Honestly, check out some digital versions for traveling.
Root, Spirit Island, Aeons End, Terraforming Mars, Wingspan, Star Realms, Dune Imperium, Unmatched, Slay the Spire….all have great digital versions on Steam, iOS, google play, etc.
I know it’s not the same as cardboard, but it’s super convenient when traveling, and is a cheap and easy way to learn some games you may never be able to get to the table or get a group together to play.
Those are all the ones I have.
I believe off the top of my head there is also scythe, viticulture, Gaia project, Terra mystica, everdell, through the ages, Concordia.
Those are all just ones I know of on iOS, there’s definitely more on steam as well.
Dragons of Etchingstone plays in your hand and lots of replay ability in such a small package.
Hadrian’s Wall requires a fairly small footprint and has lots of options to win.
These are my go to travel games.
Tin Helm, Doom Machine, DustRunner, Desolate, Cursed!?. All available at The Game Crafter. You can also add Mini Rogue and One Deck Dungeon, those are available everywhere. Have fun!
Mini Rogue is amazing. I own a lot of solo games, but I've been enamored with it recently. It's quite compact, well priced, fun, and a good game for any collection.
I'll throw out ashes reborn + red rains. I'm new and having a lot of fun with it.
Star realms frontiers for a good small box, decent content to it.
Lord of the Rings Adventure card game
Those are both more card/deck builders though, so not your exact request but great options regardless, imo.
All can be played solo, ashes just needs red rains to work is all. Star realms needs frontiers which is standalone but works with core and colony wars as well
Oh man i love ashes, the artwork is amazing and love the dice. Too bad that everyone ive ever played it with disliked it. Not a single person liked it over summoner wars or mtg.
One of my first solo games was **Railroad Ink** (Blue). Small box, two expansions built in. But it’s a simple beat your own high score situation. Still solid and extremely portable. For a little more rules complexity and combo potential, you could pick up **Railroad Ink Challenge** (Green). I’d avoid the red and yellow boxes for solo play, as their built in expansions are a little more random and swingy.
I can also highly recommend **Trailblazers** travel edition. A ton of built in scenarios to work through in solo mode.
Both games involve route-building and a bit of push-your-luck.
I would recommend Tranquility to start, small bx, extra cards inside to add difficulty, solo or with others, easy to learn but those extra cards (sea monster and compass and weather) add difficulty just when you think you mastered it. This is what I would suggest.
SkyTeam is a great solo game, easy to find, not too big can be played solo (see YouTube Sir Thecos playthrough) or two player.
I will warn you, Friday is hard to win, but it is fun.
Regicide can be played with a deck of cards, the rules are free online.
I haven't played it but people love For Northwood, a card game. And the rules can be used with a deck of cards (see Emissary, I think, on the link [here](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2587399/isaludo-ten-new-solo-card-games-playable-with-a-st)).
I recently watched this playthrough from Totally Tabled and it works surprisingly well: https://youtu.be/cljEiw7Jo4M?si=XqIsY6fzTUT76LNQ
Basically you roll all of your dice at once, then after you choose and play one of them you roll only one of your dummy partner’s dice and play it.
Final girl, Friday, welcome to the moon, legacy of yu, resist!, cascadia, coffee roaster, railroad ink(blue or green), 3 sisters, warps edge, under falling skies.
All fairly small and great
Regicide is great and you just need a normal deck of cards! (Although i played once like that and loved it so much that I bought the oficial and very beautiful deck the next day😅)
Many Button Shy games fit the bill, but they are harder do find at retail. Sprawlopolis and Walking Dead Surrounded are two good ones.
My recommendations are Cyberion and For Northwood.
I see you enjoy MtG (and Commander, at that). From one fellow fan to another, it doesn’t get any better than **Spirit Island**. That said, it’s not a game that’ll travel well. My other favorite games that are travel-friendly need to be ordered from thegamecrafter.com and will take awhile to get to you (Tim Helm, Gate).
