10 Travel-Ready Games for Adults (That Aren't a Pack of Playing Cards)

New York Times

01-05-2025

A card game of deception and intrigue, Coup plays quickly, packs up small enough to fit easily in most bags, and encourages you to betray your friends.
Coup is a social-deduction, bluffing game that senior staff writer Elissa Sanci describes as a souped-up version of the card game Bullshit. She sticks it in her purse for beer garden hangs, after-dinner drinks, or trips with friends. 'Things can get delightfully out of hand when the game gets going, and I've really had to work on my poker face to get ahead.'
It made our list of best beginner board games for adults, in part because it's easy to learn. 'My brain usually goes staticky when someone tries to explain the rules of any game,' Elissa said, 'but I found Coup easy to understand.' You can also teach it to others even after they've had a few beers, and it's nearly as fun with two players as it is with six. Players: two to six
two to six Duration: 15 minutes
In Anomia, each player gets a different category card ranging from 'Artificial Sweetener' to 'Rock Opera.' The challenge is that you have to pay attention as symbols are drawn, indicating a two-player face-off where you must name an example of something in the other person's category before they name something in yours.
It's a surprisingly energetic game that keeps you on your toes and gives competitive players nervous sweats. One downside for public spaces or thin-walled hotels: It can get surprisingly loud as you desperately shout your answers. Players: three to six
three to six Duration: 25 minutes
Trying to signal what cards everyone else has in their hands is the main focus of this game where cards are all held backwards.
The cooperative, communication-based memory game Hanabi involves the simple task of creating sets of cards — but you never see the hand you're dealt. The crux of the game is communicating, via a specific set of rules, to other team members about which cards they have. It's up to you to remember what you've learned.
'It's the horror of watching your friend pick the worst possible card and biting your tongue so you don't blurt out their mistake,' writes game expert and staff writer James Austin in our guide to the best card games. 'That despair is balanced by the sheer joy you feel when you give them a perfectly phrased hint.'
Unlike with many other games, the two-player variant is legitimately satisfying. However, matching cards is based on color, so this probably isn't a good option for color-blind players. Players: two to five
two to five Duration: 25 minutes
Straight out of our guide to the best two-player games is The Fox in the Forest, a charming take on the classic trick-taking card game. It's easy to learn, but its unique scoring system requires strategy if you want to win.
You can feasibly play Fox in the Forest on a tray table (as long as there's not a ton of turbulence). Though the game comes with scoring tokens, it's just as easy to score on paper or your phone, which means if you're really short on packing space, you can ditch the box and pack the deck in a rubber band.
The game is pretty chill, but if you're extremely competitive and don't want to start fights with your one-and-only traveling companion, consider the cooperative The Fox in the Forest Duet, which is my favorite version, though it takes up a little more table space. (If you frequently travel in a duo, you might also consider the compact, two-player deck-building game Star Realms or the pocket edition of Hive, a chess-like tile-laying game.) Players: two
two Duration: 25 minutes
A unique and compact bluffing game where one player has no idea what they're drawing.
Sadly, the old standby drawing game Pictionary comes in a very big box. Luckily, A Fake Artist Goes to New York fits in the palm of your hand, and all the drawing paper and markers you need are included in the tiny box.
The gist of the game is this: Each player, save the Fake Artist, gets the same word. Then, all players draw a picture together that represents that word, with each player contributing a line one at a time. For the Fake Artist, the goal is to stay undetected. For the Real Artists, the goal is to prove to the other Real Artists that they know the word while being oblique enough that the Fake Artist won't catch on. At the end of a round, everyone votes on who they think the Fake Artist is, then the Fake Artist tries to guess the word that was being drawn.
The game can be played with up to 10 people, so it's great for family reunions or friend group vacations. Bonus: Kids as young as 8 can probably play along with adults without killing the vibe. Players: five to 10
five to 10 Duration: 20 minutes
