I'm a huge board game* nerd, but luckily so are many of my friends so party games are usually in full effect at my social gatherings. And while Cranium has its charms, humming a tune and sculpting things with clay gets pretty old after a while. In my quest for games of more substance I've complied a list of games that require a bit more skill but are still easygoing enough to enjoy after a few too many after-dinner drinks.

The best games have few rules but endless room for strategy. I recently played The Game of Life with my 7-year-old niece and man is that game a mess! We had to consult the (very long) rule book almost every turn and I was counting the seconds until the game finally ended. Quite the opposite experience was Blokus, a deceptively simple game where players take turns placing Tetris-like pieces on the board. Of course you're trying to lay out as many of you own pieces as possible, but the main action is to screw over other players, which is awesome. And addictive.

Card-based games tend to be light on rules but full of action, like Bohnanza, a German game based on bean planting and harvesting. Sounds bizarre, and it is, but even crazier is that you can't rearrange your hand during play. Trying to figure out your best move when you have to play the next card in your hand no matter what is odd, but since everyone is in the same boat it all works out. If bean farming sounds a little too out there, than Saboteur might be more up your alley. In this card game some players are happy mining dwarves and others are nasty sabotaging dwarves, so you can't be sure who's on your side. It's easy to learn and fast to play, perfect for the casual gathering. Plus the good dwarves are called Gold Diggers, and who can resist that?

* When I say board game I mean any game that comes in a box that you play with people in real life, even if a board is not actually involved. If you disagree - congratulations, you are a bigger board game nerd than me. Advance directly to Boardgamegeek.com.