If you’re looking to pretend like you’re traveling when you physically can’t, start here with this list of travel-themed board games.
These games will get you out of your sofa funk, though not off the sofa. They’ll get you back into a world of culture, unpredictability, and questionable logistical moves… without actually getting you out into the world. What more could you ask for! (Don’t answer that.)
1. Carcassonne
Carcassonne the board game is named after Carcassonne the fortified French town home to about 50,000 people. It’s located in the far south of France and is just gluttonous with castles and jaw-dropping beauty. Blech. Besides tourism, Carcassonne’s key economic sector is wine-making. (Did someone say “Let’s make this a drinking game!”?)
Carcassonne the board game involves arranging tiles to create rivers, grasslands, and mountain ranges. Then, stake your claim using a tiny wooden man called a ‘meeple’ (for reasons that are beyond me). You get points for the length of the rivers/ranges/fields you’ve claimed and how many castles are on them. After all the tiles are placed, the person with the most points wins.
Carcassonne information
- Players: 2-5, but best with 2
- Solo variant: Rules here
- Time: 45 – 60 minutes (more wine = more time)
- Ages: 7+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Low
- Also Available: Due to its popularity, many expansion versions of Carcassonne have been released. Maybe you have something against France? If so, check out: Carcassonne Inns & Cathedrals, Carcassonne Bridges, Castles, & Bazaars, and several others not specifically related to travel.
Also read: 9 Random Things Under $15 that make my trips so much easier
2. Monopoly: Here & Now
Monopoly is classic board gaming and now there are editions for just about everyone and everything. In the world of travel-themed board games, there’s even a Monopoly for that.
Monopoly Here & Now is a modernized take on the classic with inflation out the wazoo, interest on credit card debt, and new game tokens like McDonalds french fries. Actually, this sounds a little too familiar.
Monopoly Here & Now: US Edition
Regardless, Monopoly Here & Now: U.S. Edition has you battling to own your favorite cities, where the goal is to collect stamps and fill up your passport faster than your opponents. (A glaring production error if there ever was one.)
Monopoly information
- Players: 2-4
- Time: 1 hour, said no one who’s played Monopoly ever
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Medium to High, I mean have you seen the price of bail nowadays?
3. Travel Blog, the board game
On this week’s episode of “I can’t even believe this is real,” I tell you about some travel-themed board games that I just. can’t. even.
The back of the box reads:
Your task is to pick states or countries most suitable for your trip and to do it faster than your opponents. How many borders do you cross on your trip from France to Russia? Is it more or less than from Norway to Turkey? Detailed knowledge of the map is an advantage but can be easily beaten by good intuition and fast decision making.
So… Travel Blog the board game is like if travel bloggers had to plan trips without the use of the internet? You do know what blogging is, right?
Travel Blog is a game for up to 6 players which is just plain hilarious because no one knows loneliness like bloggers. Our friends are often a globe away and you can typically find us holed up all alone in our living rooms under sleeping cat. And those are just our working hours.
Want to experience life as a travel blogger without leaving your house? You could just spend 80 hours a week in front of your computer in your pajamas. The player with the most heinous insults from strangers wins! Or maybe just play Travel Blog the board game. Travel Blog has been especially hard to find lately, but when you do, buy it with money you’ve made from display ads.
Travel Blog information
- Players: 2-6
- Time: 30 minutes, less time than it’s taking me to proof-read this blog post. Wildly inaccurate if you ask me.
- Age: 8+ (but know the trolls in this game aren’t the cute sparkly ones who sing a lot)
- Probability of a hissy fit: Depends on how close this is to real travel blogging. (You could have a potential meltdown on your hands.)
4. Ticket to Ride
In Ticket to Ride, players compete to create railways across North America—I’m guessing somewhere in the timeframe of Back to the Future Part III based on the characters on the box. But also because there’s no way I’m taking a train across the country in 2025.
The longer the railway you build, the more points you earn. Seems pretty straightforward.
Given this game’s instant popularity after coming out in 2004, I’m left to believe its propensity for causing rage-induced table flipping is at a minimum. Likewise, it too has birthed many offshoot versions like: Ticket to Ride Europe, Ticket to Ride Asia, Ticket to Ride United Kingdom, and many more.
Ticket to Ride information
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 30-60 minutes
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: I’m guessing low
5. Sagrada
Wow. The building isn’t even complete yet and there’s already a board game named after it. Yes, I’m talking about Sagrada Familia—the unreal cathedral in Barcelona from the mind of Antoni Gaudí.
