Just because you’re living in a tiny condo or apartment doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have nice board games.
If fact, some board games are perfectly suited for smaller spaces because of their compact size. They don’t need a massive table to play, and some can accommodate 2 to 8 players.
So, if you’re looking for incredibly fun, high-quality tabletop games that are perfect for an apartment, condo, or just a small space in general, check out this list of 7 board games I highly recommend.
Article Contents:
- Monopoly Deal · 15 – 20 minutes · 2 to 5 player
- Splendor · 25 – 35 minutes · 2 to 4 player
- Sushi Go! · 15 – 20 minutes · 2 to 5 player
- Kingdomino · 15 – 20 minutes · 2 to 4 player
- Citadels · 20 – 60 minutes · 2 to 8 player
- Hive (Pocket Edition) · 15 – 20 minutes · 2 player
- Codenames · 20 – 25 minutes · 4 to 8 player
Gameplay: 15 to 20 minutes
Players: 2 to 5
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 1 minute
Expansions: No
Price: $10 – $15
Monopoly deal is a card-based board game that is just as competitive as its older brother but neatly fits in your pocket. Seriously!
Because of its relatively compact form-factor, Monopoly Deal is a fantastic game for those living in a small apartment or condo where storage space is precious.
It easily can fit in a drawer or sit on a shelf inconspicuously.
Quick Rules
The goal of the game is to collect 3 complete sets of properties of different colors. Each player starts with 5 cards. On your turn, you draw two cards and play up to three cards.
Cards played can be either added as money to your bank, properties, enhancements to your properties (increased rent) or actions (collect rent, birthday money or steal/swap property cards). It’s just that simple!
Why it’s Great
I’ve played Monopoly Deal in my condo with guests, either on the kitchen island or on the living room coffee table – it doesn’t need much room at all to play.
The low setup time, simple rules and high re-playability makes Monopoly Deal a personal favorite board game that can be played absolutely everywhere!
Looking for the complete rules to play Monopoly Deal? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 25 to 35 minutes
Players: 2 to 4
Transportability: Medium
Difficulty to Learn: Medium
Setup Time: 5 minutes
Expansions: Yes
Price: $35 – $40
Splendor is a game of patience, persistence and perseverance.
The goal of this deck-building board game is to collect gem tokens and gem cards to ultimately gain prestige points.
The first player to reach or exceed 15 prestige points wins!
Quick Rules
Splendor is a mad dash to collect gem tokens and gem cards to ultimately gain prestige points. The first player to reach or exceed 15 prestige points wins.
To get prestige points, you need to purchase prestige gem cards. To purchase prestige gem cards, you need to have either enough tokens (chips) and/or gem cards. To get gem cards, you need to purchase them with tokens. And to get tokens, you can pick them up 3 (or two) at a time on your turn.
Phew! That’s the game in a nutshell.
There are 5 standard colours of tokens to choose from. There are also 3 tiers of gem cards (green, yellow and blue), each progressively more expensive to purchase, but each more rewarding than the previous tier.
On your turn, you have three options. You can:
(1) Pick up two of the same tokens (if all tokens of that colour are available) or three tokens (each of a different colour) and add them to your stack from the bank.
(2) Purchase a gem card with the corresponding number of tokens/gem cards, and add the purchased card to your stack.
(3) Reserve a card for yourself for purchase at a later time, collecting a gold token in the process, which counts as a universal colour token.
Why it’s Great
Splendor can feel like you’re playing a chess match. You are constantly anticipating your opponents next move while planning your own. It hurts my brain just thinking about it.
The board game box isn’t exuberantly big, and can fit neatly on a small bookshelf fairly inconspicuously making it perfect for a small apartment or condo. And, if you can play poker in your home, then you can totally play Splendor.
Also, if you want, you can also pickup the expansions box which offer alternative ways of playing so it never gets repetitive… But don’t worry, it never does!
Looking for the complete rules to play Splendor? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 15 – 20 minutes
Players: 2 to 5
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 2 minutes
Expansions: Yes
Price: $15 – $20
Sushi Go! is a fast-paced card game that’ll have you snatching up sashimi and wanting more wasabi!
It’s a low cost board game that’s comes in a tiny box. But, don’t let its small size fool you. It’s loads of fun!
Quick Rules
The overall concept of Sushi Go is simple. Over a series of three rounds, players add sushi cards to their “plate”. The player with the highest scoring plate wins!
Depending on the number of players, up to 10 cards are dealt to each player. Each player then picks one card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. Simultaneously, cards are revealed.
The cards in hand are then passed to the left, simulating a conveyor belt. Once again, players chose a card and reveal it.
These two steps are repeated until only a single card is left to pass, which is added to each player’s plate. This signifies the end of a round.
Scoring of your plate depends on the type of sushi cards, each representing a slightly different scoring method. Pudding cards are scored at the end. Once the scores a tallied for the round, the used sushi cards (except pudding cards) are discarded, and each player is dealt a new hand of cards.
The same process is repeated for all three rounds, the scores are added up, and the player with the most points at the end of the game wins!
Why it’s Great
One thing I love about Sushi Go is how compact the container is. The game case (which is essentially a tin box) is no larger than 3 x 5 x 2 inches. It’s the perfect compact board game you can pull out when you have guests over!
And, even if you don’t like eating sushi, you’ll definitely love playing Sushi Go. It’s an affordable, quick and compact game that offers endless fun. What more do you need?
