Aircraft tray tables are small, wobbly and shared with drinks, so most games don't work in the air. These are the ones we've played on a tray-sized surface ourselves, plus the games we'd leave in the suitcase until you land.
The games that work on a plane are the ones you can play with cards held in your hand, or with a few chunky pieces that won't slide off. We put every game on a tray-sized surface before we call it plane friendly, and most fail.
We've played Hive Pocket on a plane and it's one of our two favourite flight games. There's no board and no cards, just heavy tiles that stay put when the tray wobbles. A game takes about ten minutes, and it's just as easy to keep playing for an hour.
Our other favourite game for two on a plane. It's a tactical card game made for exactly two players, so it suits two people sitting side by side, and it only needs a small space on the tray. The special cards make every round hard to predict, and a game takes around 30 minutes, or less if you lower the winning score.
The tin is only about 10 cm across and weighs 161 g. On a tray it works best if everyone holds their own cards and the shared card sits in the middle. Games last around five minutes, which suits short attention spans on a flight.
Leave the oversized box at home and it's essentially a pack of cards. The cards need very little table space, and a game takes around 30 minutes for two to five players.
Take just the cards, leave the cow and the enclosure at home, and keep score on paper. Everyone writes their answer down, so it barely needs a tray at all. You'll need at least four players.
Every game here has passed our tray-table test. New games appear here automatically when we mark them as plane friendly.
A brilliant two-player card game in a tiny box. Unpredictable, tactical and perfect for a plane, it's now a game we take on every holiday.
Small
~30 min
A very easy game to recommend for holidays: quick, compact and ideal when you want something that fills 10–20 minutes without committing to a long game.
Small
~15 min
An excellent holiday game for two people. The chunky pieces make it particularly useful when you want to play somewhere that wouldn't suit ordinary cards.
Small
10 min
Brilliant with children and ideal when you've got 10–20 minutes to fill. Individual games are extremely quick, although we find it becomes repetitive if played for too long.
Tiny
~5 min
A very funny group game that gets better with more players. The full box is bulky, but it becomes a much better travel game if you take only the cards and keep score on paper.
Small
~15 min
The retail box is unnecessarily large for travelling, but take the cards out and Exploding Minions becomes a compact, simple and very good holiday game — particularly with more players.
Tiny
~30 min
The Crew: Family Adventure has a flip-out board that's awkward on a tray.
Just One needs everyone round a table writing secret clues.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is fast and physical, with everyone reaching for the same pile. Brilliant at the holiday table, but not next to a stranger's coffee.
Forbidden Desert has far too many tiles and cards for a tray.
Hold your cards. Use the tray only for the shared pile, not for laying out a hand.
Leave big boxes at home. A small card case packs flatter and is easier to get out mid-flight.
Choose quiet games. Anything that involves slapping the table or shouting is best saved for when you arrive.
Check the tray first. Some trays fold out of the armrest and are smaller than you expect, so pack at least one game that works with cards in hand.
Yes, as long as the game doesn't need a large playing area. Games where you hold your own cards and share one small pile, such as Dobble or Exploding Minions, work best.
Hive Pocket or The Fox in the Forest. Hive Pocket needs no board and its chunky tiles stay put on a tray table. The Fox in the Forest is a tactical card game made for two that only needs a small space.
Ordinary card and board games aren't restricted items, so they can go in your cabin bag. The bigger limit is space, which is why we pack cards without their boxes.
A couple of simple accessories we use ourselves to protect games and cut down the amount of packaging we need to take away.
We use these sleeves with our card games, including The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Exploding Minions and The Fox in the Forest. They add a little bulk, but they help protect games that get handled and shuffled a lot while we're away.
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Exploding Minions and The Fox in the Forest
These simple deck boxes are useful for leaving bulky game packaging at home and taking only the cards you actually need. Different colours also make it easy to keep several games separate in your luggage.
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Exploding Minions, Herd Mentality and The Fox in the Forest
We wouldn't bother using one for Just One because you still need the other components from the original box.
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