Construction on it began in 1882, around the same time ladies with parasols were taking trains across North America. Finally, after more than 140 years of construction, Sagrada Familia is scheduled to be finished around the first of… just kidding. It’ll never be done.
Regardless, it’s still one of the most amazing structures I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Obviously the corresponding board game is super colorful and probably just as confusing as the real thing.
Official description
The official description of Sagrada says:
As a skilled artisan, you will use tools-of-the-trade and careful planning to construct a stained glass window masterpiece in the Sagrada Familia.
Since I am not a skilled artisan and “careful planning” is not a favorite board game quality of mine, I don’t foresee this ending well. (I’m more of a darts kinda girl where throwing things is already the main objective.)
Whatever kind of game you prefer, at least this game is way off course from the rest of them. Not many board games have the objective to “gain prestige by adapting to the preferences of your fickle admirers.” I feel smarter already.
Sagrada information
- Players: 1-4, finally! A game you can play alone in your basement. (Because probably no one is playing this with you.)
- Time: 143 years (or 30-45 minutes)
- Age: 14+
- Probably of a hissy fit: Well, it’s a game that revolves around “dice drafting” and since I don’t even know what that is, I already want to throw things.
- Also available: Sagrada: Passion – Where you can get “rewarded for carefully meeting new symmetry and balance public objectives.” Because who wants to play travel-themed board games that lack the stress of real life careers?
6. Puerto Rico
I’ve been playing the board game Puerto Rico for over a decade. And 100% of the time has been against my will. It’s a highly rated board game modeled after the European colonization of the island of Puerto Rico. (Wait a minute…)
You have to decide which role you’ll play in the New World: prospector, captain, builder, mayor, craftsman, settler, and trader. (Umm, this for real?) Throughout the game you work towards building the most profitable buildings (like factories and wharfs) and owning and staffing the most prosperous plantations (You serious?).
Okay, regardless of its lack of social awareness it’s actually a great game for those who love high stakes strategy games. For those of us who don’t, be prepared to play the “divorce” card once or twice.
Puerto Rico information
- Players: 3-5 players – Yes, you have to find 3-5 like-minded individuals to go there with you
- 2-player Variant: Yes, it exists.
- Time: For-freaking-ever (1.5 hours to 2.5 hours)
- Age: 12+ but please explain the nightmares of “colonization” to them first
- Probability of a hissy fit: The highest of all the travel-themed board games in this post
- Also available: San Juan, the card game version based on the Puerto Rico board game
- Fun fact: I once played Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico. Is that cool or extremely offensive? (Don’t answer that.)
7. Flags of the World
As a big ol’ flag nerd I’m really excited these travel-themed board games exist. Flags of the World is a fact-packed game utilizing questions on every country in the world. You get to learn about countries, flags, and world capitals! Score!
This game really comes in handy for learning about, not only flags, but world geography in general. You can make this game harder with open-ended questions, or easier by using multiple choice—like for when your kid crashes your very adult, high stakes wine-drinking game night.
Flags Around the World information
- Players: 2-6
- Solo Variant: Just go through the cards and see if you know the answers, while drinking wine
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Oh, I know I know nothing about geography. This will not shock me.
- Fun fact: I collect miniature flags of all the countries I’ve been to. I may actually win at this game!!!!!!!!!!!
8. Pan Am
From the minds that brought us things like the Pop Tarts Card Game, Coca-Cola Polar Rollers, and Fast & Furious: Highway Heist, comes Pan Am–a WTF board game of anxiety-inducing proportions.
In the game Pan Am, the time is… a wicked long time ago. The objective, to take control of your own fledgling airline and compete with Pan Am to build a business empire. I kid you not, the goal is: “Outbid rivals for lucrative landing rights in exotic locales, buy planes with longer range to reach the far corners of the world, and use insider connections to advance your interests.”
Combine this with the #17 game on this list and you’ve got yourself a real challenge!
Pan Am information
- Players: 2-4
- Time: 60 minutes
- Age: 12+ because, sure, 12 year olds know all about using insider connections. (Wait do they?)
- Probability of a hissy fit: Likely
9. Azul
Admittedly, I was shocked to see how well-received this of all travel-themed board games is. I chose it because it’s simply nice to look at and reminds me of faraway places. But it’s actually much more than that.
