The Fastest Board Games to Play Right Now – Destructoid

Sometimes all you and your friends and family need is a quick game. Something you can slide across the table without being met with groans or looks of “I really don’t feel like this right now.” Here are the best board games that are light, fast, and fun.

If you want a fast card game that you will end up playing in many rounds and you might as well have chosen a long board game in the first place, then you have Explorer.

A strangely addictive and endlessly satisfying game of combos and tricks, Scout has each player place sets from their hand in the middle of the table. It’s up to the rest of the players to play better hands, and score points.

The meat of this game, however, comes when you have to pick up other players’ played cards to improve your hand, which gives them points. Particularly picking apart your hand to create the most devastating combo is an exhilarating feeling, especially when you know everyone else is doing the same.

Cockroach Poker is much more popular than I thought when I came across it, but I can totally see why. A bluffing card game with quick rounds, you just don’t want to lose.

In Cockroach Pokerthe deck is made up purely of colors of different creatures. Each turn consists of a player giving a card to another player and announcing the color of the card. It is then up to the victim to guess whether they are telling the truth or lying.

Whether the player is right or wrong determines who gets the card in question. And if someone collects four of the same suit (or runs out of cards), they lose and the game is over. Fooling your friend into accepting a card that ruins them is endlessly funny, as they stare in disbelief into your devilish eyes.

The crew may come with some initial setup, but at its core it is a simple card game of tricks. There may be a scenario log and some sort of campaign to attend to between games, but once you have assembled your crew and you have already started, any future game of The crew will be windy.

There is not much difference in The crew when it comes to the trick-taking mechanics, so if you and your friends are already familiar, you will have an even easier time getting into the game. The different scenarios you play will determine which cards you need to win the trick together.

For a fast-paced cooperative game that’s more like a puzzle in a trick-taking game, then The crew is an easy choice.

Skull is another bluffing card game that is played a little differently than Cockroach Poker which still produces a light and airy fast game.

In SkullEach player will place a fancy chip in the middle of the table. It will probably have a rose underneath, but it could also be a treacherous skull. One player can make a challenge that he can turn over a certain number of chips without bumping into a skull, and another player can try to increase that challenge.

The player who does not bid must put his money on his hand and turn over that many chips. If they are all roses, he wins. Otherwise, he loses. Since all players are responsible for what is placed in the middle, and each player wants to win, the placement of skulls is a gamble of his own caliber that Skull every time a party to play.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced yet equally disorienting and confusing card game, then Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is for you. You masochist.

Think about Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza as if it were a game of snap, where players say the title word by word while each places a card in the middle of the table. If the card matches the word the player said that round, everyone has to hit the cards and the last one to do so claims them.

There are other special rules in Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and other provisions to ensure that the game is played at a steady pace. It is chaotic, terribly confusing and, most importantly, very fast.

Sea salt and paper is a stunningly beautiful card game about collecting sets and special effects. As you play cards from your hands into your tableau, you may have the chance to activate abilities unique to each set, adding a great depth of strategy to what is a very simple card game.

The clear imagery and simple symbolism of Sea salt and paper allows for learning to be a dream, with players being able to pick up on what to do right away. This makes this game a fantastic choice for when you want to introduce a quick game to those who don’t like card games or don’t know how to play them.

For a very fun yet accessible game that doesn’t take up much time, Sea salt and paper is a must-have.

Our last card game, No thanks! offers a great mix of deckbuilding and card avoidance. In No thanks!you want as few points as possible, but each card in your hand is worth so many points. When cards come into play, you can say “no thanks!” to the high-value cards, but that will cost you a token.

You will have to decide whether to take certain cards or deny others, especially since runs will reduce the point total in your hand And If you take cards that others have declined, you will receive that number of extra tokens with which you can decline cards in the future.

It is super small and super fast as it is the only mechanic for No thanks! keeps saying the title of the game (what a narcissist).

Social deduction games are great fun and get everyone involved in a bit of harmless role play. They can be quite topical though, and that’s where Coup d’état steps in to deliver an incredibly fast-paced game that showcases all the highlights of social deduction nonsense.

In Coup d’étateveryone is assigned a special role. The fun part is that no one knows who is who, you can assonate that you want to take an action from another role and claim to be that role. If you can pull that off, you can easily get away with actions you shouldn’t be able to and sow confusion in your attempt to win the game.

Moreover, the real person in that role cannot simply pretend to be who he or she is another one role. It is truly a mind-boggling social deduction game that everyone gets addicted to.

Paolo Mori’s Blitzkrieg! promises a game that you can play in 20 minutes, and it doesn’t disappoint. This is always the first thing that comes to mind when someone is looking for a smaller game by themselves. Be warned, this game is only suitable for two players, although it is fun to watch if you have a third.

In Blitzkrieg!You and your opponent dive into your opaque pockets to rummage around and randomly pull out different units to wage war across the globe. Each theater of war is a grand tug-of-war, with each tile also offering great bonuses to the player who takes it.

Where every turn tears you to pieces, Blitzkrieg! will bring the turmoil and sadness of a military board game into lightning speed.

Kingdomino may seem like a fairly long game, but it is surprisingly fast and an excellent recommendation for a quick game with the right pieces and tiles.

In KingdominoPlayers each build their kingdom around their castle using domino-like tiles. Each round, players take turns bidding on the tiles they want, in a rotating order depending on which tiles players bet on. The domino tiles must then be connected to their kingdom using specific placement rules.

The player who builds the best and most valuable kingdom is crowned the winner. Kingdomino is quick and easy enough to play multiple times in a row.

Now that you have a nice list of fun board games, you can choose the perfect game for your next occasion.

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