Best Board Games For A Weekend Away With Friends

The rule for a weekend away is simple: the game has to fit in a rucksack alongside the wine, and it has to be teachable in five minutes by someone two drinks in.

These are the ones that earn their space, grouped by the kind of evening you're likely to have.

Small box, huge night

• The Traitors board game - social deduction based on the BBC show, and the one people talk about on the drive home.
• Codenames - two teams, one-word clues, twenty minutes a round and endlessly replayable.
• Just One - cooperative, five minutes to learn, works while people are still cooking.
• Wavelength - guess where your teammate's thinking sits on a scale. Sounds odd, plays brilliantly.
• Sushi Go - tiny tin, thirty minutes, no arguments.
• The Mind - a deck of cards and total silence. Weirdly gripping after midnight.

For a big group in one room

• Werewolf or Mafia - free with a normal deck of cards if you forget everything else.
• Herd Mentality - answer the same as everyone else. Chaos with eight people.
• Articulate - loud, fast and everyone can play it without instruction.
• Cranium - covers every type of person in the group, which matters when the group is random.
• Avalon - shorter than Werewolf, no player is ever fully out.

Quiet Sunday morning games

• Ticket to Ride - calm, pretty, forty-five minutes while the bacon cooks.
• Patchwork - two players, perfect for whoever's up first.
• Azul - simple rules, good on a small table, no reading required.
• Cribbage or rummy - one deck of cards and a hangover-proof pace.

What to leave at home

• Anything with a two-hour setup or a rulebook thicker than a passport.
• Games with hundreds of tiny pieces - cottage floors eat them.
• Anything needing a huge table. Holiday tables are always smaller than you think.
• Monopoly. You know why.

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How to write it so it lands

• Check the player count on the box before you pack - plenty of 'party' games cap at six.
• Take the rules sheet out and photograph it, so you can look it up without hunting through the box.
• One person learns each game properly on the journey. It saves half an hour every time.

Where to shop next

• Board games hub
• How to host a Traitors theme night
• Best social deduction board games
• Low-key hen do games
• After-dinner board games for adults
• Best TV show board games
• Board games for adults
• Board games for big groups
• Free feel good tools
• Shop all cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What games are best for a cottage weekend with friends?

Social games that teach in five minutes: The Traitors, Codenames, Just One, Wavelength and Werewolf. All of them work with six to twelve people and fit in a small bag.

What's the best game for a big group on holiday?

A social deduction game. The Traitors board game or Werewolf will take a group of ten and give you an evening, where most strategy games stall above six players.

How many games should we take away?

Three. One loud party game, one deduction game and one quiet one for the morning. Any more and you'll spend the weekend deciding rather than playing.

Do you sell board games?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and party bits in the UK, so the games here are simply what we'd recommend to a friend. Some links go to other shops and may earn us a small commission, at no extra cost to you.