H and I are hosting a game night for 3 other couples. The women are friends; the men have met but don’t really know each other. Need suggestions for some fun, easy to learn games that aren’t so intense you can’t following along while having a conversation. We may play more than one during the course of the evening. Options being considered already include pitch/setback (need to find out if everyone can play because we haven’t found it easy to teach) reverse charades (each team acts out as a group and one team member has to guess) and left right center. What others might fit the bill? I don’t mind purchasing a game, although our library has hundreds of games you can take out so that’s an options as well.
Taboo is pretty straightforward and accommodates a large number of players. The Resistance is fun too.
Cards against humanity if you’re OK with “inappropriate.” We play it with multiple generations, and admit we do take some cards out.
- Mexican Train is easy and 8 can play...but you need the dominoes
- Code Names
- while Telestrations is fun when my gal pals play....most of the hubbies aren't wild about drawing...
I still love Pictionary 
Good ideas so far! One of the women would definitely veto Cards Against Humanity though.
Oh! We love games!!! I highly recommend Codename for your group. Absolutely a perfect game for your group. Another fun option is Resistance. Watch these games played on YouTube with Tabletop if you need to get an idea of gameplay. They are both very easy to pick up and very fun.
How about old fashioned Charades for later in the evening when people know each other a little better? And gets you away from the game table.
I have a friend who regularly hosts game parties. We usually end the evening with Charades. We’ve also played the Dictionary Game which is great if you have a verbal group. Last summer I spent a weekend with grad school friends and while we played many, many board games I think the game we played most often was a card game - Screw Your Neighbor. Another great party game is Sushi Go, you’ll need Sushi Go Party if your group has more than five people. Agreed that Code Names is fun.
I personally don’t like the Mafia type games like The Resistance.
Monopoly for Millennials. It’s Hilarious and doesn’t last long because everybody is broke 
It doesn’t have the standard cards like Atlantic City, Boardwalk etc. It has things like A friend couch, thrift shop, Parent’s basement etc. Was so much fun.
Cranium. It is charades plus so much more! Very interactive, always a crowd pleaser at our house. Mix up the couples for added fun. Many friends have been surprised by their spouse’s gaming skills.
Monikers.
we played this group at a couples party recently. and laughed till we cried. The host then gave each one of the winning team the game (wrapped) as a gift, so all of the men took the game home.
At our house, we played it with relatives, and the relatives loved it so much they ordered it and played it at their open house
Its part charades, part taboo, part million dollar pyramid all combined. You can get it from amazon and I highly recommend it. Its very social and very easy to figure out; but certainly funny.
Spin the Bottle??? 
Try Clean Slate - simple, fun, fast, can be played with 8. Love Code Names too.
We love Sushi Go and Sushi Go Party. I agree these are fun but Sushi Go Party is better for bigger groups and it can get confusing if you do the more complex versions. Stick to the easier versions for a party that is not familiar.
@amsunshine agree that you should start with the easier options in Sushi Go Party. Happily the rule book even suggests which cards to use for a first game.
My friends and I have a monthly game night and play a lot of those mentioned here – Codenames, Taboo, Pictionary (or Telestrations, which is really fun). I’d add Decrypto and Game of Things. Five Second Rule is super easy and great for a group. I’ve heard that Exploding Kittens and Unstable Unicorns are similar to Cards against Humanity but less raunchy, though we haven’t tried them yet.
We’ve often played a game we call Celebrity Salad (also known as Fishbowl, I think), where everyone puts celebrity names (real or fictional, living or dead) on slips of paper, then all the names go in a hat. You take turns describing the names to your partner/team. Each team guesses as many as they can in a minute, or whatever time you agree on. This one is super fun, always a hit with a big group. Have fun!
Apples to Apples would be a less raunchy CaH alternative as well.
Thanks, all. I’m going to the library today to see if they have any of these.
We tried Unstable Unicorns - there was a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of it, that took time, but it was fun once we got there.
Clean Slate is a quick to learn word association game, but unlike Scattergories, you want to match another player. The scoring is higher for one match, less if you match more than one, zero for no match.