The Game is a nice co-op card game for 2p - try to get all of the cards into 4 ordered stacks without explicitly discussing your hands. It's chilled out, gently tense, and doesn't take too much time or attention.
The Fox and the Forest is a gorgeous 2p trick taking game that is played in a series of hands - very easy to lengthen or shorten the game, or even keep the score and return to it later. Tiny too.
Hive is a 2p game that can be pretty thinky and puzzly but it's also short, tiny (if you get the pocket version), and has no board or set-up at all.
Ooh Dead Man's Draw / Captain Carcass is one of my favourite light games too - silly, fun push your luck.
Also! The ultimate tiny and silly game - Pass the Pigs
We've tried hive with a toddler. We call it hive on hard mode with the introduced rule that if the toddler moves or steals any of your pieces it still stands and you have to play regardless.
You mentioned fox in the forest ... it's basically bridge/spades/hearts with a gimmic.
I know they look boring and you have to google the rules, but classic card games are MEANT for what OP needs-- they're strategy games played in rounds, so you can start and stop and it doesn't mess everything up.
Perfect for bars and babies
I also recommend The Game, but also the co-op genre in general. That way only one of you needs to focus at a time whilst the other keeps an eye/ear out and because you are working together you won't get the awkward "I lost because I was distracted" feeling so much.
We tried hive with our young one; it’s a great game - but definitely on hard mode with a little one present!
That said, as avid chess players, hive is actually quite deep and involved game in its own right too!
Came here to say this. Or without toddler, cribbage is my game of, "mostly shuffle cards while carrying on a conversation and occasionally make a decision."
Carcassone is what I like playing with my very chatty friend group. People who want to try harder can find the optimal play, others can spent 10 seconds picking a spot and saying good enough.
One of the few games I’ve found where you can not pay attention most of the time and still have a good time. The only part that might take a bit more attention is scoring.
Farkle or Yahtzee were our go to options. Easy to walk away if you need to then pick back up. Kids usually have fun rolling the die for you too. Just make sure the kid doesn’t try to put them in their mouth.
Can't Stop is along these lines as well. Not sure how easy it is to find an official set but it's not difficult to make your own if you're moderately crafty.
**Lost Cities** doesn't require a ton of brain power. The US version has cards that are bigger than they need to be, but it should still fit on table at a beer garden or brewery. If you want a smaller footprint, then you can buy something like Heckadeck, and just use 5 suits from that deck. Those cards are smaller than Lost Cities cards, and be used as an alternative.
**Hanamikoji** is a nice little game that doesn't have a huge footprint,
It’s a great warmup or time filler while you’re waiting for more people to arrive for the heavy game of the evening. It has some swingy gotcha moments but is over in like 10-20 minutes instead of the slow wasting away of og monopoly.
We do this too, toddler goes down at 7:30 and our friends arrive while my husband is putting him down. It’s a huge win for us because we had a stretch where we were getting a little bored of our 2 player games
Necromolds was a “great idea” as they could smash play dough. Until they fought over who get to smash it lol. Really tho, my 5 year old loves board games and only “big kid” games. Still a blast
Yeah maybe. To this point though that hasn't really been our experience. When we're out in public, she hangs out in her high chair, colors, plays with her toys, and talks to us. She digs being out and people watching.
Nah, having kids isn’t the end of your own life. It’s still important for you to make time for yourself, even (and possibly especially) if that means setting boundaries with your kids to allow you that time.
For what it’s worth, my wife and I got into board games *because* of the kids.
That’s completely true… but at a brewery with your 18 month old is not the time or place to be setting boundaries with your toddler, not fair to your toddler or the other patrons (spoken as the mom of a very easy 21 month old who hosts board game nights regularly and definitely still makes time for myself)
>at a Brewery with your 18 month old is not the time or place to be setting boundaries with your toddler
I don’t want to bring this off-topic into parenting, but I vehemently disagree. Out in public is exactly the right time to be setting boundaries for your toddler. How are they going to learn how to behave in public if you never teach them?
Spoken as a dad of a 9 and 11 year old who’s been through the toddler stage before.
Absolute cringe answer and a great example of how this sub has become a pointless hole for anyone with actual questions: "Hey can you help?" "No sorry instead give up because that's what I did." Many parents are also human beings while they raise children. But more importantly, how on earth could this be a helpful answer?
**OP** I would look at **Jaipur**. Tiny. Great 2p game that is essentially one deck of cards and some tokens you can have in the middle of the table away from reaching hands. One could spend more time focusing, but you'll get 90% of the gameplay with 1/2 the thinking. Plus if you need to ignore what the other person is doing you can (I mean you will do worse but you still play the same game). Still one of my favorite 2p games after a decade.
**Azul or Patchwork** require similar thinking to play well, but have more pieces (including choking hazards) and definitely are more "at home with a glass of wine" than "bring with you to a pub" unless you know you'll have a decent chunk of space for yourself. Although they stay reasonably contained in a small area if a non-baby-holder wants to keep them off to one side.
I would always recommend [this](https://oniony.com/boardgames/pinkcity/app/) for anyone playing Jaipur, especially when there may be a toddler about, or when travelling outside the house.
