Sushi Go ( you might need Sushi Go Party for 7 players ) has been a go-to for my family
This was my choice when playing with people that aren't good with English.
If you want more depth, 7 Wonders is very similar but has a lot more going on. Also mostly language-independent.
I own Sushi Go (not party), I think it's an OK game. Don't really wanted to buy the party version.
Dixit is also a good fit! It is a very easily explained game, where you have to say a word or short phrase describing a mystery card. The rest then places a card they think that matches the description as well, and then a voting round starts. It is really fun, and playing it would do more justice than this explanation :p
I had Dixit but sold it once I got Mysterium. Then I sold Mysterium after I bought Obscurio. They don't like Obscurio because there's a traitor role 🤡
Since you are on vacation and might not be able to find some of the other suggestions I will mention Liar's Dice, also known as Perudo. If you can't find an official copy all you need is 5 dice per player (so 30 dice for 6 for example) and some cups or other way to hide the dice rolls.
I'm on vacation but not out of town so I can still go to my local game shop!
Captain Sonar goes up to 8. It does have some frantic communication among the teams.
Sushi Go Party goes up to 8
Camel Up
Captain Sonar requires too much communication to work, it's impossible. Some people only speak portuguese, other only german, not everyone speaks english....
I already own Sushi Go (not party), I think it's an OK game and didn't want to get the party version.
Camel Up is a great suggestion, someone in my regular group owns it already so I might just borrow it!
could be a good start!
Ready Set Bet is definitely something I'd love to try, are the side bets or VIP cards simple? My only fear is that I'd have to spend a lot of time explaining those cards to everyone
Both Railroad Ink. and Number 9 (might be called 0-9) are games which are solely component limited, meaning that if you buy 2 boxes you can play with twice the amount of players (12 and 8 respectively).
Mysterium is a co-op game for up to 7 players.
If you are into deduction and quick thinking Ricochet Robots might be for you.
If you want a chill game to have a chat while playing Concept (without the rules for points) is a fun "guess the word/phrase" game.
Concept might work well. The cards are going to have a concept that you try to get other people guess by pointing at a board with various symbols on it. The word for the concept you're trying to get people to guess should be easily translated with a phone, or just skipped and draw a new card.
Rhino Hero is great, especially if there's kids or drunk adults in the group. Kind of like Jenga, try to build up a card tower without knocking it over.
Similarly, Pinnacle's pretty good. Competitive block stacking with weird shapes
Love seeing Concept being suggested! It's one of my favorite games for getting a group of people communicating together.
What about Jungle Speed? I always get ungry with friends/family with this game, bit it could work forma you!
I suggest Virus! https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/180020/virus
Its a fun little game, easy to play but enjoyable and can easily be played with more than 6, too (we have done 8)
Saboteur II (2-12) is a lot of fun. You could say it's social deduction, but the expansion makes knowing the roles much easier and less important.
Check out that's not a hat! No text at all. As well as super mega lucky box (though you might need 2 copies to increase the player count)
Are all fun language independent easy to learn party games that work for 2-8 or 4-12 players.
No word based games
Does that also include other clue giving games such as the following?
I feel like they're different enough to justify getting them and they're extremely funny, especially the first three. Top Ten has cards that are open information and can be translated so out of those it would be the best fit, the other ones are language dependent.
Ready Set Bet I feel like would have been an SDJ nominee, but while it's all symbol based the VIP cards have some text, but are not neccessary
I ended up getting this one, hopefully it turns alright!
Some easy games are Ligretto, Halli Galli and Jungle Speed. Not exactly board games and a very specific category that might not suit everybody, but definitely fun.
Eleminis! It's a deck of cards, very easy to learn, has pictures so no English is required, not social deduction, and supports 7 players.
I ended up getting Ready Set Bet, thanks for the suggestions!!!
@pathief Hanabi, Code Words, Double Feature, Cash-N-Guns, and No Thanks have been big hits at my family's get togethers.
Everything boardgames
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