Looking for the complete rules to play Sushi Go? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 15 to 20 minutes
Players: 2 to 4
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 2 minutes
Expansions: Yes
Price: $20 – $25
Truth-be-told, Kingdomino is one of my all-time favorite board games. I can’t recommend it enough.
And, whenever friends or family visit us in our tiny condo, I know we have more than enough space for this simple, yet highly addictive board game!
Quick Rules
The board game contains 48 high quality domino tiles. Each tile is comprised of two “terrain” squares. There are 6 types of terrain: farm, forest, grassland, mine, sea and swamp.
Some terrain squares also contain a crown symbol (or two, or three!), which is extra important for scoring.
The goal of the game is to build a 5 x 5 square kingdom around your castle and earn the most points based on the number of connected terrain territories.
The back of each tile is numbered 1 through 48. Typically, the higher the number, the higher the points-earning potential. Four tiles are drawn and arranged smallest to largest, then flipped over to reveal the terrain side.
Players take turns selecting 1 of the 4 tiles, the player selection order of which is dictated by the previous round of selection and ranking of tiles.
Why it’s Great
It’s a struggle between selecting the highest earning tiles and being able to pick new tiles first.
This game dynamic alone makes Kingdomino a strategy-inducing grudge match from the get-go.
The low set-up time, relatively quick play-time, and low space requirements makes Kingdomino a great option for gamers looking for an apartment friendly game.
Looking for the complete rules to play Kingdomino? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 20 to 60 minutes
Players: 2 to 8
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 5 minutes
Expansions: Yes
Price: $20 – $25
Usually, board games that are good for up to 8 players are big and bulky.
Thankfully, Citadels is a fun, dynamic, and miniscule board game that only gets better when more people are playing.
We purchased the smaller version of the game and the case is smaller than a tissue box, making it perfect for an apartment or condo bookshelf.
Quick Rules
Citadels is a fun, dynamic board game that only gets better when more people are playing. The premise is to strategically switch characters between each round to help yourself amass the most points.
During the game, players take turns selecting 1 of 8 character cards in secret. Each character has their own unique ability, which becomes evident during the action phase of gameplay.
Some characters give you more points, others let you chose your next character first, and others all-together block rival characters from maneuvering during the action phase.
The goal is to systematically choose characters that help increase your income so that you can build district cards (which earn you points). Once any player builds their 8th district card, the game ends, and the player with the most points (see scoring rules) wins!
Why it’s Great
Although Citadels is only comprised of a deck of cards and point tokens, it’s such an addictive board game that can be played on a small table.
And, because of the contents packs down very small, it’s the perfect game for people who don’t have much spare space in their home.
Looking for the complete rules to play Citadels? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 15 to 20 minutes
Players: 2
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 1 minutes
Expansions: Yes
Price: $20 – $25
The objective of Hive is simple: be the first to completely surround your opponents queen bee to win.
Seem easy, right? Wrong! It’s an intense board game that feels a lot like chess but nowhere near as boring (sorry chess fans).
Hive doesn’t rely on a game board which makes it a great option for an apartment or condo.
Instead, each player has 11 hexagonal tiles, each representing a different insect. There is the queen bee (1), spiders (2), beetles (2), grasshoppers, (3) and ants (3). Each insect has a distinct movement ability.
Quick Rules
To start, one player places an insect tile. The second player then places a tile, connected to one side of the first player.
When placing new tiles from this point forward, new tiles can only touch your own insect tiles. Within the first four tiles placed per player, the queen bee must be placed.
Once the queen bee is placed, already placed insect tiles can move according to their movement ability.
Some insect tiles can move one edge spot at a time, while others must move 3 spots. Some insects have the ability to move in the vertical direction and “climb” over other tiles.
One key rule is that all pieces in play must remain connected, also known as the “One-Hive” rule. That means you cannot move an insect tile if it results in another tile or tiles being left broken from the rest.
This simple but crucial rule makes this game incredibly competitive. You can essentially trap your opponent pieces with your own so that they won’t be able to move those tiles without breaking this rule.
The goal is to add and move insect tiles until your opponent’s queen bee is completely surrounded on all 6 sides by either player’s tiles.
Why it’s Great
If you’re like me, you’ll play multiple rounds of Hive because you won’t get enough of this quick, yet competitive board game.
And, because the contents pack nicely into a small pouch (which is included), you can keep and carry Hive virtually anywhere!
Looking for the complete rules to play Hive? Check them out here.
Gameplay: 20 to 30 minutes
Players: 4 to 8
Transportability: High
Difficulty to Learn: Low
Setup Time: 5 minutes
Expansions: No
Price: $20 – $25
If you’re hosting a small get-together in your apartment or condo, and want to test out the communication skills of your guests, I suggest playing Codenames!
All you need is a flat surface to layout a 5 x 5 grid of codename cards – essentially a 2 x 2 feet table.
Quick Rules
In Codenames, you and your teammates try to reveal friendly spies by properly guessing their codename with only one-word, one-number clues by the spy master.
But, guessing the wrong codename can reveal innocent bystanders, rival spies, or worse, the assassin.
Why it’s Great
A huge why Codenames is so popular among young and old is because it’s super simple to explain and play.
It’s also not as competitive compared to other board games which is makes it great for kids.
Setup is also super quick and doesn’t require are lot of real estate, literally!
Looking for the complete rules to play Codenames? Check them out here.
If you live in an apartment, condo, or small space, which board games do you end up playing? Let me know your favourites in the comments below!
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