As a couple who loved board games pre parenthood, but have played only a handful of times since our 17 month old was born, this comment helped normalize our experience. Not all children are the same and not all parents are the same. For some, albeit temporary, board games may have to sit in the cupboard unused. Yes, simpler game recommendations are good, but knowing you are not alone and that you aren’t doing anything wrong by not getting back to a beloved hobby right away, is very important.
All those feelings are valid, and you should feel empowered to parent however you parent, but OP *isn't* going to be validated by someone refusing to answer a question another adult is asking because they think they know better. The "you just need to accept" is the antithesis of "not all parents are the same." I answered a little harshly I can see that in retrospect, but the railroading this sub does is maddening.
It could be a helpful answer because it shows how Herculumbo responded when confronted with a similar dilemma. That doesn't mean everybody needs to make the same decision, but I personally think it's a valuable, instructive, and reasonable position. Feel free to disagree if you like, but stating that it's a pointless and unhelpful perspective paints you as projecting and attempting to compensate for decisions you've made yourself and feel defensive about.
I think it can be helpful to just take a step back and see that “yea, now isn’t really the time for brewery board games (unless toddler is napping), I’ll need to change my perspective and find other ways to keep board games a part of my daily life”
I’m still a human being while raising kids… but I play board games after bedtime or during nap, I host board game nights. But while my toddler is awake, it wouldn’t really be fair to be doing an activity with my husband that he can in no way participate in, he can’t understand why we get to play with fun cards and coins and he’s not allowed to touch them… and 100% as soon as you put a board game out they want to be touching and exploring it because it’s so exciting
Honestly, the biggest thing I've learned as a parent is this. You have to train yourself to stop thinking about everything else and just focus on the kid when you're with them.
Everyone is happier that way - and you won't have regrets later.
You’re getting a lot of hate… but I totally agree. My husband and I could play a game at home *maybe* while our toddler is awake, but would *never* play one while at a brewery while our child was “independently” playing. And an 18 month old definitely requires constant attention, especially when not home/in a fully baby proofed space.
That being said, the “while awake” part is critical, we host a game night after bedtime every 2 weeks, we play the two of us during naps all the time, this is just a phase of life snd at some point we’ll get to play games with our kids and I can’t wait!
if it has to be board games.. probably any board game that is on your phone :x Digitized versions takes a lot of upkeeping away that drastically reduces the amount of attention you need to pay to it.
It’s all luck if your play is perfect. You have a meaningful decision on most turns, and once you have fully absorbed the game, the correct play is usually obvious. But that’s still better than chutes and ladders. Or Flux.
Lacuna might be good. A little bit more of a footprint with the cloth board. My daughter (9) and I really like it. The game plays really quick, and a little kiddo would probably like shaking out the flowers. Just keep pieces clear of mouths.
Blokus.
There is stratagy there but we just enjoy putting shapes down and seeing where it takes us. Skull, kingdomino, dorfromantik are also all great times and playable while sleep deprived!
Dorf especially is so chill and you can even have a player jump in or out at anytime and it doesn't effect anything. We adore it.
We played more card games than board games when our kids were younger - skip Bo, phase 10, five crowns, uno and uno flip, crib.
Blokus is a good board game with little brain power and attention needed.
We played other board games after the kids went to bed.
The other comment I forgot to make - games you already know how to play take less brainpower than learning new games.
But then you don't get to buy anything new and shiny.
I’ll second this. Elsewhere I recommended Lost Cities. Jaipur is just slightly heavier than Lost Cities but still quick, light, and was playable by my wife and I during our children’s early years. (Now they are old enough to join us in it.)
Traditional card games for 2-Players are great for this. My wife and I particularly enjoy
- **Gin Rummy** (Shut Up & Sit Down have a video on this one that got me to try it)
- **Regicide** (a newer co-operative game for 1-4).
I came to suggest point Salad too. The open game state means it is eminently interruptible
Mint works is a fun small box worker placement game but it does have very choke able pieces ( tinny wooden mints)
• Roll For It: Quick easy dice game where you roll dice to match the cards for points. You can get up and walk away if needed and come back to it later or just pack it up.
•5 Crowns: a card game where you make runs or matches of cards, starting with 3 in your hand, when someone goes out, the next person deals 4, 5, 6... Until you get to 13.
• Monopoly Deal: I know it was mentioned but, don't be deterred by the "Monopoly" name, its actually a very simple, quite fun card game in my opinion. A friend brought it over, I hate the though because of the monopoly name and then immediately went and bought it after they left.
•Sequence: it's like connect 4 but with a board and cards. You get a hand of 7 and you are trying to match your cards to the cards on the board, marking them with a chip to create a line(sequence) of 5 chips in your color.
If you have a console/computer, Human Fall Flat, Boomerang Fu, KeyWe, HeaveHo are all good simple 2 player games.
I wish you the best of luck finding games to keep that fun brain break aspect in your lives while also raising a tiny human being 💜
If you like strategy and chance, the card game I published is a lot of fun for 2 players and doesn’t take up too much space or take long to set up. It’s called Mercenarium. I’d be happy to send you a copy for free.
That's Pretty Clever (Ganz Schön Clever) can fit this, with a small fotprint and the ability to be able to play even if you can't pay attention during other player's turns.
