For parties, road trips, dates and good ol' killing time, sitting around the table with a two hour game isn't necessarily what you had in mind. These games can be won in less than 15 minutes, with very little set-up and easy concepts to learn for beginners. The best part of a quick play time is that you can keep playing new games, if it happens to be something you'd like to beat your friend at but can't seem to. Rematch after rematch is possible, as are mini tournaments or simply squeezing these in over a short break from work or school. These ten short board games are fast fun for everyone.
The Mind
See The Price Amazon
This game is interesting in that it is a game about communicating without communicating. Players hold cards with numbers on them and without speaking to each other or gesturing, relying solely on eye contact, the group attempts to lay down the cards in ascending order.
If a player lays down a card, feeling the time is right, but another person at the table has a lower number in their hand, the round is over and the group loses one life, before starting over again with new cards. This is a fast game, as the group only has as many lives as players, so in a group of 4, after 4 mistakes the game is over. This is a unique party game and interesting when played with folks you know well.
You've Got Crabs
See The Price Amazon
You've Got Crabs is another party game featuring art by web artist The Oatmeal, also the creator of the popular game Exploding Kittens. In You've Got Crabs, players are in teams of 2, sitting on opposite sides. Sides take turns swapping cards from their hands with ones from the middle, attempting to reach four of a kind.
Once they have four of a kind, they must discreetly communicate that fact to their partner, who shouts, "You've got crabs!" before any other player notices. This is a silly, funny game that is fast-paced enough not to dominate an evening for too long.
Monopoly Deal
See The Price Amazon
Traditional Monopoly is a game that can definitely take a while to reach the end of, depending how much stamina everyone in your group has. With Monopoly Deal, the gameplay is condensed, more fast-paced and lower stakes.
This is a card game where action cards, money and properties can be collected and used. The winner is the first to have three sets of properties in different colors, announcing this on their turn. It's nice to be able to have the same feel and content as a game of Monopoly, without the possibly very long time commitment of a traditional game.
Animal Upon Animal
See The Price Amazon
With the Mr. Dad Seal of Approval, you know that this game is fun for players both young and old. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is a relaxing stress-release or short distraction. The wooden pieces are shaped like animals, such as a crocodile, a sheep or a hedgehog.
Players each have their own stash of animals, and the objective is to get rid of all of your creatures before anyone else. On a turn, a player can build on the growing pyramid of animals in the centre of the table, pass an animal to another player or add to the base of the pyramid with one of their pieces. With such a simple concept and nostalgic wooden pieces, this is a calm game and fun for the whole group.
Spot it!
See The Price Amazon
This is a very fast-paced, high-energy game for the whole family, and is equally fun with 2 players or a big group of up to 8 people. The stack of circular cards is covered in little symbols, 8 per card. Any 2 cards will always feature just 1 symbol in common. 2 cards are dealt at the top of the game, and the first player to spot which symbol they have in common wins a card.
The second card remains and a new card is dealt, once again challenging the group to spot the symbol in common - whoever does, wins the oldest card. Play continues on like this until the cards run out, and the player who holds the most of them wins. This game is very easy, fun and keeps people playful and laughing.
Zombie Dice
See The Price Amazon
Zombie Dice is for 2 players, aged 10 and up. For zombie fans, it's a great game to decompress or a fun mini-tournament with a group of friends. In this zombie adventure, players take on the roles of zombies, while the dice act as your human victims.
Rolling the dice reveals brains (eat them for a point), footsteps (chase them and reroll), or shotgun blasts (careful, roll three and you are done). Young and old players love this little game as it's a relaxing, simple, probability game. The player who is the best undead gambler and scores the most brains wins - without taking up an entire evening.
Ghost Blitz
See The Price Amazon
Ghost Blitz is a ridiculously silly game that becomes more and more addictive and hilarious as you play. Reminiscent of the old game Spoons, this is a chance for players to get grabby and a little bit rowdy, as the objective is to grab the correct object off the table before another person beats you to it. Five objects are placed in the center: a chair, book, mouse, bottle and of course, a ghost. Cards are dealt one by one, featuring pictures that contain the objects.
Players have to spot what is unusual on the card to determine which object to grab. This is an excellent choice when you're looking for a quick game that can boost the energy of a group.
Bananagrams
See The Price Amazon
A match of Bananagrams is reminiscent of a game of Scrabble, but without the board and with a much, much faster playing time. In this game, 1-8 players aged 7 and up use letter tiles to spell out words, all attached in some way to form an individual, scrabble board-like arrangement.
It's almost like creating your own crossword. Players race each other, drawing new tiles every time a player runs out, to empty out all the tiles and finish their arrangement with no unused letters. The first to do this is the winner. This is a fast-paced game of friendly competition, where your mind will be challenged to use different viewpoints and strategies.
Exploding Kittens
See The Price Amazon
This is one of the funniest games with the coolest artwork, featuring characters drawn by The Oatmeal. The game is, at its core, a round of Russian Roulette. Players draw cards until someone pulls an exploding kitten, taking them out of the game. Cards in players' hands enable them to avoid the exploding kittens by passing, peeking or shuffling.
This is a quick game with a lot of action and eliminations happen fast, whittling down the group to the winner before you know it. Multiple rounds of this can be played so that losers can avenge themselves by nudging other players towards the dreaded bursting felines that lurk in the deck.
Sushi Go!
See The Price Amazon
In this game, players are sitting together at a sushi restaurant, as plates pass by for them to keep or not keep. Players hold cards that they either pass or reserve for their score at the end of the game. The goal is to have the best sushi in your hand, earning points by having the most sushi rolls or full sets of sashimi.
Players must quickly decide which cards they will aim to collect and how they can block their opponents from scoring. Carefully choosing which cards to pass to your neighbor is just as important as choosing which to keep and use to rack up points.
We hope you like the items we recommend! Screen Rant has affiliate partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from your purchase. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.