Looking for family games that provide hours of fun and travel well?
Cruiser, minimalist, traveler, or simply looking for a stocking stuffer?
Give the gift of family game night! Family game nights made a big comeback with families spending more time together at home during the pandemic. Use your increased family time by playing a new game or gifting a family game to one of your friends. And these compact-sized family games are easy to pack when you are ready to take your next trip.
Games are a great way to encourage learning, laughing, and bonding as a family and with friends. Who couldn’t use a boost in connecting with others after Covid?
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Here are 10 of our favorite compact-sized family games to play while under sail
(and sometimes when we’re landlocked too!)
Integral to our sailing lifestyle is playing family games onboard. Not only are they fun, they also tend to foster strong connections and build fond memories with our crew and sailing community.
When living on a sailboat, storage space is a precious commodity. So, we evaluate every item we bring onboard by its’ size and its’ usefulness. Therefore, we’ve learned to scout out games that are small in size, but big in fun.
1) Create family stories with Story Cubes
Once upon a time…there was a game where you roll the cubes and create a story! Depending on the players, your story can be humorous or suspenseful or happy go lucky and everything in between. Grab a friend, roll the dice, and share a story!
There are multiple versions to choose from. We have the original, voyages, and actions sets to craft many a story. I only wish we would have documented the creative and sometimes outrageous tales we created as a team of grandparents and grandchildren!
Homeschoolers and teachers, this could be a useful and creative way to produce writing prompts. Roll the dice and use the graphics as required words in your writing assignment. Depending on the level of your student, they could use the image words in a sentence, a paragraph, or a story.
A fun family game that you can also use for homeschool? Win, win!
2) The game of SET
We’ve been playing the game of SET for a long time with family. First with our children and now with our grandchildren. A SET is when three cards are all the same OR all different (color, shape, number, shading). It really exercises the brain! When our kids and now our grandkids were on the younger side, we might have a chance to win. But once they became tweens and older, they beat the pants off us! You’ve been forewarned!
3) An American classic game – Uno
Who doesn’t love to play Uno? It’s an American classic game enjoyed by members of the family of all ages; both children and adults!
Did you know it was added to the toy hall of fame in 2018?
You can stick with using the classic version of UNO or pick up a themed deck such as Avengers or Frozen.
Remember to yell “UNO!” when you are down to one card!
4) Discover A New Card Game With A Book Of Family Card Games
Tired of playing the same standby card games? Try a new one selected from The Ultimate Book of Family Card Games!
Are there 52 cards in your deck? Cards have a way of going missing, even on our small boat. It might be time for a fresh new deck of cards. If so, there are themed decks representing almost any personal interest; space, boats, dolphins?
5) Qwirkle
Qwirkle is easy to learn and can be played by all ages. That makes it a perfect game for us to bring out with any new crew or cruising friends that come aboard for game night. It uses some logic but can be played as simple or nuanced as you want. To save space on board, we use the travel size Qwirkle on our sailboat.
6) Bananagrams
I love wordplay games! Bananagrams is a fast, fun, educational game where you race against each other to build crossword grids. It comes in a small portable pouch, perfect for any small space living or clutter-free family room.
Play Bananagrams and see if it drives you bananas!
7) Wedgits
We discovered Wedgits a few years ago and they’ve been a hit with our family. Our grandchildren dazzle us with their ability to build 3D designs from these blocks that stack, nest, or interlock. Wedgits offer hours of creative thinking, strategy skills, and fun! There are challenges from beginner level to advanced so all ages can stretch their brains with this one!
How many of the hundreds of possible designs can you build?!
8) Tangoes
Tangoes are another fun hands-on family game that promotes mathematical and problem-solving skills in the process. The tangram is a dissection puzzle you put together to replicate a shape.
Strengthen your brain while trying to solve the patterns for the tangoes!
We prefer the travel versions because the pieces are magnetic and don’t get lost on board as easily.
9) String Games
Here’s a nostalgic childhood family game for many, including us!
Cat’s cradle is one of the oldest games in history, played either individually or requiring teamwork to pass the string back and forth between players.
The simple loops of string can keep our crew busy and entertained on a long passage or a rainy day.
String games encourage you to get your hands moving and concentrate on the shifting strings under your fingers. Like other handwork and craft activities, string games can have a relaxing and calming benefit.
Why not introduce string games to your children or grandchildren or pick up a string and learn some new tricks yourself?
For more inspiration and instruction on string games, check out any of the string game books by Camilla Gryski
10) Cool Creations in 35 Pieces
Cool Creations in 101 Pieces
I know legos aren’t technically a “game”. But, using the same 35 lego bricks or 101 lego bricks to build all the creations in the book could be considered a game. That is how Travis approached it on one of his summer sailing trips. After completing each project, he marked a check by it in the book. Then he invented a few new lego creations of his own!
Which family games are next on our wish list?
Farkle is a popular dice game that we still have yet to play.
And Kanoodle is another pocket-sized game we want to add to Terrapin’s collection sometime.
Want a few more ideas?
Many of your already favorite board games might be available in a smaller, travel version if space is a consideration. Connect 4, Battleship, and Yahtzee are just a few examples of games that are available in both full-size and travel-size versions.
Let’s Play A Game!
Playing games with your family and friends can help build stronger connections and create happy memories. We play games as part of our overall sailing lifestyle. Not only do they provide a fun activity, but they also contribute to the bonding of our crew.
The easy-to-stow family games that we bring aboard end up providing hours of fun for us and our crew while on a long passage, during bad weather, or as a nighttime routine with our grandchildren.
Grab one of these family games and rediscover a love for game night! Let me know which games are your favorites.