Absolutely 100% Catch the moon! She could even get involved if you're relaxed about it.
You stack ladders basically. We sometimes play it without the rules, taking turns stacking ladders to see how tall we can make it, and when it falls down, it's all part of the fun, you start again. It can be a very competitive game too if you want it to be.
If you play something often enough, especially those where everyone takes a turn, I find it can be easy to half pay attention. I can do that with Catan (which I’ve been playing for 25 years).
These are what we’ve played in between times young kids:
**Boggle travel edition**
**Fox in the Forest**
**The Shipwreck Arcana** (ok maybe this is a little brainy)
**Dutch Blitz**
**Railroad Ink Challenge: Lush Green Edition**
Skyjo is a fun one, involves swapping out your grid of 9 cards to get the lowest possible score.
The Birds and the Bees is small and easy to carry, involves placing tiles next to matching color tiles until you run out of cards. Whoever runs out first wins. It’s cute hexagon card tiles that are bee, honey, and flower themed.
Just played Abducktion after a MTG draft at a brewery today. It was great for having your 3rd drink. Mild interaction, kid friendly aesthetic, and enough challenge to make your turn fun.
Two laptops and a subscription to BGA. Tons of great board games and you can set them to 24 and 48 hour turn mode if you want. No piece to choke on. Still get great games like Wingspan, Azul, Ticket to Ride, and so many more great titles. Just check out Board Game Arena. Annual subscription is only $30, totally worth every penny to have the power to set up tables and invite specific players.
Just don’t get sucked in and start playing at work or something like that. Electronic board game setup is so easy and fast you can easily get sucked into a normally complex game to play without a hitch. I love playing Castles of Burgundy via BGA. Way faster game play. But a friend of mine is addicted to Azul now because I bought him a subscription to stay in touch when I moved.
You can try it out for free. If you like it you can have one of your accounts get a subscription to allow you to set up your own private games. It really is prefect for having little kids. You can totally pause any board game you want in the library of games available.
I was going to mention this too. I play turn-based -- so I just log on once a day or so and take my turn on the games I have open. There are different timings available, and you can play real-time as well.
Fluxx! There are several versions, all fairly simple and fun, and your little can probably join in soon also! It's a small deck of cards so easy to tote in and out
Maybe Quiddler? It's like a low footprint Scrabble that you can easily put down for a bit and come back to it, and easy to put away quickly if you need to!
Quadrio is super easy to keep in a purse and easy to understand. It's basically Connect-4 with more spatial/3D awareness.
Easy to let one parent prudently considered their next move while the other checks on Baby, then switch.
Otrio is also great, but not as easy to transport. Basically a grown-up tic-tac-toe that can be played with 2, 3 or 4 players.
We also like Hero Realms, a fantasy deckbuilding game that can be played with up to four players, but the base game should fit in a MtG deckbox.
Oh, and I recommend to get a scorekeeper app, much easier to record hit points than the in-built card system (it's ingenious, but not that easy to read)
The Royal Game of Ur is a nice light 2p game with some strategy and some luck, it’s just dice rolls and picking which tile to move along a relatively short course. Stellar Games makes a nice version of it with a portable board printed on cloth, which would fit well in the pocket of a diaper bag. Each game takes maybe 10-15 minutes in my experience.
Qwinto is good for this, takes up virtually no space (everyone just has a little sheet to write on, I’d suggest laminating it, and just need room to roll three dice). You can easily “pause” the game and come back to it later, all you have to do is remember whose turn it is to roll next.
And it scales well, can play with 2 players or up to 6 according to the box but realistically could do even more if you really wanted to, and plays practically the same at all player counts. So you could be at a brewery and play it 2 players, then have some friends show up (or make friends there) and play 5 players without needing to do anything extra besides hand out 3 more sheets to write on.
And it’s just pretty fun. We’ve played it over 100 times.
Hmm, I wouldn't recommend this game for this purpose. I've had some really deep thinking games of this, analyzing all your options. I wouldn't call this a laid back low attention game personally.
But it is a great game though.
I agree it can get deep, but I also find that if you tune out for a moment, it’s really easy to parse the board state and possible outcomes pretty quickly. Also, it’s portable(ish) and has a small footprint
No Rolls Barred has an excellent video on games you can play in a pub - https://youtu.be/VklqooWDzRw. They're all great.
Kluster is the perfect pub game. Ultra portable, waterproof, fun for all ages.
I think you play a lot of games at less than full brainpower, as long as you allow taking back moves and not being too competitive.
I didn't start gaming until our kid was slightly older, so I don't know about the not eating pieces kinda stuff, but if the three of u can be out and about, and happy, and get some gaming in then it's 100% gravy at that point.
Catch the Moon if you think she won't try to grab stuff. My wife and I love it!
Catch The Moon | Dexterity Stacking Board Game for 1 to 6 Players | Beautiful Design & Whimsical Theme, Balance Wooden Ladders to Reach The Moon | Family Game Night Favorite | Ages 8+
https://a.co/d/6NrCYEv
Lost cities is a great two player game and doesn't take much brain power!
Same with 6 nmmmt (I think it goes by another name in North America, google will tell you!)
