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Now might be a good time to buy toys – especially if you're stocking up for Christmas – as a few of the supermarkets are still running their 'up to 50% off' toy sales.

While the sales are billed as 'up to 50% off', in reality only a small percentage of the items will actually be discounted by 50%. The Morrisons sale is on selected items only. See our full analysis below.

Now that the lead-up to Christmas is underway, did you know you can get a free letter from Santa when you post one to him?

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Board game deals

Board game deals round-up

Incl £13 Articulate (norm £30ish), and free virtual games

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Board games are an integral Christmas Day activity for many, as well as a good idea for a gift with plenty of mileage, so we've rounded up the best deals on some of the most popular titles. Plus, given the current restrictions, we've suggested how you can adapt a few of the most popular games to play virtually.

The Government's guidance for staying safe over Christmas suggests avoiding playing board games with members of different households because of the risk of contamination, and only playing with members of your own household. So if physical board games are off the table for you, we've highlighted below whether or not you can adapt each game to be played over video call instead, and listed an app or online version, if this is available – though these may not be like-for-like to a physical copy. We've mentioned some virtual games and quizzes below, too.

Most popular and highest rated board games

We researched the best board games by scanning review listicles and best seller lists (see all our sources below), and collating some of the titles which appeared most often. The results cover both new and classic games, and varying levels of difficulty. For more about how to play each game, see our 'what's the gist?' table below.

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Articulate!	£12.99 at Ryman, £20 at Asda (norm up to £33)	Easy – it has an online version of the game (see right).	Yes – for free via the Articulate! virtual cards, specially launched for lockdown.
Gloomhaven	£105.94 at Amazon*, £109.19 at Zatu (norm up to £150)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	No – there's no online version.
Ticket to Ride	£32.95 at Amazon*, £36.99 at Zatu (norm up to £40)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – via an app (currently £3.09 via Google Play or £2.99 on the App Store).
Scrabble	£11.99 at Amazon* and Smyths Toys, £12 at Argos (norm up to £20)	Difficult – you'd need to make sure the same letters were removed from each player's bag each time.	No – but there are free apps such as WordFeud which let you play a similar game with friends via your phone.
Pandemic	£17.99 at IWOOT, £28.98 at OnBuy (norm up to £40)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – you can play virtually online for £7.19 on Steam.
Carcassonne	£17.99 at IWOOT, £21.61 at Amazon* (norm up to £35)	Easy – it has an online version of the game.	Yes – thanks to the free online version at BoardGameArena.
Exploding Kittens	£9.99 at OnBuy, £14.99 at Amazon* (norm up to £30)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – via an app (currently £1.79 via Google Play or £1.99 on the App Store).
Five Second Rule	£9.99 at Smyths Toys, £12.96 at OnBuy (norm up to £13)	Bit fiddly – one household could manoeuvre the pieces and read from the cards while other households could shout out answers.	No – there's no online version.
Cards Against Humanity (family edition)	£25 at Cards Against Humanity, £27.99 at John Lewis* and £29.99 at WH Smith (norm up to £30)	Easy – you'd all need to print free pack from the Cards Against Humanity website. To save paper, consider downloading and viewing onscreen instead.	Yes – you can download for free from the Cards Against Humanity website.

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

Classic board games

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Jenga	£9.99 at Amazon* and Smyths Toys, Next cheapest, £10 (norm £12) at Argos, John Lewis* and Tesco	Not possible – need to be in the same room to play.	No – there's no online version.
Connect 4	£10.99 at Smyths Toys. Next cheapest, £11 at Argos	Bit fiddly – one person would need to put all the tokens in.	Yes – via an app (currently free via App Store or £2.39 via Google Play).
Monopoly	£17.99 at Smyths Toys. Next cheapest, £18 (was £20) at Argos	Bit fiddly – each player would need to move/place all pieces on their own board.	Yes – via an app (currently £3.99 via Google Play and the App Store).

