Top 5 Travel Board Games 

Even in the lid, rolling the dice that close to water makes me nervous!

My goodness! What's a "vacation"? I have some vague memory of it, long ago.

John, it's been five years and in that five years this feels like the 29th time you've tried to push Qwinto on me... I've gone through the stages from "that doesn't look very fun" to my current stance of "That game seems neat but I don't think my wife would enjoy it." At this rate I'll probably own it by year's end...

When I first saw Qwinto, I heard its stupid name, I looked at its pathetic box and grid of numbers and 2002 called and didn't want Sudoku back. But I trusted John and well what can I say! Never has a game gone down so amazingly well. We went to the pub as a family yesterday. We played The game quick and easy and deep sea adventure and I think everyone enjoyed them. So they said whats next and I pulled out Qwinto and I could just see the faces drop a little. Undeterred I said trust me despite the fact I hadn't played the game yet. We played game after game and people were ordering whatever we were having because we looked like we were enjoying ourselves so much! The look of confusion as people politely came by to investigate and find us with 3 dice a piece of paper and a pencil! I'm still getting messages today saying "remember that game when you got so caught up in it you tried to roll a 7 with one dice" I don't think Thank you cuts it, but its the best I can do for the superb recommendation.

I didn't think of Consulting Detective as a travel game - great video.

i fucking love the scripts of your videos they're always so well thought out with puns, metaphors and witty comments. it's enjoyable to listen to. thank you so much for doing this for us all.

I just want to say, I just discovered your channel today and I've torn through so many of your recent videos. I've watched my fair share of board game / gaming review channels and yours is the one I've connected to the most. I haven't watched a single video of yours without scrambling to add something new to my shopping cart right after. You provide the most diverse recommendations, with the most thought, care, and humor put into your production and commentary. It's incredible you're just a one-man show, and that you haven't blown up yet. I wish I could do more than just like, comment, subscribe, hit the bell, and supported on Patreon - I've done all of the above and it still doesn't feel like enough for the value you're providing! All the best from the States!!

For Sale is my go-to travel game. It doesn't really meet your criteria of being safe from a gust of wind, and I guess it also doesn't work if you're only traveling w/ one other person, but it's a super clever design and it's barely larger than a standard pack of playing cards.

Thank you for the great list of travel games! I'm going to try some of them out!

Our go-to travel game for years was Monopoly Deal. Since then we've added OK Play, Big Dig(the reason I didn't get 2nd Chance) & Welcome to I also have Scirmish from 1999 which is a great little game.

I used to love "turn to the" style books when I was a kid, so glad they made one fully fleshed out and some ! Great vid :)

Was looking for a couple of new games that were easy to pick up and bought Qwinto thanks to this video. We love it!

"Was the bartender flirting with you or was he just italian?" As an italian bartender I feel personally attacked

Nice to see some pictures of you and your wife playing the games

Great video as always Jon! I took Wavelength on vacation to the beach a couple weeks back after seeing your videos on it and it was too big of a hit! No one wanted to play any of the other more complex games I brought with me. I was really looking forward to playing Everdell with the new expansions but everyone just wanted to play the fun party game instead :(

Great stuff, Jon. Thanks for another great video!

I also like Love Letter - just a pack of cards, Mr. Jack Pocket - 2p only, Mint Works - easily the smallest game ever, Port Royal - Just a box of cards, Welcome To... - carry the cards and use the app for the scoresheet, Fox in the Forest - for 2 player only, Arboretum, 6 Nimmt!, Deep Sea Adventure, Insider, Hanabi, Schotten Totten, Silver and Gold, Ultra-Tiny Epic Galaxies... All these are quite small and if I can I try to carry at least 2 of these when I travel. Hive Pocket is one my favourite games too and is usually in the travel bag, but depends really on number of people I plan to play with.

A few here I've never heard of - thank you! I always travel with Hive. Always. As you say, the sturdiest of all outdoor games. I also love Lost Cities, Port Royal, Jaipur, Ingenious, The Bear and the Bees, Zoomaka, Exploding Kittens, Love Letter and Fungi - all lightweight and great to travel with.

Bananagrams is easy to pack and play (and waterproof)

Great list, Jon. I’ll be checking them all out. I particularly love the look of this Hive Pocket. Never really paid much attention to it when seeing it on written lists and BGG but you’ve really reframed it for me and I could genuinely see myself playing it in more “rugged” scenarios. I’ll admit, The Mind is a bit esoteric for me to be instantly drawn to it but, like most gamers, I’ve had a number of experiences with unconventional games and been happily surprised. For example, Dixit is easily in my top 20 (and possibly top 10) despite me thinking it looked dreadful at first. Like you, my collection is evolutionary so I don’t mind taking a chance here and there. Some additions of my own-not that my experience with games is remotely close to yours-would be Love Letter and Sushi Go. I don’t tend to play these smaller card games at home but they are enjoyable in the right setting. Simple and fairly quick. If you have half an hour in an airport or station, you can slot a game in comfortably and have a bit of time to walk to your platform/gate! I also try to pop at least one in my duffel if I’m an inpatient in hospital for when I’m having a Crohn’s flare-up and my wife visits. Not that she can at the moment but you know what I mean!!

