The Best Travel Games for Adults

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One thing we love when we go on holiday is playing games together, as a family or couple. We’ll play games on the beach, whilst enjoying pre-dinner drinks, after dinner or once the kids are in bed out on the balcony. It’s such a nice way to pass the time.

So I thought I would put together all our top picks of favourite travel games adults can enjoy and play anywhere – from the easy, common games to travel card games, travel board games and games you may not have heard of before. They’re some of our favorite travel games, great road trip games and perfect for whenever you need a game to pass the time. We love how the compact size makes travel games perfect for game time wherever you are in the world.

Best travel games for adults

Card Games

Card games are a great travel game option as they take up next to no space when packing and can easily fit in a backpack or pocket too. Perfect for train journeys, long car journeys or a weekend away.

Hearts is a classic, and remains a timeless game enjoyed by people from all over the world. The objective is simple: the player with the lowest amount of points wins. This is done through a series of card-swapping rounds where high valued ones such as the Queen of spades are to be avoided. For an online take on the game, Hearts.land features it as well as a guide looking into the history and rules.

Top Trumps are one of the original fun travel games and they come in so many different versions, with a set perfect for anyone who wants to play. Whether it’s Star Wars, Dinosaurs or Harry Potter.

Cards Against Humanity is now a classic game. The fill the blanks party game is set to push the boundaries of polite conversation, offend and shock. It’s hilarious if played with the right people. And there’s even a Cards Against Humanity Family Edition that is safe to play with the kids!

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a family new game that has taken the game market by storm. It’s a fast paced party game where you just have to say those five words in order, play cards in turn and slam your hand down when there’s a match. It’s highly addictive!

Exploding Kittens has been one of the most popular card games for a few years now – and it’s fast paced and hilarious! It’s basically russian roulette with cats. There’s a new adult version too.

Uno has been my favourite card game since I was a kid. Simple to learn and great to play. Match the colours or the numbers, change direction, skip and play the wild cards at the best possible times!

Sussed is great fun and really gets you to learn more about the people you’re holidaying with – and see how much you really know about them too!

You also can’t forget the fun of classic card games. Pack a deck of cards and enjoy games of Rummy, Snap, Cribbage or even Solitaire if you fancy playing by yourself.

Dice Games

I used to love dice games as a kid and remember playing Yahtzee on holidays all the time. It’s such a timeless game that all generations can happily play together.

Strategy Games

I always love to play games that really make you think. Fun strategy games where each move can determine the outcome of the game.

Rummikub is a game that I’ve played since childhood and the travel version is perfect to take away on holiday. Up to four players and great fun that really gets your brain working.

Qwirkle is another fab game of matching shapes and colours. A game of skill and strategy that you’ll love playing over a few drinks on a holiday evening.

Ok Play has been our favourite family game for years but you can also play it with just adults, and it’s great after a few drinks too. It’s the best game of five in a row you’ll ever play.

The Catan Dice Game is a great on the go game. Just like the original Catan game, you need to build settlements and with the dice version, this is done with Yahtzee style gameplay. Easy to pick up and fun to play.

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a new discovery for us. You control a galactic empire, acquire planets and build a cosmic armada. Played with dice and a real need to think about each turn, it’s a game of skill and galactic colonisation!

Othello is a classic game that we only discovered recently. It’s a great strategy game of board domination, trying to get as many pieces of your colour in play at once – without your opponent flipping them over!

Word Games

Boggle is one of my favourite word games and a perfect travel game. See how many words you can make using the connecting letters within a set amount of time. It’s so simple but great fun!

Scrabble is another fantastic word game – pretty much the classic word game – and one that so many people enjoy. The Scrabble Deluxe Travel Edition is great for holidays and weekends away too.

Bananagrams is one of our favourite games to play as a couple, with friends or with family. You make your own scrabble-like grid of words and keep playing until someone uses all their pieces. It’s fast paced and great fun.

Articulate is different to any other word game as it’s more talking than words! It’s hilarious trying to describe things without using the actual words and it gets even more fun after a few drinks!

Travel Size Board Games

Portable board games are a great option for travel. You can get travel size versions of most classic board games and it’s great to play board games over the course of an evening or even over a few days, dipping in and out of them as the mood sees fit. 

Monopoly is a really popular travel board game. Although it takes a while to play, you can always keep the game board set up and play over the course of a few days. The travel size game version is great for holidays.

Cluedo is another of the most popular board games and great as a travel came thanks to the travel sized editions. There’s nothing better than trying to guess who did it, what weapon was used and where it happened over a few drinks in the evening.

There are also firm favourites like Quadpro magnetic travel games – magnetic travel chess, magnetic travel checkers or travel battleships are all small board games that are great for travel.

They all make for fun game play and can be picked up any time – no-one ever needs to be reminded of the instructions! Magnetic games are also great for travelling with, playing on the aeroplane or as an adult road trip game.

I’d also love to share links to some more fun road trip activities like road trip questions, the license plate game and so many fun car games, 

I hope that’s given you some inspiration when you’re looking for portable travel games in the future. I’ll add more games as I discover them and if I’ve missed off your favourite game please do get in touch and let me know.