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The 27 Best Travel-sized Games of 2024

Our list has brainy word teasers, multiplayer party games, and everything in between.

Best Card Games

Best board games, best word games, best party games, best for little travelers.

• Tips for Buying

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why Trust T+L

Travel + Leisure / Marcus Millan

Whether you’re in need of kid-friendly games for a long road trip or some cheeky party activities to break the ice with a new group of hostel friends, it’s always worth having a couple of tried-and-true games up your sleeve while on the road.

The following travel-sized games are the best options in our book. These compact card and board games are designed to take up minimal space in luggage, while still offering maximum fun during the inevitable downtime that comes with most adventures (think layovers, long hours on a train, or rainy evenings on vacation). Here are our top picks for all types of travelers.

Mattel Games World's Smallest UNO Card Game

Why We Love It: This teeny card game will fit into the smallest of handbags.

What to Consider: The ultra-compact size might not work for those with vision problems or arthritic hands.

Uno is one of those card games that everybody already knows how to play — and, if they don’t, it takes about ten seconds to learn. That makes this game an excellent addition when backpacking abroad or vacationing with family members of all ages. This option in particular stands out as it’s the “world’s smallest” version of the popular game. The tiny cards are less than three inches tall — that’s smaller than a credit card! – and can easily fit into handbags or luggage without adding any bulk, so you’ll always have an icebreaker at the ready.

The Details : 2-10 players | Ages 7+ | 0.79 x 1.97 x 2.99 inches

Monopoly Deal

Hasbro gaming monopoly deal card game.

Why We Love It: This rendition allows you to play your favorite board game sans tabletop. 

What to Consider: It can be a bit tricky to catch on at first as there’s a lot of fast-paced action.

Monopoly night at home with friends and family can take you through a serious spectrum of emotions, especially if it’s been dragging on for hours. Then there’s Monopoly Deal. The travel-friendly version of Monopoly is cards only and much faster paced than the traditional board game. You’ll still buy and sell property, collect rent, and pass go as you do in classic Monopoly, but the compact card game can be completed in as little as 15 minutes. It’s also easier to play while at the airport or on a long train journey.

The Details : 2-5 players | Ages 8+ | 15 minutes | 0.75 x 3.62 x 5.63 inches

Mattel Games Skip-bo Card Game

Why We Love It: This family-friendly game is both easy to learn and quick to play.

What to Consider: The cards are a bit flimsy and could be more wear-resistant.

Is it just us or will Skip-bo always evoke childhood memories? The classic number sequencing game was huge in elementary school but was also in major rotation on our grandmother’s kitchen table. Not much has changed since then: the fast-paced card game is just as fun and easy to pick up and play now. It’s also relatively small which makes it great for popping into your carry-on or handbag. Note that although this game is designed for those ages 7 and up, it’s a ton of fun for adults as well as kids.

The Details: 2-6 players | Ages 7+ | 0.98 x 8.46 x 6 inches

Wild Card Games Backpacker: The Ultimate Travel Game

Why We Love It: It helps improve your skills as a traveler while learning about the world.

What to Consider: The instructions are quite long and tedious.

If you’re looking for a travel-themed game (and who doesn’t love a good theme?), then you’ll want to consider checking out Backpacker. The quick-moving travel card game is designed to mimic what it’s like to be on the road and all the potential triumphs and roadblocks that come with traversing the globe. We love that this game comes with actual fun facts about each destination so you still learn about the world around you even while playing close to home. The colorful cards are also visually appealing thanks to the high-quality photography and drawings on each one.

The Details : 2-6 players | Ages 12+ | 5.1 x 0.8 x 3.7 inches

Rubberneckers Everyone's Favorite Travel Game

Why We Love It: This game was specifically designed to be played during a road trip.

What to Consider: It’s not as exciting to play in rural areas.

Road trips are, in theory, a nonstop adventure — but, in practice, they can be long and exhausting. Rubberneckers was designed to put the fun back into long drives. The card game is essentially a game of reverse I Spy with prompts like “credit card logo” and “more than three people in a vehicle” designed to get everyone in the car looking out the window to earn points and win the title of the ultimate rubbernecker. We also appreciate the simple and easy-to-read language so younger kids can participate just as easily as older passengers.

The Details: 2 or more players | Ages 8+ | 3.5 x 1.5 x 5.5 inches

Catan Studio Catan Board Game

Why We Love It: This modern classic is a fan favorite — and, although layered, it’s easy to teach to new players.

What to Consider: There are a fair bit of pieces to keep together while on the go.

Catan is one of those games that seems complicated at first glance, but once you get it, you get it. The strategy board game takes about an hour to play out, but can go for longer — so you’ll want to budget that time while traveling. It’s also important to keep in mind that, even though this is relatively compact and travel-friendly, it still comes with several small pieces so it’s better for playing at your hotel or Airbnb rather than on a train or at the airport.

The Details: 3-4 players | Ages 10+ | 60 minutes | 11.63 x 9.5 x 3 inches

MindWare Travel Qwirkle Game

Why We Love It: This game requires smart strategy but it’s very easy to pick up and run with.

What to Consider: Some of the colors are very similar and can be hard to decipher.

We love the travel-sized Qwirkle game: not only is it super easy to learn but it’s also relatively easy to play while on the go. We love that this option is intuitive for everyone and can easily become a go-to for families with younger kids. The colorful tiles and convenient carrying case make this one great for playing while in transit — but you’ll want to keep in mind that some of the colors (especially orange and red) are very similar and can be a bit tricky to tell apart if you’re not playing in great lighting.

The Details: 2-4 players | Ages 6+ | 30-60 minutes | 5.5 x 6 x 2 inches

Hasbro Gaming Guess Who? Grab and Go Game

Why We Love It: There are only a few pieces to this classic board game.

What to Consider: The plastic is a bit flimsy and will require careful handling.

We’ll always have a soft spot for Guess Who? considering we’ve been playing it pretty much forever. The beloved guessing game requires strategic and creative thinking, but makes a particularly good travel game because there are only a few pieces to keep track of which makes it great for playing on the go, especially on a train or plane, or even while waiting to depart. We also like that the Grab and Go size is super compact and can easily fit in a backpack or carry-on without taking up too much space.

The Details: 2 players | Ages 6+ | 1.89 x 6.26 x 9.25 inches

Sorry! Road Trip Series

Why We Love It: This tiny board game is easy to set up and play on road trips or even flights.

What to Consider: Its extremely compact size is not ideal for bumpy roads or those with arthritis.

Who said you can’t play a whole darn board game while in the car? The road trip edition of Sorry! is super simple to set up and play whether you’re in an airplane cabin or the back seat of a car. The little game is designed to fold out into a full playing board on the go and doubles as its own folding carrying case when all is said and done. We love how easy it is to put together and start playing — but keep in mind, the super tiny pieces might be tricky to play with on particularly bumpy roads. 

The Details : 2-4 players | Ages 6+ | 1.00 x 11.90 x 5.85 inches

Hasbro Gaming Travel Battleship

Why We Love It: This game is quiet and slow-paced which makes it great for playing on a plane or at the airport.

What to Consider: The numerous pieces to keep track of are somewhat inconvenient.

The Grab and Go version of Battleship is small enough to throw into your carry-on bag but large enough to engage in a comfortable game without having to squint or deal with too-small game pieces. The boards and pieces are relatively simplistic compared to the full-sized Battleship, but the idea is the same. We also like that this game is pretty slow-paced which makes it a great option for playing in more quiet spaces like on the airplane or while waiting in a lounge.

The Details : 2 players | Ages 7+ | 1.89 x 6.26 x 9.25 inches

FanVince Magnetic Folding Chess Set

Why We Love It: This sturdy, magnetic game board is perfect for playing on bumpy roads and through turbulence.

What to Consider: The individual pieces feel a little flimsy in hand.

You can’t go wrong with a classic magnetic folding chess board — it’s a travel-sized game staple, afterall. The magnetic design means you don’t have to worry about your pieces falling over while going over bumpy roads or through turbulence, which is a major plus. It’s also super convenient that the board folds into its own carrying case when not in use. Keep in mind that chess is also a very quiet game, so this is absolutely perfect for bringing on a flight with you.

The Details : 2 players | Ages 8+ | 20+ minutes | 9.45 x 9.45 x 0.69 inches

Bananagrams Duel: Ultimate 2 Player Travel Game

Why We Love It: This new take on classic Bananagrams is even more portable than the original.

What to Consider: It’s sort of a watered down version of the grid game.

Bananagrams has always been one of our favorite travel games — like a real banana, it comes with its own carrying case! — but Bananagrams Duel makes it even more travel-friendly. The quick-paced dueling edition is themed and the letter pieces are die-like rather than tile-like, so you won’t see that sprawling word grid from the original edition. But this just means the game requires way less table space to play so you can easily play this one on an airplane tray table without running out of room.

The Details : 2 or more players | Ages 7+ | 10 minutes | 1.18 x 4.72 x 6.69 inches

Winning Moves Games Scrabble To-go Board Game

Why We Love It: The tiny version of Scrabble has snap-in letters that stay in place.

What to Consider: The scaled-down board isn’t as comfortable to use.

Nothing can really compare to Scrabble when it comes to group-friendly word games, but bringing the full-sized board on the road just isn’t practical. That’s why we’re huge fans of the Scrabble To-go board. The compact size makes it easy to throw in your bag while the snap-in letters mean you won’t have to worry about them flying off if you hit a pothole on the road or turbulence in the air. We also love that this one comes with its own carrying case to protect the board and pieces while traveling.

The Details : 2-4 players | Ages 8+ | 30-60 minutes | 10.75 x 10.25 x 6.88 inches

Mad Libs on the Road World's Greatest Word Game

Why We Love It: It’s easy, hilarious, and super portable to play in transit.

What to Consider: The paperback game pages aren’t reusable.

Whether you’re seven years old or 37, Mad Libs will never not be laugh-out-loud funny. Mad Libs on the Road in particular makes for a great travel-friendly option. The silly fill-in-the-blank stories are all about traveling, road trips, and summertime adventures. It’s especially convenient that Mad Libs are about the size of a paperback novel, meaning they won’t take up any space in your luggage. All you need is a pen and a couple of grammar-focused friends and you have all the makings for hours of laughs in the car and beyond.

The Details: 1 player or more | Ages 8+ | 5.25 x 0.2 x 8.38 inches

Ransom Notes The Ridiculous Word Magnet Party Game

Why We Love It: This game combines somewhat crude humor with strategy.

What to Consider: It’s definitely on the raunchy side.

Think of Ransom Notes as a somewhat crude hybrid between those poetry fridge magnets and Cards Against Humanity. You’ll get a prompt and your goal is to create a phrase using only magnets that’ll make some kind of sense to the reader. This ends up being downright hilarious in most cases — and we give the game major bonus points for being magnetic. All the pieces stay firmly in place, making it much easier to use en route to your destination.

The Details : 3 players or more | Ages 17+ | 30-90 minutes | 5.25 x 4 x 4 inches

Hasbro Gaming Classic Boggle Word Search Game

Why We Love It: This word game can even be enjoyed by only one player.

What to Consider: The secure travel lid can be tough to get on and off.

Boggle is going to be a major win in the eyes of Spelling Bee or Wordle fans (so watch out if you’re playing against them). The basic word game requires fast spelling and deduction skills; all you have to do to win is write down as many words as possible from the assortment of letters on the dice to earn the number one spot. It’s a whole lot of fun and takes up minimal space while in transit, too.

The Details : 1 player or more | Ages 8+ | 2.01 x 4.29 x 4.29 inches

Brass Monkey Bin-go Get Some Drinks Bingo Book

Brass Monkey

Why We Love It: This is great for introverts and anyone who would rather observe a party a bit removed.

What to Consider: It might be awkward to whip this out in an actual bar or restaurant.

Bin-go Get Some Drinks makes any kind of night out even more interesting, especially if you’re someone who tends to observe human behavior in social settings. The somewhat snarky bingo card is packed with the weird things you’ll see in a bar (like witnessing an obvious first date or someone taking a photo of their drink for social media) and is the perfect way for people watchers to spend the night — especially if you find yourself alone in a new city and prefer to observe the crowd over fostering friends right away.

The Details: 1 player or more | Ages 21+ 

Cards Against Humanity Tiny Cards Against Humanity Game

Why We Love It: It’s a great icebreaker in a compact and cute format.

What to Consider: These cards are tiny and might be hard for some to read.

Cards Against Humanity provides instant fun, even at the most dull parties or awkward social events, since there’s just something about dirty words in absurd contexts. That’s why the miniaturized Tiny Cards Against Humanity is such a great game to keep in your back pocket while traveling, especially if you intend on staying in hostels. (Hey, you just never know when you’ll need to pull the ultimate icebreaker out of a pocket!)

The Details : 2 players or more | Ages 17+ | 30 minutes or more | 4.44 x 2.66 x 1.97 inches

All Things Equal, Inc. Loaded Questions On The Go Card Game

Why We Love It: This card game gets conversations going while still providing friendly competition.

What to Consider: There are only so many questions, so you’ll eventually run into duplicates.

All Things Equal: Loaded Questions is one of those card games that can lead to side tangents and deeper conversation if you let it — but it’s also a great way to see how well you know your friends' minds by guessing each other’s answers to given sets of questions. This game is super travel-friendly (all you need is a few pads of paper and pens) and it’s guaranteed to evoke some serious laughs and possible side conversations as well.

The Details : 4-6 players | Ages 8+ | 3.6 x 0.8 x 5.5 inches

Exploding Kittens Card Game

Why We Love It: This card game is fast, fun, and easy to learn.

What to Consider: The rules and concepts of the game are a bit basic.

Exploding Kittens garnered a lot of attention when it was first released and it’s easy to see why. The eye-catching title and cheeky illustrations make this game instantly intriguing. As it turns out, the game is a whole lot of fun for all age groups and it can be played in fifteen minutes or less which makes it a great option for waiting at your airport gate or sneaking a quick game in before heading out to dinner.

The Details : 2-5 players | Ages 7+ | 15 minutes | 4.41 x 6.38 x 1.5 inches

What Do You Meme? Shotgun!: The Card Game for Road Trips

Why We Love It: Everyone can play in the car — even the driver.

What to Consider: It’s not quite as funny as the original What Do You Meme?.

Shotgun! was conceptualized by the same folks who gave us What Do You Meme?, which means you can expect the same level of (somewhat) boundary-pushing humor. The road trip-focused card game doesn’t come with memes or visual cues, but instead uses the sights and sounds on the road as prompts. Card prompts like “first person to say which side the gas tank is on wins a point” and “first person who gets a wave from another car wins two points” will keep everyone in the car on their toes for the drive.

The Details: 2 players or more | Ages 12+ | 1-2 hours | 1.5 x 4.5 x 6.5 inches

Singing Machine Carpool Karaoke The Mic 2.0

Why We Love It: Who wouldn’t want to pretend they’re starring in an episode of Carpool Karaoke?

What to Consider: The Bluetooth setting could be higher quality.

The Carpool Karaoke Machine was designed to make road trips a whole lot more fun. The karaoke microphone pairs with your car’s Bluetooth in order to provide a surround sound experience for all passengers involved (whether that’s good or bad, we’re not sure). The microphone can also be used with your smartphone for DIY karaoke parties at your Airbnb or hotel room — you’ll just want to be mindful of the noise levels.

The Details : 1 player or more | 3.6 x 2.1 x 10.6 inches

Hasbro Gaming Connect 4

Why We Love It: This game is simple to pick up on.

What to Consider: There are a ton of little pieces involved.

We love Connect Four — it’s a classic for a reason! The simple game is great for little ones who are still practicing spatial recognition, but honestly, it’s just as fun for adults as well. The game is relatively small (it’s less than 12 inches in length) which is enough room for little fingers to easily use but still small enough to pop into a backpack. Keep in mind, though: there are a number of little coin-sized pieces that come with this game, and they can get messy in the car.

The Details : 2 players | Ages 6+ | 20 minutes | 1.6 x 10.51 x 10.984 inches

Winning Moves Games Pass the Pigs

Why We Love It: This cheeky game is all about tumbling — it was essentially made for turbulence.

What to Consider: The game might become repetitive in smaller groups.

Pass the Pigs is hilariously simple, but there’s something about it that is so much fun. The game includes two pig dice, a dice cup, and a pig scoring guide with a scorepad. The aim of the game is to get as many points as possible by rolling the pigs into different positions like the “snouter” or the “sider.” The best part is that this game was literally made to be thrown around so even if you’re dealing with turbulence you don’t have to worry about your pieces tumbling over.

The Details : 2-7 players | Ages 7+ | 1.75 x 4 x 8.5 inches

Briarpatch I Spy Travel Card Game

Why We Love It: This game is a quiet option to play on the plane.

What to Consider: The game is somewhat solitary; not the best for groups of kids.

The travel-sized version of the classic I Spy children’s book provides endless hours of concentration and focus. The stunning visuals are entertaining in and of themselves but having to hunt for the hidden images makes it even more enjoyable. We also like that it can be played solitary and offers something relatively quiet to play while on the airplane or in other spaces where gameplay banter might not be appropriate.

The Details : 1 player or more | Ages 4+ | 0.75 x 3.75 x 5.75 inches

Taco vs. Burrito LLC Taco vs. Burrito Card Game

Why We Love It: This game was created by a kid for other kids.

What to Consider: The instructions on some cards are a little confusing.

Cheeky graphic-focused card games have become pretty popular over the past few years, but we’re still major fans of Taco vs. Burrito. It’s worth noting that the colorful (and super successful) card game was created by a seven-year-old boy with other kids in mind, but it’s just as fun for adults. The basic gameplay is easy to learn and games can be played within 15 minutes — but the action cards are quick to spice things up and add a strategic layer to the game.

The Details : 2-4 players | Ages 6+ | 15 minutes | 7 x 5 x 2 inches

Tricky Riddles for Smart Kids: 333 Difficult But Fun Riddles And Brain Teasers For Kids And Families

Why We Love It: This pack of riddles creates conversation and fosters further curiosity.

What to Consider: There are only about 300 riddles, so the deck might eventually become repetitive.

Kids who love brain teasers will get a kick out of this colorful collection of riddles designed to stump and foster curiosity. The deck is small and easy to transport (it’s about the size of a novel), but it’s packed with hundreds of riddles for kids to work through. The only thing we don’t love is that, while the deck does include lots of options, kids who are keen to work through one after another may deplete them rather quickly.

The Details : 1 player or more | 8-12 | 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches

Tips for Buying Travel-sized Games

Factor in the needed space.

You’ll want to consider the space required for your chosen game(s) and decide how much luggage space you’re able to offer up. This is where miniature grab-and-go board games and card games will come in handy. Prioritizing card games and smaller games that don’t require a board means you can more easily play your games on the move. If you need a table or flat surface for your game, playing while seated at the terminal or on a train may not be practical.

Figure out the game time

You’ll want an idea of how much time a game takes before deciding to pack it. Card games tend to be faster-paced than board games, and most can be completed in 15-30 minutes. Board games and party games can last a lot longer, continuing for up to two hours in certain cases. This can be great for lazy days at the hotel or Airbnb, but might not be the most practical for passing time at the train station.

Consider player ages

Think of the ages of the players you anticipate sharing games with. If you’re planning a backpacking trip and plan to spend time playing games at your hostel, you’ll probably be safe with just about any card or board game. If you’re meeting up with your family for a vacation, you might want to choose games that are suitable for all ages. Note that some games can be altered to be more PG by removing certain cards or phrases, but it’s best to double-check to ensure everyone in your group can participate.

What games are ideal for traveling?

The right games for your travels will greatly depend on what kind of travel you’re doing (road trip games vary greatly from late-night adult-only games, for example). But, no matter what style of travel you’re up to, you’ll want to look for games that are small enough to easily fit in your luggage without being imposing. Opt for games that don’t have many loose pieces or take up too much space when in use. Card games are your best bet if you anticipate playing on the road frequently, but travel-sized board games can also work (especially if they come in a magnetic format).

Are there travel-sized board games?

Yes! There are plenty of travel-sized board games available and many come with their own carrying case or magnetic material that further simplifies the overall travel experience. You won’t find every single board game available in a travel size, but you’ll definitely be able to find the classics from Hasbro like Clue , Monopoly , and more .

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

For this article, Travel + Leisure contributor Kaitlyn McInnis used her experience as a travel writer and former lifestyle editor as well as her own research to curate a list of the best travel-sized games available.

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The 40 Best Small Board & Card Games [Travel & Space-Saving Versions]

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Table of Contents

The 20 best small board games, the 20 best small card games, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Taking part in a game of cards or breaking out a board game is a great way to pass the time both at home and away. Long journeys, travel delays, bad weather, and dark winter nights can all be improved with a bit of competitive fun between you and your travel companions.

Get your brain ticking as you devise strategies to beat your opponent, or celebrate your good fortune in games based on sheer chance and luck. If you are heading out on a trip, check out some of these awesome travel-friendly board games and card games to help make the most of your next adventure.

Note: We’ve included board and card game options for 2 people (or more), kids, and families!

1. Jax Sequence

Players: 2 to 12

This fun and challenging game is perfect for families. Using a card from your hand and placing a chip on the corresponding space on the game board, the first player to achieve 5 in a row wins the game! Block your opponents or even remove their chips to make your sequence work out for you — but keep your eye out for the Jacks, as they can be wild!

Small enough to be portable, but offering huge amounts of fun both on the road and back at home, Jax Sequence is a game of strategy and luck that’s complete with a folding game board and travel-friendly pieces.

2. Scrabble Deluxe Travel Edition

Players: 2 to 4

This classic word game comes in a finely crafted wooden case with a magnetic closure, making it perfect for game players on the go. With a raised letter tile grid, the board halves slide out easily to reveal a handy storage area underneath. Measuring just 9.8 x 9.2 x 1.2 inches when closed and 9.8 x 4.6 x 2.4 inches when open, this is an extremely compact version of one of the best-loved games of all time.

Beat your opponents by using the solid wood letters on your letter rack to make words with high scores. Classic and compact, this version is a winner wherever you are.

3. Connect 4 Grab and Go Game — Travel Size

This simple but popular game has been scaled down into a convenient travel size, making it great for keeping you and your crew entertained on the move. Starting with 21 checkers each, you must outwit each other to be the first to get to 4 in a row. Block your opponent at every turn, and see if you can complete your connection before they block you.

This Grab and Go edition from the game experts at Hasbro has space to store the checkers in the columns and the trays fold up neatly for added portability.

4. Take ‘N’ Play Anywhere — Bingo

For a modern and completely child-friendly twist on traditional bingo, this 6.75-inch square tin case holds everything young players need to enjoy a game of bingo on the go. Suitable for players from 4 years and up, the large magnetic playing pieces are easy for little hands to play with while big enough to not get lost.

Have your kids flick the spinner and place the magnetic markers on the corresponding animal as soon as they see it. When they get 5 in a row, it’s time to shout “bingo” and enjoy being the winner — until next time, of course.

5. QuadPro Magnetic Travel Checkers Board  

Enjoy checkers anywhere in the world with this foldable plastic checkers set that’s durable yet lightweight. The 64-square board is complete with black and white magnetic pieces that can easily be moved around the board for the win. When you have finished the game, the same pieces can be stored away inside the checkerboard to keep them safe during transit.

Bottom Line: Perfect for bus, plane, or train journeys, camping trips, lunch breaks, and so much more, this compact, folding board game is easy to play and perfectly portable.

6. Battleship Grab and Go Game

Sink your opponent’s battleship with this Grab and Go version of the ever-popular strategy game. Each of the portable game units opens upwards to block your opponent’s view while you track each other’s shots using the included red and white pegs. When you’re finished, fold them up again for easy storage.

With 2 carriers, destroyers, cruisers, submarines, and battleships included in this compact portable edition, you can get busy sinking battleships, even on the go.

7. Catan Traveler

With a space-saving box that unfolds to reveal the variable board, you and your fellow players can race each other to build your roads, cities, and settlements. This handy travel size edition of the popular Catan game can be set up in seconds, with 6 double-sided board pieces that can be assembled randomly to ensure that every game you play is completely different.

Designed with portability in mind, this handy travel edition even features cards that are held securely in holder trays and a hex-shaped dice shaker that can’t get dropped or lost as you play on the go.

8. Monopoly Grab and Go Game — Travel Size

Monopoly is one of the most popular and best-selling games in the world. This travel-size edition makes it more convenient for game fans on the go.

This set includes all of the classic properties, title deed cards, community chest cards, chance cards, get out of jail cards, houses, hotels, and the iconic Monopoly banknotes. There is still big fun to be had even with this smaller version.

Trade your way to success with this Grab and Go game that is perfect for budding capitalists of all ages.

9. Amazon Exclusive Pressman Rummikub

This ever-popular tile-based game combines the very best elements of mahjong and rummy to produce a perfectly portable game of skill that is suitable for up to 4 players at a time. With a canvas bag for easy storage, each player starts with the same number of tiles and tries to put as many down into groups or runs as possible.

Fast-paced and easy to play, this game is not only a great way to pass the time, but it also helps to reinforce basic STEM skills, including sequencing, pattern recognition, and planning, making it a great choice for both older children and adults.

10. QuadPro Magnetic Travel Chess Set

For chess lovers everywhere, this foldable plastic chess set allows you to practice your strategic skills on the go. The traditional 64-square playing field comes with all of the traditional chess pieces that glide effortlessly across the board when the time is right.

Perfect for playing at home or school, in transit, or virtually anywhere else you can think of, this compact chess set is designed to keep the pieces safe inside the case. You will have your opponent’s king in checkmate in no time.

11. Yahtzee

The classic dice game Yahtzee takes a travel-sized twist in this portable version of an old favorite. You and your opponent get 13 rolls of the dice to find the best combinations of numbers to achieve different scores. Whether you decide to hustle for a full house or risk it all for a Yahtzee roll, you must fill in an empty box at the end of each turn.

Bottom Line: This game comes complete with 5 dice and a shaker that doubles up as easy and convenient storage for your tiles, making it a great choice for easy entertainment on the go.

12. Guess Who? Board Game  

This much-loved, classic 1980s guessing game is back, and this time it’s portable. While your opponent picks a mystery card, you must ask enough questions to be able to eliminate the sea of faces in front of you until you find their hidden identity. Is your opponent wearing a hat? Do they have blue eyes? A beard? Ask away until you can “Guess Who” they really are.

With 2 travel-size game units, 48 character cards, and built-in face frames for easy viewing, your kids will have hours of fun getting to guess each other’s new personas.

13. Hasbro Gaming Jenga Mini Game 

This pocket-size version of the popular balancing game offers gigantic amounts of fun. With 18 mini hardwood blocks, this portable classic takes skill and patience to ensure that you are the last person standing.

Simply stack the blocks as high as you can without causing the tower to crash to win the game. Compact enough to carry with you, this is a great game for sleepovers, camping, and travel.

14. Blokus Game

This fun strategy game is perfect for the whole family to play both at home and away. The rules take less than a minute to learn, and you’ll quickly battle against each other for the win.

Each player takes turns to place their 21 pieces on the board, making sure that each piece touches another piece of the same color, but only at the corners. Protect your territory by strategically blocking your opponents at every turn to win the game.

Made from sturdy, wipeable materials, this game can easily be taken with you in its box to keep you amused on the go.

15. Smart Zone Games Hive Pocket

This highly addictive strategy game can be played on any flat surface. Complete with a travel bag, you and your opponent can break open the 22 pieces to form the patterns that become the playing surface. The object of the game is to surround your opponent’s queen while keeping your wits about you to ensure that they don’t do the same to you.

The first player to surround the queen wins in this bug-tastic travel game.

16. Take ‘N’ Play Anywhere — Tic-Tac-Toe

This super chunky edition of the timeless strategy game is perfect for playing tic-tac-toe on the go. The 6.75-inch tin is compact enough for carrying with you on long journeys, and the tin will keep everything safely stored when not in use. The magnetic board keeps your pieces in place and this compact version is complete with 6 magnets, 10 red markers, 10 blue markers, and a die.

Switch up your gameplay from pen and paper with this easy-to-use magnetic travel game.

17. Cinco Linko, a Strategy Board Game

This travel-size tile game is easy to learn and super fun to play, either back at home or on the move. Simply choose a color, grab your stack, and start laying down the tiles until someone achieves a line of 5 either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Completely designed for travel, the game comes in durable, waterproof travel-size stacks that can easily be clipped onto your bag.

Ready to play on any surface, Cinco Linko is the winner of multiple awards and a great little game for kids.

18. Pressman Mancala — Real Wood Folding Set

This simple but exciting game is one of the world’s oldest and best-loved strategy games. Players take turns to collect special stones and count them out 1 at a time into the pockets on the board. Drop a stone into an empty pocket and capture all the stones in the opposite pocket for the win.

Requiring plenty of skill and strategic planning, this game also helps to reinforce STEM skills for younger players. The wooden box folds up flat for easy gaming on the go.

19. Sorry! Game

Remember your manners as you beat your opponents in this classic game of sweet revenge! As each player picks 1 or 2 cards, get 1 of your 4 pawns out of the starting area and off around the game board. This super fun game calls on strategy, chance, and luck to see you or your opponents chase, race, bump, slide, and score your way around the board to be the first to get all 4 pawns to home base.

An updated version of the original Sorry! game, this is fun for the whole family on long journeys, campouts, picnics, sleepovers, and all kinds of adventures.

20. Pop-O-Matic Trouble Grab and Go Game

This compact and incredibly portable game is a reduced-size version of the Trouble game — small in stature but big on fun.

The all-in-1 game board is perfect for sleepovers, long journeys, camping trips, and much more and can be played by up to 4 players at a time. Complete with the famous Pop-O-Matic die roller and cover and 16 pegs, you can try and beat your opponent by being the first to get all your pegs across the finish line.

Bottom Line: Easy to play and full of excitement, this is a great game to play with the whole family both at home and away.

1. Monopoly Deal Card Game

Players: 2 to 5

This ultra-portable way to play the classic property-trading game will keep you entertained both at home and away. Be the first to collect 3 full property sets of different colors using the cards, and you’ll be the winner. Pick up extra properties along the way, charge your opponents rent, or even steal their cards when they slip up to show your ruthless side and become the next Monopoly property tycoon.

This card version of the world-famous and much-loved board game is perfect for playing on long journeys, sleepovers, camping trips, vacations, and virtually anywhere else, too.

2. Mattel Games UNO: Classic Tin Box  

Players: 2 to 10

This classic family card game is easy to learn and a ball to play. UNO has a huge following all over the world and is compact enough to take anywhere with you. Race against your opponents to rid yourself of your hand as you match cards on the deck by either color or number.

Take advantage of special cards such as skips, reverses, draw 2s, and even color-changing wild cards to increase your chances of standing victorious.

Perfect for the whole family to play, don’t forget to shout “UNO!” when you are down to your last card in this wild and noisy card game.

3. Taco vs. Burrito — Strategic Card Game Created by a 7-Year-Old 

Created by a child and funded via Kickstarter, this crazy, fun strategic food fight is a smash hit with both adults and children alike.

If you and your opponents like card games and enjoy dreaming up weird food combos, this is just the game for you. Use the cards dealt to start making your crazy sandwich combinations, or switch up the game with action cards to gain the extra ingredients you need to win.

Don’t forget to keep a lookout for the health inspector or order envy that can spoil your meal, ruin your appetite, and eventually lose you the game.

4. Czech Games Codenames

Players: 2 to 8

This spy game sees teams compete to discover who can make contact with all of their agents first. Using 1-word clues, you and your teammates must try to guess the words of your team color while avoiding those that belong to the other team. Get your spy skills switched on and work together in this lively discussion game that can be played in groups.

Watch out for the double agents, though, as well as the assassin who is out to get you. Whether you win or lose, it’s still great fun to figure out all of the clues in this portable card game for older children and adults.

5. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza 

Players: 3 to 8

Perfect for hand-slapping fun wherever you are headed, this unique take on traditional snap-type card games is great fun for the whole family. Each player places a card from their hand face-up in a pile, while simply saying “taco/cat/goat/cheese/pizza” in player sequence. The magic is made when the card matches the mantra and players race to be the first to rid themselves of all their cards.

Bottom Line: For extra fun, throw a gorilla, narwhal, and groundhog into the mix in this travel-sized, super-fun, and addictive social card game.

6. Mattel Games Apples to Apples Party Box

Players: 4 to 8

This hilarious game is perfect for party play while away, and just as much fun at home, too. The aim of the game is to win the most rounds by playing a “red apple” card from your hand to best match that round’s communal “green apple” card, as chosen by that round’s judging player.

With 441 red apple cards and 63 green apple cards, there are plenty of crazy combinations to be found. As a former Mensa International “Mensa Select” game winner in 1999, and the “Party Game of the Year” in the same year, this is a great game that remains as popular as ever.

7. Family Feud Survey Says Card Game

Players: 3 or more

If you love the game show, you will really enjoy this Family Feud Survey Says card game. Play alongside your friends or family as you work to find the top answers to a variety of topics. Download the Gamestar+ app and you can incorporate sound effects from the show into your game.

The pack includes 49 jumbo survey cards, 3 red strike cards, and 1 host cover card and are perfect for playing at parties, on vacation, or even at home.

8. Magilano SKYJO

All you need is a bit of space in front of you to enjoy this strategic card game. With 12 hidden cards and 2 faced up, each player takes a turn to take the top card from the discard or draw pile. Exchange 1 card from your 12 card display until your or your fellow player has only open cards. When the round ends, it’s time to add your cards for scoring, with the lowest number for the win.

Portable and easy to play, this addictive card game is perfect for playing around a table, on the floor, or anywhere you are all together on the move.

9. Goat Lords Game

Players: 2 to 6

This fabulously fun card game features thieves, monsters, magic bombs, and lots, and lots of goats. Become the most successful Goat Lord by gathering the biggest goat herd simply by stacking pairs of goat cards in front of you and stealing your opponent’s goats right from under their nose.

Use your skill to attack other players, or hold your nerve as you keep your cards close to your chest. Whatever your strategy, this is a great party game for goat lovers of all ages.

Great fun is guaranteed and lots of laughter, too, as you strive to become Lord of the Goats with this crazy travel card game.

10. Kids Against Maturity 

Players: 2 or more

Using the tried and tested fill-in-the-blank game method, Kids Against Maturity is a more family-friendly version of the more adult games usually found in this genre. While each player gets 10 white cards, they can make hysterical answers by turning over the blue cards to finish the sentence. Whoever manages to make the funniest answer will be declared the winner.

Bottom Line: Perfect for keeping the kids amused on the go, this multi-award-winning card game can be played virtually anywhere and is always guaranteed to bring smiles.

11. Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers

From the creators of the well-renowned game show, this travel version of Punderdome is part game, part conversation starter, and a whole lot of fun. The goal of the game is to make the worst bad pun jokes by drawing cards from the deck and reading the prompt to the rest of the players. The player who can create the most groan-worthy pun from the 2 prompts wins the round and the prompt cards.

Make your way to winning 10 pairs of cards to enjoy a glorious, fun-fueled victory over your opponents in this perfectly portable travel game for pun lovers everywhere.

12. PlayMonster 5 Second Rule Game

This fast-paced and fun, travel-sized card game is perfect for players on the go. Simply pick a card, read out the topic, and set the timer. With just 5 seconds to go, you must name 3 things that fit in with the given topic before the timer runs out. It’s super easy to get tongue-tied when playing against the clock, so just say what comes to mind, no matter how ridiculous it might sound.

With a twisted timer that makes a fun zoooop sound when flipped over and balls that slide down to note the 5-second mark, it can be easy to get distracted. Try to stay focused and enjoy laugh-out-loud fun with this fast-moving card game.

13. Spot It!

This award-winning visual perception game will test your observational skills and help to hone your reflexes. With a sharp eye and a quick hand, you will need to find the single match between the symbol and the 2 cards, usually resulting in frenzied fun as you try to spot it fast.

To ensure even more fun on the go, this edition offers a combination of 5 different ways to play. Everything comes neatly packed away in a handy grab ‘n’ go tin.

14. Unstable Unicorns Card Game

Build yourself a unicorn army as the unicorns are your friends now! This strategic card game is great fun to play both at home and away. With over 20 magical unicorns to collect, you need to build your army as quickly as possible before getting destroyed by one of your so-called friends.

With twists and turns along the way that can lead to total destruction and utter madness, you need to outwit your opponents to be crowned The Righteous Ruler of All Things Magical.

15. Our Moments Kids: 100 Thought-Provoking Conversation Starters

Taking a slightly different approach to traditional card games, this innovative set of questions has been designed to lead to thought-provoking conversations with your child. Perfect for passing the time on long journeys, family bonding on vacation, or even just to help understand your child a little bit better, this is a card game that helps to build relationships.

In a fun game-style format, the cards ask a wide variety of leading questions that encourage children to talk about their thoughts and feelings without being pressured. Fun, upbeat, and simple — you can learn a lot from this game.

16. Loaded Questions On The Go Card Game

Rated one of the hottest card games by the likes of USA Today and Games Magazine, this simple but fun card game offers hours of family-friendly entertainment, both at home and away. With over 500 fun, personality-filled questions, can you be the first player to reach the WIN space by rolling high, matching players’ answers correctly on your turn, and writing the “favorite” answer on the starred space?

With no right or wrong answers, this is a great way to stay competitive while also getting to know a little bit more about your fellow players. Perfect for passing the time on long journeys or keeping away from the rain.

17. Scattergories The Card Game

This fun and challenging game has been a family favorite since the 1980s, and this card game edition offers a twist on traditional gameplay. With 2 card decks, players need to name something beginning with the letter on the card in a certain situation to win the game. The player with the most cards at the end is the winner overall.

Easy to play wherever you are, this fun and fast-paced retro game will get your brain in gear as you try to beat your opponents.

18. Oh Fruck!

If you feel too old for a game of Old Maid, but not quite ready for Texas Hold ‘Em, this crowdfunded game could be just right for you. By turning over the top 3 cards of the red deck, you and your fellow players discover the special rules that will disrupt your gameplay. If you can’t play a card, you’ll be the player that gets “frucked” as you get 1 card closer to losing the game.

