What’s nicer than playing together in a large group? And there are plenty of opportunities to do so during the holidays. Whether it’s Christmas or New Year’s Eve – these new products will make it fun. We have tested Hitster Rock (Jumbo), Otto Normalo (Piatnik), Voll verSchätzt (denkriesen), Hier (abacus) and Top 10 Adventures (asmodee) for you. And as always, you can win the games here!
Another variant of the cult game!
With Hitster from Jumbo, every game night becomes a party. In 2025, the variant “Hitster Rock!” was released in cooperation with Radio Bob. The editorial team has selected 308 rock songs, from catchy tunes to insider tips. Two to ten players aged 16 and over can demonstrate their music knowledge either in competition or cooperatively.
To play you need the Hitster app for your smartphone, which has been significantly improved. It connects the players to Spotify-free using a scanned QR code and plays a short section of the song they are looking for. While in previous editions of Hitster, a game master had to operate the app because the band and music title were displayed, the song now only starts when you place the cell phone on the screen. So everyone can puzzle along.
The aim of the game is to lay out a timeline of ten songs in the correct order. The other players can bet their chips against it. In the end, whoever achieves the most points wins. Or you can try cooperatively to achieve a very long timeline.
Hitster is a game that guarantees entertaining rounds. With “Hitster Rock” even the music nerds among us reached their limits. But the nice thing about Hitster is that there are editions for every musical taste and you can mix them up however you like. Still our number 1! Here you can listen to the new “Hitster Rock!” win:
Draw pot for Hitster Rock
How average are you?
“Otto Normalo” by Piatnik also ensures exuberant party fun. This isn’t about being the best. However, you shouldn’t bring up the rear either. The new, refreshingly different quiz game from Piatnik is – as the name suggests – about mediocrity. With simple rules, humor and the charm of everyday people, “Otto Normalo” shows that you don’t need the most or the fewest points to win.
Three to six players aged twelve and over simultaneously write their answers face down on their board. And usually about questions that no one in the group can answer correctly. Tips from 1 to 99 are given. Then everyone calculates the distance between their guess and the correct answer. The person who comes closest to the tip comes away just as empty-handed as the person who was particularly far away. All other players receive points. At the end of the game we see who is the ultimate champion of mediocrity.
Since the questions are incredibly crazy, we had a lot of fun guessing. A round lasts just under 30 minutes, so “Otto Normalo” can be played quickly between two courses. A new gameplay principle that turns the usual hunt for points on its head. You can win “Otto Normalo” here:
Win “Otto Normalo” once.
“Completely misjudged” – The Christmas edition
The series “Fully misjudged” by denkriesen is also about guessing quantities. We tried the Christmas edition. The guessing game can be played by two people or more. The questions are suitable for ages twelve and up. Instead of individuals, you can also play against each other in teams. The game includes (and a trademark for denkriesen games) a game pad in DIN A4 format. It contains 350 Christmas-related questions and several answer sheets, which can also be replaced with a normal notepad.
Every tip brings points. Whoever guesses the exact result receives three points, which can be increased to six points with a doubling joker. The next best answer receives two points. And whoever misses the correct answer by the furthest gets a minus point.
What we particularly liked about the Christmas edition is that it’s not just about knowledge questions about the festival, but that one question per card always relates to the other players and you have to assess them correctly. Very communicative and very entertaining! And outside of the Christmas season there are many other topics in the “Fully Misjudged” series. Denkriesen gave us a copy to raffle off. Click here for the lottery pot:
Raffle pot for “Fully Misjudged – Christmas Edition”
Tumult in the penguin colony
After so many brain games, we tested “Here” from Abacus Spiele, a reaction game based on an idea by Ralf zur Linde. Two to eight players aged eight and over can let off steam here. The game material is 100 penguin cards with values 1 to 100. The cute one is the illustration by Marek Bláha. Because every penguin looks different.
The cards are shuffled and dealt five face down to each player. They are placed on a face-down pile in front of the player. The remaining colony is placed in the middle of the table in a haphazard manner. Then 14 cards are revealed and placed clearly visible on the colony. When everyone is ready, the starting player reveals another card and announces its value out loud. Now you have to be quick! Everyone now simultaneously looks for the penguin with the smallest difference to the number called out. Whoever finds it quickly puts his hand on it. If there are multiple explorers, the lower hand counts. If two penguins are found with the same distance, the penguin with the higher value wins.
If you guessed correctly and quickly, you now place a card from your face-down pile face-up on the penguin card you just found and reveal another penguin card, call out the value and the search begins again. The winner is the first player to play his face-down pile into the middle of the table. An uncomplicated, fast game with lots of actions. Three variations maintain replay value. Abacus Spiele and the Lokalkompass are giving away “Here”:
Draw pot for “Here” from Abacus games
From storytellers and adventurers
“Top Ten” is a party game series from Cocktail Games, published by asmodee. The conversation game has no losers. All that matters is letting your imagination run wild together. The current one in the series is “Top Ten Adventures”. Four to nine fantasists aged twelve and over play.
The game contains 40 double-sided adventure cards, each with five questions. These are placed in a holder so that only the current question is visible. There is also a play mat and eight tiles. The core of the game, however, are the number cards from 1 to 10. Each player draws a face down number. This is now the level that he has to describe with his answer. One of the players is the captain. He selects the adventure card and reads the first question.
The story is called “Backing the Right Horse.” The first question is “This is your first time betting on horses. What is the name of the horse you are betting on? From “Say goodbye to your mice” (value 1) to “The best horse in the stable” (value 10). One player bets on “Sleepyhead”, another on “Lawnmower” and a third on “Thunder”. Now the captain has to use the names to draw conclusions about the players’ hidden values. He guesses sleepyhead first. The player with the name reveals his card. It’s a 2. Then the captain taps thunder. This includes the value 8. So far so good. Now comes the lawnmower. The player who came up with this name has the value 3. Since this is lower than the previously mentioned 8, a tile on the playing mat moves from the unicorn pile to the poop pile.
Then the next person in the round is the captain. All number cards are shuffled again and everyone draws a number face down. The captain reads the next question. Again, each player tries to adapt his answer to the value he has drawn. And the captain tries to guess the correct order. There are always negative points when a lower value follows a higher one. Nothing happens the other way around. The game ends when all tiles are on the poop pile.
“Top Ten” is very funny. It requires a high level of creativity and linguistic empathy. For everyone who likes to fantasize together, a quick game for in between. Asmodee and the Lokalkompass are giving away “Top Ten Adventures” here:
Win “Top Ten Adventures” from asmodee here
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