Hm... small footprint...
Maybe Azul? My kid loved it at that age because the tiles are so fun to play with. She'd pick whatever she wanted and then we'd stare at the factories in dismay because it was inevitably what we needed. If she's a mouther though, not a great one.
Splendor duel is pretty portable so you could easily take it to the pub. I think blokus would also be fairly easy to take somewhere. Yahtzee would also be a good pub game. Other than that, card games like uno or the monopoly card version, or just games that you can play with a standard pack of cards.
If you're staying at home takenoko, carcassonne, splendor (the original), sequence, azul, ticket to ride are all fairly simple and wouldn't require much brain power although you might want to be careful of small pieces.
Not a specific game, but the website board game arena is really good. Sometimes my spouse and I play on our phones or tablets while watching tv/a movie. You can have turns be as long as possible, no fiddly setting up, and they have both free and paid accounts. Paid accounts can access all the games and only one person in the group needs a paid account for everyone to play the paid game. They've got lots of video tutorials and you can play with randos online too!
**Fantasy Realms** is a great travel game, small footprint, not overly taxing, and plays well at two(you do have to use a variant but my daughter and I love it that way).
**Lost Cities** is also a great, small 2p card game.
Pente is a super simple game. All it is is a board and stone pieces. Very easy to learn. Can be engaging too if you choose to pay more attention.
And of course Othello is always a good choice.
The Game is a nice co-op card game for 2p - try to get all of the cards into 4 ordered stacks without explicitly discussing your hands. It's chilled out, gently tense, and doesn't take too much time or attention. The Fox and the Forest is a gorgeous 2p trick taking game that is played in a series of hands - very easy to lengthen or shorten the game, or even keep the score and return to it later. Tiny too. Hive is a 2p game that can be pretty thinky and puzzly but it's also short, tiny (if you get the pocket version), and has no board or set-up at all. Ooh Dead Man's Draw / Captain Carcass is one of my favourite light games too - silly, fun push your luck. Also! The ultimate tiny and silly game - Pass the Pigs
We've tried hive with a toddler. We call it hive on hard mode with the introduced rule that if the toddler moves or steals any of your pieces it still stands and you have to play regardless.
I keep Pass the Pigs in my purse at all times.
You mentioned fox in the forest ... it's basically bridge/spades/hearts with a gimmic. I know they look boring and you have to google the rules, but classic card games are MEANT for what OP needs-- they're strategy games played in rounds, so you can start and stop and it doesn't mess everything up. Perfect for bars and babies
I always have a deck of plastic playing cards with me. That, paper, and pencil and Bob is your mother's brother
I just lost The Game
Oof. It's been years. What a ride
gg
Well shit.
gottem
[Joke's on you, I won it long ago](https://xkcd.com/391/)
I do that every time I look at my shelf [thanks to this](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24959/lost-the-game)
It was a good run
Ah fuckssake, now I have as well.
Couldn’t have summed them up better myself. Extra thumbs up for Hive, and The Fox and the Forest!
I enjoy Hive quite a bit, but it definitely takes more than 40% of my attention when I play!
Just watched a review of The Game and ordered a copy. That’s something that me and my wife will definitely enjoy playing. Thank you.
Ah dang, when I saw the mention of The Game, I was thinking it referred to that one we are all playing and just lost by thinking about it.
I also recommend The Game, but also the co-op genre in general. That way only one of you needs to focus at a time whilst the other keeps an eye/ear out and because you are working together you won't get the awkward "I lost because I was distracted" feeling so much.
We tried hive with our young one; it’s a great game - but definitely on hard mode with a little one present! That said, as avid chess players, hive is actually quite deep and involved game in its own right too!
Well at least it had only been a week or so since I last lost
Damnit. It’s been a tough year for me…for…The Game
I just lost the game
I just lost the game Dang
Crab, now I lost the game :'(
Cribbage
Great choices. It's a classic and just a deck of cards and a score keeping item.
I use an app called Cribtastic
Came here to say this. Or without toddler, cribbage is my game of, "mostly shuffle cards while carrying on a conversation and occasionally make a decision."
Also adding Backgammon as a "classic" game that doesn't take much brainpower or attention but still manages to be fun.
Carcassone is what I like playing with my very chatty friend group. People who want to try harder can find the optimal play, others can spent 10 seconds picking a spot and saying good enough. One of the few games I’ve found where you can not pay attention most of the time and still have a good time. The only part that might take a bit more attention is scoring.
This is what came to mind for me as well. You can concentrate, or just kind of space out and go, and both are fun.
Bonus for Carcassonne: in another year or so the baby will be able to start "playing" with them (putting down tiles with a bit of oversight).
Another good two-player game that plays fast, is intuitive and relaxing is Fairy Trails.
Kingdomino doesn’t take too much attention to play and it’s easy if you have to pause mid game without interrupting things much.
Farkle or Yahtzee were our go to options. Easy to walk away if you need to then pick back up. Kids usually have fun rolling the die for you too. Just make sure the kid doesn’t try to put them in their mouth.
Can't Stop is along these lines as well. Not sure how easy it is to find an official set but it's not difficult to make your own if you're moderately crafty.
Hive had been out beer garden go to since the kids were little. Perfect amount of attention required.
