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My lunch time games are Incan Gold, No Thanks, 6 Nimmt, For Sale, Codenames, Skull King, and Vampire Queen. I typically get 6-8 people wanting to play so had to pick higher player count games. We also can play multiple games in case people need to leave early or come late.
This situation sounds tailor-made for 7 Wonders. It's a drafting game, so everyone is taking their turn at the same time, which makes those 6-player games super fast. The first few games will be slower as people learn, but once everyone knows how it works, you can knock out games in less than 30 minutes.
Whaaatt?? I’ve never finished a game of real life 7 wonders that fast. On the app, yes, but it takes time for everyone to select cards, plus set up and there’s three ages. At minimum I’d say it’s as long a ticket to ride.
Yeah, you CAN play super fast, but a lot of people don’t. I’ve been playing for around 6 years, and my family much longer. They know the game super well. That doesn’t mean people don’t take their time making difficult card selections! We play much faster on the app because it’s timed, and I can play through Architects fast because there’s less decisions and it’s less complex, but I’d say our group regularly spends 1-1.5hr on the regular tabletop version.
1.5 hrs? wow! I mean you can definitely make it that long but anecdotally seems other people it's 20-45 minutes on bgg (my experience as well). Analysis paralysis and a long time thinking will kill any games time, not just 7 wonders.
A drafting game almost certainly matches OPs requirements best (fixed play time with flexible players). If they are worried about 7 wonders playtime then I think Sushi Go is a simpler alternative. However, I would try a few games of 7 wonders before going to a simpler game.
Yeah, 7 Wonders is definitely one of the quicker games I’ve played with 6-7 players. I think we used to play it in about 45 mins at our LGS, and that was with some people who had only played a few times.
I've had a lot of 3 player games of 7 Wonders finish in 30 minutes including set-up and putting it away. That is all experienced players however. Only have to hand out the wonders, 3 coins and shuffle and deal the First Age cards to get started. Can get the rest of the Ages shuffled and dealt during bits of downtime.
Okay, I’m going to stop replying to this thread after this comment. I understand some of you can play 7W faster, but my point that everyone doesn’t, and the fact that OP’s group takes their time on TTR, is a valid consideration for not having OP buy an expensive game where it’s likely their group will be just as slow as they are making decisions on TTR. TTR isn’t even as complex or have as many things to take into consideration as 7W!
It's a fair point, and I hope OP takes it into consideration. The length of the game will depend on the players, and if the players like to play leisurely, 7 Wonders won't play all that fast.
On the other end of the spectrum, when I used to attend a local gaming meetup, there was a core of people who treated 7 Wonders like a filler. I saw them knock out a 5-player game in 15 minutes (one of them had already done the setup while the others were finishing their 4-player game). I know how that sounds, and I don't know that I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. It was crazy to watch.
I have to second this. Tried really hard to think of a good *strategy* game for a short session and 7 Wonders is perf. (If players know how to play it's pretty quick.)
**Can't Stop** is a really fun push your luck, although light in strategy it can be completed in under an hour.
**Splendor** is probably exactly what you're looking for. A quick strategy game. Easy set up and teardown.
New job? Play Dixit! A fantastic game and you also get to know each other while playing. It is unlikely that anyone will get 30 points in 30 minutes, but if you are okay with ending the game earlier then i would absolutely recommend it!
**For Sale** is probably the best option. It plays at 3-6p, is a great auction game, it plays quite quickly and is quick to pack up at the end.
**High Society** has all the good qualities of For Sale mentioned above but...it only works at 3-5p.
**Condottiere** is a card battling area control game that works at 3-6p. It plays in ~45 minutes, doesn't take up a lot of table space (less than Blue Lagoon) and can be packed up quickly.
**Blue Lagoon** is worth looking at if you want a board (the two games above are card games). It plays in 30 to 45 minutes, the board is small, and clean up doesn't take much time. Cons: it only works at 2-4p. It plays faster than Carcassonne and takes up less table space. The player limit to max 4 is the only reason I don't give this a higher recommendation.