Bottom Line: This is a raucous card game for more grown-up players that combines strategy with special rules.

19. Mattel Games Pictionary Card Game

Players: 2 teams

This clever travel game uses ready-made pictures instead of relying on the player’s artistic ability. In a cross between Pictionary and charades, you and your team will need to act out clues against the clock using nothing but the picture on the card. You can build scenes or use props, and the first team to guess the correct answers wins the point.

Crazy team fun comes standard in this fast-paced guessing game where silence is golden.

20. SKIP BO Card Game

From the makers of UNO, this sequencing card game is great for playing while you’re on the move.

Use your skills to create stacks of sequentially numbered, ascending cards, until there are no more left to play. Break up a static situation with the Skip-Bo wild cards that can be played as any number, and put your strategic thinking cap on to help smash your opponents and win the game.

Brightly colored and easy to play, the winner is the first player to deplete all of his or her Skip-Bo stockpiles. Then you can shuffle, deal, and start from the beginning again.

Put down your devices and enjoy some good old-fashioned family fun with compact, travel-size board games or card games next time you hit the road. Long journeys will fly by, and bad weather will never spoil your fun. From traditional card games to fast-paced, super-fun board games, there is something to suit players of all ages.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular board games right now.

Some of the best-selling and reviewed board games on Amazon are Connect 4, Sequence, Battleship, Sorry!, Monopoly, Checkers, and Uno.

What are the most popular board games ever sold?

While it can be challenging to get exact sales figures for board games that are sold, it is generally agreed that classic board games such as Scrabble, Monopoly, Chess, and Clue are the most popular board games of all time.

Do people still buy board games?

People still buy board games, and they are as popular as they ever were. For example, in the toys and games category of Amazon’s bestseller list, 5 out of the top 25 are board or card games.

What is the best card game for travel?

One of the best-selling card games on Amazon is UNO, where you race against your opponents to rid yourself of your hand as you match cards on the deck by either color or number. UNO is compact enough to take anywhere with you and can be a wild and noisy card game as you shout “UNO!” to win.

What is the best board game for young children?

Guess Who is a popular travel board game that is suitable for children ages 6+. With 2 travel-size game units, 48 character cards, and built-in face frames for easy viewing, kids will have hours of fun getting to guess each other’s new personas.

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About Amar Hussain

Amar is an avid traveler and tester of products. He has spent the last 13 years traveling all 7 continents and has put the products to the test on each of them. He has contributed to publications including Forbes, the Huffington Post, and more.

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41 Best Travel Games 2024: Tried & Tested

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We always make sure we carry a couple of our best travel games with us no matter what trip we’re on. Because travel isn’t all about beautiful beaches and exciting adventure.

Sometimes we need a bit of downtime and relaxation. Other times we want to get the party started. And believe it or not there are plenty of situations where we even get pretty bored (think travel delays).

We’ve always loved playing games. So for us they’re the perfect way to pass away a few hours in an airport, entertain ourselves after a long day of exploring and even make new friends.

If you’re wondering which ones should make it into your backpack, we’ve put together a list of the best travel games on the market right now.

How We Chose the Best Travel Games

The main considerations we have for choosing a game to take on the road are the game’s size, weight and portability. All of these mini travel games tick those boxes.

But most of all, to be considered one of the best travel games, they have to be awesome fun to play!

This list is broken down into helpful categories depending on what you’re looking for. It covers the best travel board games, the best travel card games, the best dice games, and the best car games for adults.

Some are self contained mini travel games. Others require a standard deck of cards. But many just need some willing players with a bit of imagination who are up for a laugh.

Our Top 5 Best Travel Games

After being taught Dobble by our young nephew, we absolutely fell in love with it!

Okay, so this one is technically a kids card game. But once you play it you’ll understand why it’s also one of the best travel games for adults.

Basic premise

Everyone has played snap as a child and Dobble takes its basic premise and elevates it to a.whole.nother.level. It’s like “snap” on steroids.

There are five different travel card games within Dobble, all of them as simple as it gets. Every card has 8 pictures on it, each with one symbol in common with every other card.

Players all go at the same time to try and spot the matching symbols and either accumulate or pass cards on to opponents depending on which game you’re playing.

You can have up to 8 players involved at a time, but it’s also one of the best travel games for 2 adults. Dobble is a good one to break down language barriers as well because it’s so simple to get.

What makes it awesome

Dobble gets pretty raucous. Shouting, snatching and even hand slapping are all unavoidable as you get swept up in the excitement. Undoubtedly one of the best mini travel games available.

Players: 2-8

Expect: rip roaring fun

Game Time: 10 minutes

Size & Weight: 2.1 x 2 x 1.2 inches, 7.4 ounces

Rules: Read here

Click Here to Check Prices and Reviews

2. Monopoly Deal

The traditional Monopoly isn’t really a practical game to carry with you when you travel. And let’s be honest, no one actually enjoys it do they.

Come on, strip away the nostalgia and you’re left with a pretty ridiculous, never ending snorefest that could be renamed Monotony (I’m prepared for the backlash).

But the clever guys at Hasbro have reimagined one of the most iconic board games ever made as a wicked card game.

Basic premise:

It retains the fun bits of traditional Monopoly so you still play as a real estate tycoon trying to collect sets of properties.

You still have to come up with a kickass strategy, treading the line between boosting your bank balance and building your empire. And you can still go from kingpin to down and out in one swift turn of fate.

But that’s where the similarities end.

Collect property cards to complete sets and money cards to build your fortune while swapping and stealing your way to glory.

Monopoly Deal is one of the best travel card games out there. It’s fast paced, exciting and we’ve met people of various nationalities who love playing it all over the world.

Players: 2-5

Expect: rapid gameplay

Game Time: 15 minutes

Size & Weight: 0.8 x 3.6 x 5.6 inches, 4 ounces

Monopoly Deal

Alternatively known as Skull and Roses, it’s like a picture version of poker played with beautifully designed components. After one game you’ll be hooked, we guarantee it.

Each player has three circular cards with a rose on and one with a skull as well as an individual double sided game board.

Players take it in turns to place a card of their choice on the game card face down, this continues until one player decides to make a challenge.

They do that by making a guess at how many roses they can flip before hitting a skull. If you get it correct then you turn your game board over and you have to turn your game board twice to win.

You have to kid and calculate your way to victory in this straightforward game of bluff. It involves a mixture of skill, memory and luck.

This is one of the best travel games adults everywhere will enjoy playing on their adventures.

Players: 3-6

Game Time: 30 minutes

Size & Weight: 2.1 x 5.2 x 5.2 inches, 1.01 pounds

4. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

This simple game is bound to get your tongue in a twist and the party started. Anyone can play, but it hurts to win.

Cards are distributed evenly among all of the players, face down without anyone looking at them. There are 5 different cards, taco, cat, goat, cheese, and pizza – hence the game´s name.

The first player takes the first card from the top of their deck, turns it over while saying “taco”. The next player follows suit but says “cat”, the third player does the same but says “goat” and so on.

Play continues like this until the card laid matches what the person playing it says. At which point everyone tries to avoid being the last person to slap their hand down on it.

If you´re too slow your hand will end up on top of the pile of everyone else´s hands. This means you must take all of the cards underneath and put them into your deck.

But there’s a twist – the deck contains three special cards. If you pull a gorilla, you must beat your chest before slapping the pile. If you draw a groundhog card you need to tap the tabletop with both hands before slapping the pile. And if you get a narwhal you need to make a horn above your head with your hands before slapping the pile.

Any mess ups or mistakes result in the player taking the pile, so no flinching or pretending or even pausing. The winner is the first person to get rid of all their cards and then win another round with no cards in their deck.

If the name itself doesn´t make you smile then you´re dead inside. This is the simplest of games but will keep you entertained for hours. Or until your knuckles are raw from them being repeatedly slapped. This could get rowdy.

Players: 3-8

Size & Weight: 3.5 x 2.5 x 1 inches, 3.52 ounces

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

5. Bananagrams

Calling all wordsmiths – if you’re a fan of Scrabble or any similar word games then you’ll enjoy Bananagrams. It also comes in a cute banana shaped carry pouch perfect for chucking in your luggage. One of the most convenient mini travel games.

144 tiles with different letters (called the bunch) on are placed face down on the playing surface. Each player selects the same number of tiles, the exact number varies depending on how many player there are. They are placed face down in front of the respective players. There are still some remaining in the bunch.

Once everyone has their tiles, anyone can shout “split” and the game begins. Players must then turn all their tiles face up. The aim is to get rid of all your tiles by creating words, but they must all interlink like a crossword. There are no turns, each player works as quickly as possible on their own grid.

If a player uses up all their letters, they take a new letter from the bunch and shout “peel”. This means that everyone else playing must also take a tile.

If a player wants to swap a bad tile then they can return it to the bunch by shouting “dump”. However, in exchange they have to pick up 3 tiles.

Players can’t win until there are less tiles in the bunch than players. Once this happens, the first player to use up all their tiles and shout “bananagrams” wins. That’s providing all their words are legit. If there are bad spellings then they’re crowned the “rotten banana” instead.

This game is easy to learn, quick to play, and highly addictive. You don’t need to know long words, you just have to be able to string words together. It’s fun in small or large groups.

Players: 2+

Game Time: 5 minutes

Size & Weight: 9 x 3 x 3 inches, 4.8 ounces

Bananagrams

Top Tip – Want to make your travel board games even more portable? Remove the pieces from their box and put them in a smaller container like this snaplock box . Then separate different components using mini ziplocks to keep everything neat and tidy.

Best Travel Board Games

Pass the Pigs

This is a classic version of the old dice game “pigs” that uses actual miniature model pigs instead of dice. It all packs down into a small plastic case making it one of the best games for travel.

Players take it in turns to throw the pigs like dice. They then gain or lose points depending on how they land. Positions include pig-themed names like “Pig Out”, “Trotter”, and “Snouter”. Each combination means a different thing and can see players making big gains or huge losses.

A turn lasts until a player decides to stop and cash in. That’s unless they completely wipe out their current or total score before doing so. If they stop in time to accumulate a score on their turn then it’s added to their total score. The game then progresses to the next player and the first player to reach 100 points wins.

The element of luck keeps it tense as players have to decide when to stick or twist. Yet there’s still enough strategy and skill involved to make a difference. Big highs and massive lows can see you going from hero to zero and back again in quick succession.

Players: 2-4

Size & Weight: 1.8 x 4 x 8.5 inches, 0.32 ounces

Quickly becoming a classic, Codenames is an awesome game of teamwork and strategy. You need to get on the same wavelength as your teammate(s) to have any chance of cracking the puzzle. Prepare for laughs, frustration, and jubilation in equal measures.

The idea of codenames is to be the first team to get in contact with all of their secret agents. Players separate into two teams before each selecting a spymaster. The rival spymasters sit on the same side of the table, opposite their respective accomplices/field operatives. 25 codenames are then randomly selected from the deck and laid out in a 5×5 grid.

A “key” card is then chosen which reveals to the spymasters which of the agents in the grid belong to each side. In among the agents are also a number of innocent bystanders. Plus there’s an assassin who you want to avoid at all costs.

Spymasters work to enable their team to identify their own secret agents. They do this by providing them with one word clues and a number. The clues can link numerous agent’s codenames, while the number tells the team how many are linked.

For example, if the spymaster says “bottle, 3”, the team knows there are 3 agents with names in some way related to the word bottle. Operatives then make guesses as to which secret agents the spymaster is trying to direct them to.

Selecting the wrong one can have bad consequences, and if you hit the assassin that’s game over. The wins team to identify all of their secret agents first.

While it may sound complicated, when you’re playing it’s really simple and easy to follow. At heart it’s a word association game and the spy aspect just adds to the fun. Seeing the random ways that players’ minds connect words can be hilarious meaning the game is fun even when you’re not doing well.

Players: 2-8 (competitive 4-8)

Expect: tense strategy

Size & Weight: 2.8 x 6.3 x 9 inches, 1.25 pounds

Secret Hitler

Best with larger groups (the closer to 10 the funnier), Secret Hitler is a game of deceit, infiltration and conspiracy. Get your poker face on because you’re going to need to lie through your teeth to win.

Players are secretly divided into two teams of fascists and liberals, while one player gets cast as Hitler himself. Liberals have the advantage of a majority, however, they don’t know anyone else’s allegiances. The fascists on the other hand know who the other fascists are as well as who Hitler is. Hitler meanwhile begins without knowing who his allies or enemies are.

Everyone is trying to advance their agenda and gain power whether fascist or liberal. The way to do this is by winning elections and passing legislation.

To do this you have to gain allies and use them to win votes. However, because everyone is trying to gain power it can be hard to figure out who is who. Also everyone is going to lie to make other players believe they’re a liberal.

The game is won by the Liberals if they enact five liberal policies or manage to kill Hitler. The fascists win by enacting six fascist policies, or if Hitler gets elected Chancellor after three fascist policies have been enacted.

Secret Hitler is all about skullduggery and convincing people that you’re telling the truth. Never has lying to your friends and family been so much fun, and it will make you see them in a new light. It quickly gets pretty loud and boisterous so be prepared for a lively game.

Players: 5-10

Game Time: 45 minutes

Size & Weight: 14.9 x 5.8 x 2 inches, 1.9 pounds

Connect 4 Grab and Go

Connect 4 Grab and Go is exactly the same as the classic Connect 4 game, just smaller. This means it’s the perfect size to take on your travels. One of the best travel games for couples of pairs of travellers.

Each player starts with 21 checkers, one player takes red, the other yellow. You then take it in turns to place a checker into the playing grid.

The aim is to get four of your checkers lined up in a row. This can be diagonally, vertically, or horizontally.

But while you’re trying to connect your four checkers, so is your opponent. They’re also going to be blocking your attempts at the same time.

It’s simple to learn and quick to play but can also be played with some strategy. It does require a bit of concentration but is a great game to relax and unwind with that anyone can play. It was also (falsely) rumoured to have been invented by David Bowie! As if his legacy isn’t amazing enough.

Size & Weight: 1.9 x 6.3 x 9.2 inches, 7.2 ounces

Catan is nothing short of a modern day classic board game. It’s loved by everyone from families to Silicon Valley execs and for this reason makes one of the best travel games. Wherever in the world you crack the Catan box out, you’re likely to find a fellow fan.

Each player is a settler looking to establish their own outposts from scratch on the mythical island of Catan. The island is represented by the game board which is made up of 19 individual hexagons. These can be placed in virtually infinite combinations meaning you could play with a new board each time. Each hexagon has a corresponding number places on it.

Players take turns to roll two di on their turn, and the number rolled allows the corresponding hexagon to produce resources. These can be either brick, wool, ore, grain, or lumber.

Collecting these resources in certain combinations allows players to build up their settlements. You can also trade with other players if they have something you need. And watch out for the robber who stops production on the hexagon he’s on.

The aim of Catan is to get 10 victory points and you collect these mainly by building settlements or cities. There are also bonus points awarded for various other achievements like longest road or biggest army.

Catan is a game of strategy, cooperation, and skill, but you still need the roll of the dice to go your way. It’s also the original “gamers game” and helped kick off the whole board game phenomenon we have today.

Players: 3-4

Game Time: 60 minutes

Size & Weight: 11.6 x 9.5 x 3 inches, 2 pounds

Combine the best elements of poker, bingo, add a board and throw in a large dose of strategy. The result is Sequence, a classic game that’s a whole lotta fun. While there is a travel version, we’d recommend the standard version instead. Though it’s far smaller, the travel edition is a limited abridged version that’s nowhere near as good.

Players get dealt a set number of cards each, this changes depending on how many people are playing. The board has an assortment of cards printed on it. As the name suggests, the aim of the game is to create a sequence of 5 connected cards.

You do this by selecting a card from your hand on your turn and placing a marker over the corresponding card on the game board. If you get 5 connected markers then you win the game.

There’s a lot of strategy involved because you can’t simply concentrate on your own hand. You need to pay attention to your opponents and try to figure out where they are going in order to stop them. It’s simple to pick up and exciting to play.

Players: 2-12

Size & Weight: 10 x 8 x 2 inches, 1.79 pounds

Qwirkle Travel

Described as a cross between dominoes and scrabble, Qwirkle is a super simple game of pure strategy. Anyone can play, but not everyone can play well.

The game of Qwirkle consists of 108 individual tiles. Each has one of 6 different shapes printed on it in one of 6 different colours. To start each player randomly chooses 6 tiles from the tile bag.

Players must then take it in turns to lay connecting tiles in rows and columns. In order to do so you must make runs of either the same shape or the same colour with the tiles in your hands. If it´s a run of shapes, only one of each colour can appear in each row. If it´s a run of colours, only one of each shape can appear in each row.

You can lay as many tiles as you´re able to on your go, so long as they´re all connected in a straight line. Alternatively you can use your go to swap your tiles with new ones from the bag. At the end of each turn you take enough tiles to make your hand back up to 6.

Scores are awarded after each turn depending on how many tiles have been laid and how many columns they fall into. Bonus points are given for completing full lines of 6 tiles. The game ends when one player has used all their tiles and there aren´t any more in the bag to draw.

This game is unbelievably easy to understand and get going. However, as soon as you begin, you start to realise there´s some deceptively deep strategy that can be employed. The satisfaction from building big scores can be addictive

Size & Weight: 10.5 x 10.5 x 2.7 inches, 2.45 pounds

Be transported to the time of the European Renaissance as you become a merchant aiming to amass a huge fortune.

In Splendor players compete to build the biggest and most prestigious jewellery business in Europe. To do this you need to collect raw gems which you can then use to fund the building of mines.

But you then need to create ways to transport the gems, pay jewellers to cut and polish them, and also buy shops where you can sell them. Develop your cards, collect the gem chips, and watch your wealth soar. With wealth you can then attract nobles who provide you with the prestige – and points – to win the game.

This game is easy to understand and yet the more you play the more you start to discover the intricacies. While it’s very strategic the game play is still extremely quick with only 4 basic options for each player per turn.

Size & Weight: 8.5 x 2.4 x 10.8 inches, 2.41 pounds

Best Card Games for Travel

Top trumps wonders of the world.

Top Trumps is ancient, simple, and yet resoundingly good fun. There are endless versions of it from Star Wars to Harry Potter. But this Wonders of the World one is on topic when it comes to the best travel games.

All the cards in the pack are dealt out to the players face down. Players then pick up their cards, holding them so they can only see the top card. The first player picks a category from their card and reads it out along with the value next to it. All the other players take turns to read out the same value on their card.

The player with the highest value wins, gets to take all of the cards that were read out and places them at the bottom of their pile. Play carries on until one player has all the cards.

This version of the classic game Top Trumps is conveniently travel themed. Not only will you have great fun out trumping everyone, you’ll also learn a few facts that might help you win a pub quiz one day.

Game Time: 2 minutes

Size & Weight: 3.5 x 0.8 x 5.5 inches, 4 ounces

Ever wanted to design your own ginormous fireworks show? No? Me either. Regardless, this game will probably change your mind.

Hanabi is a cooperative game, which if you’re new to board games could be something novel for you. It means you work with the other players instead of competing against them to achieve a common objective. This objective is to rescue a mahoosive fireworks display that’s about to go terribly wrong.

Each player is dealt 4 or 5 cards depending on how many people are taking part. The cards come in 5 colors with a number from 1-5 on them. Players need to order them correctly in their colors from 1-5.

While this sounds simple, there’s an added complication. Players can’t look at their own cards! Instead they must display them in their hand so only the other players can see them.

Hanabi is unique and imaginative and more than likely like nothing you’ve ever played before. Plus the fact that it’s a cooperative game means there are no losers or winners as such. So it’s perfect for those who get a little too competitive to play normal games with new friends.

Expect: cooperative challenge

Size & Weight: 7 x 4.2 x 2 inches, 5.4 ounces

Exploding Kittens

Players try to avoid being an exploding kitten in this wonderfully bizarre quickfire card game. At the same time you can affect the game depending on what cards you play, putting your fellow gamers in trouble.

Each player starts the game with 4 action cards and a diffuse card. The remainder of the deck is placed face down in the middle of the table and players take turns to draw cards from it.

If someone draws an exploding kitten, they’re out of the game. Unless they’re holding a diffuse card which allows them to diffuse the bomb and carry on. They can also put the exploding kitten card back into the deck anywhere they want.

Action cards are played before players draw from the deck and allow them to do various different things. These range from stealing cards from other players to getting a sneak peek at the top 3 cards in the deck.

This game is unbelievably easy to pick up. You explode, you lose, you manage to be the last person unexploded you win. The action cards are self explanatory and the quick gameplay keeps things moving quickly. Difficult not to fall in love with the cool illustrations and whacky cards with names like “hairy potato cat”.

Size & Weight: 11.2 x 16.2 x 3.8 inches, 6.4 ounces

What do You Meme?

Memes are a normal part of everyday life now and this game makes players into meme generators. Even if you’re not funny IRL, you’ll feel like a comedian playing What do You Meme.

Each player gets dealt 10 meme cards which have humorous captions printed on them. The pile of photographs gets placed in the middle. Each round the picker gets to draw a photo card and place it in the holder. It’s then down to the other players to choose from their captions which one they think matches it to make the best meme.

Once payers have chosen all the cards are put in a pile and read out by the picker. They then get to choose the winner of the round for the funniest meme created. The winner gets to keep the photo card, play continues until one player has a pre decided number of photo cards.

This game is strictly X-rated and just the written captions themselves are hilarious. But when paired with the right photo they will have every player in stitches. This game is a laugh a minute so your cheeks are guaranteed to ache by the end.

Players: 3-20

Expect: adult laughs

Game Time: 30-90 minutes

Size & Weight: 6.5 x 4.5 x 3 inches, 1.85 pounds

What Do You Meme?

Unstable Unicorns

Love unicorns? Love strategy? This is the game for you. Funded by a huge $1.8 million kickstarter campaign, Unstable Unicorns has got a cult following of enthusiasts.

Your single aim is to build up a complete army of unicorns in order to win. But to do this you can’t play nice. You’ll need to betray your fellow players, destroy their armies and crush their dreams.

Players start with a single baby unicorn and 5 action cards. Each turn consists of four set phases where you lay cards to build your stable of unicorns, stop other people from playing, upgrade your stable, downgrade other people’s, and create general mayhem.

The winner gets the brilliant title of “Righteous Ruler of All Things Magical” and ultimate bragging rights.

Unicorns! Need I say more? Ok, Ok, the gameplay is unpredictable, the cards are hilarious and despite the cute unicorn theme, this game is about pure destruction. It gets better with every play so you’ll never get bored.

Size & Weight: 5.8 x 4 x 2 inches, 12 ounces

Forbidden Island

If you’ve ever fancied an Indiana Jones style adventure but wold prefer to do it from the confines of your armchair, Forbidden Islands is the one for you.

Each player is an adventurer with a different skill, from a pilot to an engineer. Together they must rescue 4 hidden treasures from Forbidden Island. However, the island itself is rapidly sinking meaning you have to work quickly.

Each character’s card has instructions on the back for what to do on your turn which makes it super simple to follow. Every turn allows a player to do up to three actions, and each go sees the water levels on one part of the island rising.

As the water levels rise, so does the tension and finding the treasure and getting off the island becomes more urgent. Cooperation and problem solving skills need to be employed in abundance.

Forbidden Island looks great with beautifully made components. The cooperative aspect means you play with your fellow gamers instead of against them which is refreshing. The pace of the game picks up as you play making the fun build and build and the consequences of your plays more significant. Thanks to the changing board, the game is different every time.

Size & Weight: 6.5 x 8.8 x 2.8 inches, 1.4 pounds

Like a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, the idea of Sushi Go is to build yourself a delicious plate of sushi. Don’t forget the wasabi, and definitely don’t skip pudding!

The cards get dealt out at the start of the game, the amount depending on the number of players. The round starts with each player looking at their hand and choosing one card they want to play. Once everyone has chosen, all players reveal the card they picked by placing it ace up in front of them.

Players then pass the remainder of their hand to the player on their left. They then choose one card to keep from their new hand. Play continues like this until no one has any cards left in their hand which signals the end of the round.

At this stage the played cards are added up with each one worth different points. You can also do combinations and boost scores by adding additional extras to your sushi like wasabi.  There are three rounds per game and the player with the highest score wins.

This game is as addictive as great sushi and will definitely leave you hungry for more. It’s fast paced, engaging, and fun to play. Beware though, if you’re a sushi lover you’ll definitely be craving your favourite sushi roll after playing.

Size & Weight: 4.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches, 8.5 ounces

Mille Bornes

A classic racing card game that sees players compete against each other to win a long distance race. You need to avoid accidents, top up your gas, and try to trip your opponents up to secure victory.

Players are racing to be the first driver to reach 1000 miles. Along the way there are obstacles that will slow you down and maybe even bring you to a complete standstill.

Each player begins with 6 cards being dealt to them. The remainder of the pack going into the middle to form the draw pile. When it’s your turn you take a card from the draw pile before playing a card into your, or someone else’s, driving zone.

These will act to speed you up or slow your opponents down. Actions range from things like flat tyres to running out of gas. Evade the hazards and keep on track while tripping up your rivals to win.

Games go at breakneck speed in this rapid fire card game. It’s easy to learn, simple and quick to play, and can be played individually or in competing teams.

Size & Weight: 4.7 x 1.5 x 4.7 inches, 8 ounces

A game that requires strategy, skill, and a touch of luck, Jaipur is all about buying low and selling high.

You and your fellow player are the two most powerful traders in Jaipur. But to secure an invite to the Maharajah’s court as his official trader you need to become undisputed top dog. To do this you must out trade your opponent.

Each player begins the game with 5 cards in their hand, between them are three camels and two merchandise cards. On their turn players can perform one action – either take take cards or sell cards.

To get what you really want you generally have to sacrifice something that your opponent really wants. This means you have to weigh up what’s going to provide you with most value in the long run.

Jaipur is quick, exciting, and is constantly throwing up little twists and turns. You can often see a player’s personality in how they play – greedily gathering commodities, slowly but steadily accumulating their rupees, or simply throwing caution to the wind.

Size & Weight: 3.8 x 1.5 x 7.8 inches, 7 ounces

These Cards Will Get You Drunk

If you enjoy a tipple and like laughing then These Cards Will Get You Drunk is for you.

Players take it in turns to draw a card from the pile and read out the instructions written on it. These will almost always result in one or more person being required to drink.

The longer it goes on and the more cut everyone gets the dinner the game becomes. Prepare for a messy night.

Zero strategy involved, zero skill required, this is a straight up party game where everyone’s a loser. It can help to break down inhibitions and get a group going making it a brilliant travel card games.

Players: 3+

Game Time: n/a

Size & Weight: 3.6 x 2.6 x 1.2 inches, 5.6 ounces

Grandpa Beck’s Cover Your Assets

Cover Your Assets is a race to be the first player to become a millionaire. But forget about playing fair, you’re going to do it by any means possible.

Each player is trying to be the first to accumulate a million dollar fortune. Sure you can save and collect and invest. But it’s much more fun to steal and cheat and screw your competitors over on your way to the top.

But watch out because your assets are also liable to be nabbed at any time. Fortunately you can also steal from other players to climb that greasy pole.

Build your fortune by stacking pairs of asset cards crisscrossed on top of each other. These can be anything from family jewels to fancy cars. And watch your back as your fellow players will have their eyes on your stacks too.

You can go from winning to losing in just a few hands and vice versa. This means that it really ain’t over til it’s over and keeps all players on their toes for the whole game. Cover Your Assets can be an emotional rollercoaster of extreme highs and rapid lows.

Players: 4-6

Size & Weight: 2.2 x 1.6 x 0.4 inches, 9.6 ounces

Cover Your Assets

Cards Against Humanity

This game definitely puts the “adult” in the best travel games for adults. Trust us, it’s strictly top shelf.

It’s a card game where the dealer reads aloud a phrase card they’ve picked at random. It has one or two words missing from the sentence written on it and the other players have to complete the sentence by choosing the best from a selection of options in their ten card hand.

The winner is chosen by the dealer so it’s wise to consider their sense of humour and just how easily offended they are. Some of the cards are best described as depraved.

Probably the least politically correct card game ever invented. You’re either gonna love it or be horrendously offended by Cards Against Humanity. Many of the jokes are pretty close to the bone and will get even the most hardened deviants wincing.

Players: 4-20

Size & Weight: 7 x 4.1 x 2.7 inches, 2.25 pounds

UNO has been around for almost 50 years but it never gets tired.

There are 108 cards in an UNO deck and while most have a number and a colour on them, some are wildcards or “pick up” cards.

The basic idea is to get rid of your cards before anyone else, as players take it in turn to put down or pick up cards that correspond with the colour or number that’s on top of the game pile.

There are missed goes, penalties and a whole lot of strategy that can affect your ability to win, and don’t forget to shout “UNO” when you’re one card away from the win or you’ll be blocked from finishing.

Frenetic, colourful and full of unexpected laughs, you can easily lose hours to its thrills. It’s  simple to pick up but hard to put down, easily making it another of the best travel games for adults.

Players: 2-10

Size & Weight: 6.2 x 1.3 x 5.2 inches, 6.61 pounds

Five Crowns

If you´re a fan of Rummy then you´ll love Five Crowns. It´s based on the same premise but takes it to another level by adding an extra suit and a roving wild card.

The object of Five Crowns is to have the lowest score after all 11 rounds are played. To do this you´re going to need to create books and runs of cards. There are also wild cards which change each hand depending on how many cards are dealt i.e 3 cards dealt means 3 is the wildcard.

Play starts with one player picking up from either the deck or the discard pile. After assessing their hand they then discarding one card they don´t want. Players take it in turns to do this until one or more players forms a full hand of runs or books.

Any cards in a player´s hand that aren´t part of a run or book are then added up to produce a score at the end of each round. Remember, you need the lowest score to win, so high scores are bad!

This game is really easy to pick up and play, rounds go quickly, but there is still a good amount of strategy you can employ. The further down the rounds you are the higher the stakes meaning even if you lose a few at the beginning you can easily be right back in it with just a couple towards the end.

Players: 1-7

Size & Weight: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches, 6.4 ounces

Best Card Games for Travel With a Standard Deck

We never go anywhere without a deck of standard cards in our bag but we found out the hard way that normal ones don’t tend to stand up to the rigours of travel.

Avoid that mistake by getting a deck that comes with a protective case instead of a flimsy card box. And go one better by opting for some that won’t get ruined if they get wet around the pool or on a sticky bar table.

This set of Hoyle Waterproof Clear Playing Cards are ideal and designed to withstand anything you throw at them.

Inbetween, Outbetween

This can be played for money or chips but we´ve only ever really played it as a drinking game. It´s lightning fast and while there can be a little bit of skill involved, it´s largely down to chance.

The game is played in turns with each player being dealt a pair of cards face up with a gap in between them. That player then has to guess whether the next card drawn will be numerically within those two cards.

To do this a player says either “inbetween” or “outbetween” and then the third card is drawn. If they guess correct then their turn is over and play moves to the next player. If they guess incorrectly they have to drink. If the card drawn matches either of the cards already on the table they must drink twice.

Most people aren´t advanced enough at probability to turn the game in their favour. This means that if you´re playing it as a drinking game there tends to be quite a lot of drinking going on by everyone. This sees it get pretty raucous pretty quickly.

Players: 4+

Size & Weight: n/a

Chase the Ace

What’s more fun than watching everyone else around the table drop out on your way to glory? Royally royally screwing your play mates over as you do it.

The aim of Chase the Ace is to avoid having the lowest card at the end of each round. Play starts with the dealer dealing out a single card face down to each player including themselves.

The first player to the dealer´s left starts and can look at their card before deciding whether to swap or stick. If they choose to swap, they do so with the card of the player to the left of them.

If any player has a king they can turn this over and it prevents the player to their right from swapping with them. Once play returns to the dealer, everyone turns their cards face up.

The dealer is not allowed to swap. However, if they choose not to stick they can pick any card from the deck to try and get a higher card.

The person with the lowest card loses a life, Kings are high and Aces are low. If multiple people have the same low card they all lose. For the next round, the role of the dealer rotates to the player on the left of the previous dealer.

Generally players start off with three chips and lose one for each round they lose. The winner is the last remaining person to have any chips.

This is a great game for large groups of people. It can be played as a drinking game instead of with chips with the loser(s) drinking after every round. This is a fantastic party starter and because there are only two options per play, rounds go extremely quickly.

Calling blaggers everywhere. Convince people the hands you´re throwing down are what you say they are to literally bullshit your way to the win.

The dealer deals out the entire deck to the players, and don’t worry if they’re not evenly distributed. Some players may end up with more cards than others but it doesn’t matter for Bullshit.

The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. Players take it in turns to discard 1 or more cards face down into a central pile. This happens in a descending sequence changing each turn. So player 1 must put down aces, moving to kings for the next player, then queens and so on.

At the same time as laying them down, players must declare the number of cards they are discarding. And this is where the fun starts. Players can lie about what they´re putting down. In fact players have to lie about what they´re putting down.

Because the cards have to go in sequence, often you have to claim to have cards you don’t in order to play. If anyone suspects foul play they can call you out by saying “bullshit”.

At this point the player being challenged must reveal their cards. If they’re telling the truth, the challenger picks up the entire deck. If they’re lying then it’s them who gets the big hand.

First player to get rid of all their cards wins.

You have free licence to lie your face off. The more audacious you are with your untruths the more funny t gets. Until you have to pick up a massive stack that is.

Crazy Eights

Eights are good and help you get rid of the rest of your hand. Which is what you need to do to be crowned winner.

Players are each dealt 5 cards unless there are only 2 players in which case they each get 7. The rest of the cards are laced face down as the draw deck. The aim is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

To start the dealer turns over one card from the remaining deck. Each turn consists of a player discarding one of their cards. However, it must match the preceding card in either suit or number.

For example if someone plays a 6 of clubs then the next player must play another 6 or a different club. If that’s not possible then they have to pick up from the draw pile.

The exception to this is if you’re holding an 8 which can be played on anything. Hence the name Crazy Eights. Anyone playing an 8 also gets to name what suit the next player must play.

Easy to pick up and simple to explain, Crazy Eights can also be modified to add more strategy and difficulty. For example, some variants include “special cards” that produce different actions. For example, in some versions a Queen skips a go and an ace reverses the direction of play.

Back in the day an “old maid” was a woman who had been left unmarried for so long it was unlikely to ever happen. Despite the somewhat sexist connotations, this game relies on everyone aiming to avoid the fate of being left holding the last card.

The dealer adds a single joker to the deck before dealing out the entire pack. Players then sort through their hands to identify any pairs they’re holding. These are placed face up on the table.

The player to the left of the dealer must then select a card from the dealer’s hand to put into their oen. This carries on with the player to their left and so on.

As soon as any player has a pair that must be put face up on the table with the rest of the pairs.

The game ends when one player is left holding the joker or “Old Maid”. Naturally they’re the loser.

That sinking feeling when you pick the old maid out of your neighbour’s hand is devastating. But it’s quickly eclipsed by the elation when the next player along plucks it from your fingers.

Best Dice Games

LCR Left Center Right

There´s no strategy in LCR and it´s impossible to forget the rules – the dice dictate what you do each turn. It´s fast, great fun, and sees your excitement build and fall rapidly. Brilliant entertainment for largegroups.

LCR is a game made up of just chips and dice. Unlike normal dice, in LCR they have different symbols or letters on each side that require players to do various things with their chips. A dot means you keep a chip. L means you pass one to your left. R means you pass one to your right. C means you put one in the centre pot.

Each player starts the game with 3 chips and the first player rolls the three dice. They then distribute their chips according to what the dice say. Players only roll the number of dice that corresponds to the number of chips they have, up to a maximum of 3.

So as the game continues you may be rolling 1, 2, or 3 dice depending on how you fare. Each round sees you accumulate and lose chips in rapid succession. Play continues until all of the chips but one are in the centre pot, and the person with the remaining chip is the winner.

This game is one of pure chance meaning anyone can play and it´s a great party starter, particularly with lots of people. Even when you think you´re down and out your neighbour can be forced into giving you a lifeline getting you right back in it. Play for money instead of chips and you´ll have even more invested, even if it’s just a few bucks.

Game Time: 20 minutes

Size & Weight: 4.5 x 3.5 x 1.5 inches, 3.2 ounces

This entertaining dice game is one of pure chance and can be great for large groups of people. While it can be played with standard dice, this handy travel pack comes with scoring sheets and a portable carry box.

Farkle is a supremely simple game made up of just a cup and 6 dice. Players take it in turns to roll the dice on their go. On the first roll of a turn you must roll all 6 and there´s a minimum number of points you must score to be allowed to keep them, usually 350.

Only certain dice and combinations will score you points, and if you don´t manage to bag any points that´s called a Farkle. Hitting a Farkle also ends your turn immediately and loses you any points you have already banked for that go.

Each turn can consist of one or more rolls of the dice. Players can bank scores before each further roll by leaving those dice on the table and only rolling the remainder.

The idea is to get the highest score overall, but first one player must get to a predetermined number of points. This forces sudden death and gives everyone just one more go and a final shot at winning.

There are numerous different variations of the rules so it´s important to nail down which one you´re playing before the game begins.

While it´s largely a game of chance, Farkle also pushes you to try your luck by continuing to roll in order to secure higher scores. Sometimes you´ll play safe, others you´ll be forced to gamble to score big. The higher the stakes the more exciting it gets.

Size & Weight: 4.2 x 3.6 x 3.1 inches, 5.6 ounces

This classic word game is quick, simple, and uniquely can be played on its own. It comes in a ready made plastic travel case making it one of the most suitable mini travel games.

Shake the dice up in the box and make sure they’re all settled in their grid. Next lift the lid off and turn the sand timer over to start. Players must then write down as many words of 3 or more letters as they can spot. Letters can be “chained” in virtually any direction so long as they’re touching.

Words that more than one player have don’t count, you only score for unique ones. Points are allocated depending on how long they are with longer words gaining exponentially bigger scores. The player with the highest score wins.

