7 Small Box Games That Never Leave My Board Game Bag

So Clover

Never judge a book by its cover—or a board game by its awkwardly oversized four-leaf clovers, as is the case with So Clover.

Those bright green boards might not win any beauty contests, but they serve a purpose: perfectly holding four square cards in its center with space for players to write clues around the outside.

Each card is inscribed with words on every edge. When all four are placed on the clover-shaped board, the words form four pairs. Your task? Come up with a single clue that connects each pair.

After creating your clever connections, you remove the cards and hand both the cards and your clover to the group. Their job is to reconstruct your board by correctly matching the cards to their original positions – a brain-teasing challenge that feels like finding a needle in a haystack… or word in a dictionary.

So Clover is simple, yet endlessly entertaining, with a format that encourages casual, drop-in play. Rounds are flexible, scoring is optional, and you can call it quits whenever you like.

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

During my first playthrough of The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, I felt like Neo waking up in the Matrix – suddenly naked, covered in goo, and realising my entire understanding of reality (or in this case, trick-taking games) was completely wrong.

Before this, I’d dismissed trick-taking as a genre reserved for hardcore hobbyists or folks reminiscing about the Great Depression. But The Crew: Mission Deep Sea shattered that perception in the best way possible.

Let me try to share the revelation.

Trick-taking games revolve around playing a series of hands. A hand starts when one player leads by playing a card of a certain color. Everyone else must follow suit, playing a card of the same colour if possible. The player who plays the highest card in the lead colour wins the hand.

Mission Deep Sea takes this seemingly straightforward concept and takes it to new depths. For instance, instead of competing against each other (as is usual in trick-taking games), players work together to ensure specific people win specific hands.

The brilliance doesn’t stop there. The game’s challenge deck, filled with tasks of varying difficulty, allows you to tailor the experience to suit your group.

So whether you want a light, breezy game or a brain-meltingly tough challenge, Mission Deep Sea delivers.

This small-box gem reinvents a classic genre in a way that’s approachable, clever, and endlessly rewarding. If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, I highly recommend diving in.

SCOUT

Devoid of any flashy themes, SCOUT earns its place on this list purely through its ingenious gameplay.

At first glance, it might seem simple enough – a card game focused on building doubles, triples, or runs. But the real challenge of SCOUT is you must play cards exactly as they appear in your hand, with no rearranging or rotating allowed.

Here’s how it works: one player starts by placing a combination of cards – like a pair or a run – onto the table. The next player then attempts to beat it with a stronger combination.

If they can’t (or choose not to), they have the option to “scout” a card, picking one up from the other player’s combination. This weakens the active combination and allows them to rotate the card and place it anywhere in their hand, potentially setting up future winning combos.

But here’s the gamble: if no one is able to beat the combination on the table. That player wins the round. Alternatively, if someone empties their hand of cards entirely, they also win.

This dynamic creates a delightful paradox. On one hand, you’re trying to shed cards as quickly as possible. On the other, you’re carefully assembling a “doomsday device” of a combination, ready to unleash at just the right moment.

SCOUT is an absolute gem – compact, clever, and wildly fun. Its tiny box makes it a perfect addition to any game night bag – or even a pair of cargo shorts. Don’t underestimate this small wonder; it’s a big win for any collection.

Welcome to the Dungeon

Welcome to the Dungeon was one of the first board games I ever bought, and even years later, it still sees plenty of play (thanks, card sleeves!).

If you’ve ever played the Fable video games, you’ll recognise the vibe – specifically, the pre-mission boasts. Where before you take on a dungeon, you can make a boast to make things more challenging – like doing the dungeon naked.

Welcome to the Dungeon captures that same feeling of bravado and risk,

On your turn, you either make a boast or pass. Boasting means declaring the dungeon is too easy and then raising the stakes: you can either add another monster to the dungeon or remove a piece of armor or weaponry from the brave (or foolish) adventurer heading in.

But boasting has its consequences. If you’re the last player to pass, you’re stuck following through on your word – venturing into the dungeon armed with whatever items are left. More often than not, this means facing a horde of monsters with nothing but a twig and your undies.

While the absurdity of Welcome to the Dungeon perfectly aligns with my sense of humour, I keep coming back to it for the way it masterfully builds tension.

The game thrives on pushing you to the brink, forcing you into that deliciously agonising moment of indecision: should you pass, or go for it?

Crash Octopus

Move over, ASMR – nothing gives me that warm, fuzzy tingle quite like the sound of a handful of board game pieces scattering across the table.

That satisfying clatter is exactly how you set up Crash Octopus.

Two handfuls of components are dropped onto the table. As long as these cargo items land within a rope boundary, you’re ready to start playing.

Then, armed with tiny but surprisingly sturdy flags, players try to flick these items from around the table onto their ships. However, each item is shaped differently and brings it’s own challenge. Some are predictable and glide in straight lines while others are wild, chaotic and ricochet unpredictably.

Adding to the madness, every time someone lands a Dude Perfect-level flick and adds cargo to their ship, the octopus takes notice. It flails its tentacles wildly, wreaking havoc on the board and possibly sending carefully gathered cargo flying!

This randomness is what makes Crash Octopus so hilarious and fun. One minute you’re on the verge of victory, the next you’re dead last after an ill-timed octopus temper tantrum.

But the game’s lightheartedness ensures that every disaster feels incidental rather than personal, making it impossible not to laugh at the absurdity.

With its sleek, small box and a playtime of under 30 minutes, Crash Octopus is the perfect pick for a quick, crazy, and thoroughly entertaining dexterity game.

Spots

Spots is a riotously fun dice-chucking game that dares to stand out – it’s also the only board game bold enough to showcase a dog’s butthole.

But don’t let that quirky detail fool you. Like the rest of the game, it’s all presented with a charm and humour that will leave you grinning from ear to ear. A grin that will only grow as you unravel Spots’ stellar gameplay.

The goal is simple: be the first to collect six dogs.

You start with two adorable (and delightfully illustrated) dog cards, each featuring a unique pattern of dice-placement spots instead of traditional fur patterns.

To claim these dogs, you’ll roll dice to fill in their spots. But here’s the catch: if you roll a die that doesn’t fit any spots, you’ll lose all the dice you’ve previously placed on your cards. It’s a gamble, and every roll keeps you teetering on the edge of excitement and frustration.

Setting Spots apart from other dice games is its strategic depth. Instead of straightforward rolling, you choose from a market of several different roll types – ranging from a handful of dice to just one or two. Each type can only be used once per round by all players, adding a layer of tactical decision-making to the dice-chucking chaos.

So despite being a game full of bones and buttholes, Spots manages to pack a surprising strategic bite, making it a must-play for fans of dice games.

6 Takes!

6 Takes! is a delightful blast from the past—a true time capsule of a card game.

Created before the modern era of board game art, its cover may be unassuming (or downright boring), but trust me, this game is anything but.

The beauty of 6 Takes! lies in its simplicity and chaotic fun. Each player starts with a hand of 10 numbered cards. Then every round, players simultaneously choose a card to play.

These cards are then added to one of four rows already on the table. Which row your card goes to is determined by the number on the card. With cards going to the closest lower number at the end of each row.

Then, if your card is the sixth one in a row, you’re forced to take the entire row, leaving your card behind as the start of a new one.

And let me tell you, you do not want this to happen.

Each card you collect is bad news, as they’re laden with bullhead icons that act as penalty points. And your aim is to collect as few bullheads as possible.

6 Takes! is fast, unpredictable, and entertaining. It’s a game of carefully laid plans that inevitably crumble, leaving you either laughing or groaning at the outcome.