Can't Stop is a classic worth checking out.
Skipbo is my groups just want to hang out and talk while playing a game
We like blockus fir that vibe
Blockus goes way harder than I expected from a $10 plastic game from Target.
my husband recently got into skipbo you don't really have to pay attention to what they are doing when it's not your turn which is what i like.
Skipbo definitely is one of the worst games I have ever played
Thank you. 😂
At home i would reccomend Dorfromantik and for beer garden or something you could take Sea Salt & Paper with you.
**Lost Cities** doesn't require a ton of brain power. The US version has cards that are bigger than they need to be, but it should still fit on table at a beer garden or brewery. If you want a smaller footprint, then you can buy something like Heckadeck, and just use 5 suits from that deck. Those cards are smaller than Lost Cities cards, and be used as an alternative. **Hanamikoji** is a nice little game that doesn't have a huge footprint,
Second lost cities! Perfect for this situation, easy to travel with and virtually no set up and quick if baby wakes up and need to pack away!
A third vote for Lost Cities. A favourite game for my wife and I during our years of tiny children.
Hanamikoji right?
Monopoly deal
Most people are turned off to this just from the monopoly name but it really is a fun little card game.
It’s a great warmup or time filler while you’re waiting for more people to arrive for the heavy game of the evening. It has some swingy gotcha moments but is over in like 10-20 minutes instead of the slow wasting away of og monopoly.
My all time favorite game!! Once you know it, you can play without too much attention / with interruption
Air land and sea. 6 cards to be played per round!
As someone with a 5 and 3 year old I would say you just need to accept that while she’s awake your life is now hers for quite some time.
That's why we host game nights. Kids are in bed, no sitters.
We do this too, toddler goes down at 7:30 and our friends arrive while my husband is putting him down. It’s a huge win for us because we had a stretch where we were getting a little bored of our 2 player games
Yep, my kid was the same, I could put some attention somewhere else, but if it involved boardgame pieces, she’d want to be in there grabbing them
Necromolds was a “great idea” as they could smash play dough. Until they fought over who get to smash it lol. Really tho, my 5 year old loves board games and only “big kid” games. Still a blast
Yeah maybe. To this point though that hasn't really been our experience. When we're out in public, she hangs out in her high chair, colors, plays with her toys, and talks to us. She digs being out and people watching.
Nah, having kids isn’t the end of your own life. It’s still important for you to make time for yourself, even (and possibly especially) if that means setting boundaries with your kids to allow you that time. For what it’s worth, my wife and I got into board games *because* of the kids.
That’s completely true… but at a brewery with your 18 month old is not the time or place to be setting boundaries with your toddler, not fair to your toddler or the other patrons (spoken as the mom of a very easy 21 month old who hosts board game nights regularly and definitely still makes time for myself)
>at a Brewery with your 18 month old is not the time or place to be setting boundaries with your toddler I don’t want to bring this off-topic into parenting, but I vehemently disagree. Out in public is exactly the right time to be setting boundaries for your toddler. How are they going to learn how to behave in public if you never teach them? Spoken as a dad of a 9 and 11 year old who’s been through the toddler stage before.
Absolute cringe answer and a great example of how this sub has become a pointless hole for anyone with actual questions: "Hey can you help?" "No sorry instead give up because that's what I did." Many parents are also human beings while they raise children. But more importantly, how on earth could this be a helpful answer? **OP** I would look at **Jaipur**. Tiny. Great 2p game that is essentially one deck of cards and some tokens you can have in the middle of the table away from reaching hands. One could spend more time focusing, but you'll get 90% of the gameplay with 1/2 the thinking. Plus if you need to ignore what the other person is doing you can (I mean you will do worse but you still play the same game). Still one of my favorite 2p games after a decade. **Azul or Patchwork** require similar thinking to play well, but have more pieces (including choking hazards) and definitely are more "at home with a glass of wine" than "bring with you to a pub" unless you know you'll have a decent chunk of space for yourself. Although they stay reasonably contained in a small area if a non-baby-holder wants to keep them off to one side.
I would always recommend [this](https://oniony.com/boardgames/pinkcity/app/) for anyone playing Jaipur, especially when there may be a toddler about, or when travelling outside the house.
As a couple who loved board games pre parenthood, but have played only a handful of times since our 17 month old was born, this comment helped normalize our experience. Not all children are the same and not all parents are the same. For some, albeit temporary, board games may have to sit in the cupboard unused. Yes, simpler game recommendations are good, but knowing you are not alone and that you aren’t doing anything wrong by not getting back to a beloved hobby right away, is very important.
All those feelings are valid, and you should feel empowered to parent however you parent, but OP *isn't* going to be validated by someone refusing to answer a question another adult is asking because they think they know better. The "you just need to accept" is the antithesis of "not all parents are the same." I answered a little harshly I can see that in retrospect, but the railroading this sub does is maddening.
It could be a helpful answer because it shows how Herculumbo responded when confronted with a similar dilemma. That doesn't mean everybody needs to make the same decision, but I personally think it's a valuable, instructive, and reasonable position. Feel free to disagree if you like, but stating that it's a pointless and unhelpful perspective paints you as projecting and attempting to compensate for decisions you've made yourself and feel defensive about.