Because you can chain letters in weird orders it’s easy to spot different ones to other players. The game is frantic with each round lasting just a few minutes. There’s no limit on how many players can play, but it can also be played solo by trying to beat your own high score.

Players: 1+

Game Time: 3 minutes

Size & Weight: 2 x 4.3 x 4.3 inches, 7 ounces

Every roll counts for every player in this unique and engaging fast paced dice game.

Play is based around the coloured scoring cards in Qwixx. They have 4 rows in each colour numbered from either 2-12 or 12-2.

A turn consists of a player rolling all of the dice, 4 colored and 2 white. On each turn players are able to make two scores, one by adding the two white dice, the other by adding one white dice with one colour of their choice.

This number then gets crossed off in the corresponding box on the score-sheet with the white one counting as any colour you like. But once you’ve crossed a number off you’re not allowed to cross anything else in that line off that lies to the left of it.

The game continues until players can physically no longer go or they lock 2 lines. this is done by crossing off 6 numbers in the same line as well as the number furthest to the right.

Scores are then added up according to the score-sheet and the player with the highest score wins.

No one gets bored waiting around for other players to go. There’s zero downtime so everyone stays fully immersed in the game at all times. It’s also exciting and fun to play with lots of twists and turns along the way.

Size & Weight: 5.2 x 3.8 x 1.2 inches, 5.9 ounces

Best Car Games for Adults on a Road Trip

The famous name game.

Into your celebrities? Get ready to name drop like never before in this fast paced word association game.

The first player starts by saying a famous name that everyone would know. The next player has to think of another famous person whose name begins with the first letter of the last name.

If the first name has the same starting letter as the surname for example Marilyn Monroe, play switches direction.

If a player can´t think of a name, takes too long, or drops a name no one knows, they lose and have to do a forfeit.

Play has to go quickly so there are inevitably a lot of forfeits, the worse the better. The random names that people say can also be hilarious. Expect plenty of blasts from the past and Z-list celebs to crop up.

Just a Minute

If you´re the chatty type then this game could be right up your street. But can you keep on topic for a full minute?

Someone (not the driver) sets a timer on their phone for a minute and becomes the chair. The first player then has those 60 seconds to speak on a subject chosen randomly by the chair.

They have to do this without “hesitation, repetition or deviation” and the rest of the passengers are judges. If they think the speaker is taking too long, going off topic, or has repeated a word, they are able to challenge. The timer stops as soon as this happens.

If a challenge is deemed correct by the chair, they receive a point and also take over the subject for the remainder of the time. If it´s not correct then the original speaker continues.

Being the person to be speaking at the end of a minute is rewarded with a point. If a player manages to speak for the entire minute they´re rewarded with a bonus point.

This game sounds super easy but it´s unbelievably hard! Speaking for a full minute without breaking the rules is virtually impossible. But the ways that people attempt to win are hilarious and the arguments over challenges can get pretty involved.

Three Stories

Are you a great liar or do you possess a terrible poker face? Well it doesn´t matter too much in this game, it´s all about coming up with fake stories that are less believable than the truth. The more you can fool your fellow players the better chance of winning you have.

Players take in in turns to say three stories or “facts” about themselves that the other players don´t know. However, only one of them should be true.

The other players have to try and figure out which one is the true story and which two are lies. To get this they each get to ask two follow up questions.

Each player to guess right gets a point and the first to a predetermined number of points is the winner.

This is a great way to get to know your fellow road trippers a whole lot better. And regardless of how well you know them, you´ll learn some pretty surprising stuff. This game gets funny quickly and will have the whole car in stitches.

I Know Them

Fancy yourself as a bit of a story teller? This is a great game that involves some serious imagination as you build a story about someone you´ve never met or seen before in your life.

One player selects a passenger in a car that you pass and makes sure everyone gets a good look. Then they begin by “I know them…” and starting to tell a story about them.

Each player takes it in turns to make up something funny or interesting to add. Start with the basics like name, age, and occupation, then work up to the good stuff.

The more outrageous the backstory you construct the better. And if you pass them again on the road you won´t be able to resist laughing.

There are no losers or winners, just a journey into the bizarre and twisted minds of your fellow road trippers. This can go on for as long as you´re all entertained, and when you get bored simply switch target.

The Wave Game

This game takes nerves of steel, a bit of luck, and plenty of persistence. It´s time to get social on your road trip!

Players take it in turns to wave at the the occupants of each car they pass. If someone in the car waves back then they carry on, each wave back receives a point.

Bonus points are received for extra reactions. A smile is a bonus point. If someone flips you the bird you get 5 points. And if every passenger in the car waves back you get 10 bonus points.

A player´s turn is over when no one waves back. It then moves onto the next player´s turn. The winner is the person with the most points after everyone has gone. Play as many rounds as you dare.

Other people´s reactions can range from happy to play along to thoroughly pissed off. You´ll have great fun playing and may even brighten up someone else´s drive along the way.

Those are our picks for the best travel games for adults, but have you got an alternative game that you think would be perfect for stuffing in the backpack? What travel board games do you always carry with you on the road? Drop us a comment below and let us know!

Looking for more awesome gear to take on your travels? Check out these posts to find out what we recommend:

• The Best Water Bottle With Filter for Travel 2019
• Best Packing Cubes for Backpacking 2019
• The Best Towel for Travel 2019
• Best Rainy Season Clothes For Backpackers

Pin Me For Later…

***This post was originally published in February 2017 but has been completely revamped and extended to provide you with the most up to date and accurate information.***

Travel lover, professional writer and football (soccer) obsessive, James loves nothing more than getting outside and exploring little known corners of the globe. He’s also very partial to a drop of Guinness.

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Wow, I thought I knew a lot of games to play on the road. Really love Exploding Kittens and Cards Against Humanity. Have you tried PIT? That is one of our favorite games. Great list guys!

Hey Mike, yeah we’re big fans of those two as well but we have actually never played PIT!! We’ll have to get it on order and test it out to see if it needs to be added to the list 🙂

Hi Jamie and Sarah, I just googled games to take on holiday and your website came top of the list! i thought I recognized the name. Have got a couple of tips for games to take to Turkey in a couple of weeks.

Debbie Smith (Charlie’s mum)

Hi Debbie, Hope you’re well, it’s been a while! It’s always funny when people we know stumble across our site – glad you found it useful. Turkey sounds great, hope you get amazing weather and have a brilliant time. Enjoy! Take care, Jamie x

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Hi, we’re James & Sarah

Full time backpackers turned vanlifers.

We’re here to provide you with valuable travel tips, kickass destination guides & serious vanlife inspiration to help you get your travel adventures off the ground!

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20 Best Board Games for Travel for 2024 (+ Card Games!)

Want to know the best board games for travel? Here are some of the best travel board games for your upcoming adventures…

The joy of being on the road is often the major reason we go on road trips. Sometimes there’s no zeal to do anything – just enjoy the air and time away. But even a short journey can quickly become boring when there’s nothing to do, especially if you’re traveling with someone, in a group, or with family. That’s why a good travel board game makes for a great addition to any packing list. They’re also great to keep everyone away from the TV in the evenings.

The best travel board games are an excellent way to pass the time whether on a trip or at home. From travel delays, long journeys, sleepless nights, or bad weather, board games for travel help kill the boredom. With this list, you can choose some of the best board games for travel. 

Best Board Games for Travelling 

There are tons of travel board games you can take with you on a trip, but you have to be sure they are sturdy, compact and designed for the road. Ranging from cards, boards, to dice, these are all the best board games for travel, for both kids and adults. 

1. Monopoly Deal Card Game  

Monopoly is one of the most popular classic travel games you can enjoy with 2 to 5 players, but this is the portable version. It’ll keep you entertained for hours, whether at home or on the road. Collect three complete property sets of varying colours with the cards, and you’re the winner. 

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With Monopoly Deal you can pick up more properties on the way and receive rent from your opponent. This card version of monopoly is the perfect card game to keep you and your travel companions busy for hours. It is great for camping trips, long journeys, vacations, sleepovers, and just about anywhere else. 

Ben and I play this one a lot, or at least we did when we rented a VW campervan and went to rainy Wales. This is a great board games for travelling as it’s so compact.

2. Jax Sequence  

Jax Sequence is both challenging and fun, making it the perfect family game. It’s a board game for both kids and adults and allows 2 to 12 players. Using a card with you, and then placing a chip on the matching space on the board, you can win if you’re the first player to meet 5 in a row. 

All the while you’re trying to block your opponent or remove their chips, watch out for the jacks! 

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This is one of those portable board games for travelling that offer fun for hours back at home and on the road. The game requires both strategy and a good amount of luck. It’s kid-friendly too.

3. Catan Traveler  

Catan Traveler is another exciting board game for travel with a space-saving box that reveals the variable board. The game allows for 2 to 4 players, so you and other players can plan together to keep your settlements, cities, and roads safe. It’s handy and easy to set up in only seconds. It comes with six double-sided board pieces, to be arranged randomly so that each play will be completely different.    

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The game was designed for convenient portability, with a hex-shaped dice shaker, making it difficult to lost or drop it on the move. The cards are also held securely in holder trays.

4. Skip-Bo Card Game  

Skip-Bo , a sequencing card game perfect for camping trips and vacations, was designed by the famous UNO. You can create stacks of ascending cards, in sequence until there are no more cards left to play. The game can be played by 2 to 6 players.

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The Skip-Bo ‘Wild’ cards will help you to break off a tight situation. What’s more, you can play it as any number, while putting on your strategic thinking hat to defeat your opponent. The game is designed with bright colours and is quite easy to play. Be the first player to deplete all your Skip-Bo stockpiles to win the game.

After a game of Skip-Bo, you can re-shuffle and start all over. 

5. Loaded Questions On The Go Card Game  

This is a must-have travel game for road trips, especially if you’re travelling in a group. It’s a simple but super fun card game that offers hours of fun on the road and at home. It contains over 500 personality-filled, fun questions , and you can be the first player to get to the WIN space by matching other player’s answers correctly to your turn, and then writing the ‘favourite’ answer on the starred area. 

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There are no right or wrong answers, making it a fantastic way for the game to remain competitive while also getting to learn a little bit more about other players. This is the perfect travel game for passing the time on a long trip or during sleepovers. It requires 2 players.

6. Sorry! Game

This is one of those classic travel games where you drop manners to crush your opponent. Sorry! requires 2 to 4 players and as each player takes 1 to 2 cards, you can get 1 of your 4 pawns out of the start area and off around the game board.

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Like most of the travel board games on this list, you need strategies to win your opponents in this game of Sorry! You also need the luck to chase, slide, race, bump, and score your way around the board to end up as the first to move all your pawns home. 

That said, this is an updated version of the game. It’s perfect for all family outings, picnics, long trips and sleepovers.

7. Spot It!

Spot It! is an award-winning game that requires visual perception to test your reflexes and observational skills. With a keen eye and quick hands, and to win you’ll have to find the 1 single match between the 2 cards and the symbol, usually leading to a frenzy of fun while you and your opponents try to find it. 

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The game requires 2 to 8 players. And to make the game more exciting for travellers, this version is a combination of 5 different ways to play. It comes neatly packaged in a handy grab ‘n’ go tin. 

8. Qwirkle Board Game  

This travel-size board game of Quirkle is easy to play and fun. For a long time now, Qwirkle has grown in popularity for a lot of board game lovers. You can set up the game in seconds and it’s relatively easy to play from age 5. Expect each round to take around 45 minutes.

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While Qwirkle is great as a board game for travel, it’s also great for home use so you can practice your skills. 

9. QuadPro Magnetic Travel Chess Set  

This Quadpro version of the chessboard game was specially designed for chess lovers on the move. It’s a foldable, plastic chess set magnetically attached to the bottom of each of the pieces to prevent them from going missing on the road. It maintains the 64-square playing field with the complete chess pieces.

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This travel board game is a great way to pass the time in transit, camps, at school, or home. The QuadPro magnetic travel chess set is designed for compactness to keep it safe, so you don’t have to worry about it breaking either.

10. Magilano SKYJO

Magilano SKYJO requires 2 to 4 players and with a little bit of space in front of you, you can enjoy this travel card game. The game also requires strategies and with 2 face-up, 12 hidden cards, each player picks it, in turn, to take the top card from the draw or discard pile. 

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Exchange 1 card from your 12 cards display, and keep doing so until you or other players have only open cards. When the round ends, then it’s time to add your cards for scoring with the lowest number to win.

It’s easy to play with and also portable. The game is addictive and can be enjoyed on the floor, table, or anywhere else.

11. Connect 4 Grab and Go Game  

Connect 4 Grab and Go is easy to play, and it’s all about lining up your counters in order to ensure 4 are arranged in a row. It could be up-down, left-to-right, or diagonal. As long as you have four counters sitting together in a direction, you’ve won.

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It’s a competitive travel game to play on a trip and is also a fun way to pass the time in a group.

12. Boggle  

Boggle isn’t as popular as some of the other board games for travel on this list, and it can be a little challenging to get right the first time, especially for non native speakers. However, it is fun-filled and after the first few games, you’ll get it.

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All you need to do is shake up the letters and flip the timer. After that, you then spot the words that appear as fast you can. It’s a competitive and fun game that tests your command of the English language as well as your ability to think fast.

13. Apples to Apples Party Box

Apple to Apples isn’t just exciting, but also hilarious and the perfect travelling board game to play away the time. It’s just as much fun to play at home as it is on the road. To win the game, you have to win the most rounds by playing a ‘red apple’ card to best match the round’s communal ‘green apple’ card, as selected by that round’s player. 

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With 63 Green Apple Cards and 441 Red Apple Cards, there are tons of crazy combinations you can find. Also, the game requires 4 to 8 players. Mattel is one of the most popular travel board games – and for a good reason.

14. Czech Games Codenames  

This exciting spy game of Codenames requires teams to compete to find out who can make contact with all of their teammates (agents) first. With 1-word clues, you and your agents must try to discover (guess) the words of your team colour, at the same time avoiding the ones that belong to the opponents. 

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To play this game, get your spy mode switched on and work as a team to win. It is a fun game you can play in a group and on trips. Another thing is to be on the lookout for double agents and any assassin trying to get you. Whether you lose or win, it’s still fun to pick up all the clues in this portable game. It’s for both kids and adults and requires 2 to 8 players.

15. Taco vs. Burrito  

Taco vs. Burrito is a fun, crazy, and strategic game that involves a food fight. One of the major reasons the game is popular is because it was created by a 7-year-old and funded through Kickstarter. 

If you enjoy card games and food combos, Taco vs. Burrito is the game for you. The game requires 2 to 4 players and you can use the cards dealt to start making any crazy food combinations you want. You can as well switch up the game with action cards for extra ingredients to win. 

Also, remember to keep an eye out for Order Envy or Health Inspector that can ruin your appetite and meal. This is a great travel board game for kids.   

READ MORE: Have a go at my Road Trip Quiz – see how high you can score!

16. Mattel Games UNO: Classic Tin Box  

Like most Mattel games, this classic box UNO game is one of the most popular classic travel games out there. Race against 2 to 10 of your opponents to rid yourself of your hand as you try to match cards on the board by either number or colour.

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You can use special cards like Reverses, Skips, Draw-2s, and even color-changing Wild Cards to boost your chances of becoming the winner. The game is perfect for camp trips, family outings, sleepovers, campervan trips, etc. 

17. Smart Zone Games Hive Pocket  

This is a very strategic game that only requires two players. It’s a board game (can be played on any flat surface) that comes with its own travel bag. You and your opponent can break open the 22 pieces from the Hive Pocket to form the patterns to be used as the playing surface. 

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The objective is to surround your opponent’s queen while keeping your queen safe. Anyone that surrounds their opponent’s queen first is the winner. 

18. Blokus Game  

Blokus is an exciting game that needs a strategy to win. The game requires only two players and can be enjoyed both at home and on the move. The rules are pretty easy to learn. Each player has to take turns to place their 21 pieces on the board to ensure that each piece touches another piece of similar colour – but it has to be at the corners. 

You can protect your territory by blocking your opponent’s moves at every turn to win. The game is made with wipeable, sturdy materials, making it perfect for road trips. 

19. Yahtzee

Yahtzee is one of the most timeless classic games, and for good reason – it’s portable, fun, and relies on a healthy dose of chance and skill!

In case you’re unfamiliar with the rules, Yahtzee is a game where the goal is to win the highest number of points by rolling three dice up to three times. Certain dice can be locked into place for the second and third rolls, so it’s important to plan your strategy accordingly.

This game’s player count is flexible depending on how many dice you have, and the best part is that it can be played online or physically. So if you’re stuck in the car and worried about little game pieces getting lost in the crevices, give the digital version of this game a try!

20. Solitaire

If you’re worn out and need to keep the kids quiet, why not have them try a game they can play by themselves?

That’s right – solitaire is the perfect game to try if you need that extra beauty rest on the road. The physical version of this game can be messy, what with all the cards and the order they need to be laid out in, but there are plenty of digital versions available.

The best board games for travel

Travelling is a great time to play a board/card game or two. You’re in a beautiful new location, but it’s fun to keep your mind and hands busy, especially with kids around. Step away from the screens and invest in one of these great travel games for your next trip.

Related Posts:

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• 19 Best Road Trip Gifts for Every Kind of Traveller
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• 5 Festivals in the Cotswolds to Check Out
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Hi, I'm Vicky! I wrote this. You can find me on all the social media @VickyFlipFlop. I love a bit of adventure, will try anything once, and have a strong passion for the local food and drink, whatever it may be. I'm here to help inspire you to travel to places a little out of your comfort zone, or at least to explore the usual destinations in a different way. Stay, have a look around, and if you have any questions – let me know below.

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33 Best Travel Games To Play On Your Next Vacation

Posted on Published: November 13, 2020  - Last updated: January 9, 2024

Categories Travel , Travel Tips

There are many reasons you may want to bring board games on the go.

Travel games are the perfect source of entertainment while you’re on a road trip , waiting for a flight, have some time to spare before dinner reservations, or are just looking for something to do that isn’t staring at a screen.

My partner and I are huge board game fans when we’re at home, so we love packing some games any time we’re travelling. Not all games are good travel games though … so I put together a list of the best games for travel.

To qualify as a travel game, it has to be either small and compact, easily malleable, or you can transfer all the pieces from the box to one convenient travel pouch.

I’ve included travel games for adults, solo games, family friendly games, party travel games, and games lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours! 

Psst! This post contains affiliate links. It sends a bit extra my way if your buy anything through my links, at no extra cost to you!

You might also be interested in…

10 Best Cooperative Board Games For Travel: Perfect For Families!

In a cooperative game, every one plays on the same team – you win together and you lose together. This is my favourite type of game and it’s perfect to avoid any added fights on vacation!

Classic Card Travel Games To Play On Vacation

Card games are no brainer travel games because they’re SUPER packable ! There isn’t much to pack, except for well… a deck of cards.  

They fit into almost any space, and can be played anywhere. You usually don’t need a large surface to play a card game like would need for a board game.

1. A Simple Deck of Cards

The possibilities are pretty much endless with a basic deck of cards. There’s always another card game you could play and replay.  

There are solo games like Solitaire, two-player games like Spit, and group games like Go Fish!

See the ultimate list of games you can play with a deck of cards here .

Shop A Deck Of Cards

Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Players : 2-10 Age : 7+ Average Game Time : Varies 45 minutes

Is there any better classic card game than UNO? This was a must bring on every family vacation.

The game is simple: everyone is trying to get rid of all their cards to win.

The only problem? You keep having to pick up cards to match specific colours and numbers. So, it may be easier said than done!  

There’s classic UNO, but these days there’s many other iterations of this family fun game.

P.S. UNO is also very similar to the classic game of Crazy Eights that you can play with any deck of cards if you don’t have UNO on hand. 

Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca Shop Uno Flip! Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca Shop UNO Dare Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Travel Games: Protect Your Cards While Traveling…

• Hermitshell Hard Travel Storage Carrying Case
• Protect your favorite device from bumps dents and scratches
• Made to fit Mattel UNO Classic Card Game – Not Including Cards

Buy Hard Case on Amazon.ca

3. Monopoly Deal

Players: 2-5 Age : 8+ Average Game Time: 15 minutes

If you like Monopoly and are upset that the board is just to big to travel with, Monopoly Deal is the ultimate alternative to turn Monopoly into one of the best games for travel! 

Monopoly Deal is a card-only version of Monopoly. It’s the same idea as the original, you’re trying to build the same colour set of properties. But instead of moving around a board, you play and pick up cards. 

It’s a lot quicker than Monopoly too, so you can play a round in 10 to 20 minutes . This makes it a game to play at the beach, before dinner reservations, or waiting for a connecting flight.

Shop Monopoly Deal

4. mille bornes.

Players : 2-6  Age : 7+ Average Game Time : 20 minutes

Milles Bornes is the original racing card game! I loved this card game growing up but it isn’t just for kids. It’s one of the best card travel games for adults – it’s fast paced, and unexpected!  

The object of the game is to be the first person to reach 1000 kilometers. But watch out, you don’t want to run out of gas, get a flat tire, or crash!  

Shop Mille Bornes

Players: 2-6 Age: 7+ Average Game Time: 20 minutes

Similar to UNO, the winner is the first person to get rid of all their cards. But, in Skip Bo, it works a bit differently. 

In Skip Bo, each player has their own draw pile and there are 4 build piles in the middle. Everyone is trying to build the piles in ascending order.

So when it’s your turn to build on the piles, the goal is to get rid of as many cards as you can.  

Shop Skip Bo!

Unique Card Travel Games

These next set card games are more unique, but are some of the best games for travel!

If you’re a bit more of an avid gamer, these will probably be more up your ally. Requiring a bit more strategy and a bit less luck. They resemble more of what you’re used to with board games, just with cards only! 

I’ve also included some cooperatives travel games which means you’ll be teaming up with your travel partners to win! These are perfect if you’re travelling with family and you want to avoid any sibling fights…

P.S. Interested in more cooperative board games for travelling? Check out my 10 top in my post here.

Going on a road trip?

Check out my digital and printable road trip I Spy game on Etsy .

Players: 2-5 Age: 8+ Average Game time: 20-30 minutes Similar Games: The Mind

We actually bought Hanabi while travelling in Aix-en-Provence for a month and now it’s one of our go-to travel games. 

Hanabi is a very different game than what you might be use to. It’s a co-op game that teaches you how to communicate with others, without actually being able to vocalize anything.

You see, in Hanabi, you don’t get to look at your own cards, so it’s up to your teammates to tell you what to play. 

The objective of the game is to “light” 5 sets of fireworks by matching the number and colour… all without seeing your own cards.  

An alternative option to Hanabi is The Mind (see it on Amazon here ).

Shop Hanabi

7. kittens in a blender.

Players : 2-4 Age : 6+ Average Game Time: 30 minutes

Before disregarding this game based on the title, know that no cats are harmed while playing. Although I’ll admit the subject matter is a bit dark, so perhaps this is one of those travel games for adults only…

To play Kittens In A Blender, each player has kittens they’re trying to save, while also trying to blend those of your opponent.

The winner is the player who has the least amount of kittens blended.

The best part is that you use the box it comes while playing, so all the cards stay contained.

Shop Kittens In A Blender

8. pack o games.

Pack O Games are THE SMALLEST travel games you can find. I always throw them in my bag regardless of where I’m going, just because they’re so small.  

The downside is that although the cards themselves are small too.

The games I own also take up quite a bit of table space while playing as well.  

I own four Pack O Play: Boo, Bus, TKO, and Gym. Each one is significantly different, with varying game-time as well.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to get them in Canada. You can order them online from their website , or if you find yourself in the States, pick them up at Barnes & Noble.

Shop Pack O Games

Shop Amazon.com Shop Barnes & Noble

You might also be interested in reading…

Useful Travel Gift Ideas From $5 To $100+ Every Traveller Will Love

9. Codenames

Players : 2,6, or 8 Age : 10+ Average Game Time : 15 minutes

Alternate Version : Codenames Duet, Harry Potter Codenames, Disney Codenames.

Similar (easier) Game Cross Clues  

Codenames is a bit of a trickier game to travel with, but it’s still do-able. You only need to pack 2 decks of cards, which can fit into a pouch or bag. The downside to this game is the amount of space you need to set it up. You need a decent size table to create a 5×5 grid.  

To play Codenames, you also need an even number of players . The idea is to get your partner to guess certain cards based on a one word clue you’ve given them. Watch out though, there are certain cards that will cause you to lose the game if your partner guesses it instead! 

If you’re traveling with only two players, I recommend Codenames Duet , as it’s tailored to 2 players.

There are also a few themed Codenames you can buy. For example, we own Harry Potter Codenames but there’s also Disney Codenames! What I like about Harry Potter (aside from the theme) is that they also give you different scenarios to play.

Shop Codenames

Codenames Duet Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Harry Potter Codenames Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Disney Codenames Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Protect Your Travel Games In Style

Shop Codenames travel case on Amazon.com Shop Codenames travel case on Amazon.ca

10. The Fox In The Forest

Players : 2 Age : 10+ Average Game Time : 30 minutes

The Fox in the Forest is what’s known as a trick-taking game . You have to play cards to take your opponents card (similar to the card game WAR, but with actual strategy).

This is a max 2 player game , so it’s the perfect travel game for couples.

There are actually two versions of this game:

The original Fox in the Forest is competitive , where you’re playing against your opponent to get the most points (cards).

They’ve also released Fox in the Forest Duet, where you’re on a team with your partner. You can’t talk to each other though, which adds a very interesting dynamic to the game.

Shop Fox In The Forest

Buy Amazon.com

Shop Duet Buy Amazon.com Buy Amazon.ca

Simple Travel Hacks For Couples (To Save You Money)

11. The Crew

Players:  2-5 (best 3+ but there is a 2 player variant) Age : 10+ Average Game Time:  20 minutes

This game is AMAZING! It’s so simple, so packable, and quick to learn and play. The Crew is a limited communication and cooperative trick taking game but with an outer space theme. 

(P.S. They’ve just released a new edition The Crew Mission Deep Sea !)

That means you’re working together through different missions to win the game… but you can’t speak to each other.

The Crew changes it up by giving you different missions each time you play. You might need one person to win a specific card or maybe they can’t win any cards at all! Remember, if a person fails their mission, you’ll all fail.

A mission can take you anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. But there’s no limit to how many missions you can play in a row. 

Shop The Crew

12. spot it.

Players:  2-8 (best Age : 6+ Average Game Time:  5 minutes

Spot It! is an extremely compact game to travel with, perfect for any age!

The goal is to find a common symbol between two cards.

It sounds simple, but it’s fast paced, and beyond fun!

The game even comes with 5 different ways to play to change things up a bit!

Shop Spot It!

Card travel games for adults.

The next two card travel games I’d only really recommend as adults games to play on vacation due to their difficulty and subject matter.

My digital and printable packing guide on Etsy . Filled with packing planning prompts for your next trip!

Players : 2-6 Age : 13+ Average Game Time : 15 minutes

Coup is a travel game of deception.

Essentially, you have to trick your opponents into believing you have a certain character cards.

Each character has a different ability that you may need to win the game, but you’re only dealt 2 cards.  

The game says you can play two players, although I don’t recommend it. It becomes very quick and not that interesting, so it’s much better at higher player counts.  

If deception games are up your alley, there’s no better travel games for adults than Coup. The only thing you will need to pack are a deck of cards and a few tokens.

You also don’t need a lot of space to set up the game.

14. The Grizzled

Players:  2-5 (best 3+ but there is a 2 player variant) Age : 14+ Average Game Time:  30 minutes

The Grizzled  is another cooperative card game that is perfect to bring on your next trip.

This is the ultimate game for board game lovers. On the outside, it looks like a simple card game, but the game play can be quite complex.

Even though it’s such a small box, the game gives you all the complexities of a larger board game! 

The Grizzled has a WWI theme where players are friends that are working together to come home safely, but there’s a catch…. You can’t speak to each other! This makes it a very strategic game.

We’ve only ever won a handful of times! It plays best with three or more players, but we play it with two and still love it!

There’s also  an expansion you can buy  if you want even more replay-ability!

Buy The Grizzled

Best Group Board Games For Travelling (& Partying!)

These next few are easy to pack travel games are perfect if you’re travelling with a bigger group. All these travel games work for 8 or more people, but some can still be played solo or in pairs. 

These are the best board games for travelling if you’re renting a cabin in the country with some friends, or going on a family vacation. 

15. Paku Paki

Players: 2-8 Age: 8+ Average Game time: 10 minutes

Paku Paku is a whirlwind of fun in such a tiny box!

It’s the perfect game when you only have a few minutes to spare, or to ramp up the start of the evening games.

You’re rolling and passing die as fast as you possibly can because you don’t want to end up with all of them.

On top of that, if you roll the wrong thing, then you’ll have to stack a dish and hope the stack doesn’t come crashing down!

Buy Paku Paku Go

16. sushi go (party).

Players: 2-8 Age: 8+ Average Game time: 20 minutes

Sushi Go is a pass-and-go sushi building game! You get points for building different sushi rolls. But I said it was pass and go right, so your cards are always changing .

The person with the most points at the end wins! 

You can play this game with as little as two people, but I find it a lot more fun the more players you have.

Sushi Go Party is the same as the original Sushi Go, it just comes with a board, more cards, and let’s you play with more people. I’ve only heard good things about the Party version, and it’s the recommended game to get out of the two.

Either way, it all comes in a beautifully compact tin which makes it one of the best games for travel!

Buy Sushi Go

Buy Sushi Go Party

17. Cards Against Humanity

Players : 4-20+ Age:  17+ Average Game Time:  30-90 minutes

Similar game : Joking Hazard , where you finish a comic strip instead of a sentence.   

Some advance warning, this game isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is hilarious!

You’ll be sure to have a grand time with your friends playing this game.  

The goal of the game is to answer questions, or finish sentences with the cards in your hand. You want to come up with the most ridiculous answers to win.  

This game is sure to get the party started and everyone laughing their heads off. You’ll end up with some hilarious responses, and ones that make absolutely zero sense. 

There are expansion packs you can also buy, or knock offs based on specific themes. This is another example of travel games for adults, but in this case there are more family friendly versions called Cards Against Maturity – see it on Amazon here .

Shop Cards Against Humaniy

18. bananagrams.

Players : 1-8 Age : 7+ Average Game Time:  10 minutes

Bananagrams is similar to Scrabble, only you don’t need a board, and you’re racing others to build your own crossword grid.

So, although you do need space for everyone to build their own grid, it comes in the most handy travel pouch ever – one that’s shaped like a banana!

This game is perfect for larger groups, or by yourself trying to beat your best time! 

If you are planning on playing it in a larger group, you can also pick up Bananagrams Party (see it on Amazon here ), which adds extra chaos tiles to the game to make it more interesting.

Shop Bananagrams

19. 5 second rule.

Players : 3+ Age : 10+ Average Game Time : 30 minutes

5-Second Rule is a fast paced game that is sure to stump you.

The object of the game is to answer questions in only 5 seconds . Rapid fire fun! It’s so easy to pick up and learn, so it’s perfect if you’re a bigger group! 

This game really gets you thinking! The answers people come up with when they only have 5 seconds to think will shock you! It’s a game that keeps everyone laughing the whole night long!

If you’re short on space, leave the board at home and just bring the timer with some cards! 

Shop 5 Second Rule

20. sherlock holmes consulting detective.

Players : 1-8 Age : 14+ Average Game Time:  90+ minutes

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is a cooperative game where you’re trying to solve mysteries in London faster than Sherlock Holmes can.

We were very skeptical about this game at first but fell in LOVE!

You’re given 10 Sherlock Holmes cases to solve. Head ups, it’s very story heavy with a lot of reading. But, there’s also a lot of heated discussion and problem solving with the other players that takes place.

Keep in mind, you’ll only be able to play each scenario once (because then you’ll know the answers!).

But, I find it takes us a lot longer than they say to solve each case. Each case could last as long as 2-3 nights to play.  

You don’t have to bring the entire huge box with you either. Pack one or two case files, the map, and directory. It makes for a spooky, collaborative game night on vacation!  

Shop Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

Buy Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.ca

21. Table Tennis

This game isn’t really a group game because only two people can play at once, but it is a more physically active game to bring, and you can always set up rules to play the winner.  

The pieces are packable and you can set it up on any table!

Shop Table Tennis

Best Board Games On The Go That Are Easy To Pack

Everyone loves classic games like Scrabble and Battleship, but did you know there are travel-friendly versions to take with you on vacation!?

You can also turn most games into vacation games by leaving the huge box at home and packing your game contents in a pouch ( like these on Amazon ). Now it’ll fit almost anywhere! I own several pouches, of all different sizes.

22. Travel Scrabble

Players : 2-4 Age : 8+ Average Game Time : 25 minutes

Scrabble, the classic word game! You probably wouldn’t think of Scrabble when you think of travel games. I mean, there are a lot of loose pieces!

But they actually sell a travel-friendly Scrabble. It’s the same game you know and love, building words with letters to maximize points. But it comes in a compact zip folder where you can store all the pieces. The letters also click into the board so you don’t have to worry about losing any pieces haphazardly.  

We used to play this game on our long drive to Florida from Montreal in the car!  

Shop Travel Scrabble

23. trivial pursuit.

The classic game of Trivial Pursuit tests your knowledge. They sell different board-less versions, plus they have a  ton of themes  for you to choose from!

If you have the original board game, you can still travel with it by leaving the board at home. Just take the cards and dice along with you to play on the go.  

We bought the Harry Potter version (of course) but they also sell Friends version and one for horror fans  …etc.. You can also buy a few based on your interests and mix and match, or build up your collection over the years!

Shop Trivial Pursuit

Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.ca

10 Best Cooperative Board Games For Travelling: Perfect For Families!

24. Pictionary

Players: 4 Age: 8+ Similar: Pictionary Card Game, Pictionary Air

Pictionary is a group drawing and guessing game. You’re in teams, so you do need an even number of people to play .  

It’s one of the best games for travel because the game can be as small as you want it to be. The largest part is the box, but if you remove all the contents it becomes a pretty compact game.

We used to need to bring tons of paper when we brought this game on family vacations, but now it even comes with a dry-erase board .

They also sell a card only game  if you prefer card travel games. You build your pictures with pre-drawn cards. Or,  Pictionary Air , if you’re bringing an IPad with you on vacation. 

Shop Pictionary

Original Buy Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.ca

Pictionary Card Game Buy Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.ca

Pictionary Air Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.ca

Players : 4+ Age:  13+ (option for Taboo Jr with easier words)

Taboo is the opposite of Pictionary. Instead of of drawing, you have to use words. But in Taboo some words are off limits and can’t be spoken! 

The game contains a timer, cards, buzzer, and die (to select the word category). Perfect for travelling, just put it in a pouch and you’re good to go. It’s also quick to pick up and play on the whim! 

26. Battleship

Players: 2 Age: 7+ Average Game Time : 15 minutes

The classic game of Battleship also comes in a travel-friendly compact size . This game can only be played with two people though. 

You set up your boats in the ocean and call out coordinates to try and sink your opponent’s boats.  

You want to have the last battleship standing to win the game. 

Shop Battleship

27. the bloody inn.

Players : 2-4 Age:  14+ Average Game Time : 30-60 minutes

You’ve probably never heard of The Bloody Inn, but it’s one of our favourite travel games.

It has the potential to be short or long making it super flexible for travel WITH. 

The theme is exactly what you’d imagine. You’re murdering guests at the hotel, and trying to get away with it (it’s also in the travel games for adults section!).

Each player is building their own deck, and trying to get the most points at the end of the game.  

It comes with a board, cards, and a few tokens. The board is quite small, so it easily fits in a small pouch, making one of the ultimate boards games on the go! 

Shop The Bloody Inn

Shop Amazon.com Shop Amazon.ca

28. Quoridor

Players : 2-4 Age : 8+ Average Game Time : 10 minutes Similar Games : Blokus

A bartender in Vienna recommended this game to us as it was simple to explain and the game time was relatively short.

Quoridor similar to games like chess or checkers, where the goal is to get your pawn to the other side of the board. But in Quoridor, you also have pieces to block your opponent or secure your own path to the other side.  

It’s a very interesting strategy game that can be so frustrating at times but that will keep you playing time and time again! 

You can buy the full size version, but it also comes in a lightweight travel size, making it one of the best board games for travelling! 

Shop Quoridor

Best Games For Travel – Solo Travel Games

These next few travel games are perfect if you’re a solo traveler, or you want to zone out by yourself for a bit. There are times when you want a single player game to pass the time. 

These were my top board games on the go for our 25 hour drive to Florida from Montreal. I was always in the back row of our van by myself. I’d zone out with some music and entertain myself for a few hours with these travel games.

That being said, these games also have the possibility to be played with other people. You can collaborate and think of solutions together. 

29. 20 Questions

The goal of 20 Questions is to figure out what you’re thinking about in 20 questions or less… with only yes or no questions.

You can play this game by yourself and with others, and without any device at all. But, this game console kept me entertained for HOURS – even when no one else wanted to play.  

I’d see things on the road and would try and have the game figure out what I was thinking of. It’s surprising how many times it got the right answer!

Shop 20 Questions

30. rush hour.

I LOVE Rush Hour!

It’s a problem solving strategy game that’s small enough to travel with.  

You’re a car stuck in traffic, and you’re trying to rearrange yourself and the other cars to get to the exit.

Cards give you different scenarios to solve, increasing the difficulty as you go.  

The cards are stored away in the box, and the pieces fit on the board while you play.

Shop Rush Hour

31. shape by shape.

Shape by Shape is very similar to Rush Hour.

Instead of trying to move the pieces around to get out of traffic, you’re recreating images with shapes.

It’s way harder than it looks! You have to get all the shapes to fit together perfectly.

Shop Shape By Shape

Best electronic game console for travel: the nintendo switch.

If you’re interested in having a travel-friendly console, there’s none better than the Nintendo Switch (see it on Amazon here ).  

Game consoles are actually very convenient for travel. All you have to pack is the console itself, which is typically pretty small, and some games.

The games take up no space at all! They’re small SD cards, or you can buy them directly on your switch and have them pre-downloaded. 