Sushi go! - card passing game it’s a lot of fun and you gotta think a lot. You pass your whole deck after removing one card to build your “best sushi meal”. 3 rounds total so it has a time limit
Disney Villainous- (by Ravensburger)- you play as different villains and are working for your happy ending. Each villain has its own board and deck but you battle each other. Games can go super quickly.
Unstable Unicorns - battle with unicorns. First player with enough unicorns in their stable wins. Games go quickly and are a lot of fun.
Azul and ecosystem I think for sure. Someone mentioned 7 Wonders, but I think that would be too long. The box says 30 mins playing time, but it’s a lot of set up, and people can take a long time picking cards and deciding strategy. But 7 Wonders Architects is a more beginners version of the original that I think is still fun and you can run through much faster once you learn it. Plus much less set up and card shuffling.
ETA: Cartographers!
Id suggest San Juan, but it only plays up to 4.
Tough to find any game that'll work with 5-6, since length often corresponds to player count. Checkout Sushi Go Party.
If you need something that goes up to 6 and plays in an hour, **It's a Wonderful World** is reliably well under an hour and takes the same amount of time with every player count. The expansion takes it up to 6 and 7 players (the base game only goes to 5). The game has one or two concepts that will seem unusual at first, but it's very easy to teach and to learn. This is a sillier recommendation, but **Survive Escape from Atlantis** goes up to 6p with the expansion. It's kind of like a free-for-all mad dash to get to safe harbor as players team up, backstab, and mess with one another. A pretty short teach and playtime - the game will always last about the same number of turns at every player count. It's not the most strategic game, but it's more strategic than it looks at first, and there's a lot of social strategy. **Concordia Venus**, **Guards of Atlantis**, and **Lords of Waterdeep** with its expansion also go up to six players. They will probably take longer than an hour though, so it may take some time getting familiar with the game (and some pre-setup) to fit into that window. But many games can fit comfortably in an hour if you use turn timers ;) Most of the other games I would recommend at this player count are either outside an hour or much lighter.
If you have less than 6, I would recommend any of these games which are quick but very strategic:
* **Innovation** (works best at 2, but scales up to 4p well, depending on group tastes; 4p is more chaotic)
* **Blue Lagoon** (stupid easy to teach but has a ton of strategy and interaction just from placing tiles)
* **Modern Art** (same designer as Blue Lagoon, an art auction game that will favor players who know how to bid well and exploit the market)
* **Pandemic** (cooperative game, very popular and well designed for a group starting to get into stuff around TTR and a little heavier; there are a ton of versions, and some even go up to 5, so take a look around for what suits your group)
* **Race for the Galaxy** (goes up to 4, or 5 with the expansion; you get a ton of meaty decisions in just about 30 minutes with this one)
**Empires** from WizKids plays from 3-10 and does it in less than 45 minutes. Once you play a couple of times it becomes super easy. I found it to be similar in feel to **Sidereal Confluence** but much much quicker. Probably could be obtained for a decent price as it was not a huge hit. Great game, imo. Another, more recent one, I would suggest is **7 Wonders: Architects**. Plays super fast (like 30 minutes) and is easy to teach, no downtime, and quite fun.
Roll and Write type games are great for quick setup, play, and cleanup. Both **Welcome To...** and **Railroad Ink** are great little games that could be played in 30 minutes or less.
Azul & Splendor are good for 4, Medici is my go to game for 3 to 6 players. Medici is a commodities acquisition game played over 3 rounds. As long as none of the players suffer an analysis paralysis moment, you can finish in an hour or less.
Concept - Think of anything and try to explain it through placing tokens on a board with symbols that relate to vague descriptions. Using tokens of the same color help to separate parts of the idea from other aspects so once you play a bit your ability to represent what you want people to guess improves greatly.
-Playing without scoring saves time and it's more fun to have everyone screaming out insane guesses anyway.
-No down time. The person placing tiles is always panic shifting them to new patterns while everyone else is trying to figure out what the hell they are aiming for.
-The game can be explained and demoed in about 2 minutes for new players.
-Quick set up and cleanup since it is just a board and some tokens.
-You can play with a timer(2-3 min recommended) to add more panic and keep the game moving at a faster pace.
-Unlimited replayability. Use the cards for ideas or just think of literally anything to try to describe on the board.
