A back-up plan in a box: travel games for UK holidays

It’s summer! And it’s actually been warm! Ridiculously warm! And sunny! Ridiculously sunny! You may have decided to venture outdoors, or even outside of Sheffield for holiday-related fun times over the coming weeks. But if you, dear readers, are anything like us here at the Treehouse, you will be incorporating games into your travel plans.

Yes, I know this summer is different than most, and we can lament not being able to play Carcassonne in Carcassonne, play Santorini in Santorini, or the dream: play Jaipur in Jaipur while drinking a bottle of Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (this may just be my dream). But we are big fans of making our own fun, and so here is a roundup of games for holidays and it goes out to our tribe whom we know will play them rain or shine, Near and Far (available in our library). Read on for a round up of travel games for everyone. 

Beach (and rain!) proof games

We are an island nation, and although Sheffield may not have a coastline, we're surrounded by water (sometimes more than we would like!). I am a beach girl and wild swimmer at heart, so this first group of games is for anyone who'll be out on the water, or relaxing in the sand, games in tow. Some of these games fit into other categories below, but I wanted to give a special mention to games that are easy to clean and conveniently play well near sand, water and even ice lollies.

• Blokus: This colourful abstract strategy game looks like a very cool analogue version of Tetris but the goal is to fill up the board, not empty it. It can be played by up to four players but works well as a two player game and even has a variation that allows for solitaire mode. Without any text it is easy for kids to pick up and for multilingual groups to play. It’s not necessarily travel sized in the traditional sense but the box is flat and very easy to slip into a suitcase or car boot. I should mention there are some small bits involved, but nothing that a picnic blanket couldn’t contain, and the plastic pieces and board are easy to clean.

• Bananagrams: This Scrabble free-for-all only requires a flat surface to play and each player races to complete their own crossword-style grid in front of them using only the letters they’ve picked up. You can play it alone or up to a group of eight, but eight can get kind of frantic. It’s most enjoyable for two to five players in my experience. And it comes in a cute little fabric banana bag. The whole thing is sand-proof and washable.

• Cobra Paw: Cobra Paw has a cardboard box, which will admittedly get a bit battered the further it strays from your admirably arranged board game shelf. You can accept this hazard, or store the components in a travel bag… or even do as some friends of mine have done and create a special travel box that helps you both store the pieces more compactly, and immediately see if one is missing so that you don’t leave the campsite without it. Cobra Paw is a very speedy matching game for two to six players requiring quick reflexes and good observational skills. It relies on rolling dice and matching symbols on domino shapes and has the extra competitive mechanic of stealing pieces from other players if they are not quick enough to defend them. It is suitable for both adults and kids to enjoy, as long as neither are tantrum-prone when they’re not winning!

• Qwirkle: This one comes in a big-ish box, but don’t be discouraged. Inside the box is a bag of tiles and you can easily take it on holiday with you in the bag and leave the box on your aforementioned beautiful game shelf. You’ll need a large, stable playing surface because these tiles get layed out sort of like dominos and there is no limit to how far you can place them other than the table’s edge. This is a pattern- and colour-matching strategy game for two to four players and is also family friendly and requires no reading. It can be difficult to master for younger players but they may just enjoy making patterns with some of the shapes. You may need pen and paper or a phone to keep score as you and your opponents aim to use up all of the tiles by placing them in sets of matching or contrasting shapes and colours. The design is simple and bright and would suit an outdoor playing table.

A travel game made for two

Now that we’ve all seen the Queen’s Gambit, we all think two-player games are sexy, right? So, surely you wouldn’t want to set off on a romantic getaway without one! Here are a few options for games to enjoy when you are not in a big group.

• Fugitive: This is an asymmetrical two-player game that mostly relies on cards but has a small board and playing area, and one player - the marshal - also has a dry erase pen and wipe-clean board to make notes on. So… you couldn’t play this game stood up in a roller coaster queue but you could play it on a train. What is nice about this game is that because of the asymmetrical mechanic, you and a partner can swap between being the fugitive and the marshal each time you play and add in event cards: a bit of a built in expansion pack designed to alter the difficulty level of the game. The cards are also beautiful, so if you’ve got a retro style getaway planned this will fit right in.

• Jaipur: OK, we’re unlikely to get to India this summer, but with Thornbridge right here in Sheffield making their delicious, aptly named brew and this game in our shop you can at least do two out of three Jaipurs at once. This little game is almost addictively replayable, especially since a “best of three” scoring system is already built into the gameplay. Spacewise, you’ll need about a dinner place setting’s worth of table to lay out a draw pile, discard pile, tokens, and a card marketplace. As you make trades and sell historically precious commodities, this game of skill and luck will have you strategising to beat your opponent to winning all the gold and trading all the camels. I have played this on several train journeys and holidays, and it is easily one of my favourite games at home or away. I think you will love it too.