I had a NintendoDS growing up and would take it with me on every vacation. Now, I have (well, my partner has) a Nintendo Switch and we LOVE it! It’s the only console you’ll ever need because it hooks up to the TV if you want to play with a larger group, but you can also play handheld if you’re a single player.

Buy a Nintendo Switch on Amazon.ca Buy a Nintendo Switch on Amazon.com

32. Best Single-Player Travel Games On the Nintendo Switch

There are countless single player games for the Nintendo Switch. We buy more multi-player games to play together, but these are some of our favourite single player games on the Switch.

33. Best Multi-Player Travel Games On the Nintendo Switch

This is what I love about the switch: the ability to pack and play by yourself and others. We’ve brought it to the country to play with friends. Nintendo sells tons of games that are perfect party games.  

For example, Mario Party, Arms, Mario Kart, Super Smash…etc. All of these also have a solo mode, but they’re the perfect party game. You can even buy classic games like  Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and Risk for the Switch  ( U.S. link ) !

Take Almost Any Board Games On The Go​

You can transform almost any game into a travel friendly version by buying a pouch or smaller tin to transport the contents in, as long as the board is small enough to fit inside, and there aren’t too many pieces to keep track of.

It’s the box that takes up most of the space, and they’re usually half empty! 

I’ve brought countless games on vacation by just removing them from their box and putting all the contents into a separate pouch.  

If you’re worried about bending your cards, they also sell convenient cases to keep all your cards safe in.

Read More Travel Tips

• 10 Best Cooperative Board Games For Travel: No Fights Here!
• Top 11 Travel Essentials I Never Leave Home Without
• Useful Travel Gift Ideas From $5 To $100+ Every Traveller Will Love [2022]

Share The Best Travel Games To Take With You On Vacation!

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Sunday 4th of June 2023

Hi, I just wanted to say that your list was amazing - it had all sorts and was so well written. I felt that I understood the gameplay and whether or not it was my kinda game!

I've just ordered The Crew thanks to your list.

Hope to read more board game recommends in the future. :)

Monday 5th of June 2023

Thanks so much for your comment - made my day to read :D I'm so glad you liked my post and recommendations. I really hope you enjoy The Crew! It's one of our favourites to bring on family vacations!

Tuesday 9th of May 2023

Very good tips - I will certainly try them out. I liked the way you shared all this information in detail.

Saturday 6th of May 2023

Awesome post! Thanks for the ideas! A couple of our family favorites are Zombie Dice and Get Bit Deluxe. Get Bit also has a regular version, but the deluxe version is in a tin that makes it more durable.

Monday 8th of May 2023

Thanks so much! I'll definitely have to check those out - I love a good game that comes in a tin for travel! Just so convenient!

LINDSAY VOEGELE

Thursday 4th of May 2023

We like to take Love Letter with us when we travel. It fits in my purse and is easy to teach to random strangers who want to play a game haha!

Hi Lindsay, I love that!!

I've seen that game in so many board game stores but have never played it! I'll have to pick it up the next time and give it a try!

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

Hi! There's a great new holiday game that should be on your list! It's called Bah Humbug!

Tuesday 6th of September 2022

Thanks so much for the suggestion I'll be sure to keep an eye out to play that game this holiday season! Right now I couldn't find it for sale, it seems relatively new but supposed to be released this year!

• Board Games

The 13 Best Travel Board Games You Can Play Anywhere (Even on a Plane)

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When you're stuck in a plane, train, or even the backseat of a car, you need a way to kill time... and board games are great for that!

Of course, mobile games are more convenient—unless you're like me and prone to motion sickness. Plus, these days I much prefer the tactile experience of cards and pieces, and we could all stand to spend less time staring at digital screens.

So, I think everyone should have at least one portable board game or card game that they can take with them while traveling!

What makes a great travel board game?

• Small box. When you're traveling, space is at a premium. Carrying the game around shouldn't be a nuisance and it should fit comfortably inside a carry-on bag. If the entire game can fit inside your pocket, that's as good as it gets!
• Minimal footprint. It can't take up too much table space. (Ideally, no table space at all!) Plus, it should have very few components. Not only are game pieces hard to handle while traveling, they're easy to accidentally bump off and lose forever.
• Length and replayability. Whether your flight is 1 hour or 12 hours, the game should keep you engaged and help make time fly by. But it should also be under an hour per game so you aren't forced to cut it short if it happens to run too long.

Here are my picks for the best travel board games that are tiny, portable, and able to be played pretty much anywhere!

Note: You'll notice a distinct lack of Button Shy games on this list. While Button Shy games are famously tiny—each game is only 18 cards—they tend to take up a lot of table space. I've yet to find one that can comfortably play on an airplane tray.

13. The Mind

Designed by Wolfgang Warsch

Supports 2 to 4 players

About 15 to 20 minutes

The Mind is a cooperative card game where everyone has their own hand of cards—from a deck numbered 1 through 100—and the goal is to play all cards in ascending order... without ANY communication.

With larger starting hands, the game gets more difficult. You start on Level 1 with one card each, then Level 2 with two cards each, up to whatever Level you can reach. Or you can just play (and replay) it on whatever Level you want to see how often you can win.

The Mind is a great card game for planes because it's mainly held in your hands (all cards played to a single pile) and the no-communication rule is a good fit when you're stuck in a loud plane with others around you.

Designed by Mark Tuck

Supports 1 player

About 5 to 15 minutes

Grove is a brilliant solo puzzle-style card game that only consists of 18 cards and 15 dice that are used as point trackers.

The cards are basically tiles, which you place by overlapping previously played cards. When you overlap trees of the same color, you increase the value of those trees (which are tracked using the dice).

How bountiful will your grove be? Grove is a beat-your-own-score type game with a lot of replayability. The backs of each card have different victory conditions for variety.

Each game of Grove is relatively short but punchy, and it's a fantastic game to play while traveling.

11. Timeline

Designed by Frédéric Henry

Supports 2 to 8 players

Timeline is a compact card game about figuring out where different events belong on a timeline.

Players have a hand of cards that each depict a specific event. Cards are played to a shared timeline and on each turn you have to place one card into the timeline. If it's not placed correctly, you draw another card. Otherwise, first to get rid of their cards wins!

Timeline is less about knowing the exact years when things happened and more about logically reasoning when things happened in relation to events already in the timeline. It's fun even if you know zero history!

Note: Timeline comes in several themed packs, which can be mixed and matched for more variety and difficulty. In addition to Timeline Inventions , there's also:

• Timeline Classic
• Timeline Events
• Timeline British History

Designed by Martino Chiacchiera, Hjalmar Hach, and Pierluca Zizzi

Similo is a deduction game where one player is trying to get everyone else to guess the right character from a grid of twelve.

On each turn, the active player plays a card and marks it as either SIMILAR or DIFFERENT. Based on that, the other players have to eliminate characters from the grid. If the correct character remains at the end, everyone shares victory!

Similo is like a better, more compact, and more fun Guess Who . The grid is randomized every time so there's replayability, plus the discussions that arise during elimination can be surprisingly funny.

Note: Similo comes in several themed packs, which can be mixed and matched for more variety and difficulty. In addition to Similo History , there's also:

• Similo Myths
• Similo Fables
• Similo Animals
• Similo Wild Animals
• Similo Harry Potter

9. Hive Pocket

Designed by John Yianni

Supports 2 players

About 20 to 40 minutes

Hive is one of the best head-to-head two-player board games if you want a pure abstract strategy game—and Hive Pocket is the portable travel edition that you can take anywhere.

There's no board in Hive ; the pieces ARE the board! As you place pieces and move them around, they dictate where future pieces can be placed and moved to. Each insect type has its own rules for how to move.

Hive Pocket has a tiny footprint and the tiles are made of durable plastic resin that's satisfying to play with. Moreover, Hive Pocket comes with two expansion insects already included!

Designed by Kei Kajino

Supports 2 to 5 players

Scout is a ladder-climbing card-shedding game in the style of Crazy Eights or Chinese Poker , but it has a few twists that take it to the next level and make it one of the best in the genre.

First, you can't re-order your hand once it's dealt. Second, when you play cards, you collect the cards played by the previous player. Third, if you can't play any cards, you "scout" by taking a card from the previous player and adding it to your hand—and they earn a point.

When someone empties their hand, the round ends. Each player scores a point for each card they collected plus any scout points they earned.

Scout is a simple but deep card game that feels like an old-school card game but plays like a modern classic. It's the perfect travel card game for families who want something a little meatier.

7. The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

Designed by Thomas Sing

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a cooperative trick-taking card game—a lot like Euchre or Hearts , except everyone is trying to accomplish certain tasks and helping others to achieve their tasks.

Examples of tasks in this game: "Win exactly 2 Blue cards" or "Win only the last trick" or "Win at least 1 card of each color." There are nearly 100 task cards and a random set is chosen every game.

The hard part is, there's no communication allowed! Except using the one-time communication token. With that token, you can reveal one card and mark it as either your HIGHEST of that color, your LOWEST of that color, or your ONLY card of that color.

Trick-taking card games have been a staple of societies for centuries, but the cooperative twist in The Crew: Mission Deep Sea makes it one of the best of its kind. It's so addictive!

6. Zombie Dice: Horde Edition

Designed by Steve Jackson

Supports 2 to 100 players

About 10 to 20 minutes

Want to play a travel board game that's literally nothing but a set of 13 custom dice? Then Zombie Dice is your jam. ( Zombie Dice: Horde Edition includes the base game plus both expansions!)

In Zombie Dice , you're rolling and re-rolling three dice at a time, trying to score as many Brains as you can on your turn. Dice with Footsteps can be re-rolled, but dice with Shotguns can't—and if you ever have three Shotguns showing, you lose all the Brains from that round.

This is one of the purest push-your-luck games in existence, and it's so compact that you can play anywhere. Just make sure to roll inside the box cover to minimize the risk of losing any dice!

Designed by Steffen Benndorf

Qwixx is what's known as a "roll and write" game: you roll dice, then use the results to write on your score pad.

In Qwixx , you're trying to fill out blocks 2 to 12 for each of four colors. The thing is, once you fill in a block, you can no longer fill any blocks to the left of that block for that particular color.

Once a player has five blocks filled in a color, they can choose to lock that color (no one else can fill that color anymore). Once two colors are locked, the game ends. The more blocks you've filled, the more points!

Ultimately, this game is a balancing act between smart decisions and pushing your luck. Qwixx packs a ton of fun into such a small box, and it's so easy to play anywhere—even on a plane.

4. Love Letter

Designed by Seiji Kanai

About 15 to 30 minutes

Love Letter is one of the best portable card games of all time. It consists of a deck of 16 cards numbered from 1 to 8, with higher-value cards rarer than the lower-value cards.

This is a game of deduction and hand management. Each player starts with 1 card and the entire game is played like so: draw a card, play a card. The winner is whoever has the highest-value card in hand at the end.

But here's the twist: each card also has a special ability that triggers when played. One lets you peek at another's hand, another lets you trade hands, another lets you name a player and a card—if they're holding that card, they get eliminated from the round.

A round of Love Letter plays in just a few minutes, and whoever is first to win a predetermined number of rounds wins the game.

3. Fantasy Realms

Designed by Bruce Glassco

Supports 2 to 6 players

Fantasy Realms is my ultimate choice for portable card game. It's easy to learn and compact in size, with tons of gameplay packed in.

The game consists of a deck of 53 cards: 10 suits of 5 cards each, plus 3 wild cards. Each card has a base point value as well as a scoring mechanism that grants extra points (or loses points) depending on what other cards you have in your hand.

Players start with a hand of 7 cards, then turns are as a simple as drawing a card and discarding a card. Your hand at the end of the game determines your score and highest score wins.

Fantasy Realms can be taken anywhere and plays quickly. Every game is different as you try to figure out the best way to manage your own hand, and you can kill so much time without getting bored.

Note: Scoring can be unwieldy in Fantasy Realms , but the scoring companion app makes it much easier—just pick the cards in your hand and it'll spit out your score.

2. Palm Island

Designed by Jon Mietling

Supports 1 to 2 players

There's one thing about Palm Island that makes it so perfect as a travel card game: it can play entirely in the palm of your hand. You don't even need a table or a lap! No other game is this portable.

Palm Island consists of 17 double-sided cards, with each side split into top and bottom halves. You'll go through the deck several times, tapping cards into resources then spending resources to upgrade cards (i.e. rotating and flipping them to their better actions).

It's a simple but thinky solo game that's played in a beat-your-own-score manner, so there's plenty of replayability.

But the key feature of Palm Island truly is its portability. Hand-only games are exceedingly rare and very few of them are worth playing long-term. Palm Island is the best of its kind.

1. Dungeons, Dice & Danger

Designed by Richard Garfield

Supports 1 to 4 players

About 45 to 60 minutes

Dungeons, Dice & Danger is the meatiest experience you'll find for a game that's nothing more than a sheet of paper, a pencil, and five dice. You can really play it anywhere and lose yourself in it.

On your turn, you roll the four white dice and split the results into two pairs. Then, everyone uses those two pairs to mark off rooms on their personal dungeon sheet. (The active roller can also use the fifth black die to substitute one of the whites, but no one else can.)

You can only mark rooms that are adjacent to rooms you've already visited, and if you have no rooms to mark on a turn, you lose health which will reduce your score at the end.

You'll also be finding gems, looting treasure, unlocking special actions, and fighting monsters for more ways to earn points.

It's both surprising and impressive to get this much game out of just five dice. If you're going to be traveling a lot—especially on planes—I highly recommend Dungeons, Dice & Danger above all else.

5 best travel board games to take on holiday this summer

Carry-on cardboard.

With vaccines rolling out it’s hopefully not long until we can once again shove ourselves into tiny airplane seats and lose our luggage on the way to stunning destinations around the world.

Whether you’re cruising around the Caribbean, sightseeing in San Marino or surfing off the coasts of South America, it’s always worth bringing a travel board game or two for those warm nights in the hotel.

Best travel board games

• Railroad Ink Challenge
• Tiny Epic series
• Welcome to the Dungeon
• Dice Academy

If you are taking cardboard abroad, you’re going to need portable board games that fit in your luggage alongside the rest of your holiday essentials.

1. Railroad Ink Challenge

Roll, write and ride your way across this travel-themed dice game

With travel on the mind it seems fitting that we start this list with a game all about train lines and roads - and thanks to a brand new entry in the series it also happens to be the newest board game of the bunch.

Railroad Ink, along with its new advanced version Railroad Ink Challenge, is a roll-and-write puzzler that can be enjoyed solo or with up to three other players. In the game you’ll spend a number of turns rolling picture dice and drawing whatever shapes and routes come up onto your wipe-clean board.

Each player board has the same arrangement of open train tracks and roads along each side of its 7x7 square grid. Your job is to draw the routes that pop up in each roll of the dice to try and connect those open paths together, with each connection worth more and more points if you can connect them all to the same route. You’ll also score points for filling in the centre squares of your board and for the longest unbroken railway and highway on your board at the end of the game.

Railroad Ink is a delightfully simple game that can be picked up in a matter of minutes, hiding most of its complexities in the moment-to-moment decisions of each turn. You’ll need to gamble on certain dice rolls coming up in the future if you decide to strike out into new paths, as unfinished routes will lose you points in the final tally. Knowing where to put when and what will be the difference between victory and defeat - and as every player around the table is drawing from the same dice results, you’ll only have yourself to blame.

To step things up a notch, Railroad Ink Challenge adds some new scoring opportunities as well as an extra dose of complexity to the mix. Brand new buildings on the board can be connected to your routes in exchange for a special reward, while objective cards will have you racing against the clock or your competitors to fulfill them first in exchange for more points. Railroad Ink Challenge doesn’t necessarily reinvent the (train) wheel but it introduces a few new mechanics and concepts to give veteran players a fresh experience.

There’s a lot to love about Railroad Ink and it’s packed with plenty of replay value if you’re limited in the amount of games you can bring on your travels. While it’s probably the largest box in this list, it has a very small footprint on the table during plays. With just a handful of dice, a board and pen each you could very easily play this on a train table or flip-out airplane table without too much fuss. It's odd that there are so many great board games about trains , but this is the world we live in.

Buy Railroad Ink Challenge on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

2. Tiny Epic series

Tiny by name, Epic by nature

We’d be remiss to write up an entire list of tiny games and not mention at least one of the Tiny Epic series from Gamelyn Games. As you can probably guess from the name, each of the Tiny Epic games takes a popular genre or theme and condenses it all into the smallest possible package. There’s Tiny Epic Zombies, Tiny Epic Quest, Tiny Epic Galaxies, Tactics, Western, Kingdoms... The series already has a massive list of titles, and designer Scott Almes doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon with more already on the way thanks to Kickstarter.

What exactly is a Tiny Epic Game? Well, it depends on which one you pick up. While there are similarities between some of the titles, each is its own take on a different grander experience. Tiny Epic Zombies, for example, sees your players fighting off hordes of the undead in a bid for survival amongst the fluorescent lights and broken window panes of an abandoned shopping mall. Tiny Epic Quest follows your band of adventurers as they travel across a fantasy kingdom to fight goblins, delve into dungeons and source legendary items and spells. Zombies plays like a tabletop tower-defence game, while Quest is more like a movement puzzle with push-your-luck dice throwing.

The important thing is that all of these games, despite their absolutely miniscule packaging, can easily go toe-to-toe with games that far outweigh them in size and footprint. One of the most impressive aspects about the Tiny Epic series is the way Gamelyn Games is able to squeeze such big ideas into such small boxes. The components and solutions might get smaller and smaller, but their ideas never seem to shrink as a result.

One problem you may run into with the Tiny Epic series is that the small box size doesn’t always mean that the game itself won’t take up much room when you start setting it up. Tiny Epic Quest sprawls across the table once it’s fully prepared for play - which is impressive if you’ve got the space for it, but pretty useless if you’re trying to squeeze the game onto an equally miniature playspace. Maybe avoid it if you’re looking for something to play on the train or in an airplane.

If you plan on picking up one game from the Tiny Epic series for your travels, go with Tiny Epic Galaxies, a dice-rolling strategy game in which you must seize control of planets to harvest their resources and grow your empire. As it’s mostly dice and cards it doesn’t eat up your entire table, making it an ideal travel space-based board game .

Buy Tiny Epic Galaxies on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

3. Welcome to the Dungeon

Dungeon-crawling in a travel-friendly package

Welcome to the Dungeon, we most certainly do not have fun and games. Instead we’ve got an absolute infestation of goblins, skeletons, dragons and demons. Whoever is bravest - or most unfortunate - out of you and up to three friends will need to delve into its depths in search of some lucrative treasure.

In Welcome to the Dungeon, you and your friends will be collectively building a dungeon full of creatures by taking it in turns to draw from a deck of cards. Each card will show an illustration of the type of monster you’re dealing with, but more crucially it’ll also contain a number and some icons to show how that creature might be defeated. Once you’ve drawn a card you can either place it into the dungeon facedown, so only you know what’s been added, or you instead remove it from the game in exchange for also removing one of the available pieces of equipment.

At the start of the game, the players each decide which character they’d like to play. There’s the warrior, the barbarian, the mage and the rogue. Each one comes with their own set of custom armour, weapons and spells. To try and avoid damage you can use your abilities and equipment to ignore the effects of certain monsters, leaving them for your companions to deal with later.

Despite the name, only one of you sitting around the table will be forced to enter the dungeon each round. Instead of drawing a card from the deck on your turn - or if you can’t because the deck is empty - you can pass, removing you from the running. If everyone but you has already passed, it’s time to strap on your boots and light up your torch.

If you’re unlucky enough to enter, you’ll draw all the cards that you’ve collected in the dungeon one by one, discarding those that you can defeat with your equipment, and taking damage equal to the value on the card for each that you can’t. Make it through the deck with some health intact and you’ll earn one of the two victory cards you need to win the game. Die in the dungeon twice, and you’re out.

Welcome to the Dungeon becomes a game not just about dungeon-crawling , but of pushing your luck, knowing when to stick and when to fold. Do you go for glory and try to make it through the dungeon with your hide intact? Or do you ramp up the difficulty and watch your friends perish in the dark, claiming victory as the last player standing? Either way, it’s raucous good fun will leave you in stitches, and it takes up next to no room on the table - meaning you can travel far and wide in search of worthy (or foolhardy) adventurers.

Buy Welcome to the Dungeon on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

Guess your way through famous faces in this travel card game

Now we’re really getting tiny, because this Codenames-esque cooperative character guessing game for two or more players is literally just a deck of cards. Sporting one of these classic Top Trumps-style plastic boxes, Similo is an easy-breezy social deduction co-op game for all ages which will challenge your ability to communicate with limited information as you try to spot the differences and similarities from a range of different characters.

Depending on the set you choose you could be playing with fairytale characters such as Prince Charming and the Big Bad Wolf, or notable figures from history including Joan of Arc and Julius Caesar.

One player in the group acts as the clue-giver, while the rest will be trying to interpret their hints. At the start of the game, the clue-giver lays out a grid of 12 random characters face up for everyone to see. One of those cards is the character that all players are working to keep on the board until the end of the game - but only the clue-giver knows which one it is.

Each round the guessers have to remove an ever-increasing number of cards from the table: one card in the first round, two in the second, three in the third and so on until there is just one card remaining. If that card is the card the clue-giver has been hinting at, then everyone wins. Hooray!

The clue-giver is able to give their team-mates one clue each round to help them narrow down their search. These clues aren’t spoken out loud - the clue giver can’t speak at all during the game - but instead delivered in a very specific way. At the start of the game, the clue-giver draws five random cards from the remaining cards in the deck. Each round, they must choose one of these cards to play either vertically or horizontally in front of their guessers. If the card is played vertically it means that the character you’ve just played is in some way similar to the card your team is trying to protect, while horizontally means the opposite - a lack of similarity.

The rules are as simple as that, but in play they become a lot trickier because you’ll have to weigh up those clues you’re given against an entire tableau of characters, each with loads of different elements to consider. Not to mention the clue-giver must just do their best with the cards they have available to them.

Similo is a fantastic travel board game for families on holiday, but it’s also just a great co-op game to play with some drinks at an airport bar when everyone’s a little too tipsy or jetlagged to learn something complicated. It’s a hub of debates and comes with some lovely illustrations, all in a single deck of cards.

Buy Similo Fables on Amazon US and Amazon UK .

5. Dice Academy

Few travel games are more portable than a handful of dice

Our smallest travel game on the list is also one of the best quick-playing board games out there. Dice Academy’s box is technically bigger than Similo’s - but if you look inside you’ll find just a handful of dice that are solid enough to just sit at the bottom of a travel bag unprotected, making this a highly flexible option for gamers on the go.

Dice Academy sees you and any number of friends battling it out to be the best word-knower of the bunch. The ten dice are split into five colours, with a letter die and subject die for each. The letter dice are pretty self-explanatory; they’ve got different letters on each side. The category dice, meanwhile, are covered in little pictures denoting the type of words you’ll be looking for. It could be the name of a country, a type of vehicle, a fictional character, or even just “something rectangular” - which is an absolute nightmare.

You roll the categories first, making sure everyone gets a good look at them and understands what they’re trying to guess. As soon as you roll the letter dice, the round begins. You and all the other players around the table will be racing in real time to try and think of words that start with the letter on one die and match the category on another. Country that begins with F: FRANCE. Tree or plant that begins with W: WYSTERIA. Item of clothing that begins with G: GILET.

Once you’ve thought of a word you’ll need to say it out loud and then grab the pair of dice you used to make your word, placing them safely in front of you (Unless someone else already grabbed them before you could get your mouth and hands to work properly.) Each pair of dice you pick up is worth a point, and you choose a total to play to at the start of the game.

There’s only one complication that might trip you up, which is in theory very simple but becomes complicated in the rush to grab dice. You’re not allowed to grab a pair of dice that are the same colour. If you do, you have to put them back on the table and can no longer make any guesses for the rest of the round. The same rule applies if you grab a pair of dice and mess up, either because you thought a word started with a different letter or because it didn’t fit the category correctly.

That’s everything you need to know to play Dice Academy. You can learn in seconds and play for as long as you like.

The frantic scramble as you desperately try to think of literally anything rectangular that begins with the letter F is delectable. Dice Academy definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you love silly games that don’t outstay their welcome and enjoy getting shouty and racing against the clock then it’s a no-brainer. It’ll fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans and you can get it for about a fiver, making it the perfect travel game no matter how far you’re going.

Buy Dice Academy on Amazon UK .

Read this next

• Guess Who-ish co-op card game gem Similo is headed to Middle-earth with a Lord of the Rings edition
• Railroad Ink Challenge rolls, writes and rides its way onto PC and mobile
• Guess Who meets Mysterium card game Similo is coming to mobile and PC

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Home » Gear » best travel games

Best Travel Games – Entertainment on the Go

Travel inherently means downtime. There’s waiting for transport to depart, the relocating bit, and a myriad of other periods of time when you can’t do much more than wait. How do you fill this time? You could impatiently look at your watch, stare into space, read a book – or enjoy your time by playing a travel game!

There are a whole host of travel games out there, and whatever your tastes you’re sure to find one that meets your needs! Whether you’re looking for the top travel size games for adults or maybe something for the kids, we’ve got it all covered.

Want to find out then? Simple – read on!

Quick Answer: The Best Travel Games

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• Best pick travel game – Bananagrams
• Best travel board game – Travel Monopoly
• Best travel card game – Exploding Kittens
• Best travel games for adults – Cards Against Humanity
• Best travel game for couples – The Date Game That’s Actually Fun
• Best travel games for flights – Boggle
• Best travel games for road trips – Battleship Grab & Go
• Best travel games for families – Dobble
• Best travel game for kids – Pass the Pigs
• Best travel game for pre-schoolers – Buckle Toy Bizzy
• Best travel game for 2 people – Connect 4 Grab & Go
• Best travel game for groups – Farkle

Bananagrams

• > Lightweight
• > Needs just 2 players

Travel Monopoly

• > Self-adhesive board
• > Up to six players

Exploding Kittens

• > Easy to understand rules
• > Small to pack

Cards Against Humanity

• > Strictly for adults
• > 4-20 players

The Date Game That’s Actually Fun

• > Includes all you need to play
• > Best played as a couple

• > All the parts kept in a carry case
• > Can be played for just 3 minutes

Battleship Grab & Go

• > No need to pass tokens between players
• > Travel friendly

• > Game for almost all ages
• > Metal carry tin

Pass the Pigs

• > Doesn’t require adult supervision
• > Simple to understand

Buckle Toy Bizzy

• > Specifically designed for pre-school children
• > Educational

Connect 4 Grab & Go

• > Easy to set up

• > Perfect for large groups
• > Games can be varied in length

Of course, we all know what the king of all games is, yes that’s right Chess. But I am going to presume you’ve all got your travel c hess set packed and ready to go and you’re looking for a accompaniment!

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Bananagrams is a firm favorite for those in the know, is easy to set up and play anywhere, and adds little weight to your kid’s backpack . A word-based game, it consists of 144 Scrabble-like letter tiles, with some doled out to players and the rest left in a central ‘bunch’. The aim of the game is to use up all your tiles in creating interconnecting words – rather like a crossword grid. There are no turns to be taken, but each player working on their own grid as quickly as possible, making it a fast-paced and very addictive game. Requiring just two players, it’s also possible to play with anyone from reading age upwards.

• Lightweight
• Needs just 2 players
• From reading age upwards
• Tiles could get lost
• Can’t be played alone
• Not for pre-schoolers

Is Bananagrams for me?

If you’re looking for a travel game that’s going to keep you entertained without needing a large amount of baggage space, Bananagrams could be for you! Scrabble fans and lovers of word games will definitely enjoy games, which at a minimum of five minutes in length, can be played at almost any time!

Our team swear by Bananagrams for their trips as they find it to be super fun, engaging, educational and most importantly, it weighs hardly anything and takes up no room at all in their bags. They also love how simple the game is to play and pick up too.

Travel Monopoly plays in exactly the same way as standard Monopoly, and the world’s favorite board game needs very little introduction! The small board folds in half so that the entire game takes up not much more space than a paperback book, and doesn’t weigh much more either (just 300g in fact), while a ‘self-adhesive’ board ensure counters don’t fall about the place at the first elbow nudge or spot of turbulence on an aircraft. With enough miniature versions of the traditional player pieces to make this a six-player game (with a minimum of two), it’s ideal for families, while the average game time of 45 minutes makes it a great distraction for airport waits.

• Self-adhesive board
• Up to six players
• Playing time of around 45 minutes
• Minimum 2 players
• Small cards/pieces could get lost
• Age range of 8+

Is Travel Monopoly for me?

Long waits and long journeys don’t need to feel like purgatory with Travel Monopoly in hand. Its 45-minute average playing time will see the time pass all the quicker, while the self-adhesive board helps the counters stay in place however bumpy the journey might be!

Our team are split on whether Monopoly is a good idea on a trip or not! They love the mini set up which plays pretty much the same as the bigger version and packs down pretty light. Some of them just wonder if it might cause a mid-flight emergency landing if things kick off!

Adored by those who have played it, Exploding Kittens is as whimsical as its name might suggest. A rapid-fire card game, the aim is to avoid picking an exploding kitten from the stack of face-down cards, while action cards add to the peril by giving sneak peeks and mixing up the pack in various ways. No bigger than a pack of playing cards (out of the box), Exploding Kittens is perhaps one of the easiest games to take traveling. It’s suitable for 2-5 players of more or less any age, with each individual game lasting around 15 minutes.

• Quick to play
• Easy to understand rules
• Small to pack
• Family-friendly
• Not for single players
• Maximum 5 players
• Cards could get lost
• Games last 15 minutes

Is Exploding Kittens for me?

A quick action family-friendly card game if ever there was one, Exploding Kittens so wonderfully bizarre, kids will love it, while the easy-to-understand rules mean even grandma and granddad can get involved! Small and lightweight too, this is an easy travel game to slip into a pocket for those times you need a little entertainment.

Exploding Kittens is a big hit amongst the team and they love how fun and easy to play it is. The game is also super light and portable meaning it can fit into pretty much any backpack without adding any extra weight. They also like how the playing area for the game is really compact too meaning you could play it on train or plane trays.

Certainly not a travel game for the kiddos, Cards Against Humanity at its best is rude, offensive, and potentially libellous too. So how’s it work? It’s simple really. The dealer reads out an incomplete phrase, which each player tries to complete in turn using words found on cards they’ve been dealt in a hand. It’s the dealer who decides the winner of each round, meaning the winner can be the most outrageous, most poetical, or most polite. A game for up to 20 players, it soon develops a party atmosphere! It’s one of the best adult travel games for sure.

• Strictly for adults
• Simple rules
• 4-20 players
• Easy to pack
• Requires a minimum 4 players
• Not for the easily offended!
• Not for public areas either!
• Game time of around 45 minutes

Is Cards Against Humanity for me?

Definitely not if you’re under 18 or easily offended, but taking that into account, Cards Against Humanity is what could be defined as a right-rollicking travel game, made all the better by the fact you can get up to 20 people playing at the same time.

Our team loves Cards Against Humanity and rate it as one of their best travel games for adults. The game is perfect for getting out at the hostel and breaking the ice. The only drawback is that the game is a little heavier compared to some of the others on the list. But it’s probably the most fun!

The premise of The Date Game That’s Actually Fun is pretty simple – the 330 questions are intended to test how well you know your partner! Though we can see how this could well lead to an argument or two, it’s also a great way of getting to know your other half better and passing the dead time of travel.

The Date Game That’s Actually Fun comes with everything you need to play the game on the move, with 2 dice and 75 prompt cards, across six different categories so you can really get to know your other half.

• Get to know your partner better
• Includes all you need to play
• Best played as a couple
• Number of questions limits playability
• Good for couples getting to know each other
• Compact and lightweight
• Could lead to arguments!

Is The Date Game That’s Actually Fun for me?

Certainly a travel game given its pocket size and weight, The Date Game That’s Actually Fun is a fun way for a couple to pass the time, or for hen/bachelorette groups, in particular, to get the party started. Hopefully, you know your partner well enough that it doesn’t lead to angry recriminations!

Our team felt this was also one of their favourite travel games for adults and kids alike with the addition of the different categories questions. They felt it was perfect for a bit of fun on the road especially when there is only the two of you.

The travel version of this word game is just as easy to play on an aircraft as the original is to play at home. Give the box a quick shake to mix up and settle the letter-inscribed dice within, open up the box, and turn over the sand timer. Each player must then create as many words as they can from the revealed letters, akin to a word search. Obscure words are best, since (infuriatingly) any word spotted by more than one player doesn’t count! But what’s great about this game is that you can play it for as little or as much time as you like (each round lasts just two minutes or so), and can even play alone!

• All the parts kept in a carry case
• Can be played for just 3 minutes
• Can be played with one player
• Infinite number of players
• Dice shaking could irritate other passengers
• Carry case lid isn’t hinged
• No note paper included

Is Boggle for me?

If you enjoy word searches or other travel games such as Bananagrams, you’re going to enjoy Boggle too! Ideal for a flight because of its compact size and simple gameplay, it also has an almost infinite number of letter combinations, that will keep you busy for hours!

Our team feel this is their best game for travel if the size is one of your main concerns. They love how compact and light the game is with all the parts also being super hard-wearing. They also love that the game itself takes up hardly any room in use and uses the box as its playing area.

Battleship Grab & Go

What makes Battleship Grab & Go so good for road trips? Well, it one of the few travel games that don’t require either a communal aspect (a deck of cards or bag of letter tiles) or the need to pass tokens between players. For anyone who doesn’t already know, this two-player (or two-team) game links guesswork with skill to track down the coordinates of each ship in the other player’s navy. The two playing trays are designed in such a way that pegs are firmly placed and can’t get shaken out of place whatever road obstacles you might come across!

• No ‘communal aspect’
• No need to pass tokens between players
• Travel-friendly
• Easy to play
• For two players/teams
• For ages 7+
• Pegs a little fiddly

Is Battleship Grab & Go for me?

Road trips mean plenty of time in the confines of a vehicle where it’s difficult to reach a communal pile of cards or letters, and can be hard to pass tokens between players too! Battleship Grab & Go has no need for these game aspects, and is specifically designed for use on the road!

Battleship is an absolute classic and our team loves it! Many of them have fond memories of playing it as kids. The team liked that this edition was made from durable materials and included two self-enclosed playing boards that keep all the pieces organised.

A card-based travel game aimed at children but still very playable by adults, there’s little to have to carry with Dobble, making it a great option for families who already have more than enough baggage with them! Essentially a version of ‘snap’ built for the twenty-first century, five different games can be played with the 55 card Dobble pack. The most basic sees players reveal one card at a time, in an attempt to match images between cards – each one has 8 different images of various sizes to make it extra tricky! The player with the most cards at the end of the pack wins!

• Game for almost all ages
• 2-8 players
• Metal carry tin
• Not suitable for pre-schoolers
• Cannot be played alone
• Game time of 10 minutes
• Won’t help teach literacy

Is Dobble for me?

This fun, fast, and sometimes raucous travel game can be played by anyone in the family old enough to be able to recognize different images (with another version available for younger children too). Educational and enjoyable to play, Dobble is a marvellous way of having fun as a family!

Our team are big fans of Dobble, especially for games nights in the hostel. They love that it comes in a metal box that keeps the cards safe when it’s thrown in their packs. The only thing they did say is that this game can get pretty energetic and rowdy, so maybe not ideal for enclosed spaces!

If you’re after a game that the kids can play on their own without the supervision or input of a tired-out adult, reach for Pass the Pigs! Based on the traditional game of ‘pigs’ that uses the roll of a pair of dice to determine points, this version sees kids drop small model pigs (that they’ll love in any case) onto the playing board, which is made up of several squares which can take or give points. The trick is knowing when to stop or play on (all down to luck of course), which keeps the game fresh and risky time after time!

• Doesn’t require adult supervision
• Simple to understand
• Very small to pack
• 2-4 players
• For reading age kids
• Game time of 30 minutes
• Pigs could get lost

Is Pass the Pigs for me?

The lack of a skill requirement means Pass the Pigs is suitable for a child of just about any age (although the board does include some writing). It’s also one of those games where you can leave them to it for a few minutes without supervision. It’s also small to pack and weighs very little, making it a good choice for traveling families!

The team felt this was a super fun game, especially for kids. They like that the pieces are made from durable and hard-wearing material and their box is strong enough to cope with the rigours of travel. They did feel it could get a bit tedious for the adults after a while though.

Specifically designed to be attractive to pre-schoolers, the upper side of the Buckle Toy Bizzle is decorated with a bright and cheerful face, while the underside has tabs for numbers 1 to 5 which lift up to reveal a series of stitched animals. Stretching out from this soft central section are 6 colorful child-friendly buckles of different sorts to help develop a pre-schoolers motor, cognitive, and problem-solving skills without even realizing it. A zip pocket gives a further reason why the child would love to have this around, while its 6 x 6 inch size and fabric construction makes it very easy to travel with, however far you’re heading.

• Specifically designed for pre-school children
• Brightly colored
• Educational
• Small in size
• For 1-4 years of age
• For one player
• No alternate games to play
• Small danger of catching skin in clips

Is Buckle Toy Bizzy for me?

Good, educational travel toys for pre-schoolers are difficult to come by, and let’s face it, if you intend on traveling you definitely need something to keep these young minds occupied! Brightly colored, and with little extras such as the hidden animals, Bizzy could be your child’s favorite for months to come.

The team felt this toy was super well made, which is essential when it comes to something designed for toddlers! The game is small and light enough to fit easily inside a backpack whilst offering a surprising amount of different colours, numbers, textures and noises to keep the little ones distracted! They also love that you can attach it to a backpack or the back of a seat too.

Connect 4 Grab & Go

Even if the name of Connect 4 doesn’t ring a bell right away, we suspect you’ll soon recognize its bright blue plastic frame and red and yellow counters. Connect 4 Grab & Go is the same as the original game, but smaller in size and with handy attached trays in which to place the counters. If you don’t immediately remember how to play, you’re simply trying to drop the counters into the frame in such a way that the result is a line of four consecutive counters of the same color – a little like an expanded version of noughts and crosses.

