Best travel board games that are portable and fun

by Joost Nusselder Updated on: November 5, 2023

Traveling is fun, but some days you also want to enjoy yourself indoors. For example, a rainy evening at your destination.

It would be nice to have some with you to keep the mood high and have a fun game night.

These are the best travel board games that you can take with you to keep you entertained for hours.

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Buy at Bol.com

1. 999 Games Catan

Catan is nothing less than a contemporary classic board game. Loved by everyone from families to Silicon Valley execs, it makes one of the best travel games.

Wherever in the world you pronounce the Catan chest, you're likely to find a fellow fan.

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Playing style

Each player is a settler who wants to establish his own outposts from scratch on the mythical island of Catan.

The island is represented by the board composed of 19 individual hexagons.

These can be placed in almost infinite combinations meaning you could play with a new board every time.

Each hexagon has a corresponding number of spaces on it.

Players take turns rolling two dice, and the number rolled allows the corresponding land tiles to produce resources. These could be:

• brick
• wol
• ore
• grain
• or lumber

By collecting these resources in certain combinations, players can build their settlements.

You can also trade with other players if they have something you need. And watch out for the robber who stops production on the land tile he's on.

The goal of Catan is to obtain 10 victory points, which you collect mainly by building settlements or cities.

Bonus points are also awarded for various other achievements, such as the longest road or the largest army.

What makes it great

Catan is a game of strategy, cooperation and skill, but you still need the roll of the dice to make your success.

It is also the original “game for gamers” and helped start the whole board game phenomenon we have today.

Players: 3-4 (with expansion to 6 players)

Age: 10-99 years

Expected: tense strategy

Running time: 60 minutes

Catan is available in different variants and extensions. View them here

It's often fun too traveling to play a slightly more extensive game, and you often end up with fun board games.

2. Code names

Quickly becoming a classic, Codenames is a great game of teamwork and strategy. It's even a winner on our list of top-rated board games.

You have to be on the same wavelength as your teammate (s) to have a chance of breaking the puzzle.

Prepare for laughter, frustration, and exultation (in equal measure).

Playing style

The idea of ​​codenames is to be the first team to get in touch with all their secret agents. Players split up into two teams before selecting a spymaster.

The rival spymasters sit on the same side of the table, facing their respective henchmen / field workers.

25 code names are then randomly selected from the game and formatted in a 5 × 5 grid.

Next, a “key” card is chosen that reveals to the spymasters which of the agents in the grid belong to each side.

There are also a number of innocent bystanders among the officers. And there is a hit man you will want to avoid at all costs.

Spymasters work to enable their team to identify their own secret agents.

They do this by providing them with one word clues and a number.

The clues can link the code names of many agents, while the number tells the team how many are linked.

For example, if the spymaster says "bottle, 3," the team will know there are 3 agents with names that are somehow related to the word bottle.

Players then make a guess at the secret agents the spy man is trying to lead them to.

Selecting the wrong one can have dire consequences, and if you hit the hit man, the game is over.

The team wins to be the first to identify all of their secret agents.

What makes it great

While it may sound complicated, it is very simple and easy to follow while playing.

In essence, it's an association game and the espionage aspect just adds to the fun.

Seeing the random ways players' thoughts connect words can be hilarious, meaning the game is fun even when you're not doing well.

Players: 2-8 (best for 4-8)

Age: 10-99 years

Expected: tense strategy

Running time: 15 minutes

The different Codenames variants can be played separately without the need for a basic set, and are available here

3. Sequence

Combine the best elements of poker, bingo, add a board and throw in a big dose of strategy. The result is Sequence, a classic game that is a lot of fun.

While there is a travel version, we recommend the standard version instead. While it is much smaller, the travel version is a limited condensed version which is nowhere near as good.

Playing style

Players are each dealt a certain number of cards, this changes depending on how many people are playing. The board has an assortment of cards printed on it.

As the name suggests, the object of the game is to create a series of 5 connected cards.

You do this by selecting a card from your hand on your turn and placing a marker on the corresponding card on the game board.

If you get 5 connected markers, you win the game.

What makes it great

There is a lot of strategy involved because you cannot simply focus on your own hand.

You have to watch your opponents and try to figure out where they are going to stop them. It's easy to pick up and exciting to play.