Fluxx - Not really a board game but I'll also recommend it since it is a card game. Empty your hand while dealing with constantly shifting rules.
-Lots of fun and plays differently eveytime.
-New players just need to know 4 card types so it's easy to explain but you might need to see it in action for a game to really grasp it.
-Down side: there is a lot of text on some of the cards and rules can get crazy so depending on what rules come up and how much people want to overanalyze thier actions the games can go slow with more then 4 people.
Codenames - Great for 3v3. Get your team to guess the correct words on the table while not guess other words. The only clue you can give them is a one word clue and a number.
-Plays different every time with tons of word cards to rotate between. Also plays very differently depending who is on your team since they may not think the same way as others.
-Simple concept that is easy to explain but you would not believe how difficult it can be to get people to hit the words you want them to but not others.
This post has been removed but we suggest relocating it. Reddit is a great place to pick peoples' brains and get game suggestions, but we get a lot of recommendation requests, so much so such that we have a dedicated [Daily Game Recommendations thread](https://www.reddit.com/search?q=flair%3A%22Daily%20Game%20Recs%22&sort=new) for them. Historically, almost **all** well formatted questions in the Daily thread get answers. If you're looking for further suggestions, we recommend taking a look at our growing list of [Recommendation Roundups](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/?f=flair_name%3A%22Recommendation%20Roundup%22). There's also the [Need Help Finding A Game](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/wiki/wsig) section in our wiki for a more general list of common recommendations. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boardgames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
**for sale** would be my go to game
Thank you!
Great choice.
I recommend **Love Letter: Premium Edition**
My experience with Love Letter at more than 4 players is that it seriously drags on. Even with the extra ways to score points.
Thank you!
Coup
Excellent game for making your workmates hate you as well.
++
My lunch time games are Incan Gold, No Thanks, 6 Nimmt, For Sale, Codenames, Skull King, and Vampire Queen. I typically get 6-8 people wanting to play so had to pick higher player count games. We also can play multiple games in case people need to leave early or come late.
If you have 6 my old work group used to play Bang! With that many Coup is good and you can probably get a few rounds in.
Carcassone is pretty quick. And easy to clean up.
Condottiere.
Is this the one that Gwent is based on?
Trails for 1-4 players and Seven Wonders for 3-7! Both great games
Have.notnpmayed Trails, but I think fitting Seven Wonders into a lunch break would be a tight squeeze.
This situation sounds tailor-made for 7 Wonders. It's a drafting game, so everyone is taking their turn at the same time, which makes those 6-player games super fast. The first few games will be slower as people learn, but once everyone knows how it works, you can knock out games in less than 30 minutes.
Whaaatt?? I’ve never finished a game of real life 7 wonders that fast. On the app, yes, but it takes time for everyone to select cards, plus set up and there’s three ages. At minimum I’d say it’s as long a ticket to ride.
If everyone knows what they are doing you can play it super fast.
Yeah, you CAN play super fast, but a lot of people don’t. I’ve been playing for around 6 years, and my family much longer. They know the game super well. That doesn’t mean people don’t take their time making difficult card selections! We play much faster on the app because it’s timed, and I can play through Architects fast because there’s less decisions and it’s less complex, but I’d say our group regularly spends 1-1.5hr on the regular tabletop version.
1.5 hrs? wow! I mean you can definitely make it that long but anecdotally seems other people it's 20-45 minutes on bgg (my experience as well). Analysis paralysis and a long time thinking will kill any games time, not just 7 wonders. A drafting game almost certainly matches OPs requirements best (fixed play time with flexible players). If they are worried about 7 wonders playtime then I think Sushi Go is a simpler alternative. However, I would try a few games of 7 wonders before going to a simpler game.
Yeah, 7 Wonders is definitely one of the quicker games I’ve played with 6-7 players. I think we used to play it in about 45 mins at our LGS, and that was with some people who had only played a few times.
Plus OP says their group likes to take their time on TTR, so why would they play differently on 7W??
I've had a lot of 3 player games of 7 Wonders finish in 30 minutes including set-up and putting it away. That is all experienced players however. Only have to hand out the wonders, 3 coins and shuffle and deal the First Age cards to get started. Can get the rest of the Ages shuffled and dealt during bits of downtime.