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

Top board game picks from MSE HQ

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Dobble MSE Laura B's pick	£5.66 at OnBuy, £8 at Amazon* (norm up to £13)	Possible – for some versions, you'd all need your own pack.(See Connect and Play for which versions can be played virtually).	No – there's no online version.
Dominion MSE Laura F's pick	£32.49 at Zatu, £41.36 at Amazon* (norm up to £45)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – there's a free Dominion online version.
What do you Meme? MSE Sarah's pick	£22.99 at Zatu. Cheaper at £22.39 at Hive but currently out of stock (norm up to £28)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	No – there's no online version.
Cluedo MSE Rhiannon's pick	£15 at Asda, £20 at Argos (norm up to £30)	Possible – so long as one person has the set, they can move pieces for everyone.	Yes – it's £11.99 on Steam or there's an app (currently £1.99 via Google Play or £3.99 on the App Store)
Guess Who? Norwich City FC edition MSE Kelvin's pick	£24 at Official Norwich City FC Merchandise. Not available elsewhere	Possible – you'd all need your own (same version) board.	Yes – Twinkl has a free printable Guess Who-style game.
Linkee MSE Laura F's pick	£21.38 at Zatu, £22.97 at George at Asda (norm up to £27)	Easy – only one person needs a pack. Everyone else can listen and call out.	No – there's no online version.

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

More virtual games

If you're not fussed about physical games, perhaps you'd rather keep your gaming solely in cyberspace where human infections hold no sway. In that case, if the games listed above don't take your fancy, there are plenty of free sites you can use to find games of your choice.

BoardGameArena features a selection of popular games and lets you play online against friends or strangers. If you've had enough of board games after reaching this section, you might prefer the free quizzes over at Sporcle.

If your Christmas game-playing usually involves a festive tipple, see our Christmas bubbly deals.

MSE LAURA F says:

I took several large review sites and sellers into account when coming up with my top board games list:

More info

Here's a little more information about each of the board games above:

Board game	What's the gist?
Articulate!	Get your teammates to work out the word on your card without saying the word yourself. Ages 12+
Gloomhaven	Strategic card play involving vanquishing monsters and completing quests. Ages 14+
Ticket to Ride	Lay down railway routes across the country to score the most points. Ages 8+
Scrabble	A classic. Use your tiles to come up with high-scoring words. Ages 12+
Pandemic	Contain the spread of infection (counters) across the board. Ages 8+
Carcassonne	Place tiles to build and shape your medieval landscape. Ages 7+
Exploding Kittens	Strategic card game. Make sure your opponents are blown up instead of you. Ages 7+
Five Second Rule	Name three things from the category on a card before the timer runs out. Ages 10+
Cards Against Humanity (family edition)	Match up cards to come up with the funniest sentences. This is the kid-friendly version. Ages 8+
Dobble	MSE Laura B's pick A lightning-speed, high-energy set of games revolving around matching symbols. Ages 8+
Dominion	MSE Laura F's pick Build your empire through strategic card play. Ages 13+
What do you Meme?	MSE Sarah's pick Match photo cards with caption cards to get the biggest laughs. Ages 17+
Cluedo	MSE Rhiannon's pick Work out the murderer, weapon and scene of the crime. Ages 8+
Guess Who? Norwich City FC edition	MSE Kelvin's pick Ask yes/no questions to deduce your opponent's identity. Ages 6+
Linkee	MSE Laura F's pick Work out the answers to four questions and the connection between them. Ages 14+

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Toy deals

Board game deals round-up

Incl £13 Articulate (norm £30ish), and free virtual games

Always price compare

Most popular and highest rated board games

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Articulate!	£12.99 at Ryman, £20 at Asda (norm up to £33)	Easy – it has an online version of the game (see right).	Yes – for free via the Articulate! virtual cards, specially launched for lockdown.
Gloomhaven	£105.94 at Amazon*, £109.19 at Zatu (norm up to £150)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	No – there's no online version.
Ticket to Ride	£32.95 at Amazon*, £36.99 at Zatu (norm up to £40)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – via an app (currently £3.09 via Google Play or £2.99 on the App Store).
Scrabble	£11.99 at Amazon* and Smyths Toys, £12 at Argos (norm up to £20)	Difficult – you'd need to make sure the same letters were removed from each player's bag each time.	No – but there are free apps such as WordFeud which let you play a similar game with friends via your phone.
Pandemic	£17.99 at IWOOT, £28.98 at OnBuy (norm up to £40)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – you can play virtually online for £7.19 on Steam.
Carcassonne	£17.99 at IWOOT, £21.61 at Amazon* (norm up to £35)	Easy – it has an online version of the game.	Yes – thanks to the free online version at BoardGameArena.
Exploding Kittens	£9.99 at OnBuy, £14.99 at Amazon* (norm up to £30)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – via an app (currently £1.79 via Google Play or £1.99 on the App Store).
Five Second Rule	£9.99 at Smyths Toys, £12.96 at OnBuy (norm up to £13)	Bit fiddly – one household could manoeuvre the pieces and read from the cards while other households could shout out answers.	No – there's no online version.
Cards Against Humanity (family edition)	£25 at Cards Against Humanity, £27.99 at John Lewis* and £29.99 at WH Smith (norm up to £30)	Easy – you'd all need to print free pack from the Cards Against Humanity website. To save paper, consider downloading and viewing onscreen instead.	Yes – you can download for free from the Cards Against Humanity website.

