Board Games on a Plane

When us gamers go a-travelin', you know that at least a few games get packed in suitcases and carry-on luggage. The husband and I recently flew out to California from Michigan and were sure to include Lost Cities, Alhambra (small box), and Bohnanza in our cases. Good choices? Me thinks so. Especially for hotel room gaming.

But what about on the plane? Well, imagine our horra when the airline peeps red-flagged all carry-ons for stowing under the plane. I could only carry to my plane seat what I could fit in my leather coat pockets (thank the gaming gods those pockets are 'uge....next time, I bring a giant purse!). So then it was Sophie's Choice: Which game do you stuff in your coat pocket for hours of plane entertainment?

On the first leg of the (layover-laden) flight, I opted for Lost Cities. For those who don't know, it's a light card game with quick-paced play. Each player takes the role of a Panama Jack/Indiana Jones explorer on expeditions to conquer...different colors of cards. Great pace, and for a vacation, it's a great theme. I also thought we could convert the game space to two divided spaces--one on each tray table. Yeahhhhh. Didn't work so well. It became clear to me mid-flight that the whole center depository board really needs more space than I had gauged from the terminal. Suckssss. So flight #1 is mostly gameless. And I pass the time kicking the chair of the snooty lady in front of me.

Flights #2-4 though are much more exciting thanks to what I estimate to be the most perfect, happy, excellent board game for two-person in-flight entertainment: Bohnanza. If you're not familiar with this card game, each player "works" as a bean farmer, growing a slew of comical beans in boom-or-bust fashion. It's deliciously interactive between the two players (unlike, say, Lost Cities, which is more silently contemplative, in my experience), it is fast-paced, and....best of all...wait for it....

....wait for it...

It turns out that two standard size coach-class commercial airline tray tables are the absolute perfect size to play Bohnanza. Granted, you must use the box with tray for the draw piles and discard piles a little creatively; My recommendation is to use two of the card tray slots for two separate draw piles to start the game--players can just choose which pile to draw from. When the discard pile starts to build up, then it's time to consolidate the draw piles into one tray slot and allow discards to take up two slots. This way, when there's turbulence, your slippery cards don't go sliding under the seat in front of you. (Can you imagine...losing Bohnanza cards on a plane? Oh the horra!)
So this, my sky trotting friends, is my recommendation to you. If you plan to game on a plane, don't leave the Bohnanza at home. Or Samuel L. Jackson will make you pay.

Oh, and just because I had one other Samuel L. Jackson gaming photo on-hand, and I just couldn't NOT use it, here you go: