When traveling you’ll be away from your precious game library. But you can bring some with you if the games are small. Here are a few games that are good to travel with. (The dimensions are approximations)
Coup
Coup (6x4x1.5) is one of the most played games we have. Coup is a bluffing card game where you try to knock your opponents’ cards out and be the last person with cards to win the game. Get the Reformation expansion to add the ability to have teams as well as a new character, the Inquisitor.
Dungeon Roll
Dungeon Roll (6x6x4) is a press your luck game for 1 to 4 players where you try to get as many points as possible by delving into the dungeon and coming out of it alive and with items or experience. Pick your character card that will give you special abilities on your turn. On your turn, you roll dice that will be your delving party. A number of encounter dice are rolled depending on round. Dice in your party are used to defend against the encounter dice. You can press your luck and see if the dice remaining in your party can handle what’s next or you can return to town and collect your points. The total score after three delves is your final score.
For Sale Travel Edition
Going once! Going twice! Sold to the highest bidder! Bid and bluff your way to purchase the most valuable real estate for the lowest amount of money, then turn around and sell those houses (and shacks) for cold hard cash. Be the richest mogul at the end of the game to win this Stefan Dorra classic. Considered one of the finest bidding games of all time, For Sale (4x3x2) has a well-deserved following of fans. In this perfectly-crafted bidding game, players are forced to make a multitude of difficult decisions every minute…and that’s just in the first phase of the game!
Fuji Flush
In Fuji Flush (5x4x1), be the first player to get rid of all of your cards! Join forces with fellow players to beat the cards played by other players… or independently play the highest card to outdo all your opponents together, flushing their cards down the drain! Fuji Flush is a fast, fun, easy-to-learn card game for 3-8 players that will have both families and gamers shouting as their cards are sent down the drain!
FUSE
FUSE (9x7x2) is a real-time co-operative game that employs 25 dice and 76 cards. Each game is set to a ten minute timer, and players must work together in that ten minutes to defuse all of the bombs. Each bomb is represented by a card which needs a certain combination of dice in order to defuse it. A player will draw a number of dice equal to the number of players out of a bag and roll them. Players must then decide who will get which dice, but each player must take one and only one.
Hanabi
In Hanabi (5x4x1), players work together to launch a spectacular firework display. Trouble is, it’s dark out, so you can’t really see what you are working with! Each player holds their cards so that only the other players can see them. They must give each other vital information and remember all the information received. Then use the information to choose which cards to play. Helping each other play the right cards at the right time is the key to creating an unforgettable show and avoid being booed by the audience!
Harbour
Harbour (6x4x1.5 inches) is a rewarding worker placement game that has a small box and small footprint. Buy buildings with resources at the market where the price of resources is constantly shifting. Be the first to have four buildings to win the game.
Hero Realms
Hero Realms (6x4x2) is a deck-building game where you use gold to buy champion cards and action cards from the Market. These champions and actions can generate large amounts of gold, combat, or other powerful effects. You use combat to attack your opponent and their champions. When you reduce your opponent’s score (called health) to zero, you win!
Honshu
Honshu (7x5x2) is a map-building card game set in feudal Japan. Players are lords and ladies of noble houses seeking new lands and opportunities for fame and fortune. One game of Honshu lasts twelve rounds, and each round is divided into two phases. First, map cards are played in a trick, and the player who played the highest valued card gets to pick first from those cards played. Then the players use the map cards picked to expand their personal maps. Each player must expand their personal maps to maximize their scoring possibilities.
Lost Cities
In Lost Cities (8x8x2), who will discover the ancient civilizations? Two explorers embark on research journeys to remote corners of the world: the Himalayan mountains, the Central American rainforest, the Egyptian desert, a mysterious volcano, and the bottom of the sea. As the cards are played, the expedition routes take shape and the explorers earn points. The most daring adventurers make bets on the success of their expeditions. The explorer with the highest score after three rounds of expeditions wins.
Love Letter
Love Letter (4x3x1) is a small card game for 2 to 4 players that could easily be played in a couple minutes. There’s only 16 cards in the entire game. Players try to finish the game with the highest valued card. This game is all about deduction. The rules say to play until one player has won a number of times depending on the number of players, but you can just play as many rounds as you like.
Love Letter is so small that I carry it in my bag at all times. This game is a lot of fun and can be played with minimal space.
Pixel Tactics
Pixel Tactics (6x4x2) is a head-to-head card game that’s small on size and big on strategy. Build your unit from 25 different hero classes. Rally around a leader that will affect everyone’s capabilities, and go to war with your opponent in a fast-paced battle of strategies!
Poo
In Poo (5x4x1), each player takes on the role of a monkey. You fling poo and mess with each other until only one monkey is left standing. That monkey, of course, is the cleanest one. Each turn, every player gets to draw and play a card, usually either to fling poo at another player or to clean himself off. Out of turn, each player gets to play cards to defend himself or foil other players’ poo flinging.
Railways of the World Card Game
Railways of the World the Card Game (11x6x2) is a fast paced card game adaptation of the highly popular Railways of the World board game series. In Railways of the World the Card Game players use track cards and city cards to build a series of railroad routes and deliver goods. As the game progresses, player work to connect more cities, upgrade their engines for larger carrying capacity and deliver goods through a network of routes.
Roll for It!
