Sometimes all you and your friends and family need is a quick game. Something you can slide across the table and not be met with groans or looks of “I really can’t be bothered for that right now.” Here are the best board games that are light, quick, and fun.
Scout
If you want a quick card game that you’ll end up playing many rounds of and may as well have chosen a long board game to play in the first place, then you’ll want Scout.
A strangely addictive and endlessly satisfying game of combos and tricks, Scout will have each player placing sets from their hand in the middle of the table. It’s up to the rest of the players to play better hands, scoring points in the process.
The meat of this game, however, comes when you must pick up other players’ played cards to improve your hand, giving them points in the process. Particularly picking apart your hand to create the most devastating combo is a thrilling feeling, especially when you know everyone else is doing the same.
Cockroach Poker
Cockroach Poker is so much more popular than I thought it was when I stumbled across it, but I completely understand why. A bluffing card game with quick rounds, all you want to do is not lose.
In Cockroach Poker, the deck consists purely of suits of different critters. Each turn consists of one player handing a card to another player and announcing the suit of the card. It’s up to the victim then to guess whether they’re telling the truth or lying.
Whether the player is right or wrong will determine who gets the card in question. And if someone accumulates the same suit of card four times in front of them (or runs out of cards), then they’ll lose and the game will end. Tricking your friend into accepting a card that ruins them is endlessly funny as they stare in disbelief into your devilish eyes.
The Crew
The Crew may come with some initial set up, but at its core, it’s a simple trick-taking card game. There may be a scenario log and campaign of sorts that must be regarded between games, but after you’ve assembled your crew and you’ve already gotten started, any future game of The Crew will be breezy.
Not much differs in The Crew when it comes to the trick-taking mechanic, so if you and your friends are already familiar, then you’ll have an even easier time getting into the play. The different scenarios that you’ll be playing will dictate the cards that you need to win the trick together.
For a speedy cooperative game that plays out more like a puzzle wrapped in a trick-taking game, then The Crew is an easy pick.
Skull
Skull is another bluffing card game that plays a little differently to Cockroach Poker that still delivers a light and breezy speedy game.
In Skull, each player will be placing a fancy chip in the middle of the table. It’ll most likely have a rose under it, but it may instead be an insidious skull. A player can make a challenge that they’ll be able to turn over a specific number of chips without bumping into a skull, and another player could try to up that challenge.
The player who doesn’t get out bid must put their money where their hand is and turn over that many chips. If it is all roses, they’ll win. Otherwise, they’ll lose. As all the players are responsible for what gets put in the center, and each player wants to win, the placement of skulls is a gamble of its own calibre that makes Skull a blast to play every time.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
If you’re after a quick yet equally disorientating and confusing card game, then Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is for you. You massochist.
Think of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza as though a game of snap, where the players will be saying the title a word at a time as each of them places a card in the middle of the table. If the card matches the word that the player said that round, everyone must slap the cards, and the last to do so claims them.
There are other special rules in Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and other stipulations to ensure the game is played at a steady pace. It’s chaotic, awfully confusing, and most importantly, very quick.
Sea Salt and Paper
Sea Salt and Paper is a staggeringly beautiful card game about set collection and special effects. As you play cards from your hands into your tableau, you may have the chance to activate the abilities unique to each set allowing for a great depth of strategy in what is a very simple card game.
The clean visuals and simple symbology of Sea Salt and Paper allows the teach to be a dream, with players being able to instantly pick up what to do. This makes this game a fantastic pick for when suggesting a quick game to those who aren’t into card games or don’t know how to play.
For a very fun yet accessible game that won’t eat into your time, Sea Salt and Paper is a must-have.
No Thanks!
Our final card game, No Thanks! provides a great mix between deck building and card avoidance. In No thanks!, you want as few points as possible, yet every card in your hand is worth that many points. As cards come into play, you’ll get to say “no thanks!” to the high value cards, but it’ll cost you a token.
You’ll have to decide between taking certain cards and denying others, especially as runs will reduce the point total in your hand and taking cards that others have denied will net you that many extra tokens to deny future cards.
It’s super petty and super fast, considering that the only mechanic for No Thanks! is saying the title of the game over and over again (how narcissistic).
Coup
Social deduction games are terribly fun and get everyone involved in a little harmless roleplaying. They can be rather timely, however, which is where Coup steps in to deliver an incredibly quick game that presents all the highlights of social deduction tomfoolery.
In Coup, everyone is assigned a special role. The kicker is that as no one knows who is who, you can assonance that you want to take an action from a different role and claim to be that role. If you pull it off, then you can happily get away with actions you shouldn’t be able to and sow confusion in your bid to win the game.
What’s more, is that the real person with that role may not interject as they wish to pose as another role. It’s truly a mind-boggling social deduction game that will get everyone hooked.
Blitzkrieg!
Paolo Mori’s Blitzkrieg! promises you a game that can be played in 20 minutes, and it does not disappoint. This always comes to mind first whenever someone is only up for a smaller game. Note that this game only caters for two players, although it’s entertaining to watch if you have a third hanging around.
In Blitzkrieg!, you and your opponent will be diving into your opaque bags to rummage around and randomly pull out different units to wage war across the world. Each theater of war is a grandiose tug of war, with each tile also providing the placing player great bonuses.
Where every turn has you torn to pieces, Blitzkrieg! will deliver the turmoil and grief of a military board game in lightning speed.
Kingdomino
Kingdomino may look like a moderately long game, but it’s surprisingly fast, and is an excellent recommendation for a quick game with proper playing pieces and tiles.
In Kingdomino, players will each be building up their kingdom surrounding their castle based on domino-like tiles. Each round, players will bid for the tiles they want in turn, in a revolving order depending on which tiles players bet on. Then, the domino tiles must be connected to their kingdom with specific placement rules.
The player who builds the best and most valuable kingdom will be crowned the winner. Kingdomino is quick and simple enough to be played numerous times in one sitting.
Now that you have a great list of great board games, you can pick the perfect one for your next occasion.
Published: Aug 10, 2024 10:39 am