Night Train
1–5 players · 30 min · best with three or four
Take the line before somebody else does.
Games that work in any language
None of these is a test of English. A turn is a card, a colour, a number or a move, and there is nothing anywhere in them to find, spell or define.
22 of 59 on the shelf
Back Catalogue
1–5 players · 20 min · best with three
Every card is also money. That is the whole game.
Lost Ruins
1–2 players · 25 min · best with two, or one and an explorer
Opening a site costs you twenty points. Now decide.
Bazaar
1–2 players · 20 min · best with two, or one and a trader
Everything you buy is worth less to the next person.
Mosaic
1–2 players · 20 min · best with two
Take four. Hand them the other eight.
Roses
3–6 players · 15 min · best with four or five
Everybody knows a skull is somewhere. Nobody knows where.
Shades
3–10 players · 15 min · best with five or six
One word. Four hundred and eighty colours. Go.
Ten Rows
1–12 players · 15 min · best with anyone, in any language
No words. No reading. Ten rows and a hidden code.
Minesweeper
1–8 players · 5 min · best with anyone, including nobody
The one you already know. Minus the part where it makes you guess.
Safe Hands
3–6 players · 20 min · best with four
Poker, except the whole table wins together. Say anything but what you hold.
The Belt
1–4 players · 25 min · best with anyone. bots take the empty chairs.
Roll, build, trade. Ten points claims the belt — and the bots want it too.
Twelve Crowns
1–4 players · 25 min · best with three
Twelve kings. One deck. You may not say what you are holding.
Sixth Takes
2–10 players · 20 min · best with five or six
Everybody plays at once. Somebody is about to regret it.
Pool
1–8 players · 15 min · best with two for eight-ball, four for nine-ball, up to eight for killer.
Drag back, let go, and watch it run. Solids or stripes; call the eight.
One Line Each
3–8 players · 12 min · best with five
One sheet, one line each, and nobody can see anybody.
Title Cards
3–8 players · 20 min · best with six
Everybody draws at once. Then you name each other's.
Left Turn
1–8 players · 5 min · best with four
Take the wheel. Cross the traffic. Beat the finish time.
Held Ground
1–8 players · 15 min · best with four
A real strategy war. One coffee break.
Last Word
3–12 players · 15 min · best with six
Fill in the blank and hope the right person is reading.
Live Wire
2–8 players · 10 min · best with five
Everybody has to draw. The pile is only getting shorter.
Round of Ten
1–12 players · 10 min · best with five or six
Ten questions nobody had to be taught the answers to.
The Drop
1–6 players · 10 min · best with four
Nine slots, seventy-seven pegs, and no way to steer it.