Every game here is one we've owned, packed and played ourselves. We look at more than whether it's a good game — we consider how much luggage space it takes, whether it works on a plane or outdoors, how it plays with children and whether we'd genuinely take it away again.
The best game to pack depends on where you're going and who you're travelling with. Use these quick picks to narrow down the options.
Outdoors
Games we'd be happy to take into the garden, by the pool or onto a balcony.
See games →Families
Games we've found work particularly well when children are joining in.
See games →Evenings
Games worth getting out when you want to settle in and play for longer.
See games →Pack light
Games that take up very little luggage space when packed sensibly.
See games →From tiny games for aircraft tray tables to bigger games worth making room for, these are the games we've actually travelled with.
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One of our favourite games to take on holiday. Small enough to pack easily, with huge replay value and enough depth to keep us playing all evening.
Small
10–20 min
A fantastic family version of The Crew and particularly good when younger players aren't quite ready for Mission Deep Sea.
Small
10–20 min
Tiny, simple and chaotic. It's one of those games that can generate a surprising amount of laughter from little more than a deck of cards.
Tiny
10–20 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
5–10 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 simple and very funny family word game that's excellent for an evening, particularly with a larger group.
Medium
20–30 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
A much meatier holiday game than our small card games. Excellent if you want something substantial for an evening and have enough luggage and table space.
Large
~45 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
A great board game isn't automatically a great travel game. These are the things we pay attention to when deciding whether a game deserves space in our luggage.
How much room does it really take once packed sensibly?
Can we realistically play it with limited space on an aircraft?
Will the pieces and cards cope with playing outside?
Can younger players genuinely join in and enjoy it?
Does it suit a quick gap, a full evening, or both?
The most important test: after travelling with it, would we pack it next time?
The size of the box doesn't always tell you how much suitcase space a game really needs.
Exploding Minions
Exploding Minions comes in a 15 × 21 cm retail box, but the game itself is essentially a pack of cards. Move the cards into a small case and it takes up a fraction of the luggage space.
Herd Mentality
The full Herd Mentality box contains tokens, a cow enclosure and the pink cow. For a holiday, we take the cards and keep score on paper instead — turning a bulky box into a much easier game to pack.
That's why our packing size ratings are based on how we'd actually take each game away — not simply the dimensions of the box it comes in.