10 of the Best Travel Board Games to Take on Holiday
Our guide to the best travel board games to take on holiday – for couples and families!
Although sitting on a beach soaking up the rays is a perfect way to recharge your batteries, for some people two weeks doing just that can make you go stir crazy. I love a bit of R&R as much as the next girl, but I can’t just lie around all day every day. So, when we have a day off exploring we often hang out at the bar and play some travel board games.
Travel-friendly board games
A lot of the best board games are sadly rather large and heavy – not great for packing in the suitcase, especially if you’re trying to stick to a small luggage allowance – but there are a number of games that are small and perfect to take on a trip with you.
Justin and I have some favourite two-player games that we always take with us when we go away as a couple then there’s another selection that’s perfect to take when we go away with the kids. Here’s our guide to the best games to take on holiday…
Best two-player games to take on holiday
Mr Jack
Mr Jack is a two-player game is based around Sherlock Holmes – one player is the detective and the other is the criminal. As Sherlock your goal is to narrow down the list of suspects in just eight turns, while the criminal does everything that can to stop themselves from being found.
Compact and quick to play, this is a good one to get out before you head off for dinner.
7 Wonders Duel
7 Wonders Dual has to be one of my favourite two-player games. The original 7 Wonders is one of our fave family games to play at home, so it was great to discover a two-player version to take on our travels, as it comes in a travel-friendly small box.
7 Wonders: Duel is resource-based game played over three ‘ages’, just like the original, but with subtle variations that makes the two-player version as challenging as the full size game.
You need a decent sized flat surface to play this, and it’s one of the longer two-player games on our list – potentially 30-45 mins but well worth packing!
Hive
This addictive strategy game is not restricted by a board and can be played on any surface. The object of Hive is to surround your opponents’ queen while protecting your own. There’s no setting up to do prior to playing, making this a quick starter.
Jaipur
Players square off as merchants trying to win the maharaja’s favour in this card game. Trade wisely to come out top!
Jaipur is another quick-play game, which takes around 15 mins to run through and is quite easy to pick up.
Best family/group games to take on holiday
Fluxx
Whatever you’re into there’ll be a version of Fluxx that you’ll love.
The classic game is simple to pick up and with constantly changing rules every game is different. The game has become so popular that you can now get versions of everything from Firefly and Batman through to Monty Python and pirates. The game is just made up of a pack of cards so it’s really easy to take a few different versions with you on the plane…
Sushi Go!
Kawaii-styled game with cutsie sushi cards. Sushi Go! is pass and play 20 minute game that anyone can play – perfect for families. Weigh up which cards to keep and which to pass on to make the highest scoring sushi combinations…
Exploding Kittens
Another great card game, Exploding Kittens is small and easy to play on the plane or in the hotel. This was actually the most funded game in the history of Kickstarter and features weird and wonderful cards illustrated by The Oatmeal. Players take turns drawing cards until someone picks up an exploding kitten and Boom! They’re dead. Last one standing wins.
Gloom
This dark and miserable game will make everyone laugh! Gloom is quite a unique game in that each player is assigned a family of five eccentrics and your goal is to make each of them as miserable as possible before killing them off.
Beware your competitors will be trying their best to turn their fates around, adding cards that increase their happiness while attempting to kill them with smiles on their faces. One of the weirdest games I’ve played, but great for kids with imaginations as you can create storylines that follow your characters untimely demises.
Dixit
Although there is a large board for this game, it’s not essential for play, meaning Dixit is suitable for taking on trips. All you need are the picture cards and your imagination. One player is the storyteller providing a one work or sentence ‘story’, while the others pick from their cards the image they feel fits this best. Everyone votes and the one who ends up with the biggest score wins.
Sussed
Sussed is very simple to play and is a great road trip game. The aim of the game is to rack up the most points by answering questions about the other players likes, dislikes and habits. This is great for tight nit groups of friends and families. Find out what people really known (and think) about you!
Pin for later!
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24 Comments
Liz Howe
What a useful guide! Christmas presents sorted!
Keri
Happy to help Liz – glad you liked our round-up! 😀
Nancy | MapandFamily
Great post – I only know two of these. We always used to take board games on uk family holidays cos we could fit them in the car (along with the kitchen sink!) but it’s trickier when you’re packing to fly. I like the sound of these travel sizes!
Keri
There’s so many small ones you could easily pop in a case without taking up much space Nancy – if you’re after something particularly small then a version of Fluxx is a great option!
Jenny
I really love a good game – and I haven’t heard of most of these, so thank you for the tips. I think both my kids would love the Sushi Go game. #farawayfiles
Keri
have to say Sushi Go! was one of our kids faves too.
Claire
Oooh, there’s loads here we don’t know. Is it wrong that I like the sound of Exploding Kittens 🙂 #farawayfiles
Keri
Ha ha, it’s got nothing on Crimes Against Humanity, if you’ve ever heard of that one Claire?
Angie
This is a great post. Lost Cities is a game which we have turned to on many trips from trekking in South America to boating on the river Thames. Always good to have a game in the bag. I shall investigate some of these! #farawayfiles
Keri
Excellent stuff Angie – I’m off to check out Lost Cities, cheers for the recommendation!
Clare Thomson
Most of these are new to me and it’s always a good idea to have a few travel board games ready for long journeys or inbetween meals when you’ve got kids. Thanks for sharing these suggestions on #farawayfiles
Keri
Hope this has helped you find a few new ones to take on your travels Clare!
Annabel Kirk
This is so useful! I’ll definitely be referring back for Christmas presents, I hadn’t heard of most of these! #fearlessfamtrav
Keri
Happy shopping Annabel! x
Ariana - World of Travels with Kids
I’ve not heard of any of these, so this is an awesome list!!! #fearlessfamtrav
Keri
aww, thanks Ariana!
Lauren
We love games and some of these we’ve never heard of! Exploding kittens is one of your favorites though! Great list. Pinning for future reference! #fearlessfamtrav
Keri
Hope this comes in useful then Lauren – enjoy!
Cath - Passports and Adventures
We have a huge collection of board games but are seriously lacking in the travel sized ones department, so this post has given me some great ideas of ones to add to our collection for our travels. #fearlessfamtrav
Keri
Glad to help Cath, there’s quite a few out there these days!
Nicky
We love Sushi Go but haven’t tries the others so may need to do some shopping before our next trip! Thanks for linking up to #fearlessfamtrav this time around.
Keri
My pleasure, hope you discovered some new ones the family enjoys!
This Bristol Brood
Great tips! My kids are just getting to the stage where they can sit and play games (although we need to work on the losing…), will definitely look up some of these #fearlessfamtrav
Keri
Ah yes, the losing. Not the most fun to work through. Good luck! 😉