In Roll for It! (5x4x1) players try to score 40 points by rolling dice and matching cards of specific point values. Each roll presents the player with new opportunities and fun decisions to make. The rules are simple – Roll’em, Match’em, Score’em! But look out! Other players may steal the card you’re shooting for… So hurry, pick up the dice and Roll For it!
Spyfall
Spyfall (8x8x2) is an easy-to-learn card game of bluffing, probing questions, clever answers, and suspicion. At the start of each round, players receive a secret card letting them know where they are – a casino, space station, pirate ship, circus,(30 unique locations!) – except that one player receives the Spy card instead of the location. The Spy doesn’t know where he is, but wins the round if he can figure it out before he blows his cover! The game is played over a series of rounds and points are awarded each round. After the last round, the player with the most points is the winner.
Star Realms
Star Realms (4x4x2) is a two player deckbuilding game (it includes a multiplayer variant as well) where players try to knock each other out with different kinds of ships, bases and outposts. In Star Realms, player buy cards from the common center row of cards that they will use on later turns. There are two kinds of ships you can buy including regular ships and bases. Regular ships are used for the turn that they are drawn. Bases remain in play until they are destroyed or scrapped (removed from the game). In addition, each card belongs to one of four different factions. If a player plays two cards of the same faction during their turn, there’s usually a bonus effect that is applied.
Sushi Go
Sushi Go (6x4x2) is a card drafting and set collection game for 2 to 5 players where players collect different kinds of sushi to have matching sets to score them more points. The game takes place over three rounds. Each player starts with a number of cards (dependent upon the number of players). Players pick one card and place it face down in front of them. After all players have done this, they reveal their cards and pass their remaining cards to the player to their left. Players continue doing this until there are no more cards. After cards run out, players count their score and move on to the next round.
The Grizzled
The Grizzled (6x6x2) is a cooperative game about survival in the trenches during the World War I where players win or lose together. A true challenge, intense and immersive, it’s also a tribute to our ancestors who have fallen in battle before us. This game is very challenging which makes you want to play it over and over.
The Resistance
Set in the near future, The Resistance (8x6x2) pits a small group of resistance fighters against a powerful and corrupt government. The resisance has launched a series of bold and daring missions to bring the government to its knees. Unfortunately spies have infiltrated the resistance ranks, ready to sabotage the carefully crafted plans. Even a single spy can take down a resistance mission team, choose your teams carefully or forever lose your chance for freedom.
The Resistance: Avalon
The Resistance: Avalon (8x6x2) pits the forces of Good and Evil in a battle to control the future of civilization. Arthur represents the future of Britain, a promise of prosperity and honor, yet hidden among his brave warriors are Mordred’s unscrupulous minions. These forces of evil are few in number but have knowledge of each other and remain hidden from all but one of Arthur’s servants. Merlin alone knows the agents of evil, but he must speak of this only in riddles. If his true identity is discovered, all will be lost.
13 Minutes
13 Minutes (6x4x2) is a card-driven micro game with tough decisions. Playing either President Kennedy or Khrushchev, your aim is to exit the Cuban Missile Crisis as the most powerful superpower. During the game you will play five Strategy cards that you use to place Influence cubes on battlegrounds to score majorities, or to manipulate battlegrounds. Played cards turn into new battlegrounds so the world map is ever changing. Be careful, because each decision is important and you may trigger global nuclear war.
Tides of Madness
Set in the Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos, Tides of Madness (6x4x2) is a two player card drafting and set collection game that plays in 20 minutes. Players try to collect cards that help them gain victory points. Matching suit cards give bonuses. Cards with Cthulhu tentacles give players madness tokens which can help or it can kill them if they have too much. The game is played over three rounds and the player with the most points wins.
Tides of Time
Set in the Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos, Tides of Madness (6x4x2) is a two player card drafting and set collection game that plays in 20 minutes. Players try to collect cards that help them gain victory points. Matching suit cards give bonuses. Cards with Cthulhu tentacles give players madness tokens which can help or it can kill them if they have too much. The game is played over three rounds and the player with the most points wins.
Travel Carcassonne
Now you can take Carcassonne everywhere you go with Travel Carcassonne (8x8x2). The scoring track is printed on the cloth carrying sack, which has room for all the tiles and followers. Of course, all components are a bit downsized to make it more convenient to carry along, but the game is the same great game that won the Spiel des Jahres award in 2001! This game is actually a bit smaller because you can just bring the components in the bag.
Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms
Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms (4x3x1) is a 4x game that’s the size of a regular deck of cards. Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms is the same as Tiny Epic Kingdoms except it doesn’t include the exploration mini-expansion. In Ultra-Tiny Epic Kingdoms, you rule! You will be exploring lands and factions, expanding kingdoms, exploiting opportunities, and exterminating all those who question your rule…but so will everyone else! This game is so small that I actually put the entire box in a hard plastic CCG deck protector for extra protection.
Welcome to the Dungeon
Welcome to the Dungeon (6x4x2) is a game for 2-4 players that involves bluffing where you goad your fellow players into thinking they can survive in the dungeon or fool them into thinking it’s too hard while going into the dungeon yourself. On your turn you can either pass or draw a monster card. If you draw a monster card, you can either put that monster into the dungeon or keep the monster and remove a piece of equipment from the character who will be going into the dungeon. The last player to pass must go into the dungeon and try to survive all of the placed monsters with the equipment that’s left on the character.