Players: 2-12

Age: 7-99 years

Expected: tense strategy

Running time: 30 minutes

Check the latest prices here

4. Qwirkle Travel

Described as a cross between dominoes and scrabble, Qwirkle is a super simple game of pure strategy.

Anyone can play it, but not everyone can play well.

Playing style

Qwirkle's game consists of 108 separate tiles. Each has one of 6 different shapes printed on it in one of 6 different colors.

To start, each player randomly chooses 6 tiles from the tile bag.

Players take turns placing the linked tiles in rows and columns.

To do this you have to make series of the same shape or color with the tiles in your hands.

If it is a series of shapes, only one of each color can be displayed in each row.

If it is a set of colors, only one of each shape can be displayed in each row.

You can lay as many tiles as you want as long as they are all connected in a straight line.

Alternatively, you can use your go to swap your tiles with new ones from the bag.

At the end of each turn, take enough stones to return your hand to 6.

Scores are awarded after each turn, depending on how many tiles have been placed and how many columns they fall into.

Bonus points are given for completing full lines of 6 tiles.

The game ends when a player has used all of his tiles and there are no more in the bag to draw.

What makes it great

This game is incredibly easy to understand and get started.

However, once you start, you start to realize that there is a deceptively deep strategy that can be applied.

The satisfaction of building big scores can be addictive

Players: 2-4

Age: 8-99 years

Expected: tense strategy

Running time: 45 minutes

The travel edition of Qwirkle is available here at bol.com

5. Splendor

Be transported to the days of the European Renaissance as you become a merchant striving to amass a huge fortune.

Playing style

In Splendor, players compete to build the largest and most prestigious jewelry industry in Europe.

To do this you will need to collect raw gems that you can then use to finance the construction of mines.

But then you have to create ways to transport the gems, pay jewelers to cut and polish them, and also buy stores where you can sell them.

Develop your cards, collect the gem chips and watch your wealth soar.

With wealth, you can then attract nobles who will give you the prestige - and points - to win the game.

What makes it great

This game is easy to understand and the more you play the more you start to discover the intricacies.

Although very strategic, the game is still extremely fast with only 4 basic options for each player per turn.

Players: 2-4

Age: 10-99 years

Expected: tense strategy

Running time: 30 minutes

Splendor and the extension are available here

How we chose the best travel board games

The most important considerations for choosing a board game to take with you are the size, weight and portability of the game.

All these mini travel board games tick those boxes.

But most of all, to be considered one of the best travel games, they have to be a lot of fun to play!

To rate these games we have developed a “game score”, a quantifiable rating that we use when ranking games in our reviews. This is based on the following components, each with its own weight.

1. Play value (35%)
2. Interactivity (20%)
3. Price/ quality (20%)
4. Versatility (15%)
5. Awards (5%)
6. Materials (5%)

The play value, together with the interactivity, is the most important thing. The games should be fun to play and interactivity is also an important part of this.

The play value consists of ease of use, degree of open-endedness, imagination and social interaction. When a game is easy to use and understand or has a logical learning curve and there are many options to give it your own direction, it will be played longer with a higher quality of game.

Interactivity is the extent to which the game involves the players and immerses them in it. This is very important for the quality of play and how often children will return to the game to play it more often.

The value for money is a score based on the ratio of the quality of the game to the price of the item. This ratio determines how much value you get for your money, in play value and in intrinsic quality of the item such as the materials used.

The versatility is how many directions you can take the game in. If there is only one possible outcome and the game always follows the same steps, then the versatility is low. If there are multiple outcomes possible, multiple ways of playing, multiple ways to win and, for example, multiple characters that influence the game, then the versatility is high.

Awards for the game are also important. This indicates whether it has been recognized by reputed institutions to ensure that it brings the right play value or sometimes educational value.

Materials are understood to mean all materials incorporated into the product. These are the main components such as cardboard or plastic for a game board or real wooden playing pieces.

Are board games better for traveling, or card games?

Board games are often more suitable for longer stays in one location, such as a holiday home or a campsite, where space and table space are available. They offer deeper and longer play sessions, which can be ideal for evenings in the accommodation.

Card games, on the other hand, are usually more compact and a more portable kind of travel games, making them ideal for on-the-go use, such as car rides, train journeys, or when you have limited space on an airplane or hotel room. They are often quicker to learn and play, which is suitable for shorter play sessions.

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.