• Smaller version of a favourite
• Simple to play
• Easy to set up
• For just two players
• Counters can get lost
• Little variation in the game
• Playing time of 10 minutes

Is Connect 4 Grab & Go for me?

This simple, near vintage, travel game is easy to set up and perhaps even easier to play. With an average playing time of 10 minutes, it can be brought out even during short waits, while you’ll be surprised how addictive a game it can become!

Our team felt this was one of the best travel games for 2 adults or kids. This classic game is easy to get the hang of and offers hours of fun! The travel edition is super small and being plastic it’s both light and hard-wearing.

Finding a travel game suitable for a larger group would be difficult if it wasn’t for Farkle. Best described as the dice game Yahtzee built into a larger game, it can be played by an almost limitless number of players due to the fact each person takes turns shaking the six dice. With only specific dice combinations giving a player points nothing is guaranteed, while everything can be lost if you hit the Farkle combination. The winner is simply the person who reaches the winning points margin first – and as this can be as large or as small as you want, games can fit into whatever time you have free!

• Perfect for large groups
• Made in the UK
• Games can be varied in length
• Dice can get lost
• For ages 8+
• No skill required
• Dice quite small

Is Farkle for me?

If you’re looking for a game that can absorb almost any number of players (simply use more than one score sheet for larger groups – or draw your own) and doesn’t require skill or any complicated rules (we’re looking at you, Monopoly) Farkle is probably the game for you!

The team rate this game highly for travelling with it being so small and light. Another bonus for solo travellers or couples is that it works well with one or two people which is pretty rare, even rarer is that equally, you can play it with a big group. The team also feel the replayability is much bigger than many other games on the list.

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Reading the instructions and you might think Codenames is the most complicated travel game ever invented, but get stuck in and you’ll soon realize it’s not as difficult as it at first sounds! The aim of the game is to uncover all of each team’s secret agents, hidden within a field of possibles that includes ordinary bystanders and a very deadly assassin. But really, this is a game of word association, with clues given by a spymaster to their team linked in some way to the agents they are looking for. With so many combinations possible, you can play this game almost endlessly, with different combinations of team members making for very different results!

• Simple at heart
• Close to a traditional board game (without the board)
• Can be played almost endlessly
• Better with 4+ players

Is Codenames for me?

If you’re looking for a travel game that involves a little more skill and thought than the simple chance of something like Farkle, go for Codenames! This competitive and fun travel game will have you second-guessing every word given by your spymaster in the attempt to identify your undercover agents.

Codenames is one of my personal favourite games, I love how frustrating and fun it is anticipating your partners answer or trying to find a tenuous link between the cards! The game consists of just cards so it’s easy to take out of the box as we have and throw it in a sandwich bag for your travels. It lays flat and weight almost nothing. However, the game does need more room than a plane tray usually affords.

The traditional stylings of the box might not look much, but bear with us, for Catan is a big hit with everyone that plays it! Credited with igniting the recent craze for board games, Catan requires skill, strategy, and a little bit of cooperation between players too. The ultimate aim is to reach ten victory points and to do this each player begins building their own settlement through farming, trading, and other choices. Along the way, each player needs to watch out for the robber, who stops development of the settlements he’s landed on!

• Almost infinite playing board
• Suitable for all the family
• Games last around an hour
• Not simply luck
• Requires space for the board
• Just 3-4 players
• Lots of small parts

Is Catan for me?

Want something more than a travel game of chance and luck? Catan meets this need, with its requirement for careful consideration and strategy. It also emphasizes the need for cooperation, which is great for children and has an almost infinite playing board thanks to its jigsaw-like setup.

Catan is a classic and it’s one of my favourite games. The full-sized edition, whilst a surefire hit in the hostels, might just be a little on the large and heavy side unless you’re travelling in a car or campervan. However, there are smaller versions available where two players can play too.

Sequence Travel Edition

Made for travel, Sequence Travel Edition combines the basic premise of a number of games including Connect4 and poker into one large board-based travel game. The board has cleverly been placed within the lid of the plastic carry case of this travel edition and pegs that slot into holes replace the traditional chips used so that players don’t lose their place. Even the cards used in a miniature pack for travel, while the game itself is simple enough that children will be readily able to play. So what’s it all about? Fundamentally, it’s about connecting up a sequence of 5 cards in various ways that will keep your mind busy over and over again!

• Special travel edition
• Can be played by children
• Pegs can be a little fiddly
• Two-player version

Is Sequence Travel Edition for me?

Those who have played the full-sized version of Sequence might be a little unimpressed by the Travel Edition, however, for a game that will keep children and adults entertained for half an hour or more, we still rate Sequence Travel Edition as a fine travel game!

Our team felt this was a pretty fun little game that impressed them with its clever design where it was played inside its own plastic container. It meant it was compact and light and keeping all the various parts together wasn’t an issue. Most importantly, it could also be played easily on a plane, train or bus tray table.

Qwirkle Travel

The colorful playing pieces of Qwirkle Travel play rather like dominoes on steroids. The aim is to place connecting tiles next to each other, but instead of tiles comprising numbers, they are of various shapes and colors. An orange square can be placed next to a red square, which can be followed by a red circle, for instance. And to make it slightly more complicated, each color can only appear in a row once! The winner of each round is the player that has put down the most tiles, in the most rows, so some strategy is needed too.

• Travel version of the popular game
• Good for children and adults to play together
• One of the heavier games on our list
• For just 2-4 players
• Lots of small pieces to lose

Is Qwirkle Travel for me?

Easy to understand, but requiring enough strategy to keep players entertained, Qwirkle Travel is family fun at its very best. Though it can be a rapid-fire game, the thought required also means a game can last 45 minutes – an ideal length of time for many travel experiences.

Our team loves that this is one of those simple yet complex games where you can really get stuck in and engaged in the game. It really passes the time well on long trips with the level of concentration needed! They also feel that the bag and pieces are pretty robust too and like that it can be played with 2 people.

Top Trumps Wonders of the World

If you don’t already know how Top Trumps works, where have you been? Nothing to do with the 45 th president of the United States (that we know of), the Top Trumps deck of cards is divided among the players, who try and beat the other players by besting them on one of the card’s selected categories. What makes the Wonders of the World version particularly relevant to travel is its world theme, with plenty of intriguing facts to keep everyone paying attention while the game goes on. And that game goes on right up until the time when one player holds all the cards!

• Games can last as little as 2 minutes
• Easy to travel with
• Great for kids
• Travel themed
• Limited number of cards
• Best with 4 players

Is Top Trumps Wonders of the World for me?

A particularly good choice if you’re looking to drill some useful facts about the world into your children without them realizing it (such as the height of Mount Everest), Top Trumps Wonders of the World is also easy to travel with, and argument free – since all the facts are written down! Perfect!

Top Trumps has been a hit with me and my partner since we first met each other as teenagers! We’ve collected heaps of different versions but of course, as avid travellers, this version is a firm favourite. The game is simple, filled with interesting facts and fun to play. The cards take up hardly any room and the plastic case keeps them in good condition on the road.

Unstable Unicorns

The Exploding Kittens for the millennial age, Unstable Unicorns is as barmy a card-based game as they come! How does a player go about winning? By building up a powerful unicorn army of course! And you can’t do this without a little bit (alright, a lot) of friendly betrayal of the other players, seeing to the destruction of their own unicorn armies. With wonderfully vibrant imagery and an unpredictability no other travel game can match, Unstable Unicorns definitely belongs to the ‘once tried never forgotten’ list of travel games!

• Great design
• Ridiculously unpredictable
• Up to 8 can play
• 30-45 minutes playing time
• For ages 14+
• Higher price point
• Requires table space

Is Unstable Unicorns for me?

A great way to spend some quality time with your teens, or just a group of friends, Unstable Unicorns is like no other card-based game you will ever have come across. Quirky, cute, and evilly vicious in equal turn, up to 8 can play, with games lasting right up to 45 minutes.

Our team absolutely loves this game from the hilarious illustrations to the cunning gameplay, it’s got it all! It’s a huge hit at the hostel and really gets everyone interacting and having fun from the off. They also like that there are various different versions and expansion packs too so the game has huge replayability.

Mille Bornes

With a strapline of ‘the classic racing game,’ you can know a little of what to expect from this card-based travel game. A Monopoly for cars, players need to fill up on petrol, avoid accidents, and block the progress of other players to reach the end of the 1000-mile journey. Ironically perhaps, this is actually an incredibly fast-paced game, so pay attention! It’s also very easy to learn the rules, so you’ll be up to speed (pardon the pun) and playing before you know it!

• Travel version of a classic travel game
• Easy to understand
• Cards can be lost
• High price point

Is Mille Bornes for me?

Looking for an alternative to Monopoly? Mille Bornes fills that niche, without the need for a board. The resulting card-based game is a classic, particularly in its birthplace of France. Nothing gets classic status without reason, so why not splash out and try Mille Bornes for yourself?

Our team love the unique premise of this game and felt it offered something pretty different compared to most card games out there. The retro metal packaging was also great for travellers because it was still pretty light but made sure all the pieces stayed together and undamaged whilst in their backpacks.

Another classic travel game is Uno. Developed in the early 1970s, it is as fresh today as when it was first invented, which says a lot about the simple elegance of this card game. Using a specially printed pack of 108 cards, the majority of which comprise a color and number, the basic aim is to be the first player to shed all their cards through picking up and putting down cards based on what’s face up in a central pile. It’s a little more complex than that, with skips and wild cards among other features, and the need to shout ‘Uno!’ not when you’ve won, but when you have a single card left in your hand!

• A classic game
• 2-10 players
• 45 minute game time

Is Uno for me?

Uno rapidly becomes addictive, which is exactly what you should be looking for in a travel game when you have a lot of dead time to fill up without getting bored! Lightweight and easy to pack, and suitable for everyone from the age of seven upwards, your career as an Uno champion could start today!

Uno! What can we say, it’s a classic and a game all of our team needed no introduction to! I think we’ve all got a traumatic Uno story, ending up with a stack of cards just a few rounds after forgetting to shout “Uno”! But no one can deny the fun of this simple but tactical game that packs down super small and light.

An award-winning family strategy game, OK Play is durable, waterproof (being plastic), and a good size for travel, although the small counters might be troublesome for some families to keep hold of. Once you’ve chosen your particular color of tiles – held neatly on their own stack until they are needed – it’s simply a matter of placing down one tile at a time until one of the players manages to sneak in a row of five counters in the horizonal, vertical, or diagonal. Recommended for children from the age of 8 upwards, four different color stacks of counters make it suitable for 2-4 players.

• Award-winning
• Designed for travel
• Counters could get lost
• Requires a playing table
• For only 2-4 players
• Slightly awkward shape for packing

Is OK Play for me?

This counter game is so easy to play you won’t bore children with a long list of rules and regulations, yet at the same time is flexible enough to allow continued development of the skills and strategies required to make it a success as a player. Its durability and waterproof nature also help to make it an all-around good family travel game!

This game was new to most of our testers but they really loved how simple, fast-paced and addictive it was. They also felt when it came to travel games, this one was probably the most perfectly designed. It was super compact, so light and really hard to break!

Now, you  could spend a fat chunk of $$$ on the WRONG present for someone. Wrong size hiking boots, wrong fit backpack, wrong shape sleeping bag… As any adventurer will tell you, gear is a personal choice.

So give the adventurer in your life the gift of convenience: buy them an REI Co-op gift card!  REI is The Broke Backpacker’s retailer of choice for ALL things outdoors, and an REI gift card is the perfect present you can buy from them. And then you won’t have to keep the receipt. 😉

What makes a game the best travel game for you, your family, and your friends? Here are some helpful hints and tips to guide you!

Packability

You’re probably already struggling to fit everything you want to take into your baggage, particularly if traveling as a family, so you don’t want to be carrying around a travel game that is either large in size, or overly heavy. Thankfully, these days the manufacturers have caught the hint, producing dedicated travel versions of many popular games, with Monopoly one of them.

Are you looking for a travel game that will entertain just a couple of people, have a group of adults enthralled, keep children busy during dead time, or maybe one that’s suitable for families? We’ve highlighted the age range each game is aimed at in our reviews, to make this really obvious for you!

Number of players

There’s no point getting a travel game that’s at its best with six players if there are only ever going to be two or you! Likewise, don’t get a game for two if you know the average number of players is going to be greater than this. Follow these simple rules together with our reviews, and you’ll find the best travel game for you!

There is no perfect or exact science when it comes to testing out travel gear, but when it comes to picking the best travel games, we’ve got plenty of experience between us!

Whenever we test a piece of gear, one of our team takes it out for a spin and puts it through its paces. When it came to travel games things were no different in our eyes, we just added in a few extra details.

So, we looked initially at how well-made the game is and whether it would stand up to the rigours of being thrown into a backpack every day. Then we accessed things like weight, size, packability as well as ease of set up and most importantly, gameplay!

Finally, we also take into account how much each item costs – when it came to picking out the best games for traveling, we also weighted up whether we felt each one was worth the price. We judged the more expensive items more harshly than the cheaper games as we expected to get more for our money.

Still have some questions about the best games for travel? No problem! We’ve listed and answered the most commonly asked questions below. Here’s what people usually want to know:

What are the best travel games for long car-rides?

Battleship Grab & Go is a great option for long car rides or road trips. The two playing trays are designed in such a way that pegs are firmly placed and can’t get shaken out of place whatever road obstacles you might come across!

What is the best board travel game?

Travel Monopoly might cause one or the other family war, but it’s the best board game on the market.

What are the best games for families or a group of friends?

There are many great group travel games, but Farkle and Dobble are the best ones. They’re perfect for all ages and all types of travelling.

What is the easiest travel game?

Connect 4 Grab & Go is simple and fast to learn, however, it requires one or the other brain cells.

Our GREATEST Travel Secrets…

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Forget hours of boring waiting at train stations , airports, and on road trips with our selection of the best travel games! Whether it’s a classic like Uno or a new kid on the block such as Unstable Unicorns, or something for adults or kids (or both), we’ve got you covered with our review! Hopefully, you’ve found some good travel games for your next trip.

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Thanks for this kind of blog about travel. I wonder if you tried to go on baguio cafes in the philippines?

Just an FYI…. Bananagrams can be played with one person. Bananagram solitaire is extremely popular and is a great way for school-age children to build their vocabulary.

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11 of the best travel-sized card and board games

Board Games

Image: inPatience

Whether you’re a regular player or an occasional board game night attendee, you might have noticed something significant. Between Gloomhaven , Frosthaven , Mage Knight and Twilight Imperium, board games are now absolutely massive – to the point where carting them around is nearly impossible.

When it comes to travelling, you can forget these big boxes entirely – fitting them in your carry-on is impossible! But while board games are getting bigger and more visually impressive, there is still a strong contingent of smaller travel-sized, pocket adventures that enable easy gameplay on the road.

You don’t need epic miniatures, item tokens, cardboard boxes, and plentiful decks to have a delightful tabletop adventure – you can save those board games to play at home. Sometimes, all you need is a slim hand of cards, portable tokens, and a handy carrying box.

If you’re somebody who likes to entertain yourself with card and board games on the road, read on for a list of our favourite travel-sized card and board games. There’s plenty of fun waiting in bite-sized adventures, even with a little bit more imagination needed.

Our Top Picks

• Check out Onirim on Amazon .

Onirim is 1-2 player card game with a spectacular sense of style, contained within a miniature portable box. In each round of gameplay, you are a ‘Dreamwalker’ lost in a mysterious labyrinth haunted by nightmares. To get out, you’ll need to discover eight special ‘Door’ cards by collecting and playing a range of cards, all found along your journey.

Onirim is a special game, largely thanks to its surreal and childlike art style, which really brings to life the plight of your nightmares. It’s not strictly a ‘horror’ game, but the atmosphere it fosters between card plays is wonderful, and works well in solo or co-op gameplay mode. The game’s second edition, which is the version you’ll largely find on the market now, contains a range of miniature expansions, each of which provide new opportunities to explore the darkness, and expand the frontiers of your dreams.

• Check out Streets on Amazon .

Streets is a city-building game where players work together to foster a thriving city by laying tiles, managing income and profit, and ensuring a range of citizen needs are met. While it’s a game with a thick deck of cards and multiple ‘meeple’ movers, everything included fits inside a neat rectangular box, perfect for stacking in luggage, or carrying in a handbag. The game’s portability also extends to its playing field, with each miniature city coming to life on a relatively small tabletop surface.

If you’re pressed for space, it’s a great option. Plus, its size makes it very cute. While that may convince you the game is simple, it is actually fairly complex, and requires plenty of strategy to master. You’ll need to spend your time with the game making clever decisions about where to build, and how exactly you can defeat your rivals and foster the most exciting and attractive city street.

• Check out Gloom on Amazon .

Gloom is one of the most compact travel-sized card games on this list. The entire base game takes up a 2cm x 15cm x 10cm space – which is barely anything at all. Pop it into your handbag or backpack, and you can take it anywhere you go. With pretty endless replayability, easy-to-learn gameplay, and rapid-fire rounds, you can also get a lot out of Gloom , despite its size.

In the game, you control one of several gothic families with their own weird quirks. In a typical game, you might be charged with their protection – but in Gloom , your job is actually to make your family very, very sad, and then kill them when they’re at their lowest point. At the end of the game, the person with the gloomiest family wins. While a little bizarre and incredibly morbid, Gloom is a game with a killer hook, and it takes a well-earned place as one of the best ‘small’ tabletop experiences around.

One Deck Dungeon

• Check out One Deck Dungeon on Amazon .

One Deck Dungeon miniaturises a fully-fledged dungeon-crawling adventure game into a deck of cards and dice rolling between 1-2 players. With minimal rules, it’s easy to get going. Once you open the box, a quick setup will have you swiftly exploring a dungeon, encountering strange beasts, and taking on encounter-based combat.

Fight and win, and you’ll be able to claim goodies from monsters – experience points, items, and skills – which may then be used in later stages of the dungeon. Eventually, your chosen hero will ascend the ranks and grow powerful enough to take on a rampaging dungeon boss, with this journey depicted in dramatic card flips. One Deck Dungeon is a fairly simple take on modern dungeon crawling, but its simplicity makes it fun, easy to play, and very portable.

Cartaventura

• Check out the Cartaventura series on Amazon .

The Cartaventura franchise contains a number of pocket-sized adventures for 1-6 players, with each themed deck charting a new course for adventure. From Lhasa in Tibet to Hollywood, Cartaventura decks largely begin the same way: players are given explorer roles, and then tasked with making decisions about where to tread by selecting a direction, and laying new cards down. As play continues, a map will form, and players will need to make harder exploration-based choices in choose-your-own-adventure-style play.

There are multiple endings and scenarios to be found in each deck, with player decisions guiding the journey along the way. This means you can play every Cartaventura game multiple times, working out new pathways as you pick your way through beautifully-illustrated landscapes. With a tiny box and easy gameplay, it’s a great companion for real-life travel.

• Check out Coup on Amazon .

Coup is a unique social deduction game for 2-6 players, all about gathering influence in a strange, futuristic society. Each player has access to the abilities of special characters in gameplay, with some characters having nifty influence-gathering skills – but there is a catch. No other player knows which characters you have, so you can also lie about your skill base and try to get away with stealing more influence, before somebody calls you out.

If an opponent challenges you and you’re lying, you’ll lose influence. If they challenge you and you’re not lying, your opponent loses influence. Essentially, you’re trying to determine who exactly your opponents are, what abilities they have, and all the while, ensuring you’re the one with the most influence at the table. While Coup seems complex at first, its lying mechanic is ultimately very easy to understand. Once you master it, you’ll be able to spend your time watching for social tics and interrogating your closest pals. With only a handful of small cards and tokens, Coup inspires so much playful drama.

Boss Monster

• Check out Boss Monster on Amazon .

Boss Monster is a gorgeous card-based dungeon crawling game where you play as the titular ‘boss monster’, attempting to defeat heroes by building out the most deadly dungeon. The box for this game is designed to emulate old NES game boxes, so it’s particularly small – but really, all you need to carry with you is the central Boss Monster card deck, which determines every play in the game.

While the action is pretty cool – you’re basically sending a lone hero through a harrowing gamut of epic enemy battles – it’s all contained very well on gorgeous cards rocking neat pixel artwork, and descriptive flavour text. With a unique hook and multiple enemy types, each round of Boss Monsters also feels fresh and exciting – so you can play it repeatedly with no two games turning out the same. There’s so many ways to kill your chosen hero, with each tiny card serving a dangerous (and satisfying) purpose.

If you’re looking for more video game-inspired card games after you’re done with Boss Monster , you can also check out the Pokemon -like monster collecting of Aethermon: Collect , an Australian-developed, pick-and-catch game. This pocket-sized game serves as an introduction to the wider world of Aethermon , which was recently spotlighted at PAX Australia 2022 .

Sushi Go Party!

• Check out Sushi Go Party! on Amazon .

Sushi Go Party! is a card-based party game for 2-6 players where sushi is the most important meal in the world. On each turn, players will work towards gathering an array of special sushi which can form high-point combos (and look very cute), with this frantic scramble for the most points taking place on a small conveyer belt-style board.

Not only is Sushi Go Party! one of the cutest board games on this list, it’s also very compact, with the action playing out on tiny cards and a miniaturised, foldable board. It barely takes up any room, but it packs in a whole lot of cuteness and fun into its metallic tin. While near-guaranteed to make you crave sushi, this is one travel-sized board game that is as moreish and desirable as its subject matter.

If you’re looking for yet another food-themed pocket card game, we’d also recommend checking out the Australian-developed Boba Master from Quokka Games . In this game, you’ll collect adorable cards to fulfil orders for boba tea.

Campy Creatures

• Check out Campy Creatures on Amazon .

Campy Creatures is a card-based deduction-action game where 2-5 players will compete to control monsters, and capture the most humans in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. While there are many board games featuring classic monsters like the beings of Campy Creatures , the core twist here is that you’re playing the villainous role, working to deploy monsters in gruesome human-hunting activity (although it should be noted that the game is very light-hearted).

Players will compete to gather the most humans for their evil scientist leader, with the monsters of your fellow players standing in your way. While you’re able to make action-charged plays to nab the humans, you’ll also need to engage in some level of social deduction by guessing which creatures your opponents are using, and thwarting them using their weaknesses. It’s a unique twist on Werewolf -style gameplay, with colourful art and a campy theme helping to spice up rounds.

Tiny Epic Dungeons

• Check out Tiny Epic Dungeons on Amazon .

Tiny Epic Dungeons is a solo or co-op dungeon-crawling board game experience filled with tiny miniatures, tiny dice, and tiny cards. It essentially translates the action of larger board games into a very small box for portability (and a little bit of cuteness). In this adventure, you’ll play through two distinct acts: The Dungeon, and the Dungeon Boss. You can guess what the separation is like.

As you travel through The Dungeon, you’ll gather items and abilities, and face off with an array of creatures. Then, once you’re powerful enough, you’ll be able to tackle a Dungeon Boss using every tool in your arsenal. While similar to other games on this list, like One Deck Dungeon , this game manages a unique tone with colourful stylised artwork, and hearty adventuring and attacking mechanics. There’s also plenty of cards packed into its tiny game box, so that journeys can be completely unique every time you draw a new item or dungeon tile.

Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game

• Check out Once Upon a Time on Amazon .

For something a wee bit different, consider Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game . This pocket-sized adventure game is all about telling stories with your friends, as multiple players will work together to weave a fantasy plot through multiple twists, and an eventual ending. One player takes the role of a Storyteller, who begins a tale with an ending in mind – and every other player will attempt to wrest control from the Storyteller by coming up with their own plot.

While more a fight with imagination than traditional card or board games, Once Upon a Time adopts simple, fun mechanics that tabletop players will likely be familiar with. In active play, the game is a bit like Dungeons & Dragons – but if everyone was attempting to be the Dungeon Master at once. If you don’t mind a bit of chaos, this card-based adventure can be an incredibly fun blast.

If you’re looking for more card and board games to explore, check out our other guides:

• The best board games for beginner players
• The best tabletop games to bring out at a party
• The best co-op board games for two players
• The best solo board games for single players
• The best adventure board games with gripping stories
• The best puzzle board games to play solo or with friends
• The most relaxing board games for quiet afternoons
• The 8 best dungeon crawler board games for adventurers
• The best spooky board games to play this Halloween

GamesHub has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content. GamesHub may earn a small percentage of commission for products purchased via affiliate links.

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Leah J. Williams

Leah J. Williams is a gaming and entertainment journalist who's spent years writing about the games industry, her love for The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS and every piece of weird history she knows. You can find her tweeting @legenette most days.

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15 Great Travel Card Games: Best Card Games For Families

Whether you’re gearing up for a big family trip, or planning a weekend getaway, having entertainment options (such as travel card games) for your kids is key. If your family is like ours, you’re probably on the lookout for the best card games for families to help encourage family bonding on your trip.

As a traveling digital nomad family , being mindful of the types of travel card games we bring along is important. We prioritize games that are small. That way, they can fit into our bags without taking up too much space. And we also like to choose games that are playable for all members of our family.

We’ve played some fun games as a family over the years. So I thought I’d take some time to share with you our picks for the best card games for families. These are perfect for occupying time during the down moments of your trip.

This post was originally published on June 21, 2020.

This post may contain affiliate links. That means I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase something. But don't worry, this will not result in any extra costs to you.

Table of Contents

Top picks for best card games for families

Want some help in picking travel card games for your family? Here are my top 5 picks for the best card games for families who travel:

• Stack The Scoops
• Unstable Unicorns
• Exploding Kittens

Travel tips for families, plus my favorite travel card games

We love bringing along travel card games on our trips to play in our hotel room, Airbnb, or house sitting stay. We travel with only a few card games at a time. But if you have more space (for example, you’re doing a road trip) you can always bring more games.

For our family, we like taking the travel card games out of their boxes and putting them into Stashers. This helps us save valuable space and weight. Then we put the Stashers in Cotopaxi packing cubes, to keep them all in one place. Packing cubes for family travel are an easy way to transport games.

In this post, I wanted to offer you an all ages mix of the best card games for families. These games also make great travel gifts for kids and families! I’ve included a short description, recommended ages, and the average time it takes our family to play the travel game.

Ready for a change? Take the first step to living a life of full time travel.

1. Stack The Scoops, our pick for best travel card games

My first pick and all time favorite choice for best card games for families is Stack The Scoops. This game is a set collection card game where players build sets of ice cream treats to score points. Sets are created by matching a base, an ice cream scoop, and a topping card within the same color. You can double or triple your points for a set by playing special Double Scoop or Triple Scoop cards.

We created Stack The Scoops as a family in 2020. Our then 9-year-old daughter came up with the concept, and my husband filled in the gaps of the game rules. Since then, we’ve sold over 3,000 copies to families in the United States and around the world through our game company, ViBuGo .

Cute design that’s fun for kids to play

One of the things we love about Stack The Scoops is it’s fun for our kids to play. The ice cream theme makes the game interesting for the kids. And the quick game play is competitive without being too cut-throat.

We also love the game illustrations. My husband spent six years in corporate design, so that experience came in handy for our game. The cards have the right feel of fun and whimsy.

Award-winning educational game

As you might guess, we like travel card games that help our kids build skills. Stack The Scoops helps reinforce addition and multiplication skills for early math learners. And even for older kids, there are some strategic elements to the game as well.

Since launching Stack The Scoops, we’ve received several awards, including awards from Mom’s Choice Award and Creative Child. Additionally, Stack The Scoops was included in a few gift guides from Toy Insider , and we’ve also been interviewed by the media !

Easy to take for travel

We’ve had amazing feedback from families who play Stack The Scoops. Because it’s small and compact, it’s easy to take along on trips. This game is our top choice for travel card games for families.

Many families have personally told us that it’s one of the best card games for families with young kids!

Recommended for ages 5+

Game play: 15-45 minutes

Another choice for travel card games that we love is Set. We traveled with this game for a couple of years during our big trip. Set helps kids reinforce matching skills, and problem-solving skills.

It’s easy to adjust the game play for younger kids by playing with a smaller set of cards. Plus, we like that Set doesn’t have words on it, so it’s great for kids who can’t read yet. Set is a great choice for travel card games with cards that only have illustrations.

Recommended for ages 6+

Game play: 20 minutes

3. Rainbow Bunny Bop

If you’re traveling with really young kids, you’ll want travel card games that aren’t too complicated. An easy game to play is Rainbow Bunny Bop. It’s a speed game based on rainbows and bunnies! Players compete to be the first to run out of cards by putting them in rainbow order in the central playing area. 

We know the creator of Rainbow Bunny Bop and think it’s another choice for the best card games for families with really young kids. It helps them learn their colors and also practice hand-eye coordination. 

Game play: 10 minutes

Learn more about the amazing family travel resources we use for worldschooling!

4. Hasty Baker

Another choice for travel card games we enjoy is Hasty Baker. In this game, players compete to complete baking recipes using the cards in their hands. The first player to complete a certain number of recipes wins.

This baking-themed game helps kids learn strategy. But it’s also cute and fun to play. We are friends with the creator, and he’s a travel-loving parent like my husband and me! Hasty Baker is definitely another one of our top choices for best card games for families.

Recommended for ages 7+

Game play: 30 minutes

If you’re looking for a classic game to add to your selection of travel card games, then UNO is your pick. The rules for UNO are so simple that even young children can learn it. You essentially have to match either the color or the number of the card in the central play pile. Wild cards can help make matching cards easier.

We enjoy UNO because it helps our kids with simple math concepts like color and number matching. But there is also some strategy involved.

6. UNO Flip!

One game we started playing during our travels was UNO Flip! It’s played just like regular UNO, but there’s also a second side that can be played as well. 

We discovered UNO Flip! at a boardgame café in Vietnam , and we just love playing it as a family. Like classic UNO, it’s easy to learn. And since it’s only cards, they’re easy to pack in your bag. They’re the perfect choice for travel card games!

7. Mille Bornes

For a more unique choice for travel card games, consider playing Mille Bornes. It’s an old card game that our family has been playing for years. Mille Bornes is a race car themed game that has players collect miles and avoid obstacles like flat tires, speed limits, and accidents. 

This game is mainly chance-based, but there is some strategy involved too, like many of the other travel games on our list. This one takes a long time to play, so kids with short attention spans may have some difficulty playing. However, I think it’s one of the best card games for families because not only is it fun to play, but it fits perfectly with the type of travel we love to do: road trips!

8. Exploding Kittens

If you’re a family that’s looking for some silly travel card games, then you’re going to enjoy Exploding Kittens. We love playing this fun card game as a family because of the game’s creative graphics. Exploding Kittens is designed by one of our favorite cartoon artists, The Oatmeal.

In Exploding Kittens, players compete to be the last person standing by avoiding drawing the exploding kitten card from the top card of the draw pile. It’s essentially a game of chance. But there are some silly cards in there that let you take actions against other players. This is a fun quick-play option for the best card games for families.

Game play: 15 minutes

9. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

For a game that’s a little more action-oriented, then add Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza to your list of travel card games. This game really tests your coordination skills! And it can get pretty rowdy, so be sure to play this in a place where people won’t mind you getting loud. 

We were reluctant to try Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza at first, because there didn’t seem to be a lot of strategy involved in the game. But once we played, we could see why many families think this is one of the best card games for families. It’s just so silly, and gets us laughing every time!

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10. Sushi Go!

One of our family’s favorite travel card games is Sushi Go! This matching card game has players build sets of sushi and nigiri to earn points. Besides the math component, there is also a strategy component too. Some cards will make you lose points if you have the least amount of them at the end of the game! 

Recommended for ages 8+

Learn how to travel and learn with your kids with my worldschooling posts.

11. Dutch Blitz

If you’re a fan of speed games, consider adding Dutch Blitz to your collection of travel card games. This game helps kids with matching, counting, and hand-eye coordination. And it’s a quick game, so it’s a great option to pass the time while you’re waiting for food at a restaurant, or waiting at an airport gate.

This is a fun game to play to help build up your quick thinking and reflex skills. However, if you or your kid tend to get frustrated in stressful situations, you might not want to play this game. Or you can play cooperatively rather than competitively (our house rules).

12. The Mind

We first played The Mind at a gameschooling conference called GameSchoolCon (yes, there’s a convention for homeschoolers who like to game!). It’s an easy to learn cooperative game that encourages nonverbal communication and intuition. We like playing this as a family because it helps us get on the same wavelength.

The Mind is a great choice for travel card games if you’re looking for something you can play quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of space, and is fairly quiet to play.

13. Not Parent Approved

If you're looking for a kid-friendly party game for a big family trip, then consider bringing Not Parent Approved as one of your travel card games. This game is similar to Cards Against Humanity, but much more family friendly (and without the inappropriate humor). 

Basically, one player selects a blue question card, and they must choose a red answer card out of the cards provided by the other players that best fits the question. The answers are silly, and oftentimes nonsensical. So you need to provide an answer that you think is most applicable to the question, and hope the player who’s it chooses your card.

14. Unstable Unicorns

Who doesn’t love unicorns? Unstable Unicorns is one of our favorite travel card games to bring along when we travel. We love the fun graphics. And the game play is long enough that it makes for a satisfying experience (sometimes those short games just end too soon!). 

Unstable Unicorns is a great strategy game for helping kids learn skills for planning ahead. Your kids will need to be able to read, because many of the cards have their own special instructions. However, I think it’s an excellent starter game for introducing kids to more complex travel board games. It truly is one of the best card games for families.

Game play: 30-60 minutes

15. Village Green

We love games about traveling the world. If you’re a big fan of all things Britain, make sure you add Village Green to your list of travel card games. In this game, players compete to collect the most points for the gardens they create using their cards. Points can be earned from the flowers, trees, ponds, grass, or gazebos they have in their gardens. Playing this game really brought me back to walking through English gardens in the West Midlands with kids , or visiting one of the villages in the Cotswolds.

I recently played Village Green with my friends Vanessa from Wanderlust Crew and Marcie from Marcie in Mommyland , and we had a blast playing together. Village Green is a fairly quiet and gentle game. But it really encourages you to use your strategy skills to plot out the best cards to play that will earn you the most points.

Recommended for ages 14+

Travel card games to play with a deck of cards

Of course, no set of travel card games would be complete without an old-fashioned deck of cards. We bring along a deck of cards to play simple games with the kids. We also use the deck of cards for math drills by having the kids add up or multiply pairs of number cards. 

One of the best card games for families we like to play with our kids is Go Fish . There are dozens of games you can play with a deck of cards. Here are a few to get you started. Some of these games are also great choices for travel card games for 2:

• Crazy Eights

If you’re looking for ideas for games you can play with a deck of cards, Card Games 101 For Travelers is a good book to take along on your trips. It comes with two decks of cards.

Why we love taking along travel card games

It’s easy to rely on electronics to keep our kids occupied during travel. I’m not afraid to admit that my kids get A LOT of electronics time when we’re on the road. But sometimes it’s nice to have a non-electronics option when it comes to entertainment and games.

Whether we're visiting New York City , Bali , or Paris , we like having down time at the end of the day. And especially when we want to do some family bonding activities , making a game night is easy when you carry along a few fun travel card games.

Another reason why we enjoy bringing some of the best card games for families on our trips is that they are a useful tool for homeschool activities. Many of our games help our kids build skills like math, problem solving, and strategy. And some of them also help build competition and cooperation skills. When you’re a slow traveling worldschooling family like us, you find creative ways to help your kids learn!

Read more ideas for homeschool activities families can do anywhere.

What to look for in travel card games

When you’re choosing your family’s travel card games, keep in mind that you want ones that are easy to pack. Our family prefers games that are just decks of cards, rather than a travel board game that has multiple components. Card games travel better than board games, in my opinion.

Another thing to look for in card games is the educational value of the game. As I mentioned before, we use card games as part of our worldschooling lessons. This means we prefer games that have a learning component. However, it doesn’t have to be blatantly educational. Some of the best card games for families are ones that teach you skills like math, problem solving, or strategy, but aren't actually about those topics at all! 

Finally, a card game for traveling families should be fun for the whole family to play. Choose games that are age-appropriate for your kids. But also, don’t shy away from a game because you think that it might be too advanced for your child. You can always modify the rules to simplify it for younger players.

Get prepared for any emergency with the insurance made for digital nomads!

Making travel card games a must-have in your travel bag

No matter what game (or games) you choose for your family, it helps to have travel card games as part of your travel must-haves. Family vacations are often full of down time. And in those down moments, it’s good to have a couple of games to pull out to entertain the kids.

The best card games for families are ones that help them spend time with each other and bond. And they can also help with building skills like strategy, problem solving, sportsmanship, and math. While all the games I feature in this post are targeted for families, they also make fun travel card games for adults too.

What are your picks for the best travel card games to play with your family? Send me a message and let me know. And don’t forget to buy a copy of our game, Stack The Scoops , too!

Are you longing for a big trip with your family? Use my ebook, Hey Kids, Let's Go Travel! for family travel advice on planning and prepping for a family gap year.

Need help thinking through how to budget for a family trip? My  Travel Budget Worksheet  is just the tool you need! Click  here  to receive your free copy by signing up for my newsletter.

Want to connect with me on social media? Find me on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , and Twitter. And for those of you who are dedicated to traveling more responsibly, sustainably, and ethically, join over 200 like-minded families on my Facebook group, Responsible Family Travel .

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Going on a road trip? These games will help you pass the time 

From classics like Scrabble and Uno to newer hits that prioritize conversation and connection, these games will appeal to everyone in the car.

No matter where you’re going on a road trip, travel games can be a great way to pass long hours in the car and create lasting memories.  

( Looking for ideas on where to go? Here are 25 essential drives for a U.S. road trip. )  

The best travel games should be small and light enough to pack with you. They should appeal to a wide range of ages and interests. And of course, they should provide hours of entertainment.

With that in mind, the classic card game Uno is our top choice for best overall travel game. It’s compact, fun for everyone, and easy to pack and pull out when the mood strikes.  

But it’s not the only one. We considered portable games in several categories too. From classic board games to Ping-Pong inspired matches, here are the best travel games to take on your next road trip.

