Board Games for Your Best Summer Vacation

Summer is right around the corner. For many people, that means summer vacation and lots of free time. We all spend vacations differently. No matter whether you are travelling or staying at home, your summer can be more interesting if you pair it with some board games.  

Many board games are too complex for casual beach fun, but there are a bunch of board games perfect for such an occasion. On the other hand, some people are staying at home for their vacation. That can be the ideal time to try out some of the best board games you haven’t had a chance to play before. In this article, I will talk about board games ideal for any summer vacation.

Best games for a road trip

Travelling part of the road trips is usually the most boring part of the vacation, especially when you are travelling by bus for a longer time. A good way to make the journey more enjoyable is to bring along some games that can be played on the road. So, what are the best board games for a road trip?

Board games with many components are usually fun to play, but carrying lots of components can be a problem when travelling. This is why word games like Trapwords are excellent for such occasions. Trapwords is a word guessing game, but in this game, the opposing team chooses words you can’t use. The tricky part is that you don’t know which word the opposing team has chosen. This adds another dimension to the game and makes you choose your descriptions more carefully than in Taboo.

While we are on the topic of board games that don’t have a board, you should check out Hive. Hive is an abstract strategy game that requires no set-up. Hive is a 20- minute 2-player game that consists of 11 pieces for each of the players. Each piece represents a creature with a unique movement. Players put their pieces down and move them around with the goal of surrounding the opponent's queen. All 22 pieces are made of plastic and won’t get damaged no matter where you take them, which makes this game ideal for road trips. 

Another option is to bring one of Tiny Epic games with you.  Tiny Epic games are a series of board games in small boxes perfect for road trips. Tiny Epic Galaxies is a 1-5 players dice-based game where each player tries to expand their influence in a highly contested galaxy. Another great example is Tiny Epic Pirates. It is a strategy game where players explore the seas through action combo mechanics. Each Tiny Epic game belongs to a different genre so you will certainly find at least one Tiny Epic title you will enjoy.  All their games have decent ratings on Board Game Geek, so you won’t regret it no matter which one you choose.

Board games to take to the beach

Chilling in the shades on the beach is a great time to enjoy games with simple gameplay. Uno is a classic game that most people play on the beach during childhood. With the increasing popularity of board games, many interesting games with simple mechanics emerged in recent years. Why not spice it up and try playing something else on the beach?

Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Mayhem is a perfect card game to take to the beach. The game comes with four pre-constructed decks you use to battle your friends. This game has rules that can’t be any simpler, and every game takes around 10 minutes to complete. The simplicity of this game and the fun it provides make it one of the best board games to take to the beach.

If you are interested in a game that is more verbally interactive, One Night Ultimate Werewolf is one of the best board games to take to the beach. In this game, players get roles of different characters in a village. The goal of the villagers is to use their special abilities to find out which player is the werewolf and lynch the werewolf. 

Pictomania is another game with a simple rule set. You should consider taking Pictomania to the beach if you want a game that includes creativity. This is a game of drawing and guessing. All players draw pictures based on words from cards everyone can see. All players also try to guess what other players are drawing. This game gives a winning chance both to players good at drawing and those good at guessing. 

Games for your “Backyard Party”

Backyard parties are excellent events for drinking games. Suddenly Drunk's Box of Bad Ideas is an expansion game that turns any other turn-based game you are playing into a drinking game. You can pair this game with literally any turn-based game, but it works best with games that have short turns like Jenga. The game is really simple. Whenever it is your turn, you draw a card from Suddenly Drunk’s deck and do what the card tells you to do. Since many people are likely to party and drink during summer, this is one of the best games for summer vacation.

If you are looking for simple games you can play at backyard parties and pair them with Suddenly Drunks Box of Bad Ideas, you should give Coup a try. 

Coup is a quick bluffing game where each player starts the game with two role cards and two coins. Each turn, players can perform one action. There are some actions that are exclusive to certain roles. When a player performs an action that is exclusive to a role, any other player can declare them a liar. If the player performing the action is caught lying, they permanently lose one of the cards. If they weren’t lying, then the person accusing them loses a card. The goal of the game is to be the last player standing.

Another great game for backyard parties is Spyfall. Spyfall is a short game of bluffing and guessing. All players except one receive the same secret location on the card. The one player who doesn’t receive the location is the spy. After players get location cards, they ask each other questions trying to determine which player is the spy. If players agree on who is the spy and guess correctly, they all score a point. Spy scores points by correctly guessing the secret location.

Best games for your at-home vacation!

People not travelling during summer might finally find time to play complex board games they didn’t have time to play during the rest of the year. Longer games and games and games with lots of components are perfect for playing during at-home vacation. One game you should try if you have a lot of free time during the summer is Twilight Imperium.

Twilight Imperium is a strategy board game where players fight for domination in space as one of 17 factions. The game is not only one of the bestsellers, but it is also one of the most complex board games. The game can sometimes take 8 hours to finish, so summer is the ideal time to try it out. If you are a fan of grand strategy games, this one is a must-play.

Dungeons & Dragons adventure board games like Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft are excellent if you have a regular board game play group and you are all staying at home during summer. Such games take you on a co-op adventure that will take you multiple sessions to complete. An added benefit is that these games come with beautiful miniatures. Painting miniatures is a great hobby you can enjoy during summer if you are staying at home.

Playing some Living Card Games is another option for those of you staying at home during vacation. Living card games are games that are between board Games and TCGs. They are playable right out of the box, but you still get to experience deck building. One of the most popular LCGs you should check out is Arkham Horror: The Card Game. It is a cooperative LCG for 1-4 players. In this game, you and your friends explore Arkham through three different scenarios.

If you are staying home during summer vacation you are not limited by the size of the board games you can play during the vacation. You should also check the top 10 board games in 2022 and try one that you haven’t played before. 

Author - Ante Radoš