Our favorite camp games
Note: This post includes Amazon affiliate links; if you choose to purchase any of the items through these links, I would earn a small commission. Thanks for your support!
Ever since G and I started dating back in 1995 (25 years ago—yikes!!), we’ve been big on games. Scrabble was always our go-to, and over the years, we’ve expanded our repertoire a bit. I’ve found that it’s hard finding games that are great for just two and sometimes even more challenging to find games that are super portable for camping. Here are our favorites (in no particular order):
Cribbage
I learned how to play cribbage just this past spring, during the pandemic. We’ve been playing a LOT of games (and doing our fair share of puzzles, too!) during the pandemic, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to learn how to play this classic game (next on the bucket list: chess). The game is pretty simple—a deck of cards, scoring pegs, and a board. We use this set when we’re camping. Made by Outside Inside, this set is lightweight and foldable. The deck of cards that came with it are pretty tiny, however, so we subbed out that deck with this one, mainly because I have horrible eyesight and the large numbers help! I have to admit this: sometimes feel like I failed basic arithmetic when I can’t add up my cards! Umm, 7 + 9? Oh, right, 16. So much math!! And whether we play at home or by the campfire, G almost always wins.
Hive
I think I stumbled on this game when searching for great two-player games, and this one is perfect. We have the pocket edition. We also have the the pillbug expansion pack. There’s absolutely no set-up for this game, which makes it fantastic for camping. The game consists of small tiles (they’re slightly larger in the standard-sized game; in the pocket version, each tile is roughly the size of a quarter). Each tile features an insect; there are spiders, ants, beetles, a grasshopper, ladybug, mosquito, pillbug (in the expansion pack), and the queen bee. Each player has a complete set, for a total of 11 (or 12, with the pillbug) pieces. The goal of the game is to surround your opponent’s queen bee with your insect-specific titles. Here’s the catch: the insect-themed tiles have different rules governing the ways they can be moved. For example, an ant piece can move anywhere around the periphery, so it’s a great piece to use strategically. The beetle, on the other hand, can move only one space per turn. The grasshopper must jump over pieces. The game is strategic, as you’re constantly trying to not only defend your bee but also trap your opponent’s bee and free your own tiles from your opponents’ tiles. A lot of reviews compare the game to chess (a lite version), and it’s a ton of fun. For info and a link to the full rules, check out this site. Who usually wins? G is way better than I am at this one!
Quiddler
Each Christmas, I make sure to buy (or create) gifts not only for G but also for “us.” This past Christmas, I loaded up on games—good thing, too, since the pandemic would provide PLENTY of time for game-playing! Two games I bought were card games that looked pretty simple and extremely portable: Quiddler and Five Crowns, both made by a company called SET Enterprises . Quiddler is a Scrabble-like card game. Quiddler is a bit like Scrabble in that the goal is to create words based on the cards in your hand. There are eight rounds of play and during each hand, the number of cards increases by one. So, in the first round/hand, you play with three cards; in the second, four, and so on. The object of the game, according to the rules, is “to obtain the highest number of points by combining the cards in your hand into words.” On this one, G and I have both won our share of games, so we *might* be tied here.
Five Crowns
Five Crowns is a bit like rummy in that the goal is to make “runs” (sequence of 3+ cards in the same suit) and “books” (3+ cards of the same value). Unlike rummy, you can’t play on (add to) another player's books and/or runs. There are 11 rounds to the game; in the first round, three cards are dealt. With each round, the number of cards dealt increases by one. In addition to cards numbered 3 through 10, plus the Jack, Queen, and King. There are also Jokers and Wild Cards.The wild card for each hand is the card with number that matches the number of cards dealt. So, during the hand in which four cards were dealt, the number 4 card is wild. Also, instead of the typical four suits (diamonds, hearts, clubs, spades), there’s a fifth: stars. The object of the game (check out the rules here) is “to obtain the lowest number of points after playing all eleven hands of the game.” As G and I learned, one bad hand can definitely ruin the scoring. However, you can definitely come back toward the end, so each round matters! Full disclosure: I typically win at this one.
