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These short games can have great utility as they can be played by those short on time or act as a sort of ‘cool down’ after a long night of gaming with friends. Short games are also a great way for players to introduce people to the board gaming hobby as they are not only quick but innovative and fun.
6 Love Letter Is A Quick Game Of Bluff
One of the most accessible and arguably successful board games out there, Love Letter is a game of deception, hidden identities, and deduction. At the start of the game, players will select a random character card that is kept secret from everyone else. Every card also has a special ability that can further help the player and sabotage others.
Each turn, a player will draw a card from the character deck and decide whether to replace their existing card or not. As the character deck is very low, players will soon be lying and bluffing to achieve victory, creating some very tense and questionable moments between friends. Love Letter can be played with friends and strangers of all ages. The game also supports up to 4 or even 6 people, depending on the version of the game.
5 Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Has A Lot Of Slapping Involved
Though initially nonsensical but cute to look at, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a game that will very quickly escalate into slapping mayhem. Each turn, a player will place a card from their hand into the community pile while saying taco/cat/goat/cheese/pizza in player sequence. Should the card match what the player says, everyone needs to slap the community pile and the last one to do so takes everything back into their hand.
With extra special cards and able to support up to 8 players, players will be surprised at how fun (and painful) this game is. Just don’t wear any rings during a game.
4 Coup Is Like Hunger Games With A Lot Of Lying
Though not related to the Hunger Games universe, the game very much looks the part with its artwork. In Coup, each player is dealt 2 cards that are kept secret from other players. Each card will contain a character that has a special ability (gets money, steals money, or kills other character cards). However, since nobody knows who has what, players can claim they have specific characters when they don’t.
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When a player takes an action, they can be called out by other players for lying about having a specific character. Should the accusation is true, the lying player will lose one of their cards but if the accusation isn’t correct, the accusing player loses one of their cards. The game comes with several expansions that improve on the base game as well. Simple, fun, and hilarious, Coup is a great game to ruin any friendship group.
3 Sushi Go! Has Cute Sushi Cards
In Sushi Go!, players are trying to combine various sushi and other dish combinations to score the most points. The rules are simple, everyone starts with a random assortment of cards and must select 1 to put down. Players then pass on their hand of cards to the next player and receive a new hand. This repeats until there are no more cards left to play.
The trick is to know which combinations of cards to play as certain cards will require another card of the same suit to score. Of course, savvy players can observe what cards others are playing and deny their rivals of certain cards. Featuring popular Japanese dishes, condiments, and even dessert, Sushi Go! Has so many various combinations of cards that no 2 games are ever alike.
2 Codenames Lets Players Read Minds
An extremely popular party game that is always guaranteed to be a hit, Codenames is the go-to option for those who love puzzles. Players are split into 2 teams and will nominate a leader who must lead their side to victory.
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Every game will start with 25 cards on the table, each will have a different word, position, and color. Only the team leader can see the colors and must guide their team to guess the right cards of their corresponding color. The first team that correctly deduces all the cards of their color wins. An alternative version, Codenames Duet, is perfect for couples or 2 players.
1 The Crew Is A Silent Space Adventure
A game that took the world by storm back in 2019, The Crew: The Quest For Planet 9 is a cooperative ‘trick-taking’ game that currently ranks within the top 50 board games of all time according to Board Game Geek.
In the Crew, players are astronauts who must work together and play cards in a certain order but have limited ways to communicate with one another to simulate the idea of being in space. To complete each mission, players must fulfill their tasks to collectively win. With over 50 missions available and scaling in difficulty, the Crew is a fantastic game to bond over with friends and family.
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