Qwinto... It's the first game my mother finished and enjoyed in her whole life. I had never seen that expression of enjoyment in her face. Thank you, because now I have someone to play with at home😊

Just bought Second Chance and Qwinto for a holiday next week after watching this!

I travel with Cartographers and railroad ink 😁 easy to pack and teach other people 😊

Wow, your mum costume is really realistic!

100 % agree! Hive pocket and Qwinto go with me all over the world, not only do they feel compact, they are very good games

Like both small games: The Game versus The Mind? TIPS: 1. Buy The Mind and download official rules for The Game - you can play them both with The Mind cards! Use The Mind extra cards as a placeholder for the needed extra 1 and 100 card. 2. Fun expansion houserule for The Game. Red highlight numbers on every double card like 11, 22 up through 99. The Skip rule you can do for 10 cards apart, you can also now do from one red double number card to the other. It makes The Game more exciting and interesting to play.

Ayyy glad ya visited my homeland of Croatia Hope ya had a blast

Great games! Love Sherlock Holmes, Qwinto and Hive! But my favorite travel game is a small game named Push it, similar to Crokinole, but without the board. Great game for pubs also!

6:42 You risk it by throwing the dice INSANELY CLOSE TO THE WATER! As a person who has lost his arm (phone) to the seas, I'm getting PTSD just by watching something like this.

Great video!

Great video

I've never really been into roll and write games despite how many you have reviewed before, but I think I'll have to give these a try. Now I just need the pandemic to chill out so I can do some traveling!

Endless love to Hive, such a perfect game in many ways

I played this version of Second Chance and want but can’t find.😞 Really want this one as my family doesn’t enjoy playing games but thought they might play Last Chance. Will keep looking!😊

Great video,thank you! Really like the Hive app... should probably pick up a physical copy! Qwinto looks interesting too! Fluxx (zombies or star) is one of our modern classic camping games (cribbage for me growing up! Tussie Mussie is a nice one to bring too, compact and there's something about a nature themed game that's so relaxing on vacation. I have to bring Palm Island and at least one Maiden's Quest deck as well, but they're primarily solo... mind you with some potential for serendipitous interaction with others that could make for interesting vacation stories!

When lockdown struck I did eventually get bored of reading my four books then periodically looking out the window, but thank the fucking God you came along. Your passion and humour is inspiring and it has made me want to spend loads of money/go on holiday/make friends (three things I will never do, but fucking God you inspired me to hope to do them). Anyway, you're funny, make more videos, thank you.

I know your nemeses already have done a video on Oink Games, but there are so many good games published by them, that you could make a whole 10-minute video on just a few of their games!

Iv played the mind with lots of different friend groups…Iv also bought packs to give as gifts.

5:37 hope these are floating dices

Qwinto is the "toothbrush of travel games"...🤣🤣🤣

I would cut second chance from your list. If you want to add a similar (and in my eyes much better) game, add Patchwork Doodle. But I prefer most as travel game: Castles of Burgundy the Dice game. That is our 'toothbrush'. Gives meaningful decision, mitigation/bonuses, with a Euro feel... for just 2 dice, pencil and paper. Have you ever tried that one (its a must have imo ;) ). Other contenders are Dizzle and Brikks. Or Karuba the Card game of Star Realms but they are also less 'wind gust proof'. Thx for the vid!

"...the toothbrush of board games!" lol Love it! :-)

Just picked up the Sherlock Holmes game! It was the same price as hive pocket, and is different than the other games I have. Very excited to play it on my trip later. Do I bring all the books with me?

Hey, I just got Qwinto and Skull for a future family holiday because of your recommendations. One question… in Qwinto, if you roll and can’t place the number, do you make it an instant fail or can you use your reroll? Also reroll only once right?

How is qwinto compared to quixx? I own quixx and they seem very similar. Not sure if I’d need both in my collection. I very much enjoy quixx so qwinto is appealing to me. Thanks!

The mind seems like something i'd love. Been on my wish list for a while, but never jumped at it for some reason. Qwinto is painful for me. I'm too impulsive and my greed or blindness to a stupid move only a few numbers later always bites me. That inability to pivot from a mistake you don't recognize before your turn ends is painful. I think I'll modify it with some forgiving house rules lmao

For me - being married to a woman who INSISTS that her outfit has to match the landscape of the travel destination (which she OBVIOUSLY doesn't know beforehand) - this video is pure gold.

I always take Love Letters, any Fluxx, Tides of Madness, and some other games but I don't remember because I had too many cocktails today to celebrate my love with my future wife.

I don't like the mind, because the rulebook tells you how the creators want you to play it, which is just having all the players have a synchronized internal clock and play on time, the most boring and consistent strategy.

Oh my, this video shows a lot of Actualegs ;p

Hey 👋 where have you been! Missed your face 😃

Greed ... A mere six dice

i think another rule, is that you dont have to write anything down lol

Qwinto is a lot like Qwixx.....so it looks.

Nice video but now I'm spoiled. I miss your more ridiculous reviews with your role playing.I don't even care about what game is being reviewed anymore.