The best travel games by category

We break down the best travel games based on different categories like board games, card games, and more.  

The best travel board games

Purple cow magnetic backgammon  .

One of the best travel board games is backgammon, considered the national game in many countries across the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This portable version of the classic board game is magnetized so the pieces don’t slide around. Simply open the case, roll the dice, and play. The board may be smaller, but the strategy remains the same.  

Keep in mind:   The magnets on the pieces aren’t the strongest but do a good enough job of staying mostly in place.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 |   Size: 6 x 3 inches  

Portable Puck Shot

Sturdy wooden pucks and a Baltic birch wood case make this portable hockey board game ideal for car trips, camping, or spending a cozy evening in a cabin. You don’t have to be a hockey lover to enjoy this fast-paced game either. It involves a simple sling that fires wooden pucks across the board at your opponent’s goal.  

Keep in mind:   The Portable Puck Shot game is a bit large and heavy, making it more suitable for a road trip than for carrying onto a plane.  

Product details:   Number of players: 2 | Ages: 6 and up | Minutes to play a round: 5 | Size: 17 x 10.25 inches  

Scrabble to Go

Buy it now on   Amazon

It’s not hard to see why Scrabble is one of the most popular board games around. It appeals to players across generations, stimulates the brain, and can spark fun debates. This miniature version comes with snap-in tiles that make it easy to play on bumpy car rides or pick up later, after a break.  

Keep in mind:   The tiles on this mini version are small, which may take some getting used to for some players.

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 4 | Ages: 8 and up | Minutes to play a round: 25 | Size: 10.63 x 2.50 x 10.63 inches

Best travel card games  

Song survivor.

This travel card game is a great way to kick off singalongs in the car or hotels after a long day of travel. Developed by Black-owned small business Doin’ The Most, the game involves drawing cards with one word, prompting each player to sing a song containing that word. If a player messes up the lyrics or can’t think of a song in time, they’re out. This card game is designed for players (and crooners) 13 and up, with easy and hard modes to help make the game as challenging as you want.  

Keep in mind:   Not everyone is into singing outside of the shower, so consider your audience of fellow players before bringing this one along.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages: 16 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: travel size  

52 Essential Conversations

The premise behind this intriguing travel card game springs from the idea that the art of engaging conversation never goes out of style. It’s a “social-emotional” learning game designed to get players thinking and talking about topics that can help people—including kids—open up, improve social skills, and spark creativity. The cards come in a small tin box, making them easy to keep organized and bring anywhere.  

Keep in mind: Although this travel card game is designed for players 5 and up, some questions lean more adult. If you’re playing with a multigenerational group, you can skip the questions better suited to adults or take them out of the deck before you play.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size:   3 x 2 x 1 inches

This popular family card game is equally fun to play while traveling. You can go head to head with just one other person or as many as 10. The objective is to be the first person to get rid of all your cards. But achieving that goal depends on the luck of the draw. Just don’t forget to shout “Uno!” when you’re down to your last card. We love that this version comes in a sturdy tin for safekeeping.

Keep in mind:   This version of Uno incorporates graphic symbols on the cards so players with colorblindness can play too.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 10 |   Ages: 7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: 3 x 2 x 5 inches

Exploding Kittens

Easy to learn and loads of fun, Exploding Kittens is a cheeky card game loosely based on Russian roulette. Players draw cards, but use strategy (plus special “immunity” cards) to avoid drawing an “exploding kitten” card. With its compact size and lack of any additional game pieces, this card game is a hilarious way to pass the time while traveling.

Keep in mind: This card game is available in English, but other languages (German, Spanish, Italian, and French) are in the works.  

Product details:   Number of players:   2 to 10 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: ‎4.41 x 6.38 x 1.5 inches  

Best travel games for adults

Pepper pong.

This portable spin on Ping-Pong and pickleball is one of the best travel games for adults. About the size of a shoebox, the game sets up virtually anywhere in a matter of seconds. Place the foldable net (called a Fence) on a picnic table at the park or any other relatively flat surface, and you’re good to go. The game’s three ball sizes (called Peppers) give you options for how aggressively you want to play. You can also feel good about purchasing this portable travel game—the makers say they donate a set to a recovery center or addiction-focused homeless center with each set they sell.  

Keep in mind:   There’s no official age minimum for this game. If you can swing the racket you can play. You’ll need a flat surface to set up.

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 4 | Ages: 3 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: 12 x 7 x 4 inches

The Hygge Game

Buy it now at   Uncommon Goods

Hygge is the Danish word for coziness and the basis for this 300-question portable travel game. The questions are designed to foster meaningful conversations among friends and family members. Play it during long car rides, in a candlelit, hygge-inspired restaurant, or anyplace where you want to spark fun and thoughtful connections.  

Keep in mind: Some of the questions go pretty deep and might surprise people who prefer more superficial lines of interrogation.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages:   14 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 |   Size:   5.70 x 5.70 x 1.80 inches

Parents Are Human

Like the Hygge Game, Parents Are Human is a card game that fosters understanding and connections. This specific deck (others are designed for friends, romantic partners, and siblings) focuses on immigrant families, making it a great game for family road trips. Each set includes 50 question cards and 20 action cards in English on one side and another language on the other ( Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, and Thai).

Keep in mind:   Some reviewers say you can’t play this card game many times with the same people.  

Product details:   Number of players: 2 and up | Ages:   13 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size: ‎3.81 x 2.81 x 1.44 inches

Where Should We Begin

This traveling card game stems from relationship therapist and author Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin podcast and is ideally suited for adults. Cards with topics like “A dream I’ve never shared” and “One of the things that is keeping me up at night” help travel companions learn more about each other in an approachable way.

Keep in mind: Many reviewers prefer not to use the dice and pull randomly from the deck of cards instead.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 6 players | Ages: 18 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size:   9.4 x 4.9 x 2.6 inches  

Best travel games for kids

Nex playground.

This compact game console works as a portable travel game that the whole family can play while on the road. The colorful cube uses motion sensors (with controllers or wearable gear) for family-friendly competition. Just plug Nex Playground into a TV and tap the library of more than 20 games and experiences ranging from dance-offs to sports competitions and activities like jumping in puddles with favorite cartoon characters.  

Keep in mind: You’ll need floor space of about 8 feet by 8 feet to play, since the game requires moving around. If you’re in a small hotel room or other tight space, that can be challenging.  

Product details:   Number of players: Up to 4 | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round:   5 | Size: 2.83 x 2.83 x 2.83 inches

Kanoodle Ultimate Champion

Popular on TikTok, this puzzle game can easily pack up and go with you on your next road trip. It comes with over 500 puzzles and a timer, challenging family members to use problem solving and spatial reasoning skills to beat the clock in time.  

Keep in mind:   This game requires two AAA batteries to operate.  

Product details: Number of players:   1 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 to 30 | Size: ‎5.75 x 2 inches  

Play Monster Take ’N Play Bingo

Kids can spend hours playing this traveling bingo game. The animal-based bingo cards are built into a metal case that closes for easy storage and transport. Two players take turns spinning the spinner and placing magnetic markers on the matching animals.

Keep in mind:   The magnet is built into one side of the marker pieces, so they’re not the strongest at staying put on the board. However, this game is hard to beat for an affordable and fun option.

Product details: Number of players:   2 | Ages:   4 and up | Minutes to play a round: 5 | Size:   1 x 6.50 x 6.50 inches

Pass the Pigs

Families will get a kick out of this adorable dice game that involves rolling a pair of pig-shaped pieces to score points. The first player to score 100 points wins. It’s also a great game to play anywhere while traveling, since it only requires a flat surface to play, plus the pigs, scoring pads, and pencils fit in a small plastic storage case that easily tucks into a backpack.  

Keep in mind: Small parts could pose a choking hazard for younger kids.  

Product details: Number of players:   2 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size:   1.63 x 4.25 x 9.25 inches

Our review process  

The best portable travel games are compact and light enough to take on a road trip or flight, can be contained in a case, and are still fun after multiple rounds of play.

Size:   Travel games shouldn’t be large and heavy. They should be small and light enough to fit easily into suitcases and carry-ons.

Multiplayer: Games for two or more players are best, since the whole point of travel games is to keep everyone entertained.  

Fun-factor: Travel games can help stave off boredom between activities, while you’re in transit, or during travel delays. So make sure you choose games that appeal across ages, interests, and have enough variety for the long haul.  

Tips for buying travel games

Size of the game

When it comes to the best travel games, size matters, whether you travel with just a carry-on suitcase or don’t want to bulk out your checked baggage. Look for games that are contained in a case small enough to fit into a backpack. On road trips, you can get away with larger games, especially if you’re driving your own vehicle.  

Game ratings and popularity

A game’s ratings and popularity can give you a good idea for whether or not it will work for your needs. A sure-fire tip is to look for reviews by customers with similar travel styles and companions as your own.  

Players’ ages

It goes without saying, but you’ll maximize fun by packing travel games that are appropriate for everyone in your group. Consider bringing a couple of games–one for spending time with the kids and another for adults.  

Time it takes to play a round

When shopping for the best travel games, keep in mind that some people can take longer to finish a game than others. Consider your travel companions’ attention spans and choose accordingly.  

Frequently asked questions

Are there travel-sized board games?

Yes, many classic and unique board games come in travel sizes. Some even have travel-friendly modifications, such as magnets to prevent pieces from sliding off the board and carrying cases that keep everything contained.  

How do you know if a game is good for traveling?

Some games are better suited to travel than others. Card games with a carrying case and board games that don’t have too many loose parts (or are magnetized) tend to be good options for the road. Consider the size and weight of the travel game’s carrying case too. Make sure there’s enough room among everything else you’re packing for your trip.  

What are the best travel games for an airplane?

Since space is limited on an airplane, look for games that don’t take up more room than a typical airplane tray table. You’ll also want travel games that can handle turbulence and that you can quickly and easily pick up, in case you need to get out of your seat for a neighbor.  

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• PRODUCT ROUNDUP
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49 best travel games for adults recommended by travellers (updated 2023)

If you have ever spent a night in a hostel you have inevitably been invited for a game of asshole. Or president. Or bullshit. What am I talking about? Travel games of course! You can find them in all different names and shapes: some are played with cards, some with dice, and some just by exchanging words. Oh and don’t forget the drinking games! I’ve decided to bundle these travel games for adults into one article.

My friends Joost and Samuel enjoying a travel game called Bananagrams

Most of these games are fairly easy to explain to anyone, which is, of course, an important criterion for the international crowds you usually find around hostels. It’s not even just hostels where these backpacker games are played either: in night trains, long-distance buses, forest huts, Couchsurfing, or Airbnb accommodations, anywhere with a bit of flat surface (for the card games, dice games, and board games) and a group of fun-loving people. It’s the ultimate icebreaker and you’ll soon end up chatting away post-game with your newly-made friends.

There are countless games with countless names, some are even known by different names in different parts of the world. I’ve committed to creating an ever-expanding list of these road trip games, so feel free to leave a comment with your favorite game that I haven’t mentioned yet.

49 TRAVEL GAMES FOR ADULTS

Board games for adults, 1. bananagrams, 2. thirty seconds, 3. the settlers of catan, 4. guesstures, card games for adults, 6. ligretto, 7. bullshit / cheat / i doubt it / bluff / bs / liar, 8. the great dalmuti, 9. cribbage.

10. Chinese poker

11. Solitaire / Patience

13. skip bo, 15. egyptian rat screw, 17. cards against humanity, 18. shithead / palace / karma / china hand / ten-two slide, 19. go fish, 20. exploding kittens, 21. koehandel / cow trade / horse trade, 22. crazy eights, 24. top trumps, 28. travelin’, 29. codenames duet, dice games for adults.

30. Liar’s Dice

31. Rory’s Story Cubes

32. Yahtzee

33. regenwormen / pickomino, road trip games for adults.

34. Guess the song

36. Truth or Dare

37. the guessing capital game, 38. never pass a sample, 39. pizza ftw, 40. zitchdog, drinking games for adults, 42. monkey monkey, 44. king’s cup.

47. Assholes / President / Scumbag

48. Mayer / Mia / Meier

50. Add your game

Bananagrams – the board game

How can you win Bananagrams?

To be played with wine for best results. The trick is speed, you need to be really quick about forming words. Also, it helps if you can avoid the letters Q, Z, J and X.

What makes Bananagrams fun?

It’s portable, easy to learn, and play is fast. Once the game is over you can argue about whether the words put down by other players are real words. It’s even more fun if you don’t happen to be carrying a dictionary.

What is your best memory playing Bananagrams on your travels?

Slipping an invented word past my fellow players – they were all American and I managed to convince them that it was a very conventional word in British English.

30 Seconds board game

How can you win Thirty Seconds?

You can win 30 Seconds by getting as many answers as possible right in 30 seconds. One player must guess a word based on their teammate’s explanation. The main thing here is that the explanation may not contain the actual word or part of the word.

Of course, you can buy the game, but it’s more fun to make one yourself! For example (when there are 4 players – 2 teams): every player writes ten names of – for example – celebrities down on 10 pieces of paper. Then you collect all the pieces of paper in a bowl. Each round the team draws a card and then has 30 seconds to describe the name on the paper as quickly as they can. When the bowl is empty, the team that has the most pieces of paper wins the game.

What makes Thirty Seconds fun?

It’s really funny because sometimes it’s really hard to explain a name and your teammates’ guesses do not make any sense.

What is your best memory playing Thirty Seconds on your travels?

We played this game over and over with two of my friends. In the end we got a bit obsessed and we became really good at in, so now nobody else wants to play it with us any more… Haha!

Settlers of Catan board game

How can you win The Settlers of Catan?

You win when you gain 10 points (13 in the extended version), which you get by building villages, towns, streets, or draw some of the magic cards in the pack.

What makes The Settlers of Catan fun?

Each time is different. It’s not a fixed board like e.g. the game ‘Risk’ uses. The board is made up of a number of tiles which you put together randomly for each game. Contrary to e.g. Risk, where after so many games you kind of know what you need to win, or what the favorable is, Catan is entirely different in each setup.

What is your best memory playing The Settlers of Catan on your travels?

Beach Agonda, India, with Dutch friends. One of them wasn’t particularly good at losing, and when his wife was about to beat him he’d suggest to smoke a joint. As soon as she did this, she lost all concentration and lost. It was very funny to watch.

Guesstures board game

How can you win Guesstures?

You win by simplifying the words to basic body movements. Anything too complicated can always trip up your guessers.

What makes Guesstures fun?

We love how ridiculous you look when playing the game. At the same time, anyone can play and it’s easy to learn.

What is your best memory playing Guesstures on your travels?

Whenever we go to a cabin with a group of friends, it’s always fun to bust it out!

Fun card games for adults

The Dobble travel card game

How can you win Dobble?

There are endless variations to this game, but in the most common one, you will have to get as many cards as possible by matching a symbol from your card to a symbol on the top card in the central pile. The player with the most cards at the end wins.

What makes Dobble fun?

It’s a nerve wrecking game because you’re playing against others to find the matching symbol. There is  always  a matching symbol but sometimes you are looking back and forth frantically between your card and the one in the middle just and it just seems like nothing matches… Then someone else finds one and it’s back to square one. You have to shout the symbol that matches which often leads to hilarious descriptions like “white condom ghost thing”.

What is your best memory playing Dobble on your travels?

I love that it comes in such a small package but has endless possibilities. There are different game modes, e.g. where you have to match other players’ symbols, where you want to get rid of all your cards, or exactly the opposite. It’ll keep you busy for hours… As long as you don’t get a heart attack that is 😉

Cards for playing Ligretto

How can you win Ligretto?

The aim of this travel game is to get rid of all your cards faster than all the other players by discarding them in the middle of the table.

What makes Ligretto fun?

It’s FAST! You’ll have to put cards down like a maniac and your strategy can change every second. It’s nice and compact, you only need a single deck of cards, and you don’t need much space to lay the cards out either. The rules are simple and it never gets old.

What is your best memory playing Ligretto on your travels?

A fun Couchsurfer living in Dol, a quiet village on the Hvar island in Croatia, introduced me and my girlfriend to this game. It was her favorite game and she showed us why (by beating us over and over). We played it for hours and hours and the relentless chant of victory, “Ligretto!”, still echoes in my ears.

How can you win Bullshit?

The object of the game is actually pretty simple – get rid of all your cards. However, in order to do that, you have to do a bit of bluffing – if someone calls your bluff (calls ‘bullshit’), you have to pick up all the cards lying on the table!

What makes Bullshit fun?

The risk! If you want to win, you inevitably have to do a little lying. The fun part is trying to con your friends, which when considering that this game is usually played whilst drinking, you become increasingly less good at!

What is your best memory playing Bullshit on your travels?

During our two year Latin American adventure, we played this game a lot. But one of the best memories has to be playing it on a cargo ship heading to the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. The boat was around a day late, litres of rum were drank and bullshit helped pass the hours.

The great Dalmuti card game

How can you win The Great Dalmuti?

You can win the Great Dalmuti by playing all your cards. Whoever finishes first becomes the Great Dalmuti, the next one the lesser Dalmuti. When you finish last you become the (lesser or big) slave. What makes it fun is that the roles change and the Dalmuties receive tax from the slaves. Also, everyone respects the Dalmuti (who, of course, sits on the best chair) and orders the slaves around (who not uncommonly don’t even get a chair to sit in).

What makes The Great Dalmuti fun?

So it becomes very competitive as people want to become the Dalmuti and punish the previous Dalmuti for his Behaviour.

What is your best memory playing The Great Dalmuti on your travels?

A vivid memory that comes to mind is when I used to play it in Thailand with my fiancé and parents-in-law on the front porch of our bungalow.

Cribbage card game

How can you win Cribbage?

It’s complicated… You need to be able to count cards and add. Because the game is “first to 121 points” you also need to play strategically.

What makes Cribbage fun?

There are loads of ways to score points, both in the play and in the hand, so you need to focus. If you leave points unclaimed your opponent can call “muggins” and claim your points.

What is your best memory playing Cribbage on your travels?

This is quite a complicated game to learn and it was my father who taught me to play on sailing trips as a kid. My best memory is sitting on deck with him playing and calling “muggins” when he’d missed something (possibly on purpose, who knows!)

10. Chinese Poker

How can you win chinese poker.

Get rid of all your cards.

What makes Chinese Poker fun?

It’s a combination of Yahtzee and Poker; what’s not to like? You can create a strategy before the game starts but you might have to rethink it when the game’s not going your way. Decisions, decisions!

What is your best memory playing Chinese Poker on your travels?

I saw a few Chinese people play the game in the “cattle-class” of a sleeper train; they were really passionate about it and it was a lot of fun to watch their strategies as they went along. Where better to learn Chinese poker that from actual Chinese people 🙂

How can you win Solitaire?

Since you’re typically playing this game alone, you’re always a winner! Actually, that is not true, you can still get stuck in the game and be forced to take a loss. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? You win by stacking all the cards on the table onto each other in four equal piles, in order from low to high and sorted by suit.

What makes Solitaire fun?

It can cure boredom if you’re traveling alone. It can even be a pretty fun game as you’ll have to be creative sometimes to free yourself from a seemingly impossible-to-finish situation. More often, however, it’s a last resort when you’re stuck inside an airport on a 7-hour layover with no plugs to charge your drained electronic devices.

What is your best memory playing Solitaire on your travels?

Since I’ve played this game quite a few times on my solo travels, every time you finish a game there is this little sparkle of joy inside your brain, and you mentally picture all the cards bouncing around and fireworks being set off like in the Windows version. Or at least I did.

How can you win Toepen?

This Dutch game is all about battles. You can win a battle, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won the game (similarly to war.. or a couple getting divorced). The first to 15 points (or 25, if you want to play for longer) loses, making the other players the winners (but really, it’s the person with the least “penalty-points” that is the happiest).

What makes Toepen fun?

The game involves some simple but entertaining mind-games. “Why the hell did he/she toep?” is a common question that gets raised often during the game. Does the player have great cards and is therefore confident that they are going to win, or are they simply bluffing? This is easily our favorite go-to game on the road.

What is your best memory playing Toepen on your travels?

We’ve played this game about a hundred times on every (long-distance) bicycle that we did together. It’s an easy game to explain to others and gets strategic when you’re playing with people that have played it before. A memory that comes to mind: Steven was with Joost in Denmark where they were playing Toepen with a Danish girl (she called it “Poopen”). She Toeped (“Pooped”) at the most random moments, leaving Steven and Joost completely clueless of her strategy.

Skip bo card game

How can you win Skip Bo?

The classic way: you need to be the first to get rid of your cards.

What makes Skip Bo fun?

It is easy to learn, and while it’s a strategic game it’s still possible to win when you’ve just learned the rules.

What is your best memory playing Skip Bo on your travels?

I have so many memories playing this with Couchsurfers at home, but my best memory while travelling would be on a train in China where we shared a sleeper with an Argentinian couple. We played into the small hours of the morning, learning about each other and our journeys.

Fluxx card game

How can you win Fluxx?

Let’s start with the rules of Fluxx: there are no rules. Yup. Every time you put a card down the rules change, which also sometimes means you’ll have to your flip your strategy 180 degrees. You have to collect cards and you’ve won when you have accomplished the objectives that are on the table at that moment before someone else changes them.

What makes Fluxx fun?

It’s a very random game, so if you like your games structured then you might want to try another one. That said, it’s that actual chaotic element of the game that makes it fun. You’re constantly checking if you can annoy or block your opponents with the current rulesets, and sometimes it’s even possible that someone has won without him/her knowing!

What is your best memory playing Fluxx on your travels?

I haven’t played this game on any travels yet, but I would love to hear from someone that has! Leave a comment .

Egyptian rat screw card game

How can you win Egyptian Rat Screw?

The object of the game is to be the person with all the cards at the end of the game. This means the game can take a very long time.

What makes Egyptian Rat Screw fun?

Once you and other players learn how to play the game moves very fast from player to player. The intensity heightens with the speed of the game. The most fun part about this game is when you get two cards that are the same flipped one on top of the other. The first person to slap those cards wins the deck. This also means that people who are “out” of cards can slap their way back in.

What is your best memory playing Egyptian Rat Screw on your travels?

I learned this game in a summer camp when I was very young. When I studied abroad in Australia I taught all my new friends how to play it. We would spend hours just passing the time away with this game. No drinks involved!

How can you win Rummy?

Individual games are won by the first person who “goes out” or discards every card in their hand. Along the way, they rack up points by putting down three of a kind and straights of the same suit. Your points get tallied up per game and in our case, a full game runs to 500 points and can last 1-2 hours.

What makes Rummy fun?

Rummy is fun because it’s so basic and it’s almost akin to baseball; a game to 500 is never over until the person reaches that point total. The game has so many intricacies and quirky rules that make it fun all by itself. Enter a couple of people who are married or just friends, and it can get crazier by the hand.

What is your best memory playing Rummy on your travels?

We’ve played everywhere when traveling, and I try my best to not swear out loud when losing badly. Unfortunately, I failed when riding a boat to Jeju Island in Korea and earned quite a few stares my way. That was a cue for me to go outside and get some fresh air.

Cards against humanity card game

How can you win Cards Against Humanity?

You need to make the other people vote for your answer to a ridiculous question.

What makes Cards Against Humanity fun?

It is all about reading other people and figuring out what kind of answer this person would like, some might like dirty jokes, other logical answers etc. Oh, and the game is free… you can download it from CardsAgainstHumanity.com (or you can buy it via the link below if you don’t want to print the cards yourself).

What is your best memory playing Cards Against Humanity on your travels?

I was introduced to it while Couchsurfing in Zürich and one girl got the question “How did I lose my virginity?”. My answer was “Through an AK47” which is what she choose and that kind of became the joke of the evening. The game gave us so many laughs and very fun atmosphere. Great way to get to know new people!

How can you win Shithead?

This game isn’t about being the winner, it’s about not being the loser aka the “shithead”. If you’re the last person in the game you will have the endearing title of shithead bestowed upon you until you can redeem yourself in the next game.

What makes Shithead fun?

At the end, there’s always an element of chance involved and it’s always fun to watch someone who thinks they’re about the win fall from grace. Also having an excuse to call strangers you’ve just met shitheads is never a bad thing.

What is your best memory playing Shithead on your travels?

Teaching the game to some travellers at a hostel in Bosnia and watching them spend the next few days engrossed in matches.

How can you win Go Fish?

You can win Go Fish by being the player that collected the most sets of 4 from the pack of cards (e.g. all the 3s, all the kings etc).

What makes Go Fish fun?

It isn’t a game that requires too much thought and isn’t difficult so long as you have a good memory. It is also great to see the look on your friend or relatives’ face when you steal the majority of a set from them which they were hoarding!

What is your best memory playing Go Fish on your travels?

My best memory of playing this game is when I used to play it as a teenager with a friend I made in the apartments in Fuerteventura. At the time I loved all things fish related and I had a novelty set of cards in the shape of fish. We used to play it whenever we had a moment before dinner after going to the beach or swimming in the pool.

Exploding kittens card game

How do you win Exploding Kittens?

You can win Exploding Kittens by becoming the only player who isn’t blown up by a Kitten. Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds. You basically just draw a card each turn hoping not to draw an exploding kitten card. If you do you are out of the game. Unless you can defuse the exploding kitten in which case the card goes back into the deck. All the other card you draw and can play are used to somehow avoid the exploding kittens.

What makes Exploding Kittens fun?

One of the reasons is the pure ridiculousness of the concept which is also the genius of the game. I mean, who doesn’t like kitten or explosions or laser pens. Next is that it is very easy to play and mostly luck based with just a very small hint of strategy. Its just easy and ridiculous which is what you want when playing games with people you’ve just met.

What is your best memory playing Exploding Kittens on your travels?

I personally haven’t played this while traveling yet as it has only been out for a few months (at time of writing) and I haven’t had the opportunity. But the fact that it is so easy, portable and fun should prove to be a winning combo in any setting.

Koehandel, a popular Dutch card game

How do you win Koehandel?

The Dutch game Koehandel has two phases, in phase one players take turns pulling an animal card from a pile and auctioning it off to the other players. Each player should try to get the animals for the lowest price possible. As the game progresses, more money is distributed among the players which means the animals get more expensive. The key to winning during this phase is to correctly adjust your theoretical pricing to the increasing money supply.

During phase two, players bid for each other’s animals in a blind auction. This means that both players put an undisclosed amount of money on the table and whoever bids highest will win the other player’s animal, while the money is also being exchanged. During this phase, the key to winning is to get inside the other player’s mind and correctly predict how much he or she will bid. Then you bid a little bit more so that you win the animal cheaply.

What makes Koehandel fun?

Koehandel is really fun because of the unpredictable nature of the game. In every action you take, you have to consider what your opponent will most likely do, based on what he or she thinks that you will do. There is a lot of game theory involved, which makes the game very dynamic and interesting, it never becomes dull even when you play it with the same people over and over again as players adjust their strategies based on observations from past games.

What is your best memory playing Koehandel on your travels?

A few years back I rented a house in Florianopolis, Brazil. I intentionally rented a house with a few spare rooms so that I could have friends over to visit. During my three month stay, I introduced this relatively unknown game to all my friends and they all loved it! They still talk about how much fun it was.

How do you win Crazy Eights?

You win a hand by being the player to get rid of all your cards. Any player left holding cards adds the sum of the cards to add their total. Although there are different variations on the rules, I usually play with the first player who gets to a total of 108 is the loser.

What makes Crazy Eights fun?

It’s fast-paced and frustrating at the same time. Plus it’s super easy to learn.

What is your best memory playing Crazy Eights on your travels?

Playing for hours on end with a Kiwi couple on the roof of a hostel in Istanbul. There had been a pretty major earthquake nearby so the city was basically shut down as many feared another quake in the days following. It was a great way to pass the time and bring some levity to a pretty serious situation.

How can you win Kemps?

You play in teams of 2 people, and the objective to get 4-of-a-kind (e.g. four 8’s or four Kings) amongst your team. Once you (think) your teammate has a 4-of-a-kind, you can yell “Kemps!”. If you indeed have a 4-of-a-kind, your team scores a point. Otherwise, you lose a point (but the game keeps going). You can even take it up a notch and get a double-kemp when both you and your teammate have a 4-of-a-kind. After winning x number of points, the game is won. There is an awesome move too: you can yell “counter Kemps!” when you think one of your opponents has 4-of-a-kind, and their teammate hasn’t called it yet.

What makes Kemps fun?

There aren’t that many cards games that are played in a team, which makes this one unique. The fun element also comes from the way you can signal your team member. You are allowed to talk during the game, which means you can signal to your teammate (who sits opposite of you) that you are saving a certain value of the card (e.g. Queens). Obviously, it is supposed to be a secret signal, as the others will easily figure it out and block your strategy.

What is your best memory playing Kemps on your travels?

I played this game at my home in Tokyo with my couchsurfer guests, amongst which was Victor. The others were from France (me), the USA and Israel. Soon we were coming up with ridiculous signals to let the other team member know what you were saving up. We would say “Do you have a red banana?”, which would stand for e.g. Jacks. Figuring out each other’s codes and even faking other people’s codes made the game very entertaining.

Top trumps Star Wars edition

How can you win Top Trumps?

Top Trumps is a really unique British game and a favorite with kids. Each pack of Top Trumps is based on a theme (animals, volcanoes, superheroes etc..) and each card in the pack contains five categories with numerical values, that you can use to ‘trump’ your opponent. The aim of the game and the way that you win is to get all your opponents’ cards (or the most number of cards in an allotted time).

What makes Top Trumps fun?

It’s a really fun game to play as a family and even young kids can enjoy it. There is also such a huge range of themes that you can upgrade to a new pack and game, which helps to keep things interesting. Depending on the ages of kids playing, it can be fast (or very slow!).

What is your best memory playing Top Trumps on your travels?

We play Top Trumps all the time with the kids. When we’re out to eat, waiting at an airport, at home… it really is a winner for families. One of my favourite memories is playing Harry Potter Top Trumps on an early morning ferry from Galiano Island to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

Uno, perhaps the most popular card game

How can you win Uno?

The winner of a single game of Uno is the first player to get rid of all of the cards in his/her hand. If you want to make the game more exciting, however, you can play over a longer period of time, creating an Uno tournament, adding up points as you go. Each card is worth a certain number of points, and to win you are aiming for as few points as possible. This is fun because it sees the gameplay change and become more tactical.

What makes Uno fun?

Uno is fun because there is always that chance of forgetting to announce you are on your last card and paying the price. It can be a tactical game and often when played in a group of friends you will find that a certain amount of ganging up and revenge play occurs. I also couldn’t believe just how many people we met, of differing nationalities that knew how to play Uno and loved it.

What is your best memory playing Uno on your travels?

My friend and I met up with a french lady who I worked with and her sister whilst doing a road trip of Western Australia. Our nightly entertainment consisted of huddling around our camping table, wrapped in blankets, supping goon (cask wine) from camping mugs, whilst watching the sunset and playing Uno furiously. They still don’t believe I won 8 games in a row without cheating. Sorry girls but there was definitely no cheating involved!

How can you win Euchre?

The game is played with two teams of two players. Players hold five cards each out of a deck that uses only cards 9 to A, and the team that calls the suit that will be trump must secure at least three tricks to score a point. If you get all five tricks you get two points, and if al players call for trump and decide to “go alone” his teammate sits out and the one player goes against the other two on the opposing team. If the lone players win all five tricks, the team gets four points. First team to 11 wins.

What makes Euchre fun?

It takes a bit of skill, luck and taking chances, but it easy to learn quickly. We love that you can play several complete games within a couple hours, while laughing, holding a conversation and enjoying a few beers.

What is your best memory playing Euchre on your travels?

My wife Colleen and I played on opposite teams against another couple on a trip in Las Vegas. My best friend Matt and I who have played Euchre since we were young adults repeated beat the ladies — maybe three games in a row — and had built up a 10-0 lead in the fourth game when they came back to win 11-10. This turn of events, all against the backdrop of our earlier taunts and a few too many beers, left the guys humbled and the women rejoicing. It was hilarious.

Dixit board game

How can you win Dixit?

The storyteller (a different player on every turn) picks out one of six cards and describes it (without showing the card) to the other players. The other players then pick a card that they think best describes it, and place it on the table. The point scoring here is unique: if everybody or nobody guesses the correct card, the storyteller gets no points. Therefore it is key to give just the right clues so that a few players get it right, but not all. The first to 30 points wins.

What makes Dixit fun?

The cards themselves are quite funny, and the more creative people get with associating your story with the cards the funnier the game becomes.

What is your best memory playing Dixit on your travels?

I haven’t played this game on the road yet. Have you? Let us know in the comments !

Travlin’ card game

How can you win Travelin’?

The game is about traveling to new countries, so obviously, each country you visit gives you more points. When one player reaches 5 countries, they receive a bonus of 5 points and the game immediately ends. Count the points and like pretty much every game in existence, the person with the most points wins.

What makes Travelin’ fun?

For me as the game designer, the best part of Travelin’ is seeing the interaction between players. Having someone be so close to winning only to be stopped with a Border Control card is always fun. Or chaining together a huge combo to go from 3 countries to 5 and stealing the victory from another player – yeah, that’s a pretty awesome feeling too.

What is your best memory playing Travelin’ on your travels?

Hands down, my best memory of playing Travelin’ (and I’ve played a lot) are the countless games at the Midland Hostel in Bucharest. Because everyone there (staff, long term guests, friends of the hostel) became so good at the game, the matches we play there often turn into knock-down, drag-out slugfests. The best game of Travelin’ I’ve ever played was exactly one of those games and while us long-time players were were busy attacking each other, a person playing for the very first time was able to sneakily come from behind and take a well-earned win from the pros.

Codenames duet card game

How can you win Codenames duet?

Codemasters duet is a cooperative game, meaning that you are playing against the game, rather than against each other. The aim is to guess each other’s codewords within a certain amount of turns (more turns for beginners, less for more advanced players).

What makes Codenames duet fun?

You’ll spend your time finding singular words that connect 2 or more (random) words in front of you while factoring in that the connection might not be as obvious for the person in front of you. It’s a game of psychology, and it could therefore go hilariously wrong. You can’t speak while playing this game, only to say a word and how many words it is connected to, so it can be really frustrating watching your fellow “agent” struggle and choose a word that reveals an assassin, which means you both lose.

What is your best memory playing Codenames duet on your travels?

The good thing about this game is that you can transport it in just a few small bags. I have yet to play this game on my travels, however, I know that it’s a great game that requires little setup and can entertain for a good chunk of time. At home, I play this mostly with my wife, where I try to get into her brain and try to figure out which of my weird references and connections she would understand.

30. Liar’s dice

How can you win liar’s dice.

I win by experience. I’ve probably played for ten years so I’ve seen it all. You win by being unpredictable. You can win new friends and new language skills with the game also. I know the basic numbers in French thanks to this dice game.

What makes Liar’s dice fun?

The simplicity makes it fun. The excitement and the fact that every round is unique. It’s never the same game twice. Playing with someone who has a degree in math is also fun because you see their brains running in high gear.

What is your best memory playing Liar’s dice on your travels?

Best moment is a tie between looking for a runaway die on the floor of a sauna in the Finnish wilderness, naked with a bunch of naked girls, and playing the game for a whole day in the car with my friend Eric, while he was driving us from Vancouver to Fairbanks.

Rory’s story cubes dice game

31. Rory’s Story Cubes

How can you win rory’s story cubes.

The most creative story wins! No hardcore rules here. A winner would probably be chosen from the group you play it with.

What makes Rory’s Story Cubes fun?

It’s the ultimate game to train your imagination. Because of the different packs (for example a travel pack), you can create unlimited storylines. It’s also really fun to give some dice to other people so that you can create a story together in turns.

What is your best memory playing Rory’s Story Cubes on your travels?

Not yet tested, the game is pretty new. First results were hilarious though! Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments .

Yahtzee, perhaps the most popular dice game

How can you win Yahtzee?

To be honest, luck plays a very important role in Yahtzee. But if you choose wisely after throwing your dices, you might have a better chance of winning. For example, I always wait before writing down my 1’s and 2’s. So if everything goes wrong and you don’t throw a full house or a four of a kind, you can always fill in your 1’s and 2’s and you don’t lose a lot of points.

What makes Yahtzee fun?

You can play it with 2 or more people. Winning depends mostly on luck and a bit on strategy, so everybody can join. It’s easy to pack so you can play it wherever you are; are you on a beach or in the middle of the jungle? Yahtzee is your game!

What is your best memory playing Yahtzee on your travels?

I played it a lot during my trip around the world, so it reminds me of traveling through Thailand but also backpacking through Australia and our roadtrip on the American west coast. From then on I have taken it with me every time I go away for a longer period.

Pickomino dice game

How can you win Regenwormen?

Simply put, you have to be lucky to win: this game is not about being the smartest or most strategic player. Really everyone can win, depending on how much you dare to gamble and how the dice will roll.

What makes Regenwormen fun?

The most fun part of the game is ‘stealing’ worms from other players to make it more difficult for them to win. You will see people from all over the world hesitate the first time they are able to steal the worms, but after that they will happily grab them from you with a big smile on their faces!

What is your best memory playing Regenwormen on your travels?

We played Regenwomen with the porters and guides during our Himalaya trek. The porters didn’t mingle with the tourists at first but this game helps to knock down the cast system. The result: they’ve beaten me several times.

34. Guess the Song

How to play guess the song.

Best played on road trips. Everyone in the car has an iPhone (or other music playing device of course) and chooses 5 songs. Their favorite song to dance to, favorite song to sing to, best song to pick someone up in the bar, their wedding song and then their funeral song. Mix up the order and everyone has to guess which is which!

How can you win Guess the Song?

Whoever can guess the correct the song the most amount of times wins!

What makes Guess the Song fun?

You get to hear new music, and learn more about your fellow travelers by listening to their favorite tunes! Author’s note: I’ve organized a few Couchsurfing events with a similar concept: everybody had to pass their music device to the person on their right. It was a great way to get to know other people well in a short time and a lot of fun!

What is your best memory playing Guess the Song on your travels?

