you want actual board games or party games? this entirely depends on the type and number of people involved. I have the fucking BEST party games. most of these are best for 5+ people
we invented a SkyMall price-is-right one recently (obviously tough if nobody's been on an airplane recently)... you cut the issue down the middle and deal the pages out to all the players - people take turns pitching a chosen product from a given page and everyone else names off their predicted price (pitch person writes down the guesses on the page), then the closest guess wins and takes the product's sheet for score-keeping. (none of this "without going over" bullshit since that's a mind-control tactic introduced to give viewers the false impression that products are cheaper than they are).
no-brainer is videophone aka writey-drawey where you have deal index-card-sized piece of paper to everyone then start with a phrase/clue, then pass it to the neighbor who uses that to draw a picture pictionary-style, then that's passed and the neighbor has to turn the picture back into a phrase/clue, and the cycle repeats to make it oscillate between image and text. best for 5+ people.
then there's the questions game - an asker puts forth an open-ended question (non-Y/N), then everyone writes their answer on a small slip of paper and deposits it in a bowl, then the asker's neighbor reads the answers aloud (combating handwriting forensics) and the asker has to pair answers to answerers, typically with guess attempts = answers provided. each answer correctly paired to answerer is kept by the asker for scoring. here's sample questions, can submit your own:
http://www.astrolix.com/questions/game (click to cycle through)
- which time/place from history would you inhabit if you were forced
to be transported?
- which body part would you replace with a corresponding animal part?
(name part & animal) / or… cyborg part?
- if you could re-live one day from your childhood, which would it be?
- you will live out the experience a character has in a movie: what
movie & which character?
- you replace a friend's pet with another animal of your choice: which
friend & which animal?
- if you could gain fluency in any language instantly, which would it be? why?
- what animal would you ride to work
- for your optimal amusement, which two events' crowds would you
exchange via teleportation?
- describe your sex life with a movie title
- using the name of a sex act, describe your job
- what's the first album you owned?
- a thing you think smells good but everyone else thinks smells bad
- what's the first thing you saved up money to buy?
- what's a present you asked for as a child, but never received?
- which person would you most like to "weekend at Bernie's?"
- you can wish an X-men-style “mutation” on every human except for
you – what mutation is it?
- what do you fear most?
- if you had to sing the national anthem, who'd be your backup singer?
- what would your superhero name be?
- what would be the title of a screenplay of your life?
- when is it not appropriate to pop champagne?
- what's the most full your stomach has ever been?
- if you could rule one country, which would it be?
- whose hair would you rather have?
- as a child, what did you think you would be when you grew up?
- Who would you want most to be on a desert island with? Want least?
- what singer/celebrity would you love to see launched into space?
- if you were a car, you'd be a _______
- I hate when people wear ______
- what would your last meal be?
- if you could be woo’d by a legendary lover (fictional or not), who
would you choose?
(this is like an out of body Total Recall dream state thing, NOT
actually happening)
- who (celebrity or not) would you most want to watch sell things on QVC/HSN?
- parents shouldn’t let their children _______
- what is your favorite childhood summer memory?
- if you had to have one word tattoed on your forehead, what would
you choose (and what font)?
- pick one from each pair: [ Sega or Nintendo ] [ tea or coffee ] [
P.C. or Mac ] [ Coke or Pepsi ]
- if you had to become a CEO, which company would you boss around?
- what class do you think should be added to the high school curriculum?
- if you were given $100 million to produce a non-fiction movie, what
would it be?
- If you could/had to appear on any daytime television show, what would it be?
- If you were a business, what would your slogan be?
- If could add an "awareness month" (e.g. black history month, breast
cancer awareness), what would it be?
- Finish the last stanza of this poem (not with the original lines):
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
_____________________________
_____________________________
- If you could/had to take on the sexual dimorphism (or lack thereof)
and mating habits of any other species, what would it be?
- If you could eliminate a (non-traffic) law from the books, what would it be?
- Your solution for the energy crisis is: _______
- What would do if you were a gerbil?
- It has been said "the devil's in the details", but also "love is in
the details" (--M. Alexander). What do you think is in the details?
(Neither of the previously mentioned)
- Happiness is: ______
- what do you fear most?
- how would you dispose of a dead body?
- if you could rule one country, which would it be?
- if you could add/replace a body part with an animal body part, what
would it be?
- what food do you hate seeing people eat?
- what do you like most about your S.O.?
- how do you know when someone is "too cool"?
- if you worked for QVC, what product would you sell during your segment?
- who would you most want to watch sell things on QVC?
-Complete this sentence: Don't let your children _______
-Very attractive women can often be found with _______
you can play fishbowl, too, though I don't really endorse it because it mandates two teams:
http://www.greatgroupgames.com/fishbowl.htm
if you have 4 or less people headed to that cabin then FUCK YOU