• small form factor 
• fun for gamers (not entirely luck based)
• approachable for non gamers 
• more than four players 

Number 10 The first game we pulled out was Roll For It by Calliope Games. We played this a lot, it's good for big groups. It’s just sort of casual gaming, you know talking, snacking, etc. If you're not familiar with the game you simply have three cards laid out in front of you everybody has six dice that they roll and when they roll they assign those dice to the different cards in an effort to acquire those cards. When you get to 40 points you win. You just want a fun, quick game and you play for hours depending on what stage of the day it is.

Number 9 Next we selected an Exit game by Kosmos. It's small, it's not quick. It will entertain you for quite a while depending on how good you do, but it's good for a variety of players. We always end up playing it at family gatherings yeah this this is the reason I like these Exit or Unlock! games. You can get a large group together and, for the one or two people that just don't really feel like playing a game they can kind of sit back and usually by the end of these they've jumped in and they say “oh you know I know that,” or “I figured that one out,” and then then they're engaged so it allows people to just kind of sit on the outskirts and slowly work their way into a game and then we have them. 

Number 8 Next up we have Bonanza by Rio Grande Games. What I like about this is the amount of engagement with the different players because you're negotiating four different exchanges and all the cards are really fun. It's easy to pick up, it says 13+ but you can play it a lot younger. In this game you have a variety of different beans that you're trying to grow and they all have different scarcity levels and values and the goal is simply to have the most money at the end of the game. You get your money by harvesting your bean fields. You want to grow as much as you can before you harvest so you can reach different thresholds as far as the value of the beans. It plays up to seven players with just the basic box and there's plenty of expansions for this that really alter the game. For something that is approachable for non gamers but still engaging for gamer types, the original game has always been sufficient for us.

Number 7 Next we have Here Kitty-Kitty by Fireside Games. This is actually something that our daughter's picked up again at Gen Con three years ago. I actually had to go on a quest for this because it's a game that my daughter saw when we were walking around but she didn't say anything about it, then she ran into her cousin later in the day which was Saturday of Gen Con and they had it and we played it and everybody loved it. So my daughter sent me back on Sunday (this is back when we didn't stay for Sunday we were driving out Sunday,) and I'm just going up and down every aisle looking for this game. I think part of the reason she liked is it comes with little cat figurines. When you play the game you have a house and a yard and the object of the game is to have the most cats and there are different cards you can play to affect this. For example, catnip attracts cats to your yard, you can take cats from other houses, things like that. 

Number 6 Next we have Tiny Epic Zombies by Gamelyn Games. We couldn't leave without a Tiny Epic game, and while Tiny Epic Galaxies is my favorite, but one of the reasons I chose Zombies over Galaxies as far as for non-gamers is because I think, for the general populace, zombies are a bit more engaging. Probably because of shows like the Walking Dead and Shaun of the Dead and all the different movies. Not to say that there's not sci-fi movies out there for Galaxies but it's a different fanbase that's into sci-fi vs. zombies. Some people think it is a complicated game. We thought it was complicated, we couldn't figure out how you were supposed to even win the first couple times we played it, but once we figured out we were playing some of the rules wrong we got it down. So this barely meets one of our requirements, it's 1 to 5 players. It's got the interesting dynamic that a person can play the enemy, or that is to say the zombies. That's good for family vacations where I get ganged up on anyway.

Number 5 Next we have Deadwood 1876 by Facade Games. It's part of a series with Tortuga and Salem, we've played all of them but this one was our favorite. In this you are bank robbers and initially you're working together to get the most loot but then you get back to the hideout and no one wants to share. There's only gonna be one person walking away with that loot so you're in the middle of not only robbing the safes but building up your arsenal of weapons so you all work together until you don't. When it comes time to divvy up the money, you know it's just like a normal family, you have one person who wants to walk away with it all. So you can play out your family squabbles in game mode with Deadwood 1876. 

Number 4 Next up we have Celestia by Blam!. John thought this was a good idea because in the game you're on an airship and you're all sort of taking a voyage together. On the airship, everybody just piles into it and everybody takes turns being the captain. The captain has to face the next obstacle in order to get to the next stage. When the obstacles come out then all the passengers can decide either, yes the captain can do it or even I can help the captain do it, or I'm gonna get off here and you guys, yeah good luck. So the longer you can stick it out the more points you're gonna get and the game just progresses that way until somebody wins and it's two to six players so a number of people can play and it's another one where you can just kind of sit back. You can get as engaged as you want into this game or you just play a little. That's important when you're when you're with a mixed group of family. Some people have to be there, they're not allowed to go anywhere unless they sit down to play a game. This is one of those games, a lighter one but still engaging for normal gamers. 

Number 3 Next up we have Citadels by Windrider Games. This one actually makes it to the pub with us a lot because that fits in my purse. In Citadels, you are building a city and you have different roles. Based on your role you can do different things. You draft your role and then turn order is based on the role you drafted. It's a good one that seems complex but as long as you have a few people that know how to play it it's very easy to explain to people and after a few rounds most people have it down. Like I said we play this at the pub, so that's a couple drinks in you and it's loud, but it works out.

Number 2 We couldn't get away without Codenames by Czech Games Edition. What I love about this game is that you're in teams and it's basically about communication. We have a number of different versions of this so we're gonna take the base game and we're probably also gonna take the Disney version just for the kids. There's a Pictures version, there's also a Harry Potter and Marvel version. The basic Codenames, most people can grasp how to play this game. The biggest difficulty with learning how to play this game is how to read where your spies are. but other than that it’s just sticking to the rules of saying one word clues and saying the number of cards that clue applies to. The game says 8+ but this could be any number since you're a team. It's another one of those games where if you're being forced into playing a game you can hang back on your team until you know and usually by the end people get engaged. I think when we started going to game nights at our local game store, this was how we were introduced to the game and that's actually the first time we went so it was a nice sort of a nice icebreaker. 

Number 1 Love Letter by Alderac Entertainment Group is a game we’ve never failed to get anyone to play. You are trying to win the favor of the princess and you're trying to get your love letter as close to her as possible so you're encountering different people that are different different levels of closeness to her and can get to her your letter. The nice thing is there's really nothing to the game, on your turn you already have a card and then you draw a card. You decide which card you're gonna play and then you just do what the card says, so there's not a lot to learn. As long as you can read and follow basic instructions you can play. I think we've pulled this game out with virtually every group we've ever played with whether they're just friends that don't game or they're family that don't game, even coworkers. The great thing about it is it's such a simple game and it's casual, you're just sort of hanging out playing a game. This is a game that has many different variations as well. There’s a Batman version, a Marvel version, even one specifically made for a wedding. We also have the little pouch version which is much more mobile and is good to pack with us.

Let us know if any of these games made your top ten to take on vacation or what is on your list. Obviously we don't have every game, we haven’t played every game and we're always looking for these smaller form factor games that are easy to teach people.