Hmmm… I’d say the time when a passenger played Miley Cyrus – Party in the U.S.A. as their guilty pleasure song… and everyone knew the words! 10 People all singing as loud as we could! Lots of fun and a great memory!

How can you win I Spy?

This traditional kids’ game is so much fun when you’re on the road and is definitely for adults too! Go for the smaller objects and the hidden (but not too hidden) things. Oh and don’t cheat, so don’t pick moving things 😉

What makes I Spy fun?

It opens your eyes to all the beauty, small and big, around you.

What is your best memory playing I Spy on your travels?

This game is the best when you’re stuck in traffic in a bus in Asia, because there are always amazing colors and strange objects around!

How can you win Truth or Dare?

There is no winning or losing in this game, that is why it can go on and on and on! If a dare is too much for a person, he or she will get punished by revealing 2 truth. If a truth is too much for a person to reveal, he or she will have to carry out 2 dares to compensate it.

What makes Truth or Dare fun?

Those who join the game are pretty much open to doing every shameless dare and digging out the deepest secrets they keep. What makes this game fun is that you are testing out each others’ limits. Of course, to have the game continued safety without causing any hurt-feelings, we have to be sensitive to our friends’ conditions and situations. For example: do not try to ask about a recent break-up when the wound is still fresh.

What is your best memory playing Truth or Dare on your travels?

I will not forget the first time we played Truth of Dare in a Russian intercity train. We went all out on “Dares”, cat-walking down the narrow corridor filled with on-looking Russians, dancing at the front and asking snacks from people. At first, the Russians watched us with stern face but after a while they too started to enjoy the show.

How to play The Guessing Capital Game?

The concept is to name the capital of the country someone chooses. For example, I say Ethiopia and someone would need to guess the capital which is Addis Ababa.

What makes The Guessing Capital Game fun?

Many times someone will guess the wrong capital and it is fun when you start to decide what you win. You can play for big stakes like money where the first person to get a capital wrong wins all the money or even play just on who pays for something next, like dinner. A lot of people would be surprised the capitals of many countries.

What is your best memory playing The Guessing Capital Game on your travels?

This is actually a game that I lost. We were playing for $1 for each capital that we got right. Everyone would put in a dollar every time the right capital was given and the first person who lost they would lose all the money to the winner. The person stating the country. Eventually we got to big stakes and I ended up losing a full round trip ticket to Asia!

How can you win Never pass a sample?

This is perhaps the best travel game you’ll read about today. The rules are simple: as you walk around in the airport, you may never pass a free sample without grabbing it; chocolate, drinks, perfume- everything. You lose by being so pre-occupied with free samples that you miss your flight.

What makes Never pass a sample fun?

Free stuff!

What is your best memory playing Never pass a sample on your travels?

In Singapore around Xmas was especially fun. I walked around for about 6 hours and in the end, my belly ached from all the chocolates, I was pretty tipsy and I must have smelled like a prostitute because of all the perfume samples.

How can you win Pizza FTW?

The pizza game is pretty simple to play and does not need any equipment bar a couple of creative minds with some knowledge of popular culture. Each player takes a turn to name a title of film, book, or song replacing a word of choice with the word ‘pizza’ or adding the word ‘pizza’ for comedic value. For example­ ‘Saturday Night Pizza’ (instead of Saturday Night Fever!).

What makes Pizza FTW?

Everyone is a winner in Pizza FTW, it’s usually a giggle and it’s so simple some may say ‘it’s a pizza piss!’

What is your best memory playing Pizza FTW on your travels?

We’ve enjoyed passing time away whilst hiking, playing the pizza game. Feel free to Tweet or Facebook us some responses! Naturally ‘pizza’ can be any word you see fit.

How can you win Zitchdog?

Well, it’s pretty simple. It’s a fun game to play on a road trip. Whenever you see a dog you say “ZITCHDOG!”. Whoever spots the most dogs by the time your destination arrives is the winner.

What makes Zitchdog?

Well if everyone spots the dog at the same time and screams ZITCHDOG, it’s pretty hilarious. Or if the others don’t see a dog at all, you might have to stop and look to ensure the person is not cheating – haha.

What is your best memory playing Zitchdog on your travels?

I was playing ZitchDog with my hubby on our road trip to Agra. It was fun and then when we were about to reach our destination, we lost count totally. P.S. – This had nothing to do with the fact that we had a couple of beers.

41. Spoons / Ezelen

How can you win spoons.

You pass on a card to the person next to you (so you’ll get one too), then discard a card and pass it on again. You win by getting 4 of a kind.

What makes Spoons fun?

It’s slow at first, but later games pick up the pace and this is where it gets super fun. Once you have 4 of a kind (4 aces, 4 queens, 4 fives, whatever) then you pick up a spoon. The rest has to instantly pick up a spoon too. If you are last to pick up a spoon, you lose (and drink). It’s hilarious when one person is still playing when everyone else has stopped because they are so into the game! Then you all laugh, re-deal… and drink some more! No spoons available? This game can be played by putting your finger on the side of a table instead of picking up a spoon.

What is your best memory playing Spoons on your travels?

Not yet played while traveling. Have you played this on the road and a have a great travel memory to share? Let me know in the comments .

How do you win Monkey Monkey?

You win by not ending the game with a card that makes a pair with the “monkey card”!

What makes Monkey Monkey fun?

It’s a very easy game purely based on luck, so if you’re planning to get drunk quickly, this could be the game for you.

What is your best memory playing Monkey Monkey on your travels?

How can you win mexico.

This game has a lot of winners, but just one loser ;-). The player whose dice is first at one will lose the game and has to drink a shot (preferably vodka).

What makes Mexico fun?

It’s easy to play, everyone can join and the element of drinking a shot of liquor makes it really fun!

What is your best memory playing Mexico on your travels?

A friend of us lost this game 12 times on one evening, so he got really drunk. At one point he wasn’t even able to roll his die without it falling off the table, which meant you had a drink a shot regardless of the number rolled.

How do you win King’s Cup?

Aaah, the classic drinking game. There are different rules throughout the world. You start by putting all the cards face-down around a cup in the middle of the table. Then, each person picks up a card and the card’s value (not suit) determines what happens. At this game, much like with any other drinking game, nobody really “wins”. But if you do, you’re sober and everyone else is drunk. Does that sound fun to you? 😉

What makes King’s Cup fun?

You can call it fun, you can call it stupid, but one thing is certain: everybody gets out-of-their-heads drunk with this game.

What is your best memory playing King’s Cup on your travels?

How to play fives.

No need to have any objects, except for your hand. It’s possible to play with any number of players, but the math can get pretty hard with a large number of participants. For the sake of this explanation, we’ll say that there are 5 players. The “it” player has to come up with a number from 0 to 25 (since we have 5 players it has to be a multiple of 5).

Each player on the count of 3 shoots out their hand and shows either zero (fist) or 5 fingers. Let’s say the player came up with the number “10” and 2 of the 5 people had a fist and 3 people were showing 5 fingers. This would make a total of 15 which means nothing happens, and the game moves on with the next “it” player and the process described above repeats. The important part: if they guess correctly they must say (totally straight-faced) “Thank you very much for this lovely game of fives”.

What makes Fives fun?

It’s stupid hard because you get SO EXCITED that you guessed it correctly! But you can’t show emotion otherwise you’ll lose.

What is your best memory playing Fives on your travels?

I played this at a hostel in Costa Rica on Nebanaw Years Eve. It was a great night of eating homemade tortillas and drinking cheap rum.

How to play Sheep?

You sit around a circle, cover your teeth with your lips (like you’re mocking the old man that lives down the street) and say “SHEEP” to a person sitting next to you. They say “sheep” to the person next to them; it goes round and round. If you want to change the direction, you say “Sheep-pong!” and it changes direction. If you show your teeth, you lose/drink.

What makes Sheep fun?

Endless giggles when you try to say Sheep without opening your mouth.

What is your best memory playing Sheep on your travels?

We played this during a typhoon when we hardly had enough light and rain was pouring outside. We just couldn’t stop laughing.

47. Assholes / President / Scumbags

How do you win assholes.

This game is unique in that the game is never truly won. If you win a game, you will become the president/asshole/scumbag (depending on which version you play) and the game continues on. Other people get titles too, like vice-president, scum or vice-scum, which they keep for the next game. You simply stop playing when you get bored which is, you know, never.

What makes Assholes fun?

It’s really fun working your way up from being scum (last place) to the president (first place). If you’re the loser of the last game, you’ll have to switch your two best cards with the winner of the previous game, which makes it harder to win the round. It is still possible, however, and game by game you can improve your rank. There are many rules that can be added, such as that the president can order the loser of the previous game to get everyone a round of beer, making him/her the “beer bitch”.

What is your best memory playing Assholes on your travels?

How do you win mayer.

There are no winners in Mayer, just losers (who drink). You start with 6 lives, and the player that first loses all of their lives loses the game. This dice game is played with only two dice and a cup, so it’s easy to see why it fits excellently in the travel game category. The game contains a lot of bluffing, although that depends on the players of course.

What makes Mayer fun?

I like the game because it’s an easy icebreaker when you meet new people. It’s easy to learn and everybody can join in, and you can learn a lot about your fellow players while playing the game. I personally love it when you have to decide whether the person you are playing against is lying or telling the truth. I look for specific signs and when I call them out some people really have no poker face!

What is your best memory playing Mayer on your travels?

Victor’s flashback : I remember this game being played everywhere I looked in Copenhagen. Especially in cafés and bars, where it was a very normal thing to ask the bartender for a cup and two dice. It is a truly great way to kill some time and meet some (soon-to-be) friends.

How do you win Mexxen?

You can win Mexxen by having a really good stomach haha! There is no such thing as winners in this game, but the one who doesn’t feel sick after playing it is the one who ‘wins’. But you have to lose some to win eventually. So drinking some shots of alcohol is recommended.

What makes Mexxen fun?

You really have to think some things through, for instance, if you’re throwing the dice once or twice. And you can’t throw the dice on the ground because you will have to drink a shot and the game starts over. And of course, more shots means more dice on the floor and so on. The funniest thing is that there are always people who have a ridiculous amount of bad luck and therefore will get drunk very early on in the game.

What is your best memory playing Mexxen on your travels?

My best memory playing Mexxen on my travels is mostly the few hours after playing the game. The funniest thing is that a lot of friends are getting drunk and everybody is falling asleep at the most weird places: in the kitchen, under a tree and even under the table! The photos are the best memories, but you know how it works: what happens on the island…

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ADD YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL GAME FOR ADULTS BY LEAVING A COMMENT BELOW

Victor Eekhof

Currently in: Amsterdam. Victor’s Travels is a travel blog curated by me, 30-something Dutch world explorer Victor Eekhof. This blog is all about traveling on your own terms and not following the masses . It’s for people who are happiest with a big backpack on their backs and a smaller one on their front; people who walk where others take a cab, or take a bus where others take a plane. I have visited 60+ countries on 7 continents , from Antarctica to North Korea and Venezuela to Russia and started this blog to share my tips and stories with fellow travellers just like you. Read my story »

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How on earth is Farkle not on this list? it’s a dice game that takes minutes to learn and fit’s in your pocket. (One of those old-school 35mm film canisters to be exact.) This is always in my bag and makes an appearance at every brewery we hit up. https://www.amazon.com/ROUTE-Pocket-Farkel-dice-game/dp/B01H67OC6M/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1B02QP2BHEROX&keywords=pocket+farkle&qid=1655128613&sprefix=pocket+farkle%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-3

Thank you for the nice list. I will definitely try out a few of those. I particularly like card games and board games.

Make & break card game.. newly launched in market.. but awesome fun making & breaking couples! My circle is right now addicted to this game

Haha, breaking couples sounds fun! 😀 Thanks for the suggestion!

One of my favorite adult road trip games is “Censored”.

Censored is a dirty phrase guessing game that simple and super fun. Give clues to get your friends (or roommates or relatives) to guess as many dirty adult themed secret phrases as possible in 90 seconds but no one (not the clue giver, not your guessing friends) is allowed to say the taboo words (if you catch them guess one, give them a heads up they are wrong by buzzing them with the buzzer)! Check out the app store of your choice!

Cool game! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

Great article thanks. We are always on the lookout for new after-dinner games for our holidays, especially now our kids are grown up. A suggestion for you is Munchkin. A card only game so easy to pack. In a similar vein to Fluxx, the rules change often and there are many expansion decks to add variety.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion! I have heard of the game but I have never played it. I’ll make sure to add it to this article when I do! 🙂

Cheers, Victor

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• Games and hobbies
• Games and puzzles

The Best Card Games

By James Austin

James Austin is a writer covering games and hobbies, which means he is in a constant cycle of learning board games and teaching them to people.

In terms of versatility and value for money, gaming doesn’t have many deals that are better than a traditional 52-card deck . For a couple of bucks, you gain access to thousands of games , and due to their depth and complexity, they have been staples of parlors and kitchen tables for generations of players.

But where the traditional deck is a jack of all trades (get it?), modern designer card games are specialists. These games break the familiar forms, allowing players to step beyond the storied suits to bring new game mechanics, choices, and play styles to the card table.

We’ve researched and played 39 such games across a range of genres—including trick-taking , deck-building , bluffing , and others—to find the most engaging, surprising, and replayable experiences for a variety of tastes.

The research

How we picked and tested, the best bluffing card game: skull, the best deck-building game: dominion, the best trick-taking game: cat in the box, the best ladder-climbing game: scout, the best set collection game: hanabi, the best layout game: sprawlopolis, the best negotiation game: bohnanza, other good card games, the competition.

To narrow our testing criteria, we focused on designer games instead of traditional 52-card deck games (though we’ve included a few examples in each section to highlight the type of game we’re talking about).

For this guide we also decided not to include games like Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering that incentivize extra purchases as a part of the experience.

To find the likeliest candidates, I looked through lists at popular review sites like Shut Up & Sit Down (video) , Wargamer , and Dicebreaker . I also researched the lists of popular and best-selling games that fit our criteria on Amazon and BoardGameGeek .

I spoke with John McLeod , editor of Pagat.com , and Candice Harris , a media creator for BoardGameGeek, to get their perspective on what makes a great card game. Finally, I chatted with Rich Kameda of Tannen’s Magic Shop in Manhattan to better understand the physical attributes of cards themselves.

Poker, without all the boring bits

This game delivers all the bluffing of poker, but with much simpler rules. It’s quick and easy to teach, and it’s a game that you’ll want to play again and again.

Buying Options

How it’s played.

Skull is incredibly simple. Each player has just four cards: three roses and one skull.

At the start of each round, you choose one card to place face down. In subsequent rounds, you get to choose between putting another card on top of your last to form a stack or bidding on how many played cards you can flip over before you find a skull (beginning with your own stack, but from any other player’s stack after that).

If you win the bid and then succeed without finding a skull, you get a point and you’re halfway to winning the game. If you fail and flip over a skull, you lose one of your four cards (either chosen randomly by an opponent or one you choose yourself, depending on where you found the skull). If a player succeeds twice, or if only one player remains with a card, the game is over and that player wins.

Why it’s great

Poker has never given me the thrill it seems to give others, but Skull really delivers on its promise. The first time you play, you’re all about trying to win bids so you can earn one of the two points needed to win. But soon, you’ll find how much fun it is to lay traps for your friends, bidding early to convince them that you didn’t plant a skull at the top of your stack, then sitting back and waiting for them to flip it over.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

You can play this game without bluffing, but it would wring most of the fun out of your playthroughs. If your gaming friend group isn’t into deceit as a mechanic, this probably isn’t the game for you.

• Number of players: three to six
• Digital Version : Board Game Arena

The game that built deck-building

A slow burn of a game that delivers plenty of decisions with a low barrier of entry.

Dominion is the progenitor of a game mechanic called deck-building. Players each start with an identical deck of cards. On every turn, you draw cards from your personal deck, which you can use to buy cards from a central market. These new cards make their way into your deck and can be used to take extra actions, buy more cards, or just get you points at the end of the game.

Like the best traditional card games, Dominion is easy to learn and fun to play, but reveals levels of complexity and difficult choices as you move past your first few plays.

Most important, you have to balance buying victory point cards that take up space in your hand against selecting cards with more immediately useful powers. The catch is points cards are limited, and if other players grab them first, they might not be available to you later. This makes for an engaging and tricky puzzle.

The ability to mix and match the card types that come in the basic version of the game is great if you’re an experienced player, but the array of cards you have to sort through may make setup intimidating for beginners. The inset organizer helps mitigate the issue, but also makes the box gigantic for a card game.

• Number of players: two to four
• Digital version : browser game

Cat in the Box

A surprising spin on a classic genre.

This game has a ton of opportunities to make players feel smart, and the mix of creative cardplay and risky bidding that it encourages makes for surprisingly fun rounds.

Cat in the Box mostly plays like any other trick-taking game—think Hearts , Oh Hell , Spades , and Bridge .

Play progresses over a number of rounds (called tricks), and in each round a player starts by playing a card of a particular value and suit. Whoever plays the highest card in that suit wins the trick. If you don’t have a card in that suit, you may play other cards including a trump card—a special card that wins even if it isn’t the right suit.

The deliciously thematic twist in Cat in the Box—a play on Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment—is that the cards don’t have suits. Instead, players declare the suit the moment they play it. They also leave a token of their color on a game board that tracks which cards have been played, eliminating that suit/card combo from the round.

You get points for winning tricks, and if you bid correctly on how many tricks you’ll win, you get additional points for the longest continuous set of tokens you’ve placed on the board.

Cat in the Box adds two extra layers of choice to the classic trick-taking format: suitless cards and the tracking board you place tokens on. The latter ensures you don’t accidentally play a card that has already been played, but it’s also a huge factor in how you earn points in the game since you need to think about setting up a big line of tokens in addition to winning tricks. But there’s a sting in the tail: If you don’t make your bid, the effort you put into the token line is worthless.

Balancing all of these choices is what makes this game work so well and helps it improve on the format by giving more opportunities for players to feel clever, which is where trick-taking really shines.

The box packs a surprising amount of stuff into a moderately svelte package, but people with larger hands may find the token organization finicky to impossible.

In addition, Cat in the Box isn’t great as a two-player game. If you’re looking for a better trick-taking duel, consider The Fox in the Forest , which is featured in our guide to two-player games .

• Number of players: two to five (though we’d recommend at least three)
• Digital version: n/a

Big fun in a tiny package

Even by card game standards, this game is remarkably small and portable. But the gameplay—which involves assembling the longest runs or largest set of cards you can—is surprisingly expansive.

In Scout , you’re dealt a hand that you can’t rearrange. On your turn, you’re challenged with playing a group of cards from that static hand—either a run or a set—that’s larger or of a higher value than what a previous player played.

If you do, you get to take the previous players’ cards as points, and the turn advances to the next player. If you can’t (or don’t want to), you can “scout” by taking a card from the currently active run or set and placing it anywhere in their hand either side up.

The round ends when any player runs out of cards, or if every player scouts on their turn instead of playing a card. Every card left in your hand counts against you. The scores are tallied, and the game continues until you’ve played as many rounds as there are players in the game.

The greatest joy in Scout is watching longtime card players squirm when they realize they can’t rearrange their hand. But beyond that, this game is easily portable, the play is quick, and it’s colorful and delightful to look at.

But that main organizational rule is really what makes Scout so interesting, because you’re forced to choose between small, immediate plays that might have inconsequential payoffs and long-term strategies that depend on the right card coming along at the right time. It’s a delicious tension.

Scout includes a ton of little fiddly tokens, which work fine for keeping score but scatter easily around a table and become difficult to keep track of. I’d much prefer a small scoring notepad and a pencil. Like Cat in the Box , this game also doesn’t work as well with just two players.

• Number of players: two to five (but better with three or more)
• Digital version: Android, iOS , Switch , Steam

A communication card game about combustion

Trying to signal what cards everyone else has in their hands is the main focus of this game where cards are all held backwards.

Hanabi is a cooperative card game in which you play cards from your hand in sequences of five. But of course, there’s a catch: You’re never allowed to look at your hand. Instead, you hold the cards facing out, with their information visible to everyone else.

On your turn, you can either play a card from your hand (without looking at it), spend one of only a few timer tokens to communicate a specific thing about another player’s hand (such as “this is a yellow card” or “these two cards are fours”), or discard a card to refresh those timer tokens.

If you play a card out of order, you must flip over one of three fuse tokens (also called lightning tokens in some editions). If you flip over all three, everyone loses.

Once you’ve run out of cards to draw, everyone takes one more turn, and then you add the highest value card of each run to find your team’s total score.

Like all of the best communication games, Hanabi is at least 85% frustration.

You always want to communicate more information than you’re allowed, and you have little room for mistakes. Worse, the other players never do quite what you want—even though you’ve given them perfect clues.

But the pleasure of a game like Hanabi (or The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine , another game we like) comes in the collective struggle against that frustration. It’s the horror of watching your friend pick the worst possible card and biting your tongue so you don’t blurt out their mistake.

That despair is balanced by the sheer joy you feel when you give them a perfectly phrased hint. Their eyes widen with recognition. They confidently play the one card that you all need them to play. Everyone wins.

This game is about identifying colors and numbers, and while each suit does have indicators other than color (a unique firework shape and kanji symbol), those differentiators aren’t super helpful. The fireworks look similar, and unless most of your table is conversant in kanji, the symbols probably won’t help either.

Because of this, colorblind folks (and people with other visual impairments) are going to have a hard time engaging with this game.

• Number of players: two to five
• Digital version : Board Game Arena

Sprawlopolis

Urban sprawl in your pocket.

A brain-burning cooperative game that can be played in just 15 minutes, with a deck that’s slimmer than most wallets.

May be out of stock

Every game of Sprawlopolis tasks you and your friends with using the deck of 18 cards to build out a small city. (Each card has four quadrants representing different zones of a city, like parks or manufacturing sectors.) The game begins by randomly flipping over three cards from the deck, which show the scoring criteria and the target score for the round. Then, the first player draws a hand of three cards, and the other players each get one card for their hand.

On your turn, you play one card horizontally in the shared playing space, then pass your two remaining cards to the left before drawing another card from the deck.

Play continues until all the cards have been played, at which point you assess how you did based on the goals uncovered at the beginning of the game. If the team beats the sum of the numbers on the objective cards, everyone wins.

With its scant 18 cards, small size, and breezy setup, Sprawlopolis disguises a tightly designed—almost cruelly sharp—game that feels damn near impossible to win but remains a joy to bash your head against.

It’s a game that’s fun to challenge your friends with, not in spite of but because of those designed annoyances. The friction is the point; it makes the process of overcoming the straight-jacket-like restrictions so satisfying when you—shockingly, miraculously—pull it off.

Because of the random goals and target points, the game can sometimes feel overly random. But each game only takes 15 minutes or so to play through, and it’s so easy to breeze into another game that you tend to forget the frustration right away.

• Number of players: one to four
• Digital version : n/a (but cheap print and play PDFs are available )

Amigo Bohnanza

Bean counting to the extreme.

An active and boisterous game about trading and planting beans.

Bohnanza is a game about trading, planting, and selling beans. Players are each dealt a hand of cards (beans) that they can’t reorder (much like in Scout ). And they are given a play mat with two or three (depending on the player count) “bean fields” on it.

On their turn, players must plant the bean from the front of their hand into one of their fields—either any type of bean into an empty field or the same type of bean into an already-planted one. After players plant, they flip over two more beans from the deck and the trade floor opens. Players can offer any sort of trade for either of the flipped over beans, even the promise of future trades. But the catch is that any bean traded that round must be planted, which puts additional pressure on the small number of fields each player has.

Once a player has a good number of beans in their field, or if they are forced to make way for a new type of bean, they can sell their beans, yielding a number of points depending on how many beans they sell. The rarer the bean, the more points they earn.

I’m a fairly well-read guy. I’ve invested in the stock market. I have a 401(k). But this game is a better education in market forces (and their irrationality) than any class I’ve taken or article I’ve read.

The requirement to always plant the first card in your hand, the limited places to plant, and being responsible for the two cards that are flipped over all create huge pressure to trade. As in real-world markets, here it doesn’t matter how much a bean is actually “worth” (though the rarity of a given bean is helpfully displayed on each card). What matters is what other players are willing to trade for it at that specific moment. There’s always incentive to wheel and deal, and players’ motives shift moment to moment, rewarding those who can read the field and know how to put pressure on trading partners at exactly the right time.

Bohnanza is also a game that everyone at the table can be actively involved with all the time, even more so when they’re not the active player. Proposing deals and lobbying, cajoling, or bribing their trading partners with promises of better trades in the future lend the game the feeling of a surreal stock market—a chaotic trading floor powered by beans and dreams.

This is a very active and interactive game. Social butterflies will love it, but folks who are more reserved might not warm up to it as quickly or easily.

• Number of players : two to seven
• Rules : PDF
• Digital version : n/a

If you want a deck-building battle game with gorgeous production value: Queen by Midnight is the way to go. The impeccably themed and wonderfully illustrated game features asymmetric character options, satisfyingly complex gameplay, and a pretty dice tower centerpiece that gives the whole package a premium feeling and table presence.

The downside of all that production is a high price tag and large box, especially by card game standards. But the rewarding gameplay loop and deep strategy make it a worthy investment if you want a game that can be both a beautiful object and a fun experience.

If you want a beautiful deck of cards that happens to come with a brutal co-op game: Pick up Regicide . It’s a tough, cooperative game that tasks players with defeating the face cards in a traditional 52-card deck.

Though this is played with what’s essentially a normal 52-card deck, it also comes with helpful info cards and a svelte rulebook that make playing the game easier than if you used that old Bicycle deck you have laying around.

Plus, our testers found the retro-arcade isometric fantasy art style really charming. We’d happily make this our go-to deck for any traditional card game.

If you’re looking for a fun puzzle to play solo: Food Chain Island is a lovely little logic puzzle. In this game, you lay out all of the cards—each with a number and power associated with a different animal—in a randomly ordered grid. Throughout the game, you try to condense that grid into three or fewer stacks by having higher-number animals eat adjacent animals of a lower number.

It’s a tricky puzzle that’s more zen than brain-burning, and I love it as a casual time-killer. And like other games by this studio (Button Shy, which also makes Sprawlopolis), it easily fits into a pocket so you can take it anywhere.

If you like your friends but would prefer they talk less: Try The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine , a cooperative trick-taking card game that drastically limits conversation at the table.

In The Crew, you’re dealt a hand of cards and then randomly assigned tasks based on an included campaign mission log. These tasks can include things like winning a particular trick, winning different tricks in a certain order, or even making sure another player never wins a trick.

Players are not allowed to talk about their cards with other players. Instead, once per round, they can use a communication token to indicate how many of a type of card they have in their hand. It’s a fun exercise in trying to intuit what your friends are planning, and how you can integrate into that plan so you all succeed.

If you want a more complex game and are okay with a steep learning curve: Race for the Galaxy packs a galaxy’s worth of functions and powers into a single deck of cards.

In Race for the Galaxy, players compete to build a galaxy-spanning civilization. To do this, they can choose each turn to draw more cards, build developments, settle new worlds, produce materials, or spend already-mined materials. In taking these actions, they collect points until an endgame is reached and a winner is declared.

Race for the Galaxy is especially notable for its diverse strategic approaches to conquering the galaxy, and the flexibility of the cards—each one can be used in about five different ways—contributes to that openness. On the flip side, though, the game uses more pictographs than some ancient Egyptian temples. It can take several playthroughs to learn what they all mean and how you can use them. In turn, that makes this game rewarding but quite tedious to learn.

Aeon’s End , a cooperative deck-building game that tasks players with pushing back Kaiju-like creatures to defend the fantasy city of Gravehold, is remarkably deep and intricate. Players have a starting deck that they use to either attack the “nemesis” or to buy new cards from a market. But in Aeon’s End, players don’t reshuffle the discard pile when they refresh their deck; the cards stack back in the order they’ve been played. This adds a layer of plannability that other deck-builders don’t have, which (along with complex rules around individual cards) gives you a lot to process. It’s a fun and intense cooperative card game, but we felt it was more complex than the games we were aiming for in this guid

Arboretum is a pretty and relaxing game that tasks players with building the most appealing path of trees in their own arboretum. The game has a multiplayer solitaire kind of feel to it—it’s exceedingly chill to play—but it’s somewhat spoiled by a fiddly scoring system.

Boss Monster is a retro, Nintendo-inspired game in which players take on the roles of classic video game bosses and build dungeons that lure in adventurers and kill them with various traps and monsters. It’s an easy game to teach—and fun to play—but it doesn’t have a ton of replayability.

Cockroach Poker is for folks who enjoy bluffing but want more randomness than Skull provides. It requires you to slowly gather information about played cards before they’re flipped over. This lends the game to more bluffs and double bluffs than you get in Skull, but we liked that game’s comparatively straightforward play a little more.

Fantasy Realms is a hand-building game (a bit like five-card stud poker, but without betting or bluffing) where players try to assemble the best seven-card hand (called a realm) of fantasy tropes at the table. The variety of cards and the way their powers work together lend this game a fun energy and generates occasionally fantastical discussion during scoring, as players try to suss out what their realm would be like. But we found that the scoring part just feels like homework, which made it a letdown.

Fort takes a basic deck-building mechanic and augments it with an asymmetric collection of player powers and wonderful art from Kyle Ferrin (who also illustrated Root , one of our favorite strategy games ). We enjoyed it but found it to be more complex than the sort of games we were prioritizing in this guide.

Hero Realms is a fantasy deck-building game that shares the same basic design as Star Realms, another of our favorite two-player games. It works for two to four players, but we found that when we wanted to play a deck-builder with more than two players, we consistently reached for Dominion instead.

Monopoly Deal takes the parts of Monopoly that actually work and compresses them into a 15-minute card game. The pace is sprightly, and the gameplay overall is much less frustrating than its traditional board game cousin’s. But it was still too simple and random compared with our picks.

No Thanks feels like a perfect family game: It’s easy enough for younger players to pick up quickly, but it has enough interesting choices to keep older or more experienced players engaged. But we felt it was still a little too simple compared with our other picks.

Point Salad is both a game and a gaming term—one used to describe a game in which players fulfill a bunch of unconnected goals in a race to earn the most points. In Point Salad (the game), players still race to get the most points, but they can also play points cards that change the value of any particular card they’ve already played, or are planning to play, on the fly. The ever-shifting value of each card brings an exciting and frenetic energy to the game, but it doesn’t allow for the depth of play or novelty that our other picks provide.

Silver is a card-based take on the popular Werewolf games (and plays a lot like the traditional card game Golf). It’s an interesting spin on familiar gameplay, but we found that Skull was a better iteration of the “trying to figure out what’s in other player’s hands” dynamic that these games evoke.

Smash Up is a game with a comic sensibility pulled right from internet’s adolescence in the early aughts. Players pick two factions of cards that they’ll shuffle together into their deck—including things like aliens, robots, dinosaurs, and ninjas—and use them to win any of five bases. The way the factions interact makes for a dynamic and replayable game but didn’t do enough to really separate itself from the pack in our testing.

Startups is a game that simulates the shifting value and ownership of startup companies. Players are tasked with collecting enough cards to take a majority stake in a company, but they only get points at the end of the game if other players have also purchased cards in that company. It’s a quick and enjoyable game, but we found our picks were either easier to teach and play or more fun.

Take 5 is a game about pushing your luck and trying to goad other players into over-leveraging themselves. It’s easy to learn (and teach) and has a way of creating funny moments of schadenfreude. But it wasn’t as lively as our picks.

Trailblazers is a layout game similar to Sprawlopolis , but instead of cooperatively building a city, players are competing to build the best series of recreation trails in a wilderness. Players take turns placing a card from their hand, which includes sections of hiking, biking, and kayaking trails, and then passing the remaining cards to the player on their left. It’s a game where your options look wide open when you start, but they quickly narrow, foiling even the best players’ plans almost instantly. That creates a fun and funny game of hubris and regret, but we think Sprawlopolis is a better take on the same idea.

Tussie Mussie has a similar premise to Cockroach Poker, where players slide cards to each other and try to predict their behavior. The difference is that, in this case, you’re passing around lovely flower bouquets instead of bugs and vermin. It’s a subtle game that leads to a lot of raised eyebrows and shifty looks as players assess what cards are where, but we prefer Skull’s simplicity and tension.

Uno has one advantage over most of the other games we tested: Pretty much everyone in the US is familiar with it. As Pagat.com’s John McLeod told me, “A good game is the one that your friends already know, because then you can just get into it and play it.” But we found that, even taking that ease of play into account, the other games we tested all offered a more complete and interesting experience than this rec-room mainstay.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

John McLeod, editor of Pagat.com , Zoom interview , March 6, 2023

Candice Harris, media creator for BoardGameGeek , Zoom interview , April 10, 2023

Rich Kameda, magic instructor at Tannen’s Magic , in-person interview , May 2, 2023

Meet your guide

James Austin

James Austin is a staff writer currently covering games and hobbies, but he’s also worked on just about everything Wirecutter covers—from board games to umbrellas—and after being here for a few years he has gained approximate knowledge of many things. In his free time he enjoys taking photos, running D&D, and volunteering for a youth robotics competition.

Further reading

30(ish) Family-Friendly Games We Love Under $35

by Wirecutter Staff and Gabriella DePinho

Break out the board games! Here’s a selection of our favorite cheap(ish) picks for players of all ages.

The Best Strategy Board Games

by James Austin

The best strategy games pit you against your friends in an intense battle of wits. These are six of our favorites.

The Best Board Games

by Wirecutter Staff

Thousands of board games are released each year. We share some staff favorites that require more strategy, have deeper narratives, or are particularly beautiful.

The Best Beginner Board Games for Adults

by Anna Perling and James Austin

Our board game picks include options for new gamers, more-advanced players, and those looking for party, travel, cooperative, dexterity, or two-player games.

15 Best Travel Games for Kids and Families to Play in Cars, Planes and Hotels

From toddlers to teenagers, these games will make time fly on your next road trip or plane ride.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

For the younger kids, you'll want to opt for a self-contained game to prevent pieces from getting lost. For older kids, we suggest more complex games to hold their attention for hours — just look for ones that can be played on a flat but compact surface, like plane tray-tables or even the RV floor. But no matter where you're going or how you plan on getting there, there are plenty of choices to keep your family (or even just yourself!) playing and laughing for hours. So before you pack up your suitcase and head out, check out all of our favorite travel games below. Looking for more family fun? Don't miss our roundups of the best beach games , the best board games for families and the best video games , too.

MONOPOLY Monopoly Deal Card Game

You can't bring the full-size board game on the road, so bring this fast-paced playing card version of Monopoly instead. Players collect properties as they use action cards to earn money throughout the game — no houses, die or game pieces necessary! Ages 8+

Bananagrams

Bananagrams comes in a cute, banana-shaped pouch that's easy to pack in your purse — the perfect game to play in case you're left with time to kill before you can check into your hotel room! Race your family to be the first one to build a crossword using all your tiles. Ages 7+

Hasbro Gaming Yahtzee Handheld Digital Game

Take the electronic version of the classic game on the go without worrying about losing dice . It's perfect for passing across the plane row to see who can get the best score. Ages 8+

SmartGames IQ Fit

This compact logic game is fun for one or many brains. The goal is to fit all the 3D pieces in the correct formation according to one of 100 different challenges. Ages 6+

Mattel Games Apples to Apples Mod Card Game

This version of the family favorite comes in convenient packaging that makes it easy to bring the fun wherever you go. Throw the pack in with your picnic for a day of playing games at the park. Ages 12+

Think Fun Fifteen Puzzle

While you run errands, your kid can stay busy by solving this old-school puzzle over and over again — and yes, that's the same design from your childhood. Ages 8+

PlayMonster Pop-a-Tops Match-a-Martian

Pop-a-Tops' cute UFO shaped game has a domed top that keep the dice contained and the cards fit into the body of the spacecraft. Give the container a "pop" (get it?) to roll the dice without worrying about losing them under the table. Ages 6+

Hasbro Gaming Clue Card Game

Enjoy the classic mystery game without all the small pieces (where did the candlestick go, anyway?) Now everyone in the family can play detective everywhere you go! Ages 8+

Farkel Pocket Dice Game

This travel dice game is small enough to stash just about anywhere, even in just your pocket . Since it's easy to put away too, you can take it out when you're sitting around waiting on food or on play it on tray tables without worrying about rushing to clean up. Ages 4+

Crayola Wonder Mess Free Coloring Activity Set

This coloring activity set comes with a hard shell case to store the coloring sheets, markers, stamps and ink pads all in one place. Since the Color Wonder markers can only draw on Color Wonder coloring pages, you don't have to worry about cleaning up stray marks . Age 3+

Tamagotchi Star Wars: R2-D2 Classic White

Take care of this pocket-sized friend by teaching them all kinds of tricks and playing one of the seven mini-games you can unlock. Ages 8+

This word guessing game is great to pull out when you're waiting around in the airport when your plane is inevitably delayed. Try and come up with as many words as you can before the timer runs out. Ages 8+

Hasbro Gaming Guess Who? Card Game

Like the other card games on this list, this playing card version of Guess Who? allows you to bring the classic guessing game along for the ride . Ages 4+

Frequent Flyer Game

While this board game isn't exactly travel friendly, it is a great way to teach your child the ins and outs of traveling before embarking on your family adventure together. Choose your home city and race to be the first to visit all 20 airports including JFK, BOS and DFW. Ages 8+

Nintendo Switch

Nintendo's newest console can easily convert from a home system to a portable system by detaching from the dock. So you can bring games like Mario Kart 8 , Super Mario Odyssey , and The Legend of Zelda basically anywhere. Ages 6+

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

The Good Housekeeping Institute Parenting Lab provides expert reviews and advice on everything parents and children love. Chief Technologist and Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman has been testing games and toys for nearly 15 years and has served on several ASTM committees that help guide industry product testing standards. She has three toddlers who actively support her in her testing pursuits, too.

As the assistant to the Good Housekeeping Institute Director, Abigail Bailey regularly tests all manner of products and toys — and she has two younger siblings who graciously support her through game testing.

