Nothing beats a steaming mug of hot chocolate on a frosty December day. This time of year, new flavours pop up everywhere, tempting every kind of chocolate lover. With so many wintery options bringing that festive buzz, the question is: which board games pair best with your favourite order?
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Nothing screams Christmas like a peppermint hot chocolate. Usually served with a candy cane on the side, it captures Santa’s Grotto like no other. It’s cool, refreshing taste makes it the ideal companion for chilly adventures.
Unsurmountable by Button Shy Games is a frozen adventure, to say the least. This solo game has you using a limited deck of cards to carve a path up to the top of a mountain. Each card is decorated with frosty snow, and it’s always best played with a hot beverage nearby as you trek up the slopes. This portable game is easy to pick up: shuffle the deck, then decide whether to use each card to build your mountain or for its unique ability to help you progress. It’s thoughtful yet fast-paced, and completing the climb is no small feat. It really puts the “chill” in peppermint hot chocolate.
Flip 7 offers a different kind of chill. With its blue-edged cards evoking the icy plains of the North Pole, this is a fast-paced push-your-luck game perfect for friends. Players take turns dealing cards and deciding whether to go again, trying to score big without pulling the same number twice. The catch? High numbers like 11 appear in the deck 11 times, making the decision riskier. Special cards add mischief, letting you freeze totals or double them. Pair a peppermint hot chocolate with Flip 7 and you’ve got a match made for the holidays. The game’s frosty visuals and playful pace mirror the crisp, festive flavour of the drink. For extra fun, try the Grinch edition.
Black Forest Hot Chocolate
The Black Forest hot chocolate is for fans of decadent desserts. Its creamy flavour with a hint of cherry makes each sip indulgent and comforting. The games to enjoy alongside it are cosy yet rich, drawing you in with immersive themes for a winter evening.
Merchants of the Dark Road is one of the most decadent games I own. The board alone is a thing of beauty, slotting together like a jigsaw to reveal a snowy trading town and surrounding territories. With a magnetic trading circle that sticks to the board and plenty of decorative dice to throw, it exudes opulence. The theme is festive as you navigate a snowy market and brave the cold to deliver goods. Its setting brings to mind Bavarian forests, the origin of the Black Forest desert. Merchants is not a quick game, but it draws you in with its stunning visuals and wraps you up in its atmosphere for hours. Cosy, strategic, and rich in almost every way, it’s a perfect match for a Black Forest hot chocolate.
EXIT The Polar Station is an escape room in a box. Players must race to escape an Arctic research station on the verge of exploding. You’ll face icy challenges and clever puzzles that will have you scratching your head one moment and cheering the next. This suspenseful adventure is layered, filled with intricate details and complex riddles, just like the flavours in a Black Forest hot chocolate. With a difficulty rating of 3, it’s tricky but not overwhelming, making it ideal for a relaxed winter evening. Nothing says Christmas like an Exit game. It’s a great stocking filler, and just like a Black Forest hot chocolate, it’s a festive treat you cannot resist.
Fully Loaded Hot Chocolate
For those of us who don’t want to stray from the classic flavours, I’ve got you covered with the fully loaded option. A plain hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and cream delivers pure sweetness and nostalgia, making it the perfect companion for timeless family games.
Monopoly is a Christmas classic in my house. Hear me out. Every year without fail it would find its way onto the table, whether it was the London edition, Nottingham, Marvel, Fortnite or even a Christmas themed version. And every year I suffer defeat at the hands of my ruthless sister. Nobody leaves the table until they are penniless. If you’ve never played Monopoly, I have questions, but it’s essentially a game of moving round the board, buying property, building houses and avoiding jail. Like a fully loaded milk hot chocolate, it’s excessive and something you always come back to even though you know it’s probably bad for you.
Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries is about laying down colourful train routes and completing journeys to score points. The snowy Scandinavian board feels festive, instantly bringing the Christmas spirit to the table. This edition is also a little different to the original as it’s designed for up to three players, making it more intimate and surprisingly strategic with limited space to claim routes. While this version is quite hard to track down, its reskin Northern Lights offers the same experience for more players and works just as well for family game night. It’s easy to teach, quick to learn, and pairs perfectly with a crowd pleasing fully loaded hot chocolate.
Orange Hot Chocolate
Orange hot chocolate is a bright, warming twist on a winter classic. Its sweet, zesty flavour lifts the spirits, making it ideal for playful or imaginative games.
Patchwork is a two-player game that I absolutely adore. Players go head-to-head selecting colourful polyomino tiles and adding them to their personal boards to craft a quilt. Some tiles feature buttons which score you points, and you can also earn points by completing a 7×7 square on your board. At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins, but be warned that every empty space on your board is worth -2. It’s a thoughtful little game, but its bright aesthetic and tactile pieces make it feel warm, cheerful and deeply satisfying to play.
There’s even a Christmas edition of Patchwork, which makes it an even better match for the zesty warmth and comforting sweetness of an orange hot chocolate.
Flamecraft may be the outlier as it has no snow or Christmas edition, but it still screams festive fun. Players visit shops, gather resources, play dragons, and cast enchantments in a bustling town. It’s warm palette and detailed pieces make it a joy to look at. Gameplay is rhythmic and easy, ideal for a cosy winter evening. With a roaring fire and an orange hot chocolate on the side, Flamecraft feels bright, uplifting and festive. There’s something magical about placing tiny dragons in bakeries, pubs and blacksmiths and delighting in their cheerful names.
Irish Cream Hot Chocolate
Finally, an adult classic. Adding a shot of Irish cream transforms a cosy hot chocolate into a warming treat. Games paired with this drink are darker, more strategic and perfect for grown-ups.
Betrayal Yuletide Tale simply has to be mentioned. If you’ve followed my blogs for a while, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Betrayal as it appears in many of my lists. This festive expansion returns players to the haunted mansion, but enemies are Christmas themed. Two new villains, Jingleklaws and a mischievous elf, appear once the haunt begins. New tiles, miniatures, character cards and story books round out the expansion. Just be warned, the themes aren’t for the faint hearted, so you’ll want that hot chocolate with a generous measure of Irish cream.
Everdell: Spirecrest adds a bracing challenge to the cosy base game. Players explore a mountain board for extra victory points while navigating punishing weather cards that can disrupt plans. Discovery cards offer rewards at a cost, including big critters, oversized meeples with passive abilities. With saddles to ride them, they’re both striking and fun. This expansion is for experienced players seeking a frost-bitten challenge. Its deeper strategy and harsher conditions pair wonderfully with an Irish cream hot chocolate: warming, bold, and strong enough to carry you through.
As we head into winter, hot chocolates will be plentiful, and whatever flavour you choose, there’s a board game out there perfectly paired with every delicious sip.
About the Author:
* Sophie is a gamer, blogger, podcaster, and book lover with a passion for solo narrative video games. When she’s not immersed in games or writing, she’s probably out hiking. Her favourite board games feature worker placement, nature themes, and smart tableau-building mechanics.
