The Wandering Hart

If you love travel or even just hitting up bars or parks with friends having a few board games that can fit in a small bag or purse can come in handy. Personally I always bring at least 1 game with me to picnics, weekend trips, and long plane/train rides. Below are my favorite compact games perfect for the occasion!

Hanabi

Hanabi is one of my all-time favorites. Think basically group cooperative solitaire in which you can only know everyone else’s hand and get clues about yours. It’s not great for outdoors because it requires laying down cards but it’s absolutely perfect for taking on a plane/train for travel or bringing to bars. And it can even be played with just 2 people. Highly recommend — 10/10.

Sushi Go

Sushi Go is maybe the most adorable game I own and one of the easiest to learn. I’ve honestly kicked off a game within 1–2min of dealing cards to friends who have never played before — not an easy thing for most games! This one similar to Hanabi is great for planes, trains, trips, and bars but not so great for the outdoors because it requires laying down cards

Bananagrams

A classic in my mind, Bananagrams is easy to bring anywhere you’re going thanks to its soft banana-shaped case and hard-to-blow-away tiles. For the uninitiated, this is a word-building game in which you race against friends on your own mini scrabble-like board. It’s especially fun to add your own “house rules” such as only words related to the place we’re traveling to are allowed.

Pass the Pigs

I have met very few other people familiar with Pass the Pigs but everyone I introduce it to has a blast. The concept is literally just rolling pigs and getting points (or losing points) based on how they land. There’s also an advanced rule allowing for “hog calls” in which you try to predict rolls so it can get pretty competitive. Like Bananagrams this can go anywhere: picnics, hikes, planes, and definitely bars. The packaging is so compact (even including a little pencil!) that I basically pack it in my purse/suitcase by default.

Trails

Particularly apt for a camping trip, Trails is a game built mostly out of smaller cardboard and wooden pieces which makes it compact and at least more wind resistant than cards. In this game you hike back and forth along a trail trying to collect resources and earn badges. It’s one of two games I brought along on my cross-country road trip and is easy to set up and learn.