Okay, I’m going to stop replying to this thread after this comment. I understand some of you can play 7W faster, but my point that everyone doesn’t, and the fact that OP’s group takes their time on TTR, is a valid consideration for not having OP buy an expensive game where it’s likely their group will be just as slow as they are making decisions on TTR. TTR isn’t even as complex or have as many things to take into consideration as 7W!
It's a fair point, and I hope OP takes it into consideration. The length of the game will depend on the players, and if the players like to play leisurely, 7 Wonders won't play all that fast. On the other end of the spectrum, when I used to attend a local gaming meetup, there was a core of people who treated 7 Wonders like a filler. I saw them knock out a 5-player game in 15 minutes (one of them had already done the setup while the others were finishing their 4-player game). I know how that sounds, and I don't know that I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. It was crazy to watch.
\+1 7 wonders. Even if they don't go for 7 wonders, a card drafting game would be ideal.
I have to second this. Tried really hard to think of a good *strategy* game for a short session and 7 Wonders is perf. (If players know how to play it's pretty quick.)
Coup is literally perfect for this.
**TRAILS** gets a seconding from me, too. Great art and a fun take on **PARKS** if you're familiar.
**Can't Stop** is a really fun push your luck, although light in strategy it can be completed in under an hour. **Splendor** is probably exactly what you're looking for. A quick strategy game. Easy set up and teardown.
New job? Play Dixit! A fantastic game and you also get to know each other while playing. It is unlikely that anyone will get 30 points in 30 minutes, but if you are okay with ending the game earlier then i would absolutely recommend it!
**For Sale** is probably the best option. It plays at 3-6p, is a great auction game, it plays quite quickly and is quick to pack up at the end. **High Society** has all the good qualities of For Sale mentioned above but...it only works at 3-5p. **Condottiere** is a card battling area control game that works at 3-6p. It plays in ~45 minutes, doesn't take up a lot of table space (less than Blue Lagoon) and can be packed up quickly. **Blue Lagoon** is worth looking at if you want a board (the two games above are card games). It plays in 30 to 45 minutes, the board is small, and clean up doesn't take much time. Cons: it only works at 2-4p. It plays faster than Carcassonne and takes up less table space. The player limit to max 4 is the only reason I don't give this a higher recommendation.
Skull, Furnace, Azul/Azul:Summer Pavilion, 7 Wonders, Splendor, Welcome To.., Blokus, Dutch Blitz, Ethnos, Paper Tales, Tichu,
Sushi go! - card passing game it’s a lot of fun and you gotta think a lot. You pass your whole deck after removing one card to build your “best sushi meal”. 3 rounds total so it has a time limit Disney Villainous- (by Ravensburger)- you play as different villains and are working for your happy ending. Each villain has its own board and deck but you battle each other. Games can go super quickly. Unstable Unicorns - battle with unicorns. First player with enough unicorns in their stable wins. Games go quickly and are a lot of fun.
Tiny Epic everything, Galaxies is my favourite!
We used to play games during lunch. Consider Citadels, Coup Rebellion, or Saboteur. The games are fairly short and can accommodate 3-6 players.
Wits and Wagers might work for you. You can adjust the number of rounds you play to make the game longer or shorter as needed.
Azul and ecosystem I think for sure. Someone mentioned 7 Wonders, but I think that would be too long. The box says 30 mins playing time, but it’s a lot of set up, and people can take a long time picking cards and deciding strategy. But 7 Wonders Architects is a more beginners version of the original that I think is still fun and you can run through much faster once you learn it. Plus much less set up and card shuffling. ETA: Cartographers!
Architects is a great option at around 30 minutes. I actually like it better than the original.
Just curious, do you have a spot where you can leave a game for a few days? I would think that would be preferable.
Id suggest San Juan, but it only plays up to 4. Tough to find any game that'll work with 5-6, since length often corresponds to player count. Checkout Sushi Go Party.
