Camping and board games go together like chocolate and marshmallows. And while the delicious interpersonal fun that happens when you smash them together seems like a no-brainer, some board games are just too big or complicated to set up on a card table underneath a lovely grove of trees.
But just because you can't find a good place to set up Twilight Imperium next to the campfire doesn't mean you're out of a good time. Many games that come in pocket-sized boxes will give you hours of fun, though they might not have the same complexity. Still, the most important thing on any camping trip is to pack light, and you'll hardly feel these games in your backpack as you set up camp.
Updated October 8, 2022: We've updated this list to include handy links through to Amazon so that you can pick up your favourites.
10 Eight Minute Empire
One of the few portable board games to actually have a board, Eight Minute empire is a bit like playing the Civilization board game if it didn't take an entire afternoon to set up. Like other conquest games, you'll gain resources, vie to control areas, and build up your armies for battle. Unlike other conquest games, Eight Minute Empire won't end up in an unsatisfying stalemate along the Europe-Asia border.
Despite being compact and a quick play, strategy is extremely important in Eight Minute Empire, and, since the rounds are so short, every decision matters. Games turn into a flurry of tense action that you'll want to experience over and over.
9 Dice Academy
A frantic party game with language at its heart, Dice Academy starts with a simple premise. First, roll a set of specialized dice with pictures on each side. Whatever pictures come up determines your categories. Next, roll another set of dice, each arrayed with a selection of letters. Once you roll both sets, the game is off, as everyone races to think up a word within the categories that begins with the rolled letters.
The only catch? Once you or your friends have used one combination of dice, that's it. No one can use that combination anymore. So, if you're fast with words, you can rack up points, but it's very easy for someone to steal your dice if you're not quick enough. It makes for a fantastic if tense afternoon that will keep everyone on their toes.
8 Tiny Epic Galaxies
They say it's difficult to fathom the extent of the universe, but Tiny Epic Galaxies does a pretty good job of fitting it into a tiny box. And while some Tiny Epic Games can sprawl despite their small packaging, Galaxies focuses mostly on dice rolls. This means you can play it even if you don't have much table space.
While colonizing and expanding an intergalactic empire may seem fun on the face of it, Galaxies goes the extra mile by making it feel like you're actually commanding a space-fleet worth of forces. Though you'll spend most of your time mining planets and rolling dice, this pint-sized planetary exploration simulator will turn you into a player in the new space race. Pretty impressive for a game that will fit in a good-sized back pocket.
7 Welcome To The Dungeon
Looking to play D&D under the trees, but don't feel like lugging around your laptop? Welcome to the Dungeon may scratch that itch without cumbersome technology or game maps. Instead of role playing and rolling attack dice, you and your friends will be creating a dungeon full of obstacles that, at the end of each round, one of you must hack your way through.
Getting through the dungeon twice means victory, but be warned: if you're defeated in the dungeon twice, you're gone for good. This forces you to think strategically about when and where you choose to enter. It's perfectly viable to play the hero, questing for glory, but you can also set traps for everyone and kill everyone off while you sit back in the tavern with an ale. The game brings a mixture of cooperative and betrayal-based gameplay that will fit on a side table.
6 Splendor
While it's not the most compact game in the world, Splendor gets points for its accessibility. With just a few decks of cards and some tokens, you'll build a mercantile empire from the ground up, snagging gems and prestige to become one of the most well-renowned merchants of the renaissance.
One of the best things about Splendor is how easy it is to pick up. It only takes a few minutes to learn, and there's an element of luck that levels the playing field between new and skilled players. If you've played the game before, you'll probably have a better chance of winning, but there's enough chance involved that it never feels unfair.
5 Gloom
In most board games, you want to keep your characters intact. But portable, dark Victorian-inspired Gloom takes a different approach. Instead of taking control of a hero, you're given domain over a family of horrible people that make the Bloody Benders look normal. Your task? To make them as miserable as possible before letting them die. You'll also try to throw a little good fortune at your opponent's family, depriving them of points.
Gloom is great mechanically, but where it shines is in its collaborative storytelling. Rather than just playing cards without comment, the game encourages you to narrate how these miserable events affected each character on their downward arc. This means that each game of Gloom is a story, a unique experience where the only predictable thing is that it will end badly.
4 Similo
If you're familiar with Codenames, you're familiar with Similo. Playing like a stripped-down version of the classic social deduction game, you'll play either as a guesser or clue-giver attempting to save one of a group of 12 historical characters. As the clue giver, it's your job to communicate who the guessers should eliminate, and who they should save.
The only catch? The clue-giver isn't allowed to talk. Instead, they play character cards from their hand in different positions. Playing a character vertically means that they are like the person you're trying to avoid. Playing them horizontally means that they are dissimilar, but it's up to the guessers to figure out what you meant. Since it's only a deck of cards, the game will stretch the limits of your ability to communicate, but not your suitcase capacity.
3 Love Letter
Its hard to get more portable than Love Letter. With just sixteen cards and a few tokens, this classic game of bluffing and theoretical love fits in a tiny red bag that you could easily store in your back pocket. It's simple to pick up and offers a good mixture of strategy and chance. Plus, you get to betray your friends to win the hand of the realm's princess. What's not to like?
The only downside to the original Love Letter was that it only supported two to four players, but its second edition corrected that with the addition of five new cards. It also addressed several balancing issues with the original, making your competitive wooing even more accessible to anyone playing around the campfire.
2 Sushi Go!
Sushi may not be for everyone, but Sushi Go! is. The setup for the game is that you're in a Sushi restaurant, trying to put together the perfect fish-based feast by collecting cards, but it hardly matters. You'll be so taken in by the game's art style that you'll want to grab as many of the cutesy Sashimi as you can, not to mention all those adorable blobs of wasabi.
Sushi Go! isn't the most complex card game of all time, but that's part of its charm. Its the consummate family game, with youngsters able to best you just as easily as your peers.
1 Hive
If you've ever come across two ant colonies clashing in the middle of the sidewalk, you'll understand what playing Hive is like. Taking control of a colony of insects, you battle it out against your opponent, trying to capture their queen. And while Hive isn't quite as hectic as an ant war, it's just as dynamic. It's a bit like chess, except there's no board, and every insect, for some reason, answers to a bee.
Hive's also extremely portable. There were only 22 hex pieces in the original, and 28 if you're looking to invest in an expansion. They'll easily fit in a small backpack or purse and, if you're looking for one on one strategy, offers hours of fun.
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