Bocce
I am Italian, after all! We bought a set of soft hocky-sack-like balls made by Outside Inside games by GSI Outdoors. They’re perfect for two—two sets of the small bags, three of each color. That set doesn’t look like it’s available any longer, but Outdoor Inside makes two other sets: this one and this one, which is most like ours. I’m not sure if we’re playing the game by the exact rules (my great-grandfather, who had a bocce court in his yard, is probably rolling in his grave), but this is how we play: one of us throws the pallino (the single, smaller ball), and then we each take turns (alternating) throwing our three balls. The player with the ball(s) closest to the pallino earns a point (or points); the first player to reach 12 points wins. You can find a simple explanation of the rules here. G and I are pretty even when it comes to winning/losing at this one, though we still end up being pretty competitive with each other!
UNO
Who doesn’t love UNO? Last Christmas, I bought us the UNO Wilderness edition, since I thought the outdoorsy theme would be great for camping. That one’s currently unavailable on Amazon, but there’s no shortage of themed UNO packs! The pack we keep at home the retro edition, with cards that look just like the ones we had as kids. We haven’t played a lot of UNO when we’re camping, usually just when we’ve been stuck inside the van during inclement weather. Still, I consider UNO (any edition!) a must-have for road trips.
Other games we love but haven’t yet brought camping with us:
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is our all-time favorite game (I think it even surpasses Scrabble for us!!). We have played hundreds of rounds since the pandemic hit, usually playing three (or sometimes four of five!) games each night after dinner. Our favorite edition is the US board, and we play the “mega” version using the 1910 expansion pack. The Europe board (with the 1912 expansion pack) probably comes in second. We also enjoyed the Rails and Sails Great Lakes edition—especially since G is from Michigan—but managing boats and trains requires a whole new level of attention and strategy!
Codenames Duet
Okay, I’m cheating by including this one on the list because I LOVE it, but G doesn’t like as much. For one, Codenames Duet is a cooperative game rather than a competitive one, and let’s just say that we don’t necessarily always work well together. If you’re familiar with the regular Codenames game, this version is basically the same but made for just two players. The goal of the game is to work together to identify the secret agents on the board. Here’s the board game description: “Two covert operatives are on a secret mission in a crowded city. Each knows 9 secret agents that the other must contact. Communicating in coded messages, they sneak past enemy assassins in an attempt to complete their mission before time runs out.” The game rules/set up are a little hard to explain in just a blurb, so be sure to check out this page. Now, I think I give GREAT clues to help him identify the right cards, but he would disagree. Of course, I’d say the same—his clues are terrible. Needless to say, we don’t play this one as often as we probably should! Or maybe that’s a good thing…
Jaipur
Jaipur is a good two-person game and pretty compact, though you do need a fairly good-sized space to lay out all of the cards and tokens. We’ve only taken it on vacation with us once, and that was when we were staying in a hotel (ah, the days of air travel and hotel stays…). The object of the game is to acquire and trade/sell goods at the market and outscore your opponent. The iPad version of this game is great too and would definitely be simpler to play on a road trip rather than setting up all the tokens and cards.
Carcassone
Carcassone is fun and another one we began playing during the pandemic. The only reason we haven’t taken this with us in the van is because it can end up taking up a lot of space. The point of the game is to place small square tiles to build up/claim land areas. Depending on where you place your roads and land, the game “board” can become quite large. So, this one will probably continue to remain at home. Still, it’s a great two-player game.
Finally, we use the Helinox Table One Hard Top for all of our game playing; the table is lightweight and compact, but it’s also sturdy and large enough (23”L x 15.5”W x 15”H) for all of our games. While Helinox makes a larger one (29.5”L x 22”W x 19.5”H), we haven’t felt the need to go any bigger, although the extra might be nice!
We’re always on the lookout for great travel games and games for two, so if you have one you love, let us know! In the meantime, we’ll continue our competitions (and continue to keep score, of course!).