Big Shiny Robot: Board games for the holidays 

• Courtesy photo

We're all worn out from fighting over politics. The last thing any of us want to do for this holiday season is go home and fight with our racist parents, transphobic in-laws, bigoted brothers and sexist sisters who have internalized all of that misogyny—especially after this election.

I have a better idea: Let's just not this year. There will be other times to argue with them and tell them how wrong they are and how bad they are for the country, kids and people in general. Let's bring some board games to the family gatherings instead and argue about rules and where the pieces go rather than how much they want to see trans kids suffer and burn books. If nothing else, it'll help your blood pressure for just one night.

Here are a few of my recommendations for some great board games you can try out for the holidays during election-year hell.

Arcs: Conflict and Collapse in the Reach: If you've only got three other people interested in playing a game, this is the perfect one to bring to just ignore the conversation and find a quiet corner with the smart, sane people. Part trick-taking card game, part interstellar battle-strategy, Arcs from Leder Games is one of the deepest, most layered and fun games of tasteful complexity I've played—it's great. Deceptively simple but deliciously strategic, it blends so many different elements into one game flawlessly. This is for 2-4 players who are game-savvy.

BattleTech Encounters: Though BattleTech is a tabletop wargame that's celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, BattleTech Encounters is a push-your-luck dice game that anyone can pick up in five minutes and have a lot of fun; the only thing it has in common with BattleTech is the theming. You play the part of a mercenary company taking on jobs, and it's basically a much more complicated and strategic variation on Yahtzee. You can sit your racist grandma down and let her play the part of a soldier-for-hire in a 100-ton BattleMech, and let her commit some war crimes. But with dice! This is for 1-8 players of any skill level.

Cartographers: This game is an interesting oddity, casting you as a cartographer of the realm. You're given a pencil and a map sheet along with all of the other players, then you're tasked with mapping out a certain amount of territory and are shown a card with a Tetris-like piece of land on it. It's your job to fit this land on your sheet in the most efficient way possible. There will be times where you will encounter hazards, and be forced to hand your map to an enemy cartographer; they will put those hazards on your map and hand it back, completely messing up your strategy. It's a surprisingly easy and elegant game where everyone has the exact same choice of moves, but no two people think alike, giving everyone a chance to mess up in different ways. Best of all, it can be played with any number of players. Have you got 40 people at your Thanksgiving table? As long as you have enough pencils and map sheets, you're good to go.

Secret Hitler: This one might be my favorite subversive pick to bring to the holiday gathering. In this secret-role party game (like a murder mystery), you're trying to do your best to keep the fascists from taking control and electing the person who is secretly Hitler from the Chancellorship. It gets heated and fun, and you might be able to use it to call your relative who voted for your least favorite burnt-umber Hitler stand-in a "Hitler" without having steam shoot out their ears. It's low difficulty and genuinely fun for the whole family, from 5-10 players.

Among the local game stores in Salt Lake City proper where you'll be able to find these games are Oasis Games (275 E. 400 South) and Game Night Games (2148 S. 900 East, Suite 2). If you go further out, you'll find Hastur Games, Demolition Games, Queen's Realm and others across the valley. For the time being, BattleTech Encounters is a Barnes & Noble exclusive, so you might have to order it through them.