DonÂ’t get board of any games

12:30pm Monday 11th December 2000

After indulging in turkey-and-all-the-trimmings, why not

rediscover a form of entertainment which gets everyone involved rather than slumped in front of the TV? Lucya Szachnowski looks at family games

Playing games at Christmas was once as traditional as plum pudding and roaring log fires. They can still be fun to bring out once in a while, and there are now far more to choose from than just Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble.

A friend of mine was once stopped when going through customs for having a copy Pass the Bomb, by Gibsons, in their luggage.

The fast-paced word game uses a plastic toy bomb as the timer. The round, ticking, black ball gets passed around the table and while you hold it you have to think of a word containing letters shown on a card.

The problem is, you never know quite how long youve got until it explodes with a safe but loud rumble.

For some of the thrill of being a contestant on TVs Who wants to be a Millionaire?, try out the board-game version by Upstarts. Each player takes it in turn to act as the host, while the others try to accrue money by answering questions using hand-held answer display modules.

The questions are entertaining, funny and sometimes intriguing. As on the TV show, you have three lifelines to help you. You can ask the host to delete two incorrect answers from your display, ask the audience the other players to help you, or you can even phone a friend!

You can try to be a millionaire for £26.99. Four to eight players, aged eight or over, can have a great deal of fun with Bedlam, by Drumond Park. It is a frantic, shouting, card game in which everyone plays at once.

Each round is 30-seconds of manic card-swapping as everyone tries to collect cards which match the square their playing piece is on.

Split-second timing is essential end up with the wrong cards and back down the board you go. This good-value game costs just £12.99.

Many fans were disappointed when Hasbro retired its famous soccer game Subbuteo last season. But now the finger-flicking football game is back, featuring up-to-the-minute teams and a new look and a match could provide just the right amount of exercise on Christmas Day.

Since its arrival on the games scene more than 50 years ago, in 1947, Subbuteo has developed into a worldwide sport with more than 30 countries affiliated to the Federation of International Subbuteo Table Football. More than five million people now play the game world-wide. A set costs around £26.99.

Hasbro has also brought out new versions of two other classics, Cluedo and Monopoly. Monopoly was recently voted Game of the Century by the British Association of Toy Retailers.

Two recent editions combine the well-known licences of Pokmon and Coronation Street with the famous board game, offering variety with different appearances and slight rules variations. Pokmon Monopoly costs £29.99.

In Passport to Murder, the Cluedo six-some Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mrs Peacock, the Reverend Green and Mrs White leave Tudor Hall to take a trip aboard the Trans-Continental Express bound for Cairo. As the train pulls into Istanbuls Sirkeci station, Dr Black is found murdered.

While the characters remain the same, the location is different and additional murder weapons have been added to stretch players sleuthing skills. Intriguing hidden clues have also been included to help lead players to the guilty suspect.

Passport to Murder is suitable for two to six players aged eight to adult, and costs around £24.99.

To try out some new and unusual games at amazingly low prices, you might want to check out web company FreeBoardGames.com

FreeBoardGames.com is a purely-web based concern. It aims to offer people all over the world a range of fun, original games, extremely cheaply. The newly-formed company offers a wide range of products electronically through a range of print and play games and in the form of traditional-style boxed games.

You can order through the companys online catalogue at prices of less than £5 per item.

One of the games on offer at FreeBoard

Games.com is Grab, by www.DirtCheats.com It is a fast-paced word game where players race to complete short words using letters on cards, and is much more of a fun party game than Scrabble. Suitable for adults or children aged over 12, it costs just £4.09.

These are just a few of the games available this Christmas. One London-based games shop with an extremely large selection of different things to choose from is Leisure games. Call 020 8346 2327 or take a look at the website www.leisuregames.co.uk

To check out Hasbros website, go to www.hasbro.co.uk

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