Impatient word-game lovers will enjoy Bananagrams, which is basically speed Scrabble (without the math). It's a flexible game that can be played with as few as two players and as many as eight. Plus, it's simple to learn and fun for different generations to play at once. Samantha Schoech, a staff writer on the gifts team, takes it on all of her family vacations. We also recommend it in several of our gift guides, including our guide to the best host and hostess gifts.
While all the letter tiles fit in a cute little portable banana bag, it is slightly heavier and larger than our other picks in this roundup. The game also requires a large surface area to play, but it's the kind of boardless, sprawling game that begs to be played on the floor and can adjust to awkward spaces. Players: two to eight players
two to eight players Duration: 15 minutes
A brain-burning cooperative game that can be played in just 15 minutes, with a deck that's slimmer than most wallets.
Light packers rejoice: Sprawlopolis, an 18-card cooperative game, is smaller than a wallet, making it the most portable game on the list. The puzzle-like layout game requires a good amount of table space to 'build your city' (read: not for a tray table), but it requires almost no setup time and plays in just 15 minutes, so it's easy to whip out when you have just a little downtime.
In our guide to the best card games, writer James describes it as 'a tightly designed—almost cruelly sharp—game that feels damn near impossible to win but remains a joy to bash your head against.'
Another bonus: It's a rare gem that sacrifices nothing when you play it solo. (If you're a frequent solo traveler, you might also consider the portable logic-puzzle card game Food Chain Island.) Players: one to four
one to four Duration: 15 minutes
This series of escape-room-like cooperative games involves solving riddles and puzzles to get out of labs, tombs, and other scary places. The difficulty level depends on the game. Unfortunately, you can only play it once.
Exit: The Game, which makes a series of escape-room-style games packed with riddles and puzzles, is surprisingly portable for the expansive, two-hour-ish duration. It's great for a rainy day or a fun night at the Airbnb. Since it's a cooperative game, it works well with a wide range of ages; you can feasibly play with grandparents and grandchildren at the same time, depending on the particular game's difficulty level. But it's also fun with just two adults and can even be played solo.
I've played and enjoyed The Secret Lab, while our guide to the best games for families recommends The House of Riddles as a great starter if kids are joining in the fun. (Check the difficulty rating listed on the box before you choose!) One downside: it's a nonreplayable, one-and-done game. Players: one to six
one to six Duration: one to two hours
Even by card game standards, this game is remarkably small and portable. But the gameplay — which involves assembling the longest runs or largest set of cards you can — is surprisingly expansive.
Scout has the highest praise of any in this list: Our board game expert James says he carries it in his backpack almost everywhere he goes.
Scout revolves around a unique feature: being dealt a hand of cards you can't rearrange. It's the element James loves most. 'You're forced to choose between small, immediate plays that might have inconsequential payoffs and long-term strategies that depend on the right card coming along at the right time,' he writes in our guide to the best card games. 'It's a delicious tension.'
Like many of Oink's games (the brand also makes A Fake Artist Goes to New York), Scout is extremely compact and can be played quickly. But it does have a knock against it: Instead of a scoring pad, the game has scoring tokens that are easy to lose. Players: three to five players (though there is a two-player variant)
three to five players (though there is a two-player variant) Duration: 20 minutes
Heads Up!, a downloadable party game (iOS, Android) created by Ellen DeGeneres, is one of my personal favorites — it has, more than once, made me laugh until I cried. The game involves putting your phone on your forehead, with the screen facing the group and displaying a digital card with a word or phrase. Players act or talk out what's on the card, and the goal is for you to guess the card on your head, collecting as many as possible in a single minute.
It's ideal for groups, though you can feasibly play it with just two players, and many decks are compatible with different age groups (though there are adult- and kid-specific decks available). Plus, you don't even need a table for this one — just the space to be active and a little noisy.
The base game costs $2 and comes with several decks, with more available for purchase. My favorite decks are from the Act It Out series, where you act out cards in a duo or group. Players: two or more
two or more Duration: two minutes or more
This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder.
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