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!

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