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You may think board games are for kids because you played them when you were a kid. Or you may think board games are for nerds because some can be pretty nerdy.

But board games get a bad rap. Some are actually great for when you have people over at your place. Think about it: Assuming you don’t play with imaginary friends, they’re inherently social. And some guests (read: women) may appreciate you suggesting a group activity that doesn’t involve ESPN or dares that result in injury.

So next time you’re hanging out with a group of friends (to reiterate: not imaginary ones), offer to teach everyone one of these eight games. They’re fun to play, pretty simple to learn, and are operable even after you’ve had a few cocktails.

Pictureka! ($25)
Players: 2-8
It’s “Where’s Waldo?” if Waldo was a cranky Bond villain. You must scour nine panels of trippy animation in search of specific objects: three things from the sea, five rhino horns, 12 monkeys (not really). Sometimes you’ll race the timer, other times you’ll race fellow players. Panels are rotated and flipped as the game progresses, so memorization is futile.

Apples to Apples ($25)
Players: 4-10
Apples to Apples tests how well you can read other peoples’ personalities. You’re dealt cards with nouns on them, like “Bigfoot” or “cocaine” or “trailer parks.” The judge (a different player each turn) flips over an adjective card, like “honest,” “disgusting,” or “fun.” Your job? To play the noun card you believe the judge will associate with the adjective card. So if the judge’s card is “fun” and you know he’s a hard-boiled cop whose partner was murdered by Mexican drug lords, playing your “cocaine” card probably isn’t the best idea.

Catch Phrase ($20)
Players: 3-2 zillion
Pop in three AAA batteries and choose a category, like Tech/Inventions, History Buff, Food/Drink, or Everything. Once you’ve made a selection, the person holding the disc has to get their teammates to say the word or phrase, like “strong, silent type” or “backseat driver”, as quickly as possible. When a member of the team guesses correctly, the disc gets passed to a player on the opposite team. There’s no rhyming (“Rhymes with…”) and no saying, “It’s Ronny Larson, except replace the C with a J, and the L with a C.”

Teams continue to pass the disc until the buzzer sounds. If you’re holding it when that happens, you just lost the game for your team. Way to go, jerk.

Scotland Yard ($35)
Players: 3-6
You’re a member of the fuzz in London and are on the hunt for the evasive Mr. X. Alternatively, you’re Mr. X and are on the run from a bunch of Bobby flatfoots. The cops can’t make mistakes; each player has only 22 moves to track down the perp using the process of elimination and clever guesswork. Your reward for nabbing him? You become the new Mr. X.