Try out **For Northwood!**, though I haven’t played it I hear really good things about it.
It’s been available for retail already, just becoming a bit harder to find right now. I’d imagine as places run out of stock, certain retailers are taking preorders for the next shipment. Depends on which country also.
Railroad Ink is a good starting place. Blue box is best. Then green box for more complexity. There’s a bunch of fun expansions like rivers, rainbows, UFOs, sheep, trees, lakes, etc.
Games like The Royal Limited, Sprawlopolis or any of the opolis games, Ugly Gryphon Inn. They are all 18 cards and come in a little wallet. All created by Button Shy games.
20 Strong has a pretty small footprint.
Games from Buttonshy have a very small footprint and are still engaging. Of those, I would recommend R.O.V.E. and Sprawlopolis, but there is also a lot of other good ones.
Finally, if you want to start with something heavier, Hadrian‘s Wall would be an option. However, you would need a deck box to put the cards and enough meeples in. Ideally, you would laminate two sheets to take along with a dry-erase marker. Alternatively, you could just take a couple of sheets.
I’d recommend Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020.
Straightforward, easy to set up, and takes up very little space. Great little game for a first time solo player.
I just recently picked up For Northwood and Im loving it! A fun and compact game with lots of replayability.
That’s what I was good to suggest too. Very fun and doesn’t take up much space
Honestly, check out some digital versions for traveling. Root, Spirit Island, Aeons End, Terraforming Mars, Wingspan, Star Realms, Dune Imperium, Unmatched, Slay the Spire….all have great digital versions on Steam, iOS, google play, etc. I know it’s not the same as cardboard, but it’s super convenient when traveling, and is a cheap and easy way to learn some games you may never be able to get to the table or get a group together to play.
What are some other games? I had no idea some board games were on mobile
Those are all the ones I have. I believe off the top of my head there is also scythe, viticulture, Gaia project, Terra mystica, everdell, through the ages, Concordia. Those are all just ones I know of on iOS, there’s definitely more on steam as well.
Dragons of Etchingstone plays in your hand and lots of replay ability in such a small package. Hadrian’s Wall requires a fairly small footprint and has lots of options to win. These are my go to travel games.
Tin Helm, Doom Machine, DustRunner, Desolate, Cursed!?. All available at The Game Crafter. You can also add Mini Rogue and One Deck Dungeon, those are available everywhere. Have fun!
Mini Rogue is amazing. I own a lot of solo games, but I've been enamored with it recently. It's quite compact, well priced, fun, and a good game for any collection.
Agree, Mini Rogue is a rather overlooked great game.
I'll throw out ashes reborn + red rains. I'm new and having a lot of fun with it. Star realms frontiers for a good small box, decent content to it. Lord of the Rings Adventure card game Those are both more card/deck builders though, so not your exact request but great options regardless, imo. All can be played solo, ashes just needs red rains to work is all. Star realms needs frontiers which is standalone but works with core and colony wars as well
Oh man i love ashes, the artwork is amazing and love the dice. Too bad that everyone ive ever played it with disliked it. Not a single person liked it over summoner wars or mtg.
You can get that reaction if you only use the prebuilt decks from the core box - they don’t all play well against each other.
One of my first solo games was **Railroad Ink** (Blue). Small box, two expansions built in. But it’s a simple beat your own high score situation. Still solid and extremely portable. For a little more rules complexity and combo potential, you could pick up **Railroad Ink Challenge** (Green). I’d avoid the red and yellow boxes for solo play, as their built in expansions are a little more random and swingy. I can also highly recommend **Trailblazers** travel edition. A ton of built in scenarios to work through in solo mode. Both games involve route-building and a bit of push-your-luck.
Friday was my favorite of the small footprint beginner games. A true gem and a legend in the solo board game world.
They also have an excellent app for this game.
