Top Ten Tiny or Pocket Sized Board & Card Games
Too many games these days are all about giant boxes and expansions and high price tags and a million miniatures etc. What about those great little games that are small enough to not only be cheap, but you can even carry one in your pocket on your travels maybe?
Don’t agree with my picks? Well how about the People’s Choice which will feature after my list. Please leave a like on the video and share on social media to show your appreciation!
Also quick note – the bottom bar in my #2 near the end says “Sequel and Expansion Coming in 2021!” (forgot that the lower third would cover that up! :P)
And I’m also going to admit that I might have forgotten about Innovation – I’m so used to playing it online and I have the big box set for it with the expansions that I forgot you can get it in a smaller box which I believe would have fit in my pocket. So I’ll talk about it on the podcast this Sunday so that it gets its fair share of the spotlight!
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Who Am I?
One single batchelor from the UK talking about his passion for board games and the people who play them! I support small content creators, board game cafes and go against the status quo when it comes to the board game industry. I give my honest opinions without bias towards any publishers or designers and will not hold back if I don’t like a game.
The Broken Meeple is a variety channel that hosts all kinds of board game content from reviews to Top 10 lists to playthroughs to live stream collaborations with special guests (predominantly small channels who deserve more exposure).
I look forward to engaging with you, the community on my live streams or in the comments on my videos!
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Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction & Restrictions for the List
01:59 – #10
04:02 – #9
06:07 – #8
07:47 – #7
09:55 – #6
11:52 – #5
14:51 – #4
17:29 – #3
19:36 – #2
23:01 – #1
26:24 – Honorable Mention and Peoples Choice Top Ten
#brokenmeeple #tiny #topten #pocket #boardgames #boardgame #lukehector #supportsmallcreators #boardgamegeek #game #tabletop #tabletopgames #bgg #boardgamer
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Great list Luke! I loved hearing about your positive memories attached to the games!
Innovation and Oh My Goods would make my list. Great choices here.
Thanks for the fun video. I enjoy most of your picks too. One you didn't mention, but could also be a good pocket game is Fantasy Realms. I love it's replayability, much like Hanamikoji. Also, you showed the tile expansion for Hanamikoji, have you played it with that? Is it worth getting to a hold of? And, is t intergratable with Jixia Academy?
The Devir edition of Point Salad can be considered pocket size, I have it myself. That may be a suitable explanation for all the votes.
Age of War is a nice small game also. And you could also add The Crew for a trick taking option (just compared its size with Hanamikoji on my shelf) 😁
Duel decks are a discontinued product line. They've been replaced by challenger decks. However, if we're keeping it pocket sized the new product line Jump Start from magic allows you to simply put together two booster packs and your deck is ready. Kind of like the game Smash Up with only two booster packs per deck needed. Very compact.
Surprised Dale of Merchants games didn't make the list even though they were mentioned. The numbered games are easy to travel with. Clearly the collection box wouldn't work but same is true of Valley of the Kings premium.
Okay, so we haven't heard of MtG Duels. Looks interesting but that picture of the hand of cards. Either that person has huge hands or those cards are really small. If its the latter then thats a problem. Considering many cards in MtG are text heavy, small cards means small text!
Geat video. So Valley of The Kings is yet another game to add to my ever growing wishlist !
Valley of the kings is a long game.
Sprawlopolis?
Nice list! Few more suggestions – Port Royal, Palm Island, Welcome To The Dungeon, Friday, Skull King
How was The Crew not on this list?? 😮
Some games are "all box" and if you take them out they are highly portable.
For example Cartographers is a Deck of cards a couple of pencils and a few game sheets. So there are some highly portable games once you take away the box.
Some of the reason for bigger boxes is room to store expansion content so it's not all just marketing.
BTW your Thumbnail looks a bit flasher in the park 😛
Luke Hector, AKA Del Boy Trotter, strikes again! Great video.
Before I watch this video I need to say Hive Pocket! 'Nuff said 😁
Interestingly, there is an Indian licensed version of Point Salad that comes in a pocket sized box. Also tiny games that often go under the radar are Isle of Trains and Piepmatz.
THE CREW! How come no one mentioned THE CREEEEW! Such a great game! I've absolutely smashed my copy to bits with so much use and travel
Here are my pick (a lot of Button Shy Wallet Games here):
1) Sprawlopolis (A great Button Shy game for solo plays)
2) Agropolis (Another great Button Shy game, based on the Sprawlopolis system)
3) Hive Pocket (we have played this game anywhere, from mountain tops, to the beach, in parks, etc.)