Abigail (she/her) is product reviews writer who has covered everything from kitchen gear to mattresses and smart blinds. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in creative writing and earned her M.S. in publishing digital and print media from New York University. She currently works at Wirecutter, but has also spent time on staff at Good Housekeeping and The Southern Review literary magazine. In her free time you can find her quilting, cross-stitching or trying to figure out how to squeeze one more bookshelf in her tiny apartment. 

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Best Travel Card Games

Some advantages, disadvantages and examples of how card games could be perfect for your next vacation.

They range from collectible card games, that require purchasing booster packs that power up your deck, to a single deck of traditional playing cards, as well as hundreds of other descriptions in between. So it’s no small feat to just say, “I’m going to bring a card game on vacation.” 

Table of Contents

• 1.1 1) More Portable
• 1.2 2) More Options
• 1.3 3) Easier to Learn 
• 1.4 4) Shorter Time Length
• 1.5 5) Younger Kids Can Participate
• 2.1 1) Feel Repetitive
• 2.2 2) Too Much Luck
• 2.3 3) Too Simple
• 3.1 Exploding Kittens (20 mins, Age: 7+, 2-10 Players)
• 3.2 The Crew (20 mins, Age: 10+, 2-5 Players with a 2 Player Variant)
• 3.3 Sleeping Queens (20 mins, Age: 8+, 2-5 Players)
• 3.4 The Mind (20 Mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)
• 3.6 Silver & Gold (20 mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)
• 3.7 Dungeon Mayhem (10 mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)
• 3.8 Sushi Go (15 mins, Age: 8+, 2-5 Players)
• 4 Final Thoughts on Best Travel Card Games

Travel Card Game Advantages

1) more portable.

Card games can be much smaller than most boxed board games so this is a huge card game advantage when you travel. Like a lot of things in life, size really does matter, especially here because if it’s meant to be for packing then you need to take its size into consideration. So, if this is your number one priority, then make sure to take a look at the recommendations below as well as consider those that are travel-size board games .

2) More Options

Because card games can be much smaller, that means you can bring a few more options with you and not take up much more packing space.

3) Easier to Learn  

Again, unlike collectible card games, in general, card games can be easier to learn but strategic enough to make the game feel engaging and not too repetitive like grandma’s rummy (although I do enjoy a good game of Rummy from time to time).

4) Shorter Time Length

Typically, since card games aren’t overly complex, they are shorter in time played than your typical board games. Sometimes it takes less time to play an entire card game than many board games take to set up (I’m looking at you Zombicide).

5) Younger Kids Can Participate

Vacation can mean kids, whether they’re ours, our family’s, or our friend’s kids, so being able to get everyone involved means less whining, crying, or pouting…unless of course, you’re a sore loser.

Travel Card Game Disadvantages

1) Feel Repetitive

Unfortunately, even the best travel card games have the potential to lack high replay value after too many back-to-back playthroughs. Packing more options like earlier discussed, helps break up any monotony. It’s best to keep these card games and not so much boring games.

2) Too Much Luck

Like dice games, card games can rely on luck sometimes too much because of what card you happen to pick up and when. However, who isn’t looking to get a little lucky on vacation?  😉

3) Too Simple

Because of the simplicity of some of these less complex card games, it can feel like something is missing from your gaming experience. 

Best Travel Card Game Recommendations

Here is a short list of some of the best travel card games.

Exploding Kittens (20 mins, Age: 7+, 2-10 Players)

Be aware, there’s both a family and NSFW (Not Safe for Work) version of this game so make sure you choose the appropriate one for your gaming crew. This particular game is so easy to learn yet competitive enough to make you want to rise victoriously by being the last player to not explode. It also doesn’t hurt that the cards themselves have very entertaining illustrations of all kinds of different felines.

• THE LEGENDARY ORIGINAL MADE FOR TWO-FIVE PLAYERS: The card game that gave felines a license to kill. The reason more cats around the world are being given the side-eye - it’s Exploding Kittens: Original Edition! This kitty-powered card game is all about turning game night into a blast. Try and dodge exploding kittens, betray your friend along the way, and strap on a portable cheetah butt while you’re at it. The last player left alive wins!
• HOURS OF HILARITY: There’ll be lots of chuckling. Rib-cracking outbursts. More laughs than a 90s sitcom. In every 56-card deck you’ll find creative ways to dodge the exploding kittens. Like defuse cards featuring laser pointers, kitty therapy, and catnip sandwiches. And action cards with weaponized back hair, all-seeing goat wizards, and magical pig-a-corns that grant you precognition. Looking for thoroughly entertaining kid and adult games for game night? Quest complete!
• EXPAND THE SMILES: This Original version is a recipe for hours of fun. But those laughs can get even louder! Enhance it with one of our expansion packs (sold separately) and discover more magical characters, more reasons to burst out laughing, and more ways to throw your dear friends and family under the bus. Elevate your game night with Imploding Kittens, Streaking Kittens, or Barking Kittens. Each expansion pack deepens the gameplay by adding a healthy service of chaos.
• WELCOME TO THE FAMILY: We made history. Exploding Kittens started out as an idea launched on Kickstarter. We aimed to raise $10K. We ended up with $8.7M in 30 days from 219,000 backers. Close to a decade later, Exploding Kittens is still the #1 most-backed project in Kickstarter history. And we couldn’t be happier to welcome you to our global family of free-spirited, imagination-embracing, cat-dodging game lovers. From the bottom of our hearts, we hope you don’t explode!
• English (Publication Language)

The Crew (20 mins, Age: 10+, 2-5 Players with a 2 Player Variant)

• Cooperative strategy game--win or lose together!
• A new twist on classic trick-taking card games
• Difficulty increases as the game progresses, making it a good choice for players of all skill levels
• Uses common card game mechanics like tricks and following suit
• The game spans 50 different missions across the solar system, each mission takes 5-10 minutes

Sleeping Queens (20 mins, Age: 8+, 2-5 Players)

Although created by a child, this game is quite fun for people of all ages. The goal here is to wake up the most queens before your opponent through strategy and a little luck. Don’t sleep on this family game.

• The package height is 1.5"
• The package lenght is 5.6"
• The package width is 4.8"
• The package weight is 0.2 pounds
• (Playback Language)

The Mind (20 Mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)

• INGENIOUS CARD GAME: Experience the ingenious and highly addictive card game that's making waves everywhere. The Mind offers simple rules but a challenging test of your mental synchronization.
• ASCENDING ORDER CHALLENGE: Work together with your friends to play cards in ascending order, but here's the catch – no speaking or communication allowed. Can you beat the Mind's tricky levels.
• UNIQUE NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: Discover the art of non-verbal communication as you read each other's cues, invent silent languages with knowing glances, and synchronize your minds to conquer the game's challenges.
• WORLDWIDE BEST-SELLER: Join the worldwide community of players who have fallen in love with The Mind. This social card game is perfect for game nights, gatherings, and bonding with friends.
• HIGH PLAYER INTERACTION: The Mind is all about player interaction and cooperation. It's a fantastic addition to your game night, encouraging teamwork and fun social dynamics.

Silver & Gold (20 mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)

Who doesn’t want to find treasure while they’re on vacation? It involves dry-erase markers (included) so keep that in mind for younger players. That said, this game is great for when you’re out at dinner and want to keep hungry kids preoccupied to subside their hangryness.

• FORTUNE AWAITS: Embark on a treasure-filled adventure with the Silver and Gold card game, where distant islands and golden treasures become your reality.
• RACE AGAINST TIME: Challenge yourself and friends to rain X's down in rapid-fire fashion, creating the right configurations to close out island cards and seize valuable bonuses.
• ENDLESS REPLAY: Every card in this clever game is writeable and erasable, ensuring countless rounds of fun and excitement as you strive to outscore your rivals.
• DRY-ERASE DELIGHT: Enjoy the convenience of a dry-erase card game that's not only fast-paced but also incredibly easy to learn for players of all ages.
• FAMILY AND FRIENDS: With its simple rules and lightning-fast gameplay, Silver and Gold delivers an exhilarating experience that's perfect for family gatherings and game nights with friends.

Dungeon Mayhem (10 mins, Age: 8+, 2-4 Players)

• Age mfg minimum: 120 months

Sushi Go (15 mins, Age: 8+, 2-5 Players)

• Includes 108 cards
• Rules of play
• Reinforces probability, visual discrimination and strategic thinking
• 2 to 5 players
• Playing time: 15 minutes

Final Thoughts on Best Travel Card Games

There you have it! Now you can see why card games can make for some of the best vacation experiences as well as some of their drawbacks. We hope you enjoyed our list of best travel card games. We have lots more to come in this series of which Travel Games Are Best for You !

All items reviewed in this Best Travel Card Games Article

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Lovely post! I would love to do a road trip around all over the world and visit all these beautiful places! Thanks for the tips and the locals’ insight!

hey, Good to read about the travel card.Thank you

excellent travel card .Thanks for this post

52 Travel Games for Adults, Teens & Kids

I f you’re like me, you know that games can turn any trip into a blast. So, I’ve rounded up some awesome travel games and activities for both adults and kids that’ll add a whole new level of fun to your adventures.

Whether you’re a seasoned globetrotter or a first-time explorer, these playful diversions are the perfect way to break the ice, spark laughter, and turn any layover into a lively social event.

Forget the days of boring road trips and awkward silences. These travel games are designed for adults and kids alike, offering everything from quick bursts of laughter to strategic challenges that will test your travel smarts.

So, gather your crew, grab a deck of cards, or download a quirky app, and get ready to turn your journey into a playground of shared experiences and unforgettable memories. Let the wanderlust flow – the games are waiting!

3 Great Travel Games for Adults & Older Kids

Embark on exciting journeys with travel-themed games for adults and older kids! Games like Destinations Anywhere and Trip Chaser transform your travel or armchair adventure into a thrilling experience. Perfect for road trips or cozy evenings at home, these games add a touch of wanderlust to your playtime.

1. TableTopics Destination Anywhere

Step into the world of wanderlust with Destinations Anywhere by TableTopics. This game invites you to reminisce and share your most cherished travel moments through engaging conversation starters.

Whether you’re a globe-trotter or a day-trip enthusiast, these prompts spark discussions about incredible adventures, wild vacations, and even the charm of ordinary trips. It’s not just a game; it’s a journey that enhances your personal “bucket” list of dream destinations, making every conversation a delightful exploration of the extraordinary.

2. Trip Chaser

Crafted by travel enthusiasts Dalene and Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels, Trip Chaser isn’t just a game; it’s an armchair adventure for the competitive souls out there. With 2-6 players, it mimics the thrill of travel sans the suitcase and hefty plane ticket expenses.

Collect destination cards, plan strategically, and explore the world—all without leaving your living room. Enjoy an hour of challenges, enriching experiences, and the added perk of being packable for on-the-go fun. Plus, for every game sold, Ecodrive plants a tree.

3. Passport to Culture

Embark on a global adventure with Passport to Culture , the board game that takes you around the world, testing your cultural knowledge without leaving home.

Featuring 636 travel trivia questions and 60 cultural scenarios, this game isn’t just fun—it’s a knowledge-expanding journey. You might even stumble upon a new destination to spice up your travel bucket list! Get ready to explore and learn, all from the comfort of your own living room.

Unplugged Toys, Games, Activities for Travel with Kids

With a little planning and the right activities, travel with your little ones can be just as magical (and maybe even more rewarding).

We’ve globetrotted extensively, both before and after our two boys (now 3 and 6) joined the crew. We’ve learned that packing the right unplugged games is key to happy travels, whether it’s keeping tiny minds occupied on long car rides or sparking laughter in hotel rooms.

So ditch the screens and embrace the wonder of the world together! We’ve curated a list of unplugged travel activities for kids of all ages, ensuring everyone has a blast, from budding artists to junior explorers. Get ready for imaginative play, memory-making moments, and tons of unplugged fun, one destination at a time!

4. Rubik’s Cube: 3 x 3 (and if this one has you too ‘puzzled’ check out the Junior “I can do it” 2 x 2, it may give you the confidence you need!)

5. Slide Puzzles: The perfect take anywhere puzzle! Within each 4″ x 4″ tray are eight puzzle pieces that glide into place. Challenging enough to entertain for hours. Kids young and old will enjoy these puzzles.

6. Flexi-Sphere: mesmerizing, It can be manipulated to collapse and expand into many wonderful shapes.

7. Wind Up Flippin’ Pets: oh, so simple, but endless fun (just make sure you have a tray for travel – details below)

8. Waterfuls Water Games : adults will remember these! the coolest thing? Just take them through security empty, then fill up for on-the-flight fun!

9. Lacing & Tracing Sets : these heavy duty chipboard shapes from Lauri Toy give this activity endless combinations. Lace the variety of shape themes, then trace to make a fun scene to color and make come alive.

10. Squiggle on the Go: with a variety of skill levels for 4, 5, 6, 7 and up. Take a ‘squiggle’ and let your imagination take over. Will it become and animal, an object, a place? Comes on a sturdy backing, with a pencil that stores securely with the pad.

11. Wire Puzzles: Make sure to hide a few of these in your handbag, pocket or anywhere, and they will save waiting ‘boredom’ anywhere. They come with the solutions, but best to hide those!

12. Inflatable World Globe : “take the whole world in your hands”; packs small, inflates to educate along the way, use at the hotel pool, deflate and pack away.

13. Grabber: 12″ recommended for air travel, 18″ Robot Claw for Car; you’ll be amazed at the uses. no more being on a plane and having to say to the folks in front of you “excuse me, my child’s toy is under your feet”.

14. Triangular Non-Rolling Crayons : from Melissa and Doug, the perfect solution for artists on-the-go.

Idea Books for Things To Do

15. Fun on the Run : 324 Instant Family Activities – perfect antidotes to those “booooring” car rides, endless waits in the doctor’s office, restaurant fidgetiness – all without any special props

16. UNPLUGGED Play : No Batteries, No Plugs, Pure Fun. 710 Games and Activities for ages 12 months to 10 years

Restaurant Games (quiet and group inclusive!)

17. Scramble Squares : The 9 piece brainteaser puzzle – They’re Not Just For Kids! Challenging educational puzzles with powerful graphics keep boys, girls, and adults captivated for hours! Perfect for all of your travel delay passing needs (or rainy day, or restaurant table/food waiting and more!)

18. Bananagrams : a Toy of the Year WINNER. Does your family have a set?

19. Find It Games : This is a brightly colored contained adventure. It contains 48 hidden items for you to find, conveniently listed on the top of the game. The items found in this sealed container are geared toward kids. SPIN IT, TWIST IT, SHAKE IT! Be the first to find the hidden Penny, Marble, Balloon, Letters of the Alphabet, or …?

Self Contained Toys (come with own storage)

20. Zoom to the Moon : This portable rocketship set is perfect for take-along space adventures with 7 hand-painted wooden figures and 5″ x 8.5″ rocketship tote that has zippered closure for secure take-offs and landings! Figures are hand crafted from rubberwood, an environmentally friendly hardwood, and are hand painted with child-safe paints.

21. Zipbins by Neat-Oh : A Unicorn Set or a Raceway set; two playmat options, bin with cover, and 2 figures per set. Mat fits on an airline tray.

22. Magnetic Animal Habitat Set : Ideal for travel, this wooden magnetic board includes three interchangeable animal habitat cards- farm, sea and savannah, and 26 magnetic, wooden play pieces for educational and creative play. It’s all packaged in a convenient, snap-top, phthalate-free carry case with sturdy handles.

23. ZOOB! : an award-winning building set with a difference-the pieces move after you put them together. Try our 20 piece ZOOB tube, the Zoob Jr 30 piece set or the 40 piece ‘Traveler’ with building base. All these sets come with their own storage container.

24. Rush Hour Jr and Railroad Rush Hour : After setting up their game board according to pictures on various challenge cards, players steer their ice cream truck through a jumble of blocking cars, trucks and buses. A playful theme and 40 age-appropriate challenges will keep even the most restless tyke captivated for hours. Rush Hour Jr. is for 6-8, and Railroad Rush hour for 8 and up. Comes with travel bag, and play board

25. Really Big Magnetic Words : (don’t forget to add a magnetic Board to expand the options!) – a ‘lunch box’ full of BIG words easily maneuvered by small hands. Let the stories begin!

26. Tea Set with Travel Case : perfect for real or imaginary travel. Schylling’s classic 15 piece tin tea set is packaged in a sturdy cardboard carry case for easy transport and easy, reliable storage. Set includes 4 plates, 4 cups, 4 saucers, a teapot, a serving tray, and case.

27. Flip to Win Memory Match or Hangman : From Melissa & Doug, No loose pieces, great for on-the-go or play at home.

Family Games

28. Taco vs Burrito

Taco vs. Burrito is a family card game created by a 7-year-old and perfect for kids aged 6 and up. This fast-paced, easy-to-learn game is ideal for travel, with an average playtime of just 15 minutes. Each player draws and plays a card on their turn, moving clockwise around the table.

The game continues until the draw pile is empty, then players keep playing without drawing new cards. The game ends when someone plays their last card.

To determine the winner, tally each player’s points: add ingredients, subtract tummy aches, and multiply by 2 for each Hot Sauce Boss, or by 4 if you have two. The player with the most points wins!

29. Conversations to go : over a hundred little strips per ‘to go’ box to help stimulate conversation on money, travel and more

30. Are we there yet ? : (Air and Auto Versions): before you know it, you WILL be there! 216 cards in 3 languages, for ages 6 and up. approved by AAA and Rand McNally!

31. Puppets: (take your show on the road.. or, in the air, on the rails) – hand and finger, sized for BIG and LITTLE people. Take a travel ‘stage’ and your show is ready for it’s next tour!

32. Storytelling Games : pick a card, start a story, pick another, add to the story, great for kids, adults or family story time. For older kids, try the Think-Ets game, with objects instead of cards

33. Set of MagPo Adventure Words and Magnetic Board : for older kids we love the Magnetic Poetry words, with the simple addition of a Magnetic Board (who wants to travel with a refrigerator door!). Make up a story about your own adventures, or imaginary journeys!

The Youngest of Travelers

36. Bug Jug Fill N Spill : This adorable set includes a soft spider, butterfly, ladybug and grasshopper to remove and replace in a bright green jug constructed of high quality fabrics and phthalate-free plastic. This durable bug collection will provide hours of creepy-crawly fun!

37. Natural Wood Rattle : Shake it and the wooden ball collides with the ring to product a sound. PlanToys combines learning with fun. Their toys are specially designed to enhance a child’s physical, mental and creative development at all age levels

38. Inside-Out Cube : Amazing soft discovery cube turns inside out to reveal 6 different sides. 12 sides in all! Features engaging images and patterns, multiple textures and beautifully embroidered details.

Encourages exploration and teaches lessons in object permanence. A beautiful addition to any child’s toy collection. What we like best about this is that the pieces are all connected so no hunting down lost blocks!

Don’t Forget the Travel Trays:

These open up TONS of new options for Travel Friendly Activities

39. Star Kids Snack N Pla y : a soft lap tray for younger kids still in full car seats, packs small to take along anywhere (plane, train, auto)

40. Multi-use craft tray with felt: the most economical and versatile tray for travel. The uses are endless, works great on lap, airline tray, table at home (to contain those loose parts anywhere)

41. Creativity Lap Desk with Art Supplies: comes complete with comfy beaded bottom, crayons, colored pencils, marker, pencil sharpener, ruler and carrying handle

Cool Travel Gear

42. Zoobie Pets : 3 in 1 travel companion: a friend, a pillow, a blanket (not to mention soft, cute and washable!); comes in a smaller size (great for shower gift), or larger for bigger kids

43. Uglydoll Travel Pillow : These ‘original’ sized Uglydolls not only make great companions, they are a perfect (and soft) travel pillow. They’re SO ugly, they’re cute!

Coolest ‘at the destination’ Items

44. Bean Bag Toss : Two bean bag toss games in one. Large 36″ x 36″ mat with bullseye target printed on one side and Feed the Fish game on the other. 4 colorful bean bags packed in an attached zippered mesh bag. Easy to fold, easy to carry

45. Boochie with Travel Case : Get ready for this all new action-packed family game that will have you tossing, kicking, bowling, and throwing like never before! First toss out the soft foam Boochie target and then try to land your ball and hoop as close to it as possible. Keep score on a special wrist tracker that gives you a different outrageous throwing challenge every round. You may have to toss between your legs, behind your back, or even with your eyes closed! The player with the most points wins. Play Boochie… Have a ball!

46. Can you see what I see?: This 300 Piece Puzzle from Walter Wick, the co-creator of I SPY Books provides fun on many levels. First, put the oversized pieces together to make the “Rise N Shine” scene, then find the items listed on the box. Found them all? Make up your own games with the same “I SPY theme”.

47. Pocket Kite : Despite of its size, this fun Pocket kite fits into a little zipper rucksack. The rucksack is provided with a key ring which makes it easy to attach it to your keys or pants.

48. Piscari: Piscari is an action game. Perfect for a layover, rest stop, or other idle time.

Just Pretend You are Going Somewhere (or travel incognito!)

49. SuperHero Starter Kit by Klutz :

Unleash little heroes with the Superhero Starter Kit! It features a durable Red Cape with Velcro straps for that brave vibe. Complete the look with masks, wrist shields, and cool stickers for personalization. Packed with heroic advice, it’s a guide by Klutz editors—because, remember, never tuck your cape into your underwear!

For ages 4 and Up

50. My first Pirate Book : EVERYTHING PIRATES! Ahoy! Little mateys will sail the seven seas like real pirates with this innovative package full of swashbuckling adventures. A truly DELUXE activity book kit includes lots of exciting pirate-themed activities that little captains can do on their own or with their crew. Kids can send a message-in-a-bottle, build a telescope, make a new parrot friend, and much more! This is perfect for that budding traveler looking to explore the pirate world!

51. Princess Glitter wand : Every fairy, sorcerer, or other magical being needs a wand, and no better a wand to have than a Wonder Wand! Glitter whirls around inside when the wand is turned.

52. Sarah’s Silks : playsilks, magic pet wands, crowns, fairy wings, wizard capes and more!

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The post 52 Travel Games for Adults, Teens & Kids appeared first on 52 Perfect Days .

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Ranked: the best credit card travel rewards programs.

For U.S. cardholders, the credit card space has four main travel rewards programs:

Amex Membership Rewards

Capital One Venture Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Citi ThankYou Rewards

When you first start collecting travel rewards , you're going to need to choose a program. Having used all four to varying degrees, I can say they each have their pros and cons, including varying quality of transfer partners.

Featured offer: save money while you pay off debt with one of these top-rated balance transfer credit cards

Amex and Chase both have the most comprehensive programs, so they rose to the top of the list. But choosing an exact order for this list turned out to be a little harder than I expected. Here are the results.

1. Chase Ultimate Rewards

I'll be honest, I went back and forth on who gets first and second place. I'm a bit of an Amex enthusiast, so my bias leans me that way. However, I had to objectively give the win to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program.

The main thing that makes this program stand out above the others is Chase's travel portal. Specifically, the fact that a few Chase credit cards give you an increased rate on redemptions through that portal.

If you have the right Chase card, you can get $0.015 per point when you redeem through the portal. This is a great rate for folks who don't want to jump through the regular hoops to transfer and redeem points at peak value.

2. Amex Membership Rewards

The American Express Membership Rewards program is a close second here. And I'd argue that it wins by a big margin if your only interest is transferring your points.

Amex has 17 airline transfer partners, 10 of which Chase doesn't have and three that are exclusive to Amex. (FYI, Chase has only two partners that Amex doesn't: United MileagePlus and TAP Air Portugal.)

All of Amex's airline partners transfer at a one-to-one rate except JetBlue (this transfers at a 1:0.8 rate). This means that you'll get one mile in the partner program for each Membership Rewards point you transfer -- unless you get a bonus.

That's right, Amex regularly has transfer bonus offers. These can give you up to 50% more points or miles when you transfer Membership Rewards points to the eligible partner program.

3. (Tied) Capital One Venture and Citi ThankYou

Neither Capital One Venture nor Citi ThankYou is as robust or lucrative as the Chase and Amex offerings. However, both programs do still have their merits.

Indeed, figuring out a winner here is actually pretty hard. Both programs offer roughly the same number of partners, including 10 overlapping partners. Most are 1:1 transfers, though Capital One Venture has worse rates on two airlines and Citi is worse for one hotel brand.

Both programs have their own travel portals where you can directly use points to book travel. And they both give you a value of $0.01 per point/mile when you redeem for travel through the portal.

In the end, choosing between the two programs will likely come down to one of two factors:

Do you like a particular card best? Citi has one travel rewards card that earns ThankYou points. Capital One has three personal card options (plus three business cards). You may want a specific card for its rewards, welcome bonus, or perks.

Is there a specific airline you want to use? About half of the partners overlap, but that leaves a lot of partners that don't. If you use one of these specific partners, go with that program.

Overall comparison

Sometimes one good chart is worth a thousand words. Take a look at all of the airline transfer partners side by side:

Sources: American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi

In the end, as long as you choose a program that you'll use , you really can't go wrong. Points that expire or are allowed to languish in your account aren't worth anything at all.

Alert: highest cash back card we've seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card  is not just good – it's so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It  features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee! 

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Brittney Myers has positions in American Express. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends Southwest Airlines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .

Ranked: The Best Credit Card Travel Rewards Programs was originally published by The Motley Fool

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Throwing Eggs: How “Guandan” Became China’s Favorite Card Game

• May 15, 2024

Designed by: Cai Tao; elements from VCG

Tan yunfei (谭云飞).

Your browser does not support the audio element.

The regional card game “guandan,” literally “throwing eggs,” has become one of the country’s most popular social activities

On an evening in April, 29-year-old Su Miao skipped dinner and drove 3 hours to an industrial park after work to join a card game. “Cards is more interesting than food to me,” Su, a public sector worker in Beijing who asked to be identified by a pseudonym for this piece, tells TWOC.

Su plays cards up to three times a week, often for hours on end. One weekend she spent six hours straight playing in the same room. Her obsession is partly due to a viral craze for a decades-old regional game: guandan (掼蛋, literally “throwing eggs”).

The game features four players in teams of two racing to empty their hands through card combinations before the other pair. Over time, it has accumulated an estimated 140 million fans, from the elderly in parks to young professionals in office lunchrooms. In Jiangsu province, the game’s birthplace, a folk saying goes: “Eating without playing guandan beforehand doesn’t count as a meal, and neither does eating without playing guandan after!”

In recent months, the game has become a nationwide craze. Guandan entered public attention after it was featured in state broadcaster CCTV’s Lunar New Year Gala in January 2023, before going viral later that year. Feng Jing, the manager of the card game website Bianfeng.com, told Qianjiang Evening News this February that daily active users of guandan on the platform increased by 50 percent in 2023, with a significant increase in users from outside of Jiangsu. New Weekly magazine labeled guandan “Game of the Year” in December.

This January, a school in Yichang, Hubei province, even offered their staff and students two decks of guandan cards as New Year gifts and announced they would include the game in their curriculum next semester. Su’s regular guandan spot is a room next to a golf driving range, whose owner jumped on the trend earlier this year by renting it out to card players. A guandan WeChat group established by the room’s owner now has over 100 members.

According to the Jiangsu Province Guandan Sports Association, four villagers from Huai’an, Jiangsu, invented guandan in the late 1960s or early ’70s by combining several Chinese card games. Its name comes from players’ “throwing down” (掼 in Huai’an dialect) tricks with four or more of the same card, known as “bombs (炸弹),” whose second character sounds the same as “egg (蛋)” in Mandarin Chinese.

Guandan has been a daily pastime for generations of retirees in Jiangsu province (VCG)

Wang Jiulu, a 38-year-old from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, has played cards since his school days and learned about guandan from local retirees eight years ago. “Since around 2020 or 2021, almost all the restaurants in Xuzhou have had two tables in their private rooms, a round one for food and a square one for guandan ,” Wang, who runs a company that sells guandan -related products, tells TWOC. His orders surged in the second half of 2023, with an uptick in sales to companies buying customized guandan sets as gifts for their clients.

Relationships (or 关系) are an integral part of doing business in China, and, for some sectors, guandan has replaced activities like mahjong and golf as the prime activity for building corporate connections. According to an article by China Business Herald last August, guandan is increasingly replacing Texas Hold’em as finance workers’ preferred bonding game with clients, driven by the growing presence of domestic investment.

Several entrepreneurs have raised the game’s profile in business circles. Zhou Hongyi, founder and CEO of the internet security company Qihoo 360, expressed his love for guandan several times on social media and in interviews this year. Meanwhile, this January, when Shanghai Guandan Sports Association was established with Qi Shi, billionaire chairman of stock information provider East Money, as its first president, a related hashtag received over 50 million views on the microblogging platform Weibo.

Zhu Di, a 35-year-old vice manager at a construction material company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, believes guandan ’s cooperative element suits client relations building. “Sometimes, you even need to sacrifice yourself to help your partner discard their cards first,” Zhu, who asked to use a pseudonym for this piece, tells TWOC.

When Zhu first heard about guandan two years ago, she considered it a kitsch game for the elderly. Last year, however, she started hearing more about it from clients, friends, and social media. She felt compelled to “catch up with the trend” in August. While previously, she would take part in heavy drinking sessions to network with clients, “Now, we usually play guandan after a business lunch or dinner,” she says. “We share thoughts on guandan skills and work during the process…[ Guandan ] is a great tool for maintaining existing connections and making new ones.” Zhu claims her regular guandan teammate won several clients and business worth up to half a million yuan by playing the game with the right people in his office.

In May, over 10,000 contestants from across the country joined a guandan competition in Huai’an, Jiangsu province (VCG)

Guandan ’ s simplicity has also driven its popularity. Unlike other poker varieties that require chips and can seem complicated to beginners, and golf, which is expensive and time-consuming, guandan can be learned in 10 minutes and requires only four people, two decks of cards, and a flat surface. It is also more sophisticated than “fight the landlord (斗地主),” traditionally one of China’s most popular card games. “ Guandan is much more flexible…Everyone can have their own strategy for deploying the 27 ‘soldiers’ in their hand,” says Wang, the guandan business owner, comparing playing the cards to preparing an army for battle.

“It’s a wrestling of mind and psychology,” says Su, the Beijing public sector worker. She enjoys “making [opponents] unable to guess my cards and strategies...It also feels great if we cooperate well, no matter whether we win or lose.”

For a decade, officials have also promoted guandan . The Huai’an local government listed guandan as an “intangible heritage cultural item” in 2014. In September 2022, the General Administration of Sport of China released guideline rules for guandan competitions, and in October 2023, the game debuted at the 5th National Mind Sports Games as a demonstration event, alongside regular games such as Chinese chess, bridge, and five in a row. Wang’s company has organized community guandan competitions as part of local government public service campaigns that feature lectures from officials or police officers on, for example, avoiding scams.

But not every event is so upright. This January, an op-ed by the Beijing News warned about guandan enabling corruption or inappropriate “favor trading” between businesses and officials. It cited a case in Jiangsu in 2020, where 18 officials gathered to eat, drink, and play guandan in contravention of local pandemic prevention measures, and another from Anhui province in 2022 when seven cadres left their Party training without requesting leave to accept a dinner and guandan invitation.

Similarly, in a Weibo poll on the Yichang elementary school including guandan in its curriculum, over 30 percent of the 905 respondents opposed the practice, with some suggesting the game could be a gateway to gambling. “Isn’t there anything else to teach them? Or are you just educating them to become Las Vegas fans?” one Weibo user commented.

Many young professionals play  guandan  online via their cell phones (VCG)

In reality, gambling through guandan seems rare (unlike with many other Chinese card games). Su, Zhu, and Wang all say that they have never encountered guandan being played for money. One reason could be that it is too easy to cheat by communicating with one’s partner or even looking at their hand and telling them what to play next (both formally forbidden in the rules).

But even without gambling, Wang still sees money to be made in guandan as karaoke, drinking sessions, and golf decline in popularity among young professionals. He thinks guandan ’s popularity will persist for at least a few more years. Even if the trend dies down, “all the connections we’ve established through guandan can be our future sales channels,” he says.

Tan Yunfei is the editorial director of The World of Chinese. She reports on Chinese language, food, traditions, and society. Having grown up in a rural community and mainly lived in the cities since college, she tries to explore and better understand China's evolving rural and urban life with all readers.

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Garden tours, plants sales and more ways to spend time among flowers

Visit Maine's botanical gardens or get a sneak peek of what your neighbors are growing in their back yards.

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One of the loveliest ways to ease yourself fully out of the post-winter blahs and into springtime is to quit being a wallflower and instead surround yourself with living, blooming plants.

From botanical gardens to plant sales and garden tours, it’s time to make like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” and while away the hours, conferring with flowers.

The waterfall at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Photo by Tory Paxson, Courtesy of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

TOTALLY BOTANICAL

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay is open for the season, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maine Days are May 31 to June 2, when anyone with a Maine driver’s license or state ID gets in for free. Ditto for dads/father figures on Father’s Day (June 16). Advance registration is required. With more than 300 acres of gardens and natural spaces, including a waterfall, there will be plenty to see, smell and bask in the scenery.

Here are more things to do in Boothbay

A tour group walks on the boardwalk at Viles Arboretum in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Viles Arboretum is a botanical garden in Augusta with 6 miles of trails and more than 20 botanical collections. It’s open daily from sunrise to sunset, and admission is free. There are 224 acres with all sorts of flora and fauna to discover. Leashed dogs are welcome, and the visitor center is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Viles Arboretum offers medicinal plant walks, and although the May 18 session is full, you can still register for the June 15 and Sept. 14 events, lead by herbalist, homeopath and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth. Tickets are $25. Advertisement

The Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve has four areas to explore on its property in Northeast Harbor: the Asticou Azelea Garden (dawn to dusk daily), the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden (noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday from July 9 to Sept. 8, reservations required), Thuya Garden (dawn to dusk daily, June 15 to Oct. 14) and Little Long Pond Natural Lands (hiking trails and carriage roads open dawn to dusk daily). On June 26, at the Wildflowers of Little Long Pond event, participants can wander around the garden’s fields and forest, spotting wildflowers along the way while practicing how to identify them.

Joyce Saltman, right, and Beth Anisbeck embrace a tree for 60 seconds during a tree hugging event sponsored by Portland Parks and Recreation, at Deering Oaks Park last year. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

TOURS AND MORE

2nd Annual Tree Hugging 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Deering Oaks Park, Portland. portlandmaine.gov The tree hugging is a family-friendly community gathering to celebrate Portland’s many trees. Park ranger Liz Collado will lead a sensory awakening and forest bathing session. Along with tree hugging, there will be a storytime, and you can touch a forestry truck and meet naturalist Noah Querido and Portland city arborist Mark Reiland. Just down the road, you’ll find Fessenden Park, on the corner of Brighton and Deering Avenues. The tulips have arrived, and it’s worth a visit to see them.

McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 24. McLaughlin Garden and Homestead, 97 Main St., South Paris, $5. mclaughlingardens.org You’ll find more than 125 varieties of lilacs at the McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival. Explore on your own or take a guided tour led by a horticulturist. There will also be family-friendly activities, and you can shop for native and unusual plants.

4th annual Woodfords Community Garden Tour 1-4 p.m. June 8. Woodfords Corner Community in Back Cove, Deering Highlands, Oakdale and Deering Center, $20 suggested donation. woodfordscorner.org Presented by Friends of Woodfords Corner, this self-guided tour features at least 10 gardens. As you make your way down the list, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by all of the hidden havens bursting with flowers, plants and impressive yardscaping elements.

Peony Society of Maine 23rd annual Garden Tour 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8 and 15. Both tours start at 1348 Ohio St., Bangor, $5 donation. peonysocietyofmaine.net You’ll visit multiple gardens in Bangor, Winterport, Ripley and St. Albans, and your senses will be filled with countless peonies. A peony plant will be raffled off at the end of each tour. Advertisement

Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 22. Sagadahoc Preservation Inc., 880 Washington St., Bath, $40. sagadahocpreservation.org The Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath house and garden tour features several homes in North Bath. Every stop on the tour will be a treat for your senses and may motivate you to make some of your own magic when you get back home.

Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 29. Beckett Castle Rose Garden, Singles Road, Cape Elizabeth, $10. gardenconservancy.org You’ll see plenty of roses as well as ocean views at Beckett Castle, which sits right on the water, with views of five lighthouses. The castle was built in 1871, and its rose garden features more than 70 varieties of heirloom roses. A 50-foot stone tower doubles as the rose arbor entrance to the castle.

PICK A PLANT SALE

Tate House Museum’s Annual Plant and Herb Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 18. Tate House Museum, 1267 Westbrook St., Portland, 207-774-6177.  tatehouse.org The wide selection includes perennials divided from the museum’s 18th century reproduction garden. Visitors can also make their own “seed bombs” and get a sneak peak at a new installation by artist Ashley Page from 10 a.m. to noon.

Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland Spring Plant S ale 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. May 18, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, 217 Landing Road, Westbrook, 207-854-9771.  arlgp.org   Perennials, house plants and more will be on sale, and plants that don’t have specific pricing are “name your own fee.” Anyone interested in donating plants or pots to the sale should send a message to [email protected] .

Taking Root Plant Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Tom Settlemire Community Garden, Maurice Drive, Brunswick, 207-729-7694.  btlt.org This annual sale is organized by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. Proceeds benefit the Common Good Garden, which provides food and gardening education for the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. Master gardeners will be on hand to help shoppers choose their best options.

Scarborough Land Trust Native Plant Sale and Spring Festival 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Broadturn Farm, 388 Broadturn Road, Scarborough, 207-289-1199.  scarboroughlandtrust.org Visitors will find native plants, food vendors, local artisans, guided nature walks and activities for kids. To preorder plants, visit the Scarborough Land Trust website.

Maine Audubon Society Native Plants Sale and Festival 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., June 8, Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, 207-781-2330.  maineaudubon.org More than 75 species of native wildflowers, shrubs and tree seedlings will be available, along with workshops, info tables and experts.

Staff writer Megan Gray contributed to this report.

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Headed to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens? Here’s what else to check out in Boothbay

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