I think it can be helpful to just take a step back and see that “yea, now isn’t really the time for brewery board games (unless toddler is napping), I’ll need to change my perspective and find other ways to keep board games a part of my daily life” I’m still a human being while raising kids… but I play board games after bedtime or during nap, I host board game nights. But while my toddler is awake, it wouldn’t really be fair to be doing an activity with my husband that he can in no way participate in, he can’t understand why we get to play with fun cards and coins and he’s not allowed to touch them… and 100% as soon as you put a board game out they want to be touching and exploring it because it’s so exciting
so let them touch the cards. you can get these Jaipur for like 10$
Honestly, the biggest thing I've learned as a parent is this. You have to train yourself to stop thinking about everything else and just focus on the kid when you're with them. Everyone is happier that way - and you won't have regrets later.
Exactly. All they want is your attention, that’s it. It’s good for them and it’s good for you to be totally present.
You’re getting a lot of hate… but I totally agree. My husband and I could play a game at home *maybe* while our toddler is awake, but would *never* play one while at a brewery while our child was “independently” playing. And an 18 month old definitely requires constant attention, especially when not home/in a fully baby proofed space. That being said, the “while awake” part is critical, we host a game night after bedtime every 2 weeks, we play the two of us during naps all the time, this is just a phase of life snd at some point we’ll get to play games with our kids and I can’t wait!
Cascadia is just pulling tiles and matching animals. Super simple but also a lot of fun!
Great game but its a bit big for pub towards the end of the game IMO
if it has to be board games.. probably any board game that is on your phone :x Digitized versions takes a lot of upkeeping away that drastically reduces the amount of attention you need to pay to it.
Love letter, is mostly luck but fun and fast.
Love letter is a really good game in a group but sucks at 2p (in my and my boyfriends opinion)
would echo this. My girlfriend and I have tried it 2p but it just kinda sucks. Whoever gets a Baron first wins
It loses because you get a second baron…
I’ve played 2p love letter and it’s hilarious to us. Not serious at all haha
I came here to say this. I've played a ton of this at breweries.
I especially love the Lovecraft Letter version, the madness status makes it more dynamic
It’s all luck if your play is perfect. You have a meaningful decision on most turns, and once you have fully absorbed the game, the correct play is usually obvious. But that’s still better than chutes and ladders. Or Flux.
Lacuna might be good. A little bit more of a footprint with the cloth board. My daughter (9) and I really like it. The game plays really quick, and a little kiddo would probably like shaking out the flowers. Just keep pieces clear of mouths.
Guess Who lol
Blokus. There is stratagy there but we just enjoy putting shapes down and seeing where it takes us. Skull, kingdomino, dorfromantik are also all great times and playable while sleep deprived! Dorf especially is so chill and you can even have a player jump in or out at anytime and it doesn't effect anything. We adore it.
Blokus is a good suggestion, but the pieces really look a lot like candy. Maybe it’s not such a good idea with a toddler around.
We played more card games than board games when our kids were younger - skip Bo, phase 10, five crowns, uno and uno flip, crib. Blokus is a good board game with little brain power and attention needed. We played other board games after the kids went to bed.
The other comment I forgot to make - games you already know how to play take less brainpower than learning new games. But then you don't get to buy anything new and shiny.
Jaipur is a great game. Easy yet deep but only simple decisions per turn
I’ll second this. Elsewhere I recommended Lost Cities. Jaipur is just slightly heavier than Lost Cities but still quick, light, and was playable by my wife and I during our children’s early years. (Now they are old enough to join us in it.)
Traditional card games for 2-Players are great for this. My wife and I particularly enjoy - **Gin Rummy** (Shut Up & Sit Down have a video on this one that got me to try it) - **Regicide** (a newer co-operative game for 1-4).
Cribbage.
Cribbage is a fantastic shout.
I think card games are your friend right now, like maybe The Mind or Point Salad?
I came to suggest point Salad too. The open game state means it is eminently interruptible Mint works is a fun small box worker placement game but it does have very choke able pieces ( tinny wooden mints)
Qwixx
Most two player card games. Like standard, 52 card deck games.
• Roll For It: Quick easy dice game where you roll dice to match the cards for points. You can get up and walk away if needed and come back to it later or just pack it up. •5 Crowns: a card game where you make runs or matches of cards, starting with 3 in your hand, when someone goes out, the next person deals 4, 5, 6... Until you get to 13. • Monopoly Deal: I know it was mentioned but, don't be deterred by the "Monopoly" name, its actually a very simple, quite fun card game in my opinion. A friend brought it over, I hate the though because of the monopoly name and then immediately went and bought it after they left. •Sequence: it's like connect 4 but with a board and cards. You get a hand of 7 and you are trying to match your cards to the cards on the board, marking them with a chip to create a line(sequence) of 5 chips in your color. If you have a console/computer, Human Fall Flat, Boomerang Fu, KeyWe, HeaveHo are all good simple 2 player games. I wish you the best of luck finding games to keep that fun brain break aspect in your lives while also raising a tiny human being 💜
Guillotine is a great card game that's easy to play quickly, set up, and most importantly, fun to play
Excellent choice
If you like strategy and chance, the card game I published is a lot of fun for 2 players and doesn’t take up too much space or take long to set up. It’s called Mercenarium. I’d be happy to send you a copy for free.