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

Classic board games

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Jenga	£9.99 at Amazon* and Smyths Toys, Next cheapest, £10 (norm £12) at Argos, John Lewis* and Tesco	Not possible – need to be in the same room to play.	No – there's no online version.
Connect 4	£10.99 at Smyths Toys. Next cheapest, £11 at Argos	Bit fiddly – one person would need to put all the tokens in.	Yes – via an app (currently free via App Store or £2.39 via Google Play).
Monopoly	£17.99 at Smyths Toys. Next cheapest, £18 (was £20) at Argos	Bit fiddly – each player would need to move/place all pieces on their own board.	Yes – via an app (currently £3.99 via Google Play and the App Store).

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

Top board game picks from MSE HQ

Board game	Lowest price (and next cheapest)	How easy is this to play over video call?	Is there an online version instead?
Dobble MSE Laura B's pick	£5.66 at OnBuy, £8 at Amazon* (norm up to £13)	Possible – for some versions, you'd all need your own pack.(See Connect and Play for which versions can be played virtually).	No – there's no online version.
Dominion MSE Laura F's pick	£32.49 at Zatu, £41.36 at Amazon* (norm up to £45)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	Yes – there's a free Dominion online version.
What do you Meme? MSE Sarah's pick	£22.99 at Zatu. Cheaper at £22.39 at Hive but currently out of stock (norm up to £28)	Not possible – you can't play over a call.	No – there's no online version.
Cluedo MSE Rhiannon's pick	£15 at Asda, £20 at Argos (norm up to £30)	Possible – so long as one person has the set, they can move pieces for everyone.	Yes – it's £11.99 on Steam or there's an app (currently £1.99 via Google Play or £3.99 on the App Store)
Guess Who? Norwich City FC edition MSE Kelvin's pick	£24 at Official Norwich City FC Merchandise. Not available elsewhere	Possible – you'd all need your own (same version) board.	Yes – Twinkl has a free printable Guess Who-style game.
Linkee MSE Laura F's pick	£21.38 at Zatu, £22.97 at George at Asda (norm up to £27)	Easy – only one person needs a pack. Everyone else can listen and call out.	No – there's no online version.

Prices at 5.56pm on Tue 22 Dec

More virtual games

If your Christmas game-playing usually involves a festive tipple, see our Christmas bubbly deals.

MSE LAURA F says:

I took several large review sites and sellers into account when coming up with my top board games list:

More info

Here's a little more information about each of the board games above:

Board game	What's the gist?
Articulate!	Get your teammates to work out the word on your card without saying the word yourself. Ages 12+
Gloomhaven	Strategic card play involving vanquishing monsters and completing quests. Ages 14+
Ticket to Ride	Lay down railway routes across the country to score the most points. Ages 8+
Scrabble	A classic. Use your tiles to come up with high-scoring words. Ages 12+
Pandemic	Contain the spread of infection (counters) across the board. Ages 8+
Carcassonne	Place tiles to build and shape your medieval landscape. Ages 7+
Exploding Kittens	Strategic card game. Make sure your opponents are blown up instead of you. Ages 7+
Five Second Rule	Name three things from the category on a card before the timer runs out. Ages 10+
Cards Against Humanity (family edition)	Match up cards to come up with the funniest sentences. This is the kid-friendly version. Ages 8+
Dobble	MSE Laura B's pick A lightning-speed, high-energy set of games revolving around matching symbols. Ages 8+
Dominion	MSE Laura F's pick Build your empire through strategic card play. Ages 13+
What do you Meme?	MSE Sarah's pick Match photo cards with caption cards to get the biggest laughs. Ages 17+
Cluedo	MSE Rhiannon's pick Work out the murderer, weapon and scene of the crime. Ages 8+
Guess Who? Norwich City FC edition	MSE Kelvin's pick Ask yes/no questions to deduce your opponent's identity. Ages 6+
Linkee	MSE Laura F's pick Work out the answers to four questions and the connection between them. Ages 14+

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