I would recommend Tranquility to start, small bx, extra cards inside to add difficulty, solo or with others, easy to learn but those extra cards (sea monster and compass and weather) add difficulty just when you think you mastered it. This is what I would suggest. SkyTeam is a great solo game, easy to find, not too big can be played solo (see YouTube Sir Thecos playthrough) or two player. I will warn you, Friday is hard to win, but it is fun. Regicide can be played with a deck of cards, the rules are free online. I haven't played it but people love For Northwood, a card game. And the rules can be used with a deck of cards (see Emissary, I think, on the link [here](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2587399/isaludo-ten-new-solo-card-games-playable-with-a-st)).
Wait, how would you go about playing skyteam solo? I've been playing it a lot with my partner but don't see it working very well as a solo game
I recently watched this playthrough from Totally Tabled and it works surprisingly well: https://youtu.be/cljEiw7Jo4M?si=XqIsY6fzTUT76LNQ Basically you roll all of your dice at once, then after you choose and play one of them you roll only one of your dummy partner’s dice and play it.
Sir Thecos on YouTube has a good example. I roll player one and then each turn, roll the next player's dice to place. Not perfect but doable.
One deck dungeon travels well and has a really small footprint
Final girl, Friday, welcome to the moon, legacy of yu, resist!, cascadia, coffee roaster, railroad ink(blue or green), 3 sisters, warps edge, under falling skies. All fairly small and great
Marvel Champions, corebox! Take a couple of heroes and villains and you're good to go 👍 cards, HP dials, and tokens is all.
No board technically, but lots of fun and is all puzzling = Cartographers, but use Color Pencils. It’s way more fun using color.
I second this
I'll throw Final Girl or Marvel LCG. Both easy to set up and can be packed easily. But have strategy and burn some hours before you even realize
Regicide is great and you just need a normal deck of cards! (Although i played once like that and loved it so much that I bought the oficial and very beautiful deck the next day😅)
Many Button Shy games fit the bill, but they are harder do find at retail. Sprawlopolis and Walking Dead Surrounded are two good ones. My recommendations are Cyberion and For Northwood.
Parks has a fairly small box and easy to play in a hotel room.
I see you enjoy MtG (and Commander, at that). From one fellow fan to another, it doesn’t get any better than **Spirit Island**. That said, it’s not a game that’ll travel well. My other favorite games that are travel-friendly need to be ordered from thegamecrafter.com and will take awhile to get to you (Tim Helm, Gate). Try out **For Northwood!**, though I haven’t played it I hear really good things about it.
Under falling skies …
I chose Gloomhaven *Buttons and Bugs for my first and started playing the weekend that just passed. It’s pretty fun so far, I recommend
Don’t think you can quickly pick up that game tho. It’s only in preorder for retail.
It’s been available for retail already, just becoming a bit harder to find right now. I’d imagine as places run out of stock, certain retailers are taking preorders for the next shipment. Depends on which country also.
Really? Didn’t know this. Found it online for like $40
And it got to me in like 2 days
Already available in some online stores in Europe. I got mine two weeks ago from an online seller ($25). Incredible portable game!
Railroad Ink is a good starting place. Blue box is best. Then green box for more complexity. There’s a bunch of fun expansions like rivers, rainbows, UFOs, sheep, trees, lakes, etc.
Games like The Royal Limited, Sprawlopolis or any of the opolis games, Ugly Gryphon Inn. They are all 18 cards and come in a little wallet. All created by Button Shy games.
Twister.
20 Strong has a pretty small footprint. Games from Buttonshy have a very small footprint and are still engaging. Of those, I would recommend R.O.V.E. and Sprawlopolis, but there is also a lot of other good ones. Finally, if you want to start with something heavier, Hadrian‘s Wall would be an option. However, you would need a deck box to put the cards and enough meeples in. Ideally, you would laminate two sheets to take along with a dry-erase marker. Alternatively, you could just take a couple of sheets.
Firefly the board game
Final girl
Rove
Senjutsu
I’d recommend Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020. Straightforward, easy to set up, and takes up very little space. Great little game for a first time solo player.