• Hive Pocket: Hive Pocket is exactly as it sounds, a pocket-sized version of the excellent chess-like, insect- and arachnid-themed strategy game Hive. It is everything you need to play Hive but using smaller and lighter pieces. This game does require a flat surface, but you could probably play it on a hotel room bed, some wet sand, or a picnic blanket, which are all good enough surfaces for the game to work as you manoeuvre different bugs to surround your opponent’s queen bee.

Family fun on the run

A lot of the games mentioned in this post are family-friendly, but these are particular favourites that are tried and tested and travel well. There will always be downtime - and that’s not allowed on a holiday when you’re nine. So, here are some self-contained and easy to explain games for kids.

• Hey! That’s My Fish: If the heat is getting to you, Hey! That’s My Fish might help keep you cool with its theme of penguins and ice fishing. This game for two to four players changes every time because you can set up the board differently whenever you play by placing the ice floe tiles in different random positions to form the game board. Each player can move their penguin pieces through this simple strategy game, cutting each other of on stranded ice floes and collecting the most fish. This game is a strong contender for ‘most played game at The Treehouse’, so we can certainly vouch for its credentials!

• Dobble: Speaking of popular, this has to be one of the most recognisable family-friendly games around. Its demand for fast reactions and good observational skills and cute cartoon style images make it easy to learn even if it takes a while to master. The adorableness can soften the competitive edge for some - but not all - as players spot matching pairs hidden among collections of icons and try and collect the most cards to win. These round cards come in a very cute and extremely portable tin.

• OK Play: Fed-up siblings can now actually enjoy the concept of the game Connect 4 without leaving anyone out or constantly ending in a draw! In this game you have to make a line of five tiles in a row and you can play it on any horizontal surface. Up to four people can play, plus it packs down into a small portable cube and even comes with a handy carabiner to clip it to your backpack! It’s worth saying that this game is also easy to clean and doesn’t involve any language or reading skills. 

Big games in small packages

By big games here I don’t mean long strategy games that take up the table, although by all means do not let me discourage you from planning the ultimate board game getaway in a country house with a large dining room table and enough friends to conquer the galaxy. These games are big in spirit. They match the holiday atmosphere of a group of friends or extended family and are a great way to round off a lovely summer day or perk up a rained out barbeque. Read on for some suggestions of games that are easy to pack and easy to learn.

• Anomia: Anomia is, bar none, my favourite game ever. It involves knowing useless bits of trivia and shouting loudly (so that’s an insight into what I’m like on holiday). This works in groups of two to eight players and each set comes with more than one deck. To adapt the game for fewer players you remove some of the suits, and you combine decks for a larger party. This quickfire game starts with paying close attention to see if another player reveals a card in front of themselves from the draw pile that matches the symbol on the card in front of you. But that’s only half the game: as soon as you spot the match you’ve got to think of a word that fits the category listed on their card, hopefully more quickly than they can shout out a response to your card, which is tricky, but apt: Anomia is literally the word for when you can’t remember the name of something. It is fiendish, but wrong answers are frequently hilarious and it’s incredibly satisfying when you're winning. 

• Cockroach Poker: Cockroach Poker is a bluffing card game for up to 6 players. In this game you have to trick your opponents into collecting and revealing four of the same card. It’s funny as well, because your cards aren’t ordinary playing cards: they each feature one of eight bugs or other garden creatures. It has nothing to do with poker other than needing to keep a poker face as you lie your way to victory! It’s worth noting that each player needs to have a visible area in front of them to display their creatures so the other players can strategise, and there is passing of face down cards round the group, so this game is best played around a large table.

• Railroad Ink: In this neat little box, you will find the beginnings of a transport planner’s worst nightmare or best day ever depending on how the dice fall and the decisions you make. This roll and write game can be expanded to accommodate very large groups of players, but the base game sets have either four to six dry erase game boards and pens. You use the pens to draw bits of road and train track and get points for each connection you are able to make with the images revealed by the dice. There are four coloured box editions with game extension dice that add elements to the base game (like rivers and lava) to mix it up. This game is very popular with big groups at The Treehouse and is very replayable.

• Hanabi: This very sweet, cooperative game about designing the perfect fireworks display also comes in both a durable but heavy tile-based version and a conveniently small-boxed card version, so it’s ready for pretty much anything! Hanabi is lovely for group bonding because you never get to look at your own cards - you hold them face outward. Instead, you give hints to your teammates in the hopes that you will all find a way to communicate and play your cards, featuring numbered firework elements in different colours, in the correct order. This game is time-limited by “lit fuse” cards interspersed at random throughout the draw pile. Once the fireworks go off, the whole group’s display is ranked from horrible to legendary. This game requires a small amount of table space and for the group to be able to sit where they can see each other's cards.

So there you have it. Just a few games to keep you going wherever you’re going this summer. If you’re staying right here, we’re taking bookings and you can check out our new longer opening hours for the school holidays here. Or, if you need a top up to your games collection before you head out of town, visit the shop in person or online here (and note our travel games section which lists a few more portable options). Safe travels, stay cool and see you soon!

Chella Quint is a Treehouse staffer, board gamer, and author of the books Be Period Positive and Own Your Period.