There’s no better way to enjoy a day in our van than with a cup of tea and endless games! Our top kitchen drawer is filled with compact, travel-friendly games for quick access when we’re in the mood for a games night. Whether you need a way to pass the time with children in Winter, or you’re looking to relax with your partner on a rainy day, read on for our favourite van games that are tonnes of fun for 2 or more players!
Bananagrams
How to play
First, all the letter tiles are turned upside down and each player takes 21. The game begins with the announcement of ‘Split!’, when players turn over their tiles and make words in their own crossword-style grid with their letters. When you’ve used all your tiles, shout ‘Peel!’, and every player takes one more tile to add to their grid. If you want to get rid of a tricky letter (like a Z, X or Q – very useless if you don’t have a U!) you say ‘Dump!’ and put the tile back in the pile face-down, picking up three new tiles in its place. This continues until there are no more tiles left to take, and one player announces that they have completed their grid by exclaiming ‘Bananas!’.
Why we love it
Bananagrams is basically like Scrabble, but without having to wait ages for other players to finish their turn, and without the need for a large board or additional equipment. The packaging is very compact as the game comes in a cute, banana-shaped pouch with a zip, making it ideal for travelling. The ceramic tiles are durable, and the flexibility of the pouch makes it easy to store in a drawer amongst other items. The banana-themed announcements are kind of arbitrary, but they always make us giggle, and kids will love it!
Exploding Kittens
How to play
Players take it in turns to either play one of their cards or draw from the deck. Cards have special powers to afflict different actions on the opposing player – like forcing them to hand over a card. But with kittens! And explosions! The aim of the game is to avoid picking up the Exploding Kitten card in the deck, unless you have a Defuse card to play to save yourself from the explosion! Once all the Defuse cards have been used, it’s a Russian roulette style shoot out until there’s one player left standing as the winner.
Why we love it
Exploding Kittens is weirdly addictive and comes in a teeny box with just the cards and a small instruction leaflet inside. For two players, the game is rapid fire and a good way to get through a lot of rounds quickly – perfect if you need a fast and fun way to decide who’s doing the washing up!
Dobble
How to play
This game has 5 different ways to play! All the cards have symbols on them, with one symbol on each card matching one symbol on all the other cards. Our favourite version is splitting the deck equally between players and racing to get rid of all the cards in your hand in a ‘Snap’ style game. This is also fun in reverse, where a player is declared the winner by matching the most cards to the one in their hand by the time the deck is depleted.
Why we love it
Like all the best travel games, Dobble comes in a small and lightweight package. The tin is decorated in bright yellow and purple to match the cards – so it’s hard to lose it in the depths of your van! We’ve played dozens and dozens of rounds of this game on slow days in our van, and the quick and easy to learn nature of the game play makes it great for families, or sharing with new friends at campsites and festivals! There’s also a Kids Dobble for younger children.
Uno Flip
How to play
A new version of the classic Uno game. Players are dealt 7 cards, most with coloured numbers and some that trigger an action. The aim of the game is to get rid of the cards in your hand by matching the number or colour on your turn, and using action cards to your advantage to prevent other players from putting down their cards! Classic Uno action cards like reverse the game play order and +2 cards are still included in Uno Flip, but the Flip deck is double-sided and contains ‘Flip’ action cards, where players must turn over their deck and play with a whole new hand! The dark side features more extreme action cards, like +5 cards, that are sure to make for an action-packed game!
Why we love it
Knowing the rules of classic Uno helps, but this new version is so easy to learn and just as quick to play! We love teaching this version to our family and friends, but it’s also great fun for the two of us in the van and we sometimes play with double the amount of starting cards to make the rounds last longer.
Monopoly Deal
How to play
A card version of the classic Monopoly game, for those competitive types who love to play but don’t want to store a huge Monopoly board in their home on wheels! This card game takes just 15 minutes and, like the classic board game, players must buy properties and try to make property sets. Players start with 5 cards and take it in turns to draw 2 cards and play up to 3 cards per turn. Some action cards permit the user to steal or swap properties with their opponent, or charge the other player Rent, in which case you’d better hope you’ve got enough money to avoid giving up your properties as payment! The first player to reach 3 property sets is the winner.
Why we love it
Monopoly Deal is one of our most played games in the van by far, and we love that the slim deck box doesn’t take up much space in our drawer, making it the perfect travel-friendly game! It involves thinking ahead and honing your strategy – it may be wise to hold onto certain cards to avoid them being taken by actions cards that force you to give over properties! There’s nothing like surprising your opponent with a sudden win, though prepare yourself for a tense evening if, like the classic version, game play gets competitive!
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
How to play
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is essentially a snap game with an added verbal element making for hilarity and confusion! Cards are divided between players, who then take it in turns to play a card blind. When the first player puts down a card, they must say the word ‘Taco’. The second player puts down a card and says ‘Cat’, the third plays and says ‘Goat’, the next player ‘Cheese’ and the next says ‘Pizza’, meaning the next player goes back to ‘Taco’. If at any time a player plays a card that matches the word they’ve said, it’s a race to slap your hand on the deck – the last person to slap their hand on the cards picks them up! The goal is to be the first person to get rid of all your cards. There are a few action cards along the way like Gorilla, where players must beat their chest and slap their hand on the deck – the last to do so picks up the cards. It’s a whirlwind of a game that is sure to put you in a good mood on a camping trip!
Why we love it
Make sure you don’t play this game if you’re trying to stealth camp – a round of Taco Cat always gets loud! We laugh so hard every time we play, between our brains getting frazzled and forgetting which action to perform in the moment, to beating our chests so hard for the Gorilla card that we crack up! Kids will love the colourful cards and fun animal-themed actions. If you need a quick and fun pick-me-up, Taco Cat is the game for you!
For more games recommendations head to our Products We Recommend page!
We are Chris+Suze