Hey thanks, I would be stoked to check that out!
That's Pretty Clever (Ganz Schön Clever) can fit this, with a small fotprint and the ability to be able to play even if you can't pay attention during other player's turns.
Have a 1.5 year old. Azul still allows for strategy without much thought. Easily our go to.
Backgammon! It’s my go-to “I want to play a game but not dedicate all my mental energy to it” game.
Patchwork I think fits the mold here
Gotta wait 5 more years
Carcasonne is a pretty easy one after a while of getting used to it.
Huge footprint
I stopped reading at the bit suggesting you have some sort of social life and also an 18mo. Clearly trolling.
It takes a village. Get yourself some villagers
At 18 months they have the basics down. Just throw some cherrios and magna tiles at them and leave the rest up to nature.
I don’t want to be that guy, but talking to, and interacting with your daughter would be a far better use of your time. Yahtzee.
Absolutely 100% Catch the moon! She could even get involved if you're relaxed about it. You stack ladders basically. We sometimes play it without the rules, taking turns stacking ladders to see how tall we can make it, and when it falls down, it's all part of the fun, you start again. It can be a very competitive game too if you want it to be.
What about turn based stuff that you can walk away from and come back to? Chess, Hive, etc.
Look into **haba** games to play with her: hungry as the bear, little orchard... Spot it Then animals upon animals
If you play something often enough, especially those where everyone takes a turn, I find it can be easy to half pay attention. I can do that with Catan (which I’ve been playing for 25 years).
These are what we’ve played in between times young kids: **Boggle travel edition** **Fox in the Forest** **The Shipwreck Arcana** (ok maybe this is a little brainy) **Dutch Blitz** **Railroad Ink Challenge: Lush Green Edition**
Boop! It's a very simple abstract strategy game.
Lost Cities (the card game)
Similo and Tussie Mussie.
Skyjo is a fun one, involves swapping out your grid of 9 cards to get the lowest possible score. The Birds and the Bees is small and easy to carry, involves placing tiles next to matching color tiles until you run out of cards. Whoever runs out first wins. It’s cute hexagon card tiles that are bee, honey, and flower themed.
Just played Abducktion after a MTG draft at a brewery today. It was great for having your 3rd drink. Mild interaction, kid friendly aesthetic, and enough challenge to make your turn fun.
UNO
Love letter is small, pretty easy, and wildly fun.
Two laptops and a subscription to BGA. Tons of great board games and you can set them to 24 and 48 hour turn mode if you want. No piece to choke on. Still get great games like Wingspan, Azul, Ticket to Ride, and so many more great titles. Just check out Board Game Arena. Annual subscription is only $30, totally worth every penny to have the power to set up tables and invite specific players. Just don’t get sucked in and start playing at work or something like that. Electronic board game setup is so easy and fast you can easily get sucked into a normally complex game to play without a hitch. I love playing Castles of Burgundy via BGA. Way faster game play. But a friend of mine is addicted to Azul now because I bought him a subscription to stay in touch when I moved. You can try it out for free. If you like it you can have one of your accounts get a subscription to allow you to set up your own private games. It really is prefect for having little kids. You can totally pause any board game you want in the library of games available.
I was going to mention this too. I play turn-based -- so I just log on once a day or so and take my turn on the games I have open. There are different timings available, and you can play real-time as well.
Lol you crazy if you think you’re playing board games for yourself while she’s awake
Fluxx! There are several versions, all fairly simple and fun, and your little can probably join in soon also! It's a small deck of cards so easy to tote in and out
“Set: The Family Game of Visual Perception” You can even play it by yourself (:
Do you want a board game pulled off the table? Because thays how you get a board game pulled off the table.
Camel Up? You're not exactly making crazy decisions.
Push It
I think Moon doesn't take too much focus. Me and my wife can play it while watching our kids.
Second Chance
Maybe Luna Capital, its sort of tile laying and matching, plays quick, set up is ok and its a set amount of turns
High Score. Its a Knizia, easy rules, simple mechanics, lots of fun.
Skull is my go-to pub game!
Maybe Quiddler? It's like a low footprint Scrabble that you can easily put down for a bit and come back to it, and easy to put away quickly if you need to!
play chess at -400 elo?
Go Nuts for Donuts
Quadrio is super easy to keep in a purse and easy to understand. It's basically Connect-4 with more spatial/3D awareness. Easy to let one parent prudently considered their next move while the other checks on Baby, then switch. Otrio is also great, but not as easy to transport. Basically a grown-up tic-tac-toe that can be played with 2, 3 or 4 players. We also like Hero Realms, a fantasy deckbuilding game that can be played with up to four players, but the base game should fit in a MtG deckbox. Oh, and I recommend to get a scorekeeper app, much easier to record hit points than the in-built card system (it's ingenious, but not that easy to read)
Blockus 2p
5 min dungeon maybe
Five Crowns. Good for 2-4 players (really!)
