Part two already? Gosh… the first one went down so well we thought we’d do another! So here are another group of great games that are perfect wherever and whenever you may be going on Holiday and also are great just to have around the house…
For 2-5 who like to collect sets… raw drafting…
Tasty dishes on a conveyor, casual Japanese food in a card game, this is Sushi Go!
Every hand of cards you have is filled to the brim with tasty dishes, negiri, maki rolls, dumplings. Nom. You’ll get to keep one and then the rest of the hand will be passed on to the next player and you’ll get the cards from the player on your other side. The conveyor belt of cards continues and cards are collected face up in front of you. Each dish scores differently so you must make the most of what comes around to have the tastiest meal and score big!
With a few odd cards with differing rules thrown in such as chopsticks, wasabi, and pudding… This is a wonderful card game with cute images and simple yet addictive game play. It comes in a tin and if you love it as much as us, you may want to upgrade to Sushi Go Party! which allows you to make your own mix of dishes for a more varied experience (although the tin is bigger!)
Don’t let this one pass you by, or you’ll end up getting your just desserts.
For 1-6 stuck in a room… Escape!…
This is a bit of a different one… a one off 30-45 minute escape room in a box, a series of games called Unlock! Short Adventures.
Every version of this game comes as a box of cards. You’ll need a mobile phone to play and the free app downloaded on it. What you have here is a lateral thinking, logical escape room puzzle in a box. They are very inexpensive, will likely be completed within the hour and can only be played once, a bit like a real escape room.
These truly get your grey matter ruminating and each adventure is colour coded for different levels of difficulty, depending what kind of challenge you are up for as a group. When you’re done, we suggest regifting them to someone else to play through too, bonus. Why not compare how well you did too?
There are bigger boxes under the name Unlock! with three longer challenges in too but they’re not so mobile (although you can just take the cards out of the box). With lots of different themes to suit most people, these are great for an evening’s entertainment.
Don’t bolt for the door… key into a challenge and lock on to these great experiences.
For 2-4 lovers of Azulejo… get fired up…
Considered one of the best strategy games of 2017, Azul had a ‘small’ facelift in 2023 and the travel sized version was born, Azul Mini.
For those of you unaware of this multi-award winning modern classic, you are taking turns drafting tiles to your own board and at the end of the round will be scoring them based on how they have been placed on your board. You get more points for lining them up together and there are bonuses to be had at the end of the game.
At the start of your first game, it feels like you’re playing solo but you soon realise the clever way the tiles move around in the central area means you can really mess with other players as wasted tiles will hurt their score.
The mini version is a masterclass in design, taking a wonderful game and making it so much more compact and still just as stunning. There is nothing quite like it. It is still bigger than most other games we’re discussing here but so worth the space.
If you get a chance to try it, you will not be disappointed… I could play un-’tile’ the cows come home…
For 2-6 steady handed campers… wood you believe it?…
Tins are great, open camp fires are great, balancing games are great… mix it all together and Tinderblox is awesome!
Draw a card every turn and place the corresponding log and/or embers on the fire… using tweezers! I mean, that’s it. Don’t let stuff fall, clearly… It is a balancing game after all. Some cards get you to place multiple pieces, some ask you to use your non-dominant hand… tricky. As the fire gets taller the risk of knocking it down becomes more and more palpable.
This is the kind of game that those that don’t like games just get and enjoy. It’s probably not going to last 15 minutes too, but you will want to play one more time…
So, ruin the old adage and show them how playing with fire isn’t at all dangerous…
For 4-8 bluffing trivia buffs… red herrings galore…
Know those tells? Think again… bluffing is brought to the forefront in a game of Sounds Fishy (travel edition).
Each round a player is going to read out a question and everyone else gives out a potential answer. Fish out the red herrings but be careful to leave the true blue kipper face down, this is the player who has given the correct answer! If the kipper is the last unrevealed answer, points! If you turn it over too early, no points!
So simple, it hurts. Everyone but the guesser can see the answer so they can use that to their advantage, fake tells and falsifying body language are clearly encouraged, the role of the guesser can be very stressful with a sneaky group of players.
The game is over within half an hour and the tin it comes in looks like a stylised sardine can and is pretty much the same size. Perfect for any occasion, Did we mention it scales well, that’s no tall tail, Done now, fin. *facepalm*
For 1-8 speedy wordsmiths… how a-peel-ing…
A modern word forming classic in a yellow novelty shaped bag… this is Bananagrams.
Get your letter tiles, form them into a grid, like a crossword at the same time as everyone else. If you manage to use up all your tiles, shout ‘Peel’ and everyone gets an extra tile. Got a tile you hate? Shout ‘Dump’ it goes back in the mix and you take 3 others to replace it. When all the tiles are out, if you finish off and shout ‘Bananagrams’, you win! As long as you didn’t make any mistakes in your word grid!
It’s frantic and fun and some people love to give a running commentary or play quick and loose. Every game of it is different and as adrenaline filled as you choose to make it. There are variants like BIG Letter Bananagrams with much larger tiles. All you need is a bit of space on a table and you can really play this anywhere. Not a fan? It’s no ‘skin’ off my back…
For 2-4 nautical collectors.. Try not to fold…
Set collection done right from a master designer, beautiful pictures of specially made origami, this is Sea Salt & Paper!
You start with nothing, every turn you will begin by gaining a card in one of a pair of ways and then you either end your go or take up to two optional actions, playing a pair of ‘duo cards’ for a special ability and/or ending the round.
Here’s the fun bit. You can just stop the round and score, or, if you think you have outsmarted your opponents then you can let them have just one more turn each. If you still have the most points then you get your points and a bonus, if any of them do, you just get a small bonus. Push your luck meets a rummy style game? You betcha.
This does not sound like much but it’s so well thought out, you should try it. Once the simplicity sinks in you start seeing ways to play mind games with your opponents, bluffing and doing something unexpected, leading them to think you are doing poorly… can you tell I’m a bit of a fan?
Did we mention this is just a single deck of cards? How handy is that for travelling! It’s also stunning and has a great small expansion too, Extra Salt. Great name. It’s amusing too, there should always be a moment in the game where you ‘crease’ up in laughter.
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We hope you’ve found something you like the sound of from our blogs, don’t forget to check out the small games of Oink Games too, whatever you do on your holidays, relax, do what you love, spend time unwinding and most importantly have fun (with board games)!