“Are we there yet?” An incessant phrase uttered by bored travellers that millions of parents around the world are very familiar with. A phrase that fills most adults travelling with others, especially children, with utter frustration. But unless you stay locked up at home or travel separately from the rest of your family on longer trips, then I’m afraid it is a phrase you will probably hear a lot of. Especially once the battery in their phone or tablet has been depleted.
Are we there yet?
But there are ways to relieve the boredom of endless hours of travelling and reducing the number of times that you will have to listen to that dreaded and feared sentence. Keeping the kids busy and entertained on long journeys is essential as they can get very restless (and let’s face it, annoying). So, what can you do to keep entertained whilst travelling? Playing games, whether that’s I Spy or seeing how many green cars you spot or concrete cows (if you are Milton Keynes) or better still, playing board games and card games.
Travelling just doesn’t involve driving, there are also train journeys, ferry journeys, plane journeys, and overnight stops in hotels. However you are travelling the kids need entertainment and there is nothing better than a good family board game. But board games come in big boxes are not the best to travel with, but there are plenty of small, lighter and more accessible travel games. I have picked out some of my favourites that can be played almost anywhere; in the car, on a plane, train or ferry, in restaurants, hotels, service stations, picnics, caravans, around the campfire and anywhere else that you can think of or want to play a game.
Scrabble Cards
Scrabble Cards is a word building card game for 2-4 players, aged 10+. It is a perfect game for travelling – hotels, restaurants, picnics etc. as you only need a flat surface to play on and it fits easily in your bag.
Scrabble Cards is a card-based version of the classic Scrabble game with 3 ways to play; Classic, Forfeit and Rummy. It can be played in the same way as the classic game that we all know and love by building words in a crossword pattern to score points, but it also can also be played with some rule changes to play Forfeit or Rummy. Click here to read my review of Scrabble Cards.
Battleship (Grab and Go Game)
Hasbro’s Grab and Go version of the popular classic game Battleship is a compact travel version of the naval, ship destroying classic. Its small compact size makes it perfect for playing on planes, trains and automobiles as well as restaurants, hotels, service stations etc.
Battleship is a strategy board game for 2 players, suitable for age 7+. It has a playing time of around 20-30 minutes. The idea is to hunt, seek and destroy your opponent’s Battleship, as well as their Carrier, Cruiser, Submarine and Destroyer before they can sink yours!
And if you win, you get to shout out those immortal words “You sank my Battleship!” Click here to read my review of Battleship (the full sized version).
7ate9
7ate9 is a number crunching, card-shedding maths card game for 2-4 players, aged 8+ with a 10 minute playing time. With the cards stored in a handy sized egg it makes a perfect travel companion to play anywhere.
The idea is for players to get rid of all their cards as quick as they can using simple mental arithmetic. Players must use basic maths skills to lay a card down that equals the value of the previous card. This is not like Snap where you match a number on display with the same number in your hand. This is achieved by adding or subtracting 1, 2 or 3! Click here to read my review of 7ate9.
Connect 4 (Grab and Go Game)
Connect 4 is a classic board game that has been played by families for nearly 50 years. It is a game of strategy where players must try to connect 4 of their coloured discs in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row to win the game. A game for 2 players, aged 6+ with a playing time of around 10 minutes it is available in a full size tabletop version, a travel version which can be played anywhere and is even available in giant garden versions. Click here to read my review of Connect 4 (the full size tabletop version).
Avoid You Know Who
Avoid You Know Who is a matching and pairing card game for 2 or more players aged 6 and over. It has a playing time of around 15 minutes. The aim of the game is to get rid of all your cards and not be left holding You Know Who (Lord Voldemort) in this Harry Potter themed game. The size of a deck of standard-sized playing cards, it is ideal for travelling. Click here to read my review of Avoid You Know Who.
Rummikub Mini Pouch
The classic game of Rummikub now comes in a handy and portable mini zipped pouch to take and play anywhere you go. Perfect for playing on family staycations and holidays, picnics in the park or on the beach, caravanning or camping. Suitable for 2-4 players, aged 7+.
Rummikub is a tile game played with 106 number tiles (1 to 13 in 4 different colours), the objective of the game is to lay down the tiles in runs of the same colour, or groups of the same number and be the first to play all your tiles. Click here to read my review of Rummikub Mini Pouch.
UNO
UNO is a classic family game that has been around for over 50 years old and is still going strong. It is a card-shedding game of matching colours and numbers to get rid of all your cards and score points. As it is a deck of standard sized playing cards it is perfect for travel and playing anywhere.
UNO is a card game for 2-10 players, age 7+. It is perfect for kids, adults and families as it simple to learn and play. And extremely addictive! Players take it turns to match a card in their hand with the card in play on the table. It is not just a case of matching a number like Snap but matching a colour to another colour or number or matching a number to a number. Click here to read my review of UNO.
Grabolo
Grabolo is a match and grab game for 2-4 players, age 4+ with a quick playing time of around 10 minutes. Stored in a handy travel tube it is perfect for playing on any flat surface.
The idea of the game is to roll the dice, find the matching colour and shape in the pile on the table and grab it before your opponents can. How do you know what piece to grab? Well, the game has two dice; one has different colours on each face whilst the other has different shapes. Roll the dice together and the colour and shape are the piece that you need to find and grab (yellow car, blue duck etc.). Click here to read my review of Grabolo.
Dobble
Everyone has heard of Dobble, haven’t they? Dobble makes an excellent game for travel as is a deck of circular cards stored in a handy tin, perfect for your bag or glove box in the car.
Dobble is a card game for the whole family, suitable for 2-8 players, aged 6+ and has a playing time of 10-15 minutes. It is a game of observation and speed, very similar to Snap, but much more challenging and certainly more fun. Click here to read my review of Dobble.
Hand Jive
Hand Jive! is a play anywhere manic miming charades card game. It is lots of fun for all the family and as it is a card game it can be again played anywhere.
A game for 2 or more players, aged 8+ with a playing time of around 30 minutes. Perfect for travelling. Click here to read my review of Hand Jive.
Don’t fancy any of the game above? They are lots more available. Or you can just grab an ordinary deck of playing cards. They are small and easy to store with plenty of different games that you can play such as Solitaire, Clock, Go Fish, Snap, Old Maid and many many others.
What’s your favourite travel game? If you know of any other games that would make a perfect game when you are on your travels, please leave a comment below.