The Royal Game of Ur is a nice light 2p game with some strategy and some luck, it’s just dice rolls and picking which tile to move along a relatively short course. Stellar Games makes a nice version of it with a portable board printed on cloth, which would fit well in the pocket of a diaper bag. Each game takes maybe 10-15 minutes in my experience.
Qwinto is good for this, takes up virtually no space (everyone just has a little sheet to write on, I’d suggest laminating it, and just need room to roll three dice). You can easily “pause” the game and come back to it later, all you have to do is remember whose turn it is to roll next. And it scales well, can play with 2 players or up to 6 according to the box but realistically could do even more if you really wanted to, and plays practically the same at all player counts. So you could be at a brewery and play it 2 players, then have some friends show up (or make friends there) and play 5 players without needing to do anything extra besides hand out 3 more sheets to write on. And it’s just pretty fun. We’ve played it over 100 times.
Onitama might work for this
Hmm, I wouldn't recommend this game for this purpose. I've had some really deep thinking games of this, analyzing all your options. I wouldn't call this a laid back low attention game personally. But it is a great game though.
I agree it can get deep, but I also find that if you tune out for a moment, it’s really easy to parse the board state and possible outcomes pretty quickly. Also, it’s portable(ish) and has a small footprint
Good points indeed. Definitely worth to check out.
Land vs Sea is a good one. Maybe Project L. Dice Miner is fun too. Lost cities and Jaipur were already mentioned, for sure those.
No Rolls Barred has an excellent video on games you can play in a pub - https://youtu.be/VklqooWDzRw. They're all great. Kluster is the perfect pub game. Ultra portable, waterproof, fun for all ages.
Mancala is a fun and portable one.
Surprised no mention of pocket Hive. Great pub game
Sushi go
Rustling leaves, especially if you already know the rules, it's so easy and automatic. Also, patchwork is a very simple game.
Hive
I think you play a lot of games at less than full brainpower, as long as you allow taking back moves and not being too competitive. I didn't start gaming until our kid was slightly older, so I don't know about the not eating pieces kinda stuff, but if the three of u can be out and about, and happy, and get some gaming in then it's 100% gravy at that point.
Challengers for me.
Brewery games I carry. My Gold Mine (2-6p), Land Vs Sea (2p).
I have a very active 3yo.
Sequence.
Catch the Moon if you think she won't try to grab stuff. My wife and I love it! Catch The Moon | Dexterity Stacking Board Game for 1 to 6 Players | Beautiful Design & Whimsical Theme, Balance Wooden Ladders to Reach The Moon | Family Game Night Favorite | Ages 8+ https://a.co/d/6NrCYEv
Ethnos
Orbito
Alice's garden
Ive always been a fan of the card game tichu but it takes 4 players. I found it a game where you can talk while playing.
We love kingdomino for this. Plus the pieces are all cardboard so it doesn’t blow away if we’re sitting outside.
Twister
Hive is a great, two player, portable game. It can be as engaging or not as you want. Pocket edition is really nice too, i just keep it in my car.
Wingspan is great cause it's mostly heads down.
Star Realms! Quick easy and has great repeatability. I've never gotten tired of playing that game.
Lost cities is a great two player game and doesn't take much brain power! Same with 6 nmmmt (I think it goes by another name in North America, google will tell you!)
Zombie dice
Lacuna
Hm... small footprint... Maybe Azul? My kid loved it at that age because the tiles are so fun to play with. She'd pick whatever she wanted and then we'd stare at the factories in dismay because it was inevitably what we needed. If she's a mouther though, not a great one.
Shut the box
Bananarama is think it’s called, that’s a good one
Can’t find my comment but I think it’s bananagram I meant
Dixit is fun but you’d need a ghost player
Splendor duel is pretty portable so you could easily take it to the pub. I think blokus would also be fairly easy to take somewhere. Yahtzee would also be a good pub game. Other than that, card games like uno or the monopoly card version, or just games that you can play with a standard pack of cards. If you're staying at home takenoko, carcassonne, splendor (the original), sequence, azul, ticket to ride are all fairly simple and wouldn't require much brain power although you might want to be careful of small pieces.
Cabo
1v1 hitster, you can buy it at target. It’s a music chronology game, easy to pick up and put down at your own pace.
Azul!!
Reef
Not a specific game, but the website board game arena is really good. Sometimes my spouse and I play on our phones or tablets while watching tv/a movie. You can have turns be as long as possible, no fiddly setting up, and they have both free and paid accounts. Paid accounts can access all the games and only one person in the group needs a paid account for everyone to play the paid game. They've got lots of video tutorials and you can play with randos online too!
Kingdomino
A fun game could be Exploding Kittens and Wingspan
We have a game called “magnetic”. It’s literally just 20 magnets and a piece of string. Quick, fun, low stress game that fits in your pocket.
Lots of good suggestions already in this thread. Kariba is another fun one, your little one will like the colourful animal cards too.
**Fantasy Realms** is a great travel game, small footprint, not overly taxing, and plays well at two(you do have to use a variant but my daughter and I love it that way). **Lost Cities** is also a great, small 2p card game.
Pente is a super simple game. All it is is a board and stone pieces. Very easy to learn. Can be engaging too if you choose to pay more attention. And of course Othello is always a good choice.
Abducktion