There is nothing that says warmth and friendly togetherness quite like board games. And sure, you might have brought that battered Clue game from home, but isn't it time to round up your Chinese friends for a rousing game of Mahjong over some Yanjing? Not to mention that many of these games look beautiful just sitting out on your shelf. Just saying.

San Guo Sha | 三国杀

This immensely popular Chinese game is played with a purpose-made deck—you may have seen the cards being sold on blankets in the street. It was created in 2008, based on that favorite Chinese epic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Players draw cards to determine their characters—either lords, traitors, loyals or spies—and then try to destroy their enemies, with the rebels going after the lord, the loyals protecting the lord and the spy out to kill everyone else. Further cards are drawn to determine the outcome of attacks and battles.

"It's very addictive," says Theresa Lim, a digital planning director who plays at work with her colleagues. “We play on a daily basis. At first, games take a few hours, but once you know what you’re doing, they only take about 20 minutes."

Lim says you don't need to speak Chinese to play, but it helps if you have some understanding of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. "Get online and work out who the main characters are and what sort of personalities they have," she says. "Then buy a set of cards and work out what everyone does. Once you've figured that out, you can play without having to speak any Chinese. Our CEO doesn't speak a word of Mandarin but he plays with us."

The basic set of cards costs about ¥60, but there are currently four expansion packs with more characters and more elaborate rules. Lim says she has learned a lot about those she plays with by watching the tactics they employ. "It's very revealing, and now when I hold job interviews I always ask candidates whether they play. Asking them about their tactics gives me an idea of how they think."

There's currently no English-language version of the game, though there are online tutorials in English and an English-language walkthrough page on Facebook. You can also play online, and there's a version for smartphones. Once you’ve got an idea of how to play, you can head to the Hunter Board Game Club (6235-1261) in Gulou. The ¥50 entrance fee gets you professional guidance and a warm, comfortable environment. Plus if you go with a group of eight or more, they might even let you stay all night.

Difficulty: ★★★★✩
Number of players: 4 to 10

Weiqi | 围棋

Weiqi, or Go, is one of the world’s earliest known board games, originating in China over 2,500 years ago. By the third century BC it was already a popular pastime, with Confucius dropping references to it in his Analects. Players take turns placing white or black stones on the intersecting points of a 19 x 19-line grid. The aim is to surround areas of territory on the board and capture the opponent’s stones. The rules are simple and take about 20 minutes to learn, but the nuances and strategy of Weiqi take a lifetime to master.

Difficulty: ★★★★★
Number of players: 2

Chinese Checkers | 跳棋

It’s not Chinese, and it has nothing in common with checkers, but if you’re looking for a simple game that goes well with conversation and conviviality, Chinese checkers is for you. The game was invented in the U.S. in the '30s and given the name “Hop Ching Checkers,” and subsequently Chinese Checkers as a marketing ploy, possibly because of the huge popularity of mahjong in the U.S. around the same time. Ironically, China was one of the last countries in the world to play the game, after it was imported here from Japan.

Difficulty: ★✩✩✩✩
Number of players: 2-6

Liar's Dice | 骰子

This game will be familiar to anyone who frequents Mix, GT Banana … any club with a high table-to-dance floor ratio. The game starts with a bid: everyone shakes up their five dice in their cup and one player guesses how many of a certain number are showing under all the cups on the table (e.g. "six threes"; ones are wild). Subsequent players have to one-up whoever just went before them by either bidding a higher quantity or a higher die number. The game escalates until a player calls—if whoever just bid has overshot the actual dice that show, they ganbei.

You may think this is mostly a guessing game, but play with anyone who has put in years of practice, and you will get owned. It’s a game of bluffing and lies, and no one can beat a salty old xiaojie when it comes to these skills. While the typical version involves the loser of each round drinking, pick up your own set on Taobao (as cheap as a few RMB), and make up your own punishments at home. Depending on the rules, you might want to play with a date.

Difficulty: (Sober) ★★★✩✩ (Drunk)★★★★★
Number of players: 2+

Mahjong | 麻将

It may be the most popular game on the mainland, but mahjong is a relatively recent addition to China's 5,000-year gaming history. Though some claim Confucius created the game, the first concrete accounts of mahjong appear in the late 19th century, and most believe a wealthy Shanghai merchant created it as an adaptation of a card game. Mahjong was outlawed in 1949, along with anything else that could be used to gamble, and was only officially permitted again in 1985.

“There are 136 tiles in all, most of which are split into three suits, and they are communally shuffled in the middle of the table before each hand begins,” explains Veronica Chen, a Shanghai native who plays at home with her family most weekends. “Thirteen tiles are given out to each of the four players, who then take turns picking up and discarding the remaining tiles from those left in the middle.” The aim is to make sets (known as melds), or collections of four, of the same symbols. The first player to use up all of her tiles in sets lays down her hand to win. It’s a lot like playing rummy with tiles rather than cards.

There are myriad variations that are played around the world—even more than poker, reputedly—and even more scoring systems.

Roam the streets, and you’ll see dozens of games going on at all hours. Locals won’t mind you watching a few hands, though expect to be shooed away if your presence is felt to be intrusive.

There are hundreds of teashops, KTV bars, restaurants and massage joints that offer mahjong rooms for rent if you have three friends and want to try it. Culture Yard also offers a two-session workshop (¥140), which includes a beginner lesson, followed by an intermediate lesson and a game against local players. Afterwards, you can buy a basic set of tiles for yourself, starting at around ¥80, and perfect your game at home. All you need is a square table that seats four. Find full sets of rules for mahjong online.

Difficulty: ★★★★★
Number of players: 4

Dou Di Zhu | 斗地主

Playing cards were invented in … BOOM! That’s right, like everything else, they were invented in China. The first recorded reference to cards is in the 9th century Tang Dynasty text, A Collection of Miscellanea at Duyang by a writer known as Su E.

Of course, cards are more popular now than ever, as anyone who has strolled the streets of Beijing will know. But what are those games the locals are always playing? The most popular card game in China is probably dou di zhu, or “stick it to the landlord.” As the name suggests, it was developed (or renamed) during the Cultural Revolution, as landowners became targets for the working classes. The game is played with three people, one of whom is the landlord or boss. The other two are peasants and play in a team against him. Everyone takes turns in laying down hands very similar to those used in poker, from single cards through pairs, triples, full houses, runs and flushes up to four-of-a-kind sets, in an attempt to get rid of all their cards. Twos are high and both jokers are used, though they are not wild—they are simply the two highest cards in the pack. Before a round begins, players bid for the landlord position, based on the strength of their cards.

Many other Chinese card games are variations on dou di zhu, notably “Big Two” (大老二, da lao'er), in which players try to get rid of all their cards by laying down hands of pairs, triples, runs and so on. Big Two contains aspects of the Western game “President,” in that the winner collects the loser's two best cards before the next round in exchange for his two worst.

There’s also a range of Chinese card games in which players bid on and make tricks, such as bashi fen (八十分), zhao pengyou (找朋友) and tuolaji (拖拉机). As with all card games, rules vary from household to household and are too numerous to detail here. Go online for more variations.

Difficulty: ★✩✩✩✩
Number of players: As many as you want