Do you need some inspiration when it comes to games to take traveling with you?  We’ve picked some of our favorite games that are small enough to fit in your carry on, trunk of your car or even your purse.

Keep reading to find out our top pick of games to take traveling with you!

1. The Lost Expedition 

The Lost Expedition is a thematic card game from Osprey Games, set in the deep, dark jungle.

Legendary explorer Percy Fawcett marched deep into the Amazon in search of El Dorado. He was never seen again. During the game, Your team has gone in search of him, but now you hope to escape the jungle with the greatest treasure of all: your life.

Make the best of your food, your ammunition, and your health as you plunge deep into the jungle. You must choose your path carefully to ensure you’re ready for the pitfalls that may occur.

The Lost Expedition can be played solo or play cooperatively to survive the expedition, or play in teams to see which group can escape the jungle first.

The Lost Expedition is perfect for travel, not the smallest box on the list but a game that packs a lot of punch for what it is.

Number of players: 1-5, Playing Time: 30-50 minutes, Publisher: Osprey Games

2. Trick of the Rails

Trick of the Rails, themed on the rise of the American railway period, combines 18XX-like portfolio management and a trick-taking card game. Players collect stock certificates and make the companies more valuable by laying a rail network.

The game alternates between stock rounds and operating rounds. In stock rounds, the cards played become shares for the players. In operating rounds, the cards played become the track for the companies. The companies get trains, which determine how many track cards they can count for their profit (the trains have costs as well, which may lead to companies not making any profit at all) and in the end, players simply count the value of their shares and highest value wins.

Trick of the Rails is super compact, it’s just a deck of cards, but so much game comes out of it, and it’s really fun.

Number of Players: 3-5, Playing Time: 20 minutes, Publisher: Terra Nova Games

3. A Fake Artist Goes to New York

A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a party game for 5-10 players. Players take turns being the Question Master. The Question Master’s role is to set a category, write a word within that category on dry erase cards, and hand those out to other players as artists. At the same time, one player will have only an “X” written on his card. He is the fake artist!

Players will then go around the table twice, drawing one contiguous stroke each on a paper to draw the word established by the Question Master, then guess who the fake artist is. If the fake artist is not caught, both the fake artist and the Question Master earn points; if the fake artist is caught and cannot guess what the word is, the artists earn points.

This game comes in the smallest box of all; it’s a really fun game to play with family or friends and great if you are restricted when it comes to luggage space.

Number of Players: 5-10, Playing Time: 20 minutes, Publisher: Oink Games

4. Kodama: The Tree Spirits

From Action Phase Games, Kodama: The Tree Spirits is a game set in the forest, and it’s growing fast!

During the game, you are acting as caretakers for Kodama, the tree spirits. The game aims to keep the forest a healthy and lush home for your little friends. Over three growing seasons, you must cultivate trees with the right mix of flowers, insects, and branch arrangements to make your Kodama as happy as possible. Whoever cares for their Kodama best will be remembered for generations.

How to play? Grow your tree by placing cards in clever arrangements, being careful to leave room for future growth. At the end of each season, one Kodama will award you points for how well your tree suits its needs. With beautiful art and innovative mechanics,

Number of Players: 2-5, Playing time: 30 minutes, Publisher: Action Phase Games

5. Kingdomino

Ok, the box is a tiny bit bigger on this one, but you can play Kingdomino practically anywhere, so we had to include it.

It’s Dominoes with a kingdom building twist. Each turn, connect a new domino to your existing kingdom, making sure at least one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play. The game mechanics for obtaining the tiles is clever: the order of who picks first depends on which tile was previously chosen. Make sure to secure tiles with crowns- these royal treasures help to multiply the worth of your kingdom at the end of the game! The game ends when each player has completed a 5×5 grid, and then points are counted based on a number of connecting tiles and crowns.

Number of Players: 2-4, Playing Time: 15 minutes, Publisher: Blue Orange Games

Thank you for reading, and let us know in the comments which games you like to take traveling with you!