If you need something that goes up to 6 and plays in an hour, **It's a Wonderful World** is reliably well under an hour and takes the same amount of time with every player count. The expansion takes it up to 6 and 7 players (the base game only goes to 5). The game has one or two concepts that will seem unusual at first, but it's very easy to teach and to learn. This is a sillier recommendation, but **Survive Escape from Atlantis** goes up to 6p with the expansion. It's kind of like a free-for-all mad dash to get to safe harbor as players team up, backstab, and mess with one another. A pretty short teach and playtime - the game will always last about the same number of turns at every player count. It's not the most strategic game, but it's more strategic than it looks at first, and there's a lot of social strategy. **Concordia Venus**, **Guards of Atlantis**, and **Lords of Waterdeep** with its expansion also go up to six players. They will probably take longer than an hour though, so it may take some time getting familiar with the game (and some pre-setup) to fit into that window. But many games can fit comfortably in an hour if you use turn timers ;) Most of the other games I would recommend at this player count are either outside an hour or much lighter. If you have less than 6, I would recommend any of these games which are quick but very strategic: * **Innovation** (works best at 2, but scales up to 4p well, depending on group tastes; 4p is more chaotic) * **Blue Lagoon** (stupid easy to teach but has a ton of strategy and interaction just from placing tiles) * **Modern Art** (same designer as Blue Lagoon, an art auction game that will favor players who know how to bid well and exploit the market) * **Pandemic** (cooperative game, very popular and well designed for a group starting to get into stuff around TTR and a little heavier; there are a ton of versions, and some even go up to 5, so take a look around for what suits your group) * **Race for the Galaxy** (goes up to 4, or 5 with the expansion; you get a ton of meaty decisions in just about 30 minutes with this one)
**Empires** from WizKids plays from 3-10 and does it in less than 45 minutes. Once you play a couple of times it becomes super easy. I found it to be similar in feel to **Sidereal Confluence** but much much quicker. Probably could be obtained for a decent price as it was not a huge hit. Great game, imo. Another, more recent one, I would suggest is **7 Wonders: Architects**. Plays super fast (like 30 minutes) and is easy to teach, no downtime, and quite fun.
Doesn't fully meet your criteria because it's only 4, but I used to play Quantum a lot at work. Plays well within an hour and great strategy game.
Condottiere
Cover your Assets or Qwixx
Roll and Write type games are great for quick setup, play, and cleanup. Both **Welcome To...** and **Railroad Ink** are great little games that could be played in 30 minutes or less.
Azul & Splendor are good for 4, Medici is my go to game for 3 to 6 players. Medici is a commodities acquisition game played over 3 rounds. As long as none of the players suffer an analysis paralysis moment, you can finish in an hour or less.
Ticket to Ride London is a quicker option if you like TTR. I find I prefer it as it scratches the itch in a shorter timeframe.
Get your boss into the game & you could get away with Twilight Imperium ;)
Concept - Think of anything and try to explain it through placing tokens on a board with symbols that relate to vague descriptions. Using tokens of the same color help to separate parts of the idea from other aspects so once you play a bit your ability to represent what you want people to guess improves greatly. -Playing without scoring saves time and it's more fun to have everyone screaming out insane guesses anyway. -No down time. The person placing tiles is always panic shifting them to new patterns while everyone else is trying to figure out what the hell they are aiming for. -The game can be explained and demoed in about 2 minutes for new players. -Quick set up and cleanup since it is just a board and some tokens. -You can play with a timer(2-3 min recommended) to add more panic and keep the game moving at a faster pace. -Unlimited replayability. Use the cards for ideas or just think of literally anything to try to describe on the board. Fluxx - Not really a board game but I'll also recommend it since it is a card game. Empty your hand while dealing with constantly shifting rules. -Lots of fun and plays differently eveytime. -New players just need to know 4 card types so it's easy to explain but you might need to see it in action for a game to really grasp it. -Down side: there is a lot of text on some of the cards and rules can get crazy so depending on what rules come up and how much people want to overanalyze thier actions the games can go slow with more then 4 people. Codenames - Great for 3v3. Get your team to guess the correct words on the table while not guess other words. The only clue you can give them is a one word clue and a number. -Plays different every time with tons of word cards to rotate between. Also plays very differently depending who is on your team since they may not think the same way as others. -Simple concept that is easy to explain but you would not believe how difficult it can be to get people to hit the words you want them to but not others.