition, a sports edition and even a ‘Friends’ edition.

Scrabble: The classic game of words now comes in a Super Scrabble edition with 200 tiles and a much larger board, a travel edition perfect for plane trips and a Deluxe Turntable Edition that has a rotating board and little cups for the tiles to rest in.

Published on November 10, 2005 at 12:00 pm