Where I was like, “Oh cool, this game is pretty and reminds me of Portugal!” Azul board game creators were like:
Introduced by the Moors, azulejos (originally white and blue ceramic tiles) were fully embraced by the Portuguese, when their king Manuel I, on a visit to the Alhambra palace in Southern Spain, was mesmerized by the stunning beauty of the Moorish decorative tiles.
The king, awestruck by the interior beauty of the Alhambra, immediately ordered that his own palace in Portugal be decorated with similar wall tiles. Azul brings you, a tile laying artist, to embellish the walls of the Royal Palace of Evora.
In this game, you earn points based on how you’ve placed your tiles to decorate the palace. The player with the most points wins. (The King’s counting on you. Don’t funk this up.) Anyway, it’s won a crapload of awards.
Azul information
- Players: 2-4
- Time: 30-45 minutes
- Age: 8+ (At what point do they assume you won’t swallow any of the pieces? Asking for a friend.)
- Probability of a hissy fit: Pretty colors, no math, I’m guessing a low probability.
- Also available: Azul: Summer Pavilion, Azul: Crystal Mosaic, and Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (I certainly did not expect more than one stained glass board game when I drafted the outline for this post.)
10. Tokaido
Imma tell you right now, the number of cards involved in Tokaido gives me anxiety just to look at. However, the description and the beauty of it all really make me want to play. According to the official literature, the objective of the game is:
The players are travelers in Japan in days of old. They will follow the prestigious Tokaido and try to make this journey as rich an experience as possible.
That’s quite lovely actually.
To do this: they will pass through magnificent countryside, taste delicious culinary specialties, purchase souvenirs, benefit from the virtues of hot springs, and have unforgettable experiences.
Okay, that sounds a little too Dungeons & Dragons to me. But, if you’re looking to travel without actually leaving your house, this sounds like a great way to use your imagination and forget that you’re still at home in your pajamas.
Tokaido is full of beautifully-drawn scenery, accurate traveler descriptions, miso soup cards, and you even score points by collecting sushi. Count me in!
Tokaido information
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 45 minutes
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: That remains to be seen, but this one seems tolerable.
- Also available: Tokaido: Crossroads and Tokaido: Matsuri
11. Passport to Culture
As far as travel-themed board games go, this one is pretty straightforward. In Passport to Culture you travel around the world testing your knowledge of different cultures, food & drink, customs and traditions, greetings, etc. Maybe everyone should play this before they head abroad? Just a thought.
The goal? To fill your passport with stamps. Very much like real life! This game uses a 20” x 20” map game board, 370 question cards, 30 culture cards, 6 passports, 60 passport stamps (jealous!), and miscellaneous other playing pieces.
Time to sharpen your travel wit before heading out into the world again! While you’re at it, pick up one of these Culture Smart! guidebooks as well.
Passport to Culture information
- Players: 2-6
- Time: 1 hour
- Age: 12+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Low – what I don’t know will not surprise me
- Also available: Passport to Culture: Travel Edition. Umm… hmm… and how is this different?
12. Trekking the National Parks
Trekking the National Parks is an award-winning board game that’s fun for the whole family! Or just for you and your husband who are about at your wits’ ends. The game is meant to be both fun and educational, like all the best board games are. (Okay, except Operation. I thought we had spare ribs this whole time.)
The product description reads:
Players compete for points by claiming Park Cards and collecting trail stones as they race across the country experiencing the wonders at each of these magnificent landscapes.
The Park Cards feature facts about the national parks and photos to coincide. The U.S. National Park Service is a real gift, and being on house arrest shouldn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.
However, I do think the saddest part of the product description is where it says, “It’s the perfect gift for anyone who loves the outdoors.” Ahh knife! Gut! That one hurt. Maybe take this one out to the porch and play with your eyes closed for full effect.
Trekking the National Parks information
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 30-60 minutes
- Age: 10+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Low, the meeples have little backpacks 🙂
- Also available: Trekking the National Parks: the Trivia Game
13. Who Knows Where
Who Knows Where is the “ultimate global location guessing game.” Also known as Life Before GPS and Oops I Fell Asleep On the Train.
This travel-themed board game features over 1,000 questions in five categories like cities and towns, capitals, events and facts, famous tourist sites, and iconic landmarks. I already like this one because the description lists “flexible rules.”
This game is a great way to learn about the world, but also to reminisce about the glory days when we could come and go as we pleased.
Who Knows Where information
- Players: 2-4 players
- Time: I couldn’t find this anywhere. Report back, mmkay?
- Age: 12+
- Probability of a hissy fit: 5% – I’m solely basing this on the guy who left a 1-star review on Amazon who clearly had one and blamed it on the game.
14. Tokyo Metro
In Tokyo Metro, players become private investors looking to build stations and increase train routes across a shared network in Tokyo. You can invest in train lines, ride trains across the Metro map, discover advantageous new station locations, all in a real replication of Tokyo, Japan.
I’mma tell you right now, the product description…
This heavy 120+ minute economic simulator brings a lot to the table in a small box. Featuring an era deck worker placement system, with an interactive map and separate train line income track, TOKYO METRO will challenge economists and gamers alike!
…gives me anxiety. A two-hour economic simulator? That’s actually my nightmare. Regardless, I know a large percentage of the population for whom economic strategies as games are like catnip. Bonus points if you’re familiar with the Tokyo metro. It may just bring back some terrifying, anxiety-ridden lovely travel memories.
Tokyo Metro information
- Players: 1-5, oh good you can play this alone so no one can see you weeping
- Time: 120+ minutes apparently
- Age: 7+, because I can totally see a 7-year-old spending two hours on an economic simulator
- Probability of a hissy fit: The likeliest of likelihoods
- Also available: Tokyo Tsukiji Market and Tokyo Coin Laundry which I bet is awesome.
15. Mapominoes: Europe
Okay maybe it’s not the greatest name, but it does tell it like it is. Mapominoes: Europe combines maps and—drumroll, please—dominos. Oh, you don’t know how to play Dominos because you aren’t an 80-year old man in the park? Watch this video.
In this game, you’ll create a “map of Europe” by building on the Mapominoes country cards. But, you can only build with countries that have common borders. (If you knew how to play Dominos that would totally make sense.) No geography knowledge required (yes!), only acquired.
Mapominoes: Europe information
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 30 minutes
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: Lowest of the low I bet
- Also available: Mapominoes: USA, Mapominoes: Africa, Mapominoes: Asia & Australasia, Mapominoes: North & South America
16. The World Game
The World Game is listed as the most complete geography card game in the world that lets all 194 countries participate. Players compete with country facts and there are special challenges like location, flag, capital city, and the continent challenge.
It’s fun and educational! It’s great for kids and adults! I bet you could make a really stellar drinking game out of this! “You missed the question on France, you gotta chug the champagne!”…”You got Ireland wrong! Take a shot of whiskey.”
The World Game information
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 20-60 minutes
- Age: 5+
- Probability of a hissy fit: I would say ‘low’… but if you’re letting 5-year-olds play, I’m not so sure. It also depends on how many questions about Mexico you miss. (Too much tequila… I’m just saying.)
17. Pandemic
In the board game Pandemic, four diseases have broken out and it’s up to a team of specialists to find cures and save the world before mankind is completely wiped out. In this high-stakes strategy game, players must work together to best utilize each of their particular disease-fighting skills to eradicate the diseases before it’s too late. (Too soon?)
For real though, this game has a 5-star rating on Amazon after 18,500+ reviews and has won a long list of awards. Terrifying likeness to reality aside, it must be pretty damn good as far as travel-themed board games go.
I do like the fact that all the players must work together as a team to save the world. It’s simply beautiful and really the only way to win against this madness!
Pandemic information
- Players: 2-4
- Time: Who knows!? When will it all end!? I mean, 45 minutes
- Age: 8+
- Probability of a hissy fit: How much toilet paper you got?
- Also available: Pandemic: Legacy, Pandemic: On the Brink, Pandemic: In the Lab, and actually a ton more for some reason.
More travel-themed board games
There are still even more travel-themed board games you may enjoy and it seems like they’re putting out new ones all the time. Take a look at the new additions below to see if any strike your curiosity:
- Trekking Through History – Journey to 108 remarkable historical events
- Parks Roll & Hike – “Feel the tension of the trail” it says
- Landmarks – “Follow the Pathfinder’s clues to riches while avoiding traps and curses.”
- Trails – “A fun, quick game that can play in 20 mins.” Sold.
- 10 Days in the USA – Visit all 50 states by plane, car, and on foot
- Trip Chaser card game – “It’s a passport to fun!”
- Café International – “Compete to find the best seating strategy and become the ultimate café manager in this thrilling board game.” Y’all, I can’t.
Like this post? Have you ever played any of these travel-themed board games? Let me know in the comments below! Have fun!
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