2023 Best Travel Board Games: Perfect for Social Travelers!

A board game may seem like extra baggage to carry. In reality, it's key to satisfying one of the most essential elements of traveling—fun. Especially if you have a long flight or drive ahead of you. 

Are you about to pack your bags for an upcoming trip? Grab a super comfy travel pillow with you, and pack a compelling travel book to read while you commute. 

Decide what travel game suits you best in this list of top travel board games in 2023. Remember to consider your travel companions, budget, and free space while going through this guide! 

Top Travel Board Games for Adults

Most adults use their travel commute to finish work-related tasks, sleep, or watch a movie. These are all wonderful ways to occupy your time, but what if you spent quality time with your friends or family instead? Here are our top travel games for adults. 

Checkers

Checkers is a classic that almost everyone knows of. It's a leisurely game for 2 people that requires strategic thinking, making it an excellent option to pass the time. Bring this magnetic set on your trip to play with a travel companion!

Each player begins the game with 12 black or white checkers. Moves are allowed only on the dark squares, so pieces always move diagonally. You can only move one square at a time unless you capture the other player's checker by leaping over it. You win the game when your opponent cannot make any more moves. 

Our Rating: 4.9/5

Pros:

• Low difficulty
• Relatively inexpensive
• Magnetic board for an easy clean up

Cons:

• Limited to 2 players
  

Battleship

Battleship is a game of both wits and luck.

The game is played by 2 people. Players place five ships of different lengths on their grid, either horizontally or vertically. You won't be able to see the other player's ships. 

Take turns calling out coordinates to identify squares containing a ship on your opponent's grid. Both players' boards have another grid to record the shots fired and whether they were hits or misses.

The winner is the player who destroys all of their opponent's ships. 

Our Rating: 3.7/5

Pros:

• Low difficulty
• Compact
• Budget-friendly

Cons:

• Small parts are easy to lose
• Takes up luggage space
• Limited to 2 players

Catan

Catan is a game that requires logical thinking. It has a unique concept that comes in a compact package, perfect for packing into your luggage. However, it does require a larger playing area, so it's not ideal for planes.

The game can be played by 2-4 people. 

In Catan, you use resources to build roads, settlements, and cities while collecting points. Resources also allow you to receive development cards that provide you extra benefits. You can trade your resources with other players freely during your turn. 

The player who has 10 or more victory points during their turn wins.

Our Rating: 3.5/5

Pros:

• Unique game concept
• Can have up to 4 players
• Fits easily into luggage

Cons:

• High difficulty
• More expensive option
• Requires large area

Codenames

Codenames is a team game played by 4-8 people, and this makes for a fun group bonding activity if you travel with a few friends. It's a game of intrigue and detective skills.

Players split up into two teams. Each team chooses one player to be their spymaster. 25 codenames are selected at random and placed in a 5-by-5 grid. Your team must give your spymaster one-word clues for them to guess the words.

The team whose spymaster correctly guesses all their codenames first wins the game.

Our Rating: 4.3/5

Pros: 

• Good for large groups 
• Reasonable price
• Short playing time

Cons:

• Moderate difficulty
• Not the most compact
  

Top Travel Board Games for Families

Gathering family members for a game night can take a lot of work. Time spent together on a flight is thus a spectacular opportunity for bonding activities with your loved ones. Why not try out a fun travel board game together? Here's a list of top travel board games for families. 

Pass the Pigs

Pass the Pigs is a quirky, kid-friendly game, ideal for families traveling with young children. 

The game can be played by 2-4 people. Players roll 2 pigs on their turn, scoring points based on their positions. You can either keep your score or press your luck and go again!

If you choose to continue and your pig roll scores more points, these are added to your previous total. If the pigs land on opposite sides, this result is called a "Pig Out," and you get 0 points for that round. If the pigs are touching, your result is an "Oinker," and you lose all your accumulated game points.

Our Rating: 4.1/5

Pros: 

• Low difficulty
• Consists of only a few parts
• Requires little area
• Relatively cheap

Cons:

• Not for large groups
• Made more for children than adults

Monopoly

Monopoly is a classic board game that can be played by 2-4 people. It's a game with real-life responsibilities like paying rent and taxes but without real-life money. Bring this travel-sized game board along on your trip!

Most people already know the rules of this popular game. 

Players collect $200 each time they pass "Go." One of the game's objectives is to buy properties, which other players will have to pay rent for if they land on your squares. You can raise the rent by owning all the properties in a color group and building houses on these properties.

The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game.

Our Rating: 3.9/5

Pros:

• Most people already know the rules
• Can be played for hours
• Compact travel version
• Budget-friendly

Cons:

• Moderate difficulty
• The travel version is less practical
• Consists of many small parts

Bananagrams

Bananagrams is a unique word game that requires quick thinking and creativity. Its 144-letter tiles come in a cute banana bag that you can carry around easily on your travels. The game can be played by 2-8 people. 

The starting tiles are placed face-down. When a player calls out "Split!", everyone turns their tiles face-up and races to arrange them in their own intersecting word grid. Words must either read left to right or top to bottom. You may rearrange your grid at any time.

Whenever a player places their last letter in their grid, that person calls out, "Peel!". Every player then takes another tile from the pile. When the pile of tiles is depleted, the first person to connect all their letters in a word grid and call out "Bananas!" wins. 

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Pros:

• Low difficulty
• Compact
• Accommodates varying group sizes
• Relatively inexpensive

Cons:

• Moderate difficulty
  

Connect Four

Like tic-tac-toe, Connect Four requires some strategy but is still a quick and fun game for 2 players.

Each player chooses a color. Take turns dropping one of your colored discs into any of the seven slots, trying to line up your own discs while blocking your opponent's. The first player to connect 4 of the same colored discs in a row, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, wins. 

Our Rating: 4.8/5

Pros:

• Low difficulty
• Suitable for all ages
• Requires little area
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Limited to 2 players
  

Turn Trip Planning Into a Game!

Need more variety, explore the products on this list of travel games. Travel planning can also be a game if you want it to be. Roll a die to determine the locations and accommodations. Remember to log it all on Pilot to keep the travel plans in 1 place!