Great Small Box Games From AllPlay

 I've done several reviews featuring small box games recently.  There's a very good reason for that - I'm running out of room!  Haha!  Small box games are ideal for a couple of reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, they take up less room. That mean I can fit more games in my house.  WIN! Secondly, they are ideal for travel.  Whether it's just traveling to a doctor's appointment, a restaurant, or a park, or its traveling across country, small box games allow you to take the fun with you! So today I'd like to introduce you to some fabulous small box games from AllPlay, formerly known as BoardGameTables.com. 

Let's check out the games!

1.) Mind Space - 

Mind Space is a flip & write game that plays 1 to 5 players in 30 minutes or less. This one is our favorite so far, but that's because we LOVE flip & write games (games where you flip a card or cards over and use what's on them to write or draw on a provided score sheet) and roll & writes (games where you roll dice and pick a die or dice to record on a sheet). Honestly, Mind Space is sort of a combination of the two - a "flip & roll & write," if you will, because it uses both dice AND flipped cards. In Mind Space you're filling your brain with pursuits (hobbies, friendship, romance, self-improvement, and finances). These types of games are right up my alley because I love short games (that we can fit in almost any time), puzzly games, and games with polyominoes.  This game checks all those boxes!

2.) Pies -

Pies is a set-collection, trick-taking card game that plays 3 to 5 players in about 20 minutes. Our family are also big card game lovers. And we love pie! So, a card game about pies? Well, that's just delicious! In most trick-taking games, everyone plays a card into the "trick" (the set of played cards) and the person who wins the trick takes all those cards.  Pies plays a little differently, in that you each play a card in the trick and then based on descending order, each player gets to "draft" (or take) a card from the trick for their collection.  So instead of one person winning all the cards, each player is winning a card. You score points at the end of the game based on the cards in your collection.  The games instructions are very simple and the game is easy to learn, so its a great game to introduce quickly to new players.

3.) Chomp - 

Chomp is a tile placement game that plays 1 to 4 players in around 20 minutes. This is a fun little game where each person takes just 8 turns.  On those turns, you're either choosing goal cards or dinosaur cards.  Use those dinos to form herds of carnivores or herbivores and make sure all your dinos get fed. 

I really like the fun tile-laying aspect in this game.  I also love the double-sided cards.  One side has goals for scoring and one side has dinosaurs for placing in your own dino-land. The double-sided cards kind of remind me of Point Salad, another favorite in our house. And the great science discussions that can come from the dinosaur theme and the specific carnivore/herbivore theme are great.

4.) Sail - 

Sail is a cooperative trick-taking game for 2 players that plays in around 20 minutes. In the game, you and the other player are working together to score tricks and move the boat around the board without being caught by the Kraken.  Different actions are triggered during the game dependent upon who wins the tricks. This is a fantastic, original idea for a trick-taking game. To add to the difficulty, you can't talk to each other during the game.  This adds a great aspect to the game because you can't discuss strategy. 

5.) Fiction - 

Fiction is a puzzly, word deduction game for 2 to 8 players that plays in roughly 20 minutes.  In Fiction, one player plays the "Lie-brarian" and the rest of the players work cooperatively to deduce the word the Lie-brarian has chosen from a playing card. There's so much to love about this game. The word deduction aspect has a Wordle-type feel. There's also a Mastermind feel to the game.  Mastermind is a deduction game that I loved as a kid and still love today where you're trying to figure out secret pattern based on guesses and clues from the other player.  Fiction works in a similar way.  But to make it even more challenging, the "Lie-brarian" will include one lie in each of their sets of clues.  I really love this part of the game as its so pertinent to real life!  We often have to weed through information and try to determine which info is accurate/truthful and which is not. The cards in this game are also amazing!  Each card is inspired by one of several classic books, including The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, and more. Each card contains a short excerpt from the book. This adds a great extra level of educational oomph to this game. Not only will players have to read, spell, deduce, and cooperate, but they will be exposed to some fabulous literature. 

These games are all well-made, creative, and fun.  And their small-box profiles make them great for travel and storage.  If you're looking for some great small-box options, AllPlay is the place to check!

I received these games, free of charge in exchange for my honest review.