4) Battle Line (My Roland's Revenge Game 2nd Edition is tiny and easily fit in a pocket)
5) Skulls of Sedlec (Another great Button Shy game that is great from 1 to 4 players)
6) Food Chain Island (Another great Button Shy game for solo plays)
7) Valley of the Kings (An awesome series of deckbuilders in such a small package)
8) Innovation (Such a great game for 2 players)
9) Circle the Wagons (A great Button Shy game if you want the Sprawlopolis scoring system for a great 2-player game)
10) Seasons of Rice (A good Button Shy game about laying rice paddies)
Silver & Gold – what killed this game for me is the fiddliness of keeping track of who the first player is. I don't know why, but it was supper annoying.
I would add Third Edition of Innovation to this list!
Boardgame Ladies, check out Luke in his hand stitched camelhair jacket!
My favourite pocket-sized game is Best Treehouse Ever from Green Couch Games, like a card drafting version of Dream Home, but every card is a great illustration of an extreme room for a treehouse! Love Letter was a given, but there's so many on this list I still have to try!
Ah that pronunciation reminds me of my friend at international school as a kid. Hahnahmii heh
Some great choices! My family loves Coup. Ohanami is a fun little game as well
I like ultra tiny epic galaxies.
I have a copy of For Sale that is the factory box the size of a fat deck of playing cards that plays 3-6 players in two phases (open bid and then blind bid) in about 30 or so minutes. Great solid game!
Speaking of Hanamikoji, Air, Land & Sea offers a similar experience, streamlined with 3 suits instead of 5, yet is much deeper due to highly emergent card effects, plus the ability to tactically retreat from a fight, cutting your losses(or rather, your opponent's gain)
High Risk
Not Alone
Dracarys Dice
Blueprints
Kibble Scuffle
Tank Chess
Draftosaurus (?)
Legendary Forest
The White Goblin version of Point Salad is tiny for sure.
Are any of these games coop or solo?
It's a good and informative video! Thank you!
But I've never seen someone talk so fast for a 35+ minute video. Too much caffeine?
Mottainai is game that easily fits in a pocket. I enjoy playing this game and it would have ended up on my list.
I like the MTG duel decks too for all the same reasons. I too used to play MTG tournaments back in the 90's. Cockroach poker looks interesting, never seen that or most likely I have overlooked it. Love Star realms, I have a few little expansions for it which all go in, we play it more often than Dominion. Hanamikoji is one I should pick up. Valley of the Kings looks like one I might like, love the theme and like deck builders.
I got one of those little deck boxes for star realms that lets you sleeve them and keep the trade deck separate from the starter decks. But it still goes in a bag real easy and travels really well. Great way to kill 20-30 minutes and if you're with someone that really vibes with the game you can kill a couple hourse.
Valley of the kings: it might interest you that there are 4 AI different opponents for free for it.
As a PvE I recommend One Deck Dungeon.
Castle of Burgundy Dice Game roll and write is a great small game. Small foot print on a table… easy to bring along… and fun 🙂
Hanabi is my ultimate favorite but I would also like to suggest new-ish game Kompromat.
so do you put the magic decks back in there packaging! 🙂 (fruit salad to big)
Highly recommend the Nasty 7
I met my husband at a board game night! Find you a girl that loves games
Wow! Nice content! I also want to share this Lagim Card game that my family and I are enjoying. It's amazing that they actually came up with the idea of Philippine Folklore since it's kind of dying down a bit. It will surely educate future generations.
Great list I love playing In-between memoarrr! And rocky road a la mode
There is a version of point salad in a tiny metal box. I have it and it fits in my pocket 😉 and it is not a huge pocket !
Coloretto is a nice little game we like that would definitely fit in your pocket.
Hi, on your #4 transition graphic, what game is that in the bottom image?
Boss monsters and one deck dungeon!
My favorite is Sail to India. I haven't tried some of the small ones you mention like Valley of the Kings; sounds like I would like that one.
Others in my top 5 (I haven't played enough games to really have a top 10, which would basically be almost any small games that I've ever played) would include Love Letter (the Hobbit version), Age of War, Coup, and the trick-taking game Rook.
I thought I was gonna se Skull King somewhere around here.
I prefer Cthulhu Realms over Star Realms a complete experience in your pocket.