Nap time. Glorious, glorious nap time. Not only is this time important for young children’s health and development, but as parents we need a break sometimes too. This post is the first part in our list of “Top 10 Nap Time Games” that play in about 30 minutes or less.
5. Oh My Goods
We were surprised after our first play of Oh My Goods when it turned out to be a solid strategy game in a single, relatively small deck of cards. Don’t let the box size fool you, Oh My Goods packs quite the punch. This multi-purpose card game gives you the feeling of playing a much larger game with its tableau building and action chaining potential.
Oh My Goods is a card game where each individual card can have multiple uses – as money, resources, buildings, or workers. Chaining actions is key to victory, so this game is perfect for those gamers like us who love building up a resource engine and eventually doing a million things in one turn.
Oh My Goods earned the #5 spot by balancing challenge and speed. If you want a game that will give your strategy skills a workout before the kiddos wake up, Oh My Goods is perfect.
4. Sagrada
Emily is a sucker for a pretty game and Sagrada is no exception. The colorful, translucent dice look bold and inviting on the table, instantly drawing you into the game.
Sagrada is a colorful dice drafting game for 2-4 players aiming to create the most beautiful stained glass window. Players draft dice to place in their windows, mindful of any special requirements a panel may have. Players may also take advantage of tools to help place or move their dice.
Sagrada is an instantly intriguing game based on aesthetics alone. Gameplay is simple, yet challenging, creating a satisfying experience in a short amount of time. There are a large amount of window panels to scale difficulty for more or less experienced players.
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3. Mandala
Mandala is a quick playing, abstract card game for two players. Full disclosure: Mandala is currently between print runs and pretty much impossible to find. It is expected to be re-printed to be available later this fall.
In Mandala, one or more cards are played onto the central fabric mat. Honestly, aside from the fun gameplay the fabric mat is part of what we like about this game. It’s unique and adaptable, so we can play almost anywhere. Right now with our game table out of commission, the convenience of this game may be bumping it up a bit on our list.
The game mat consists of two mandalas, each with three parts: the central mountain, your field, and your opponent’s field. Players alternate playing cards to either their personal field or the central mountain. But be sure to plan carefully, once a color is placed in one part of the mandala, it can’t appear in the other two sections. A mandala is complete once all six card colors are present between the two player fields and the central mountain. A completed mandala is then destroyed by players alternating turns drafting all cards of a color from the central mountain. These drafted cards are used in end game scoring.
Mandala sounds much more confusing than it actually plays. Once you start playing it becomes intuitive. Be prepared to learn through the first game, then immediately reset it and go again. It is one of our top nap time picks because it offers simple, yet deep strategy with a surprising amount of tactics.
Tie for #1 - Arboretum & Race for the Galaxy
When making our list for this post, we didn’t find it too difficult to come to an agreement on the previous rankings. But for the coveted #1 spot, we could only compromise by making it a tie between Arboretum and Race for the Galaxy. The two games are similar in that they use cards and that’s about it, so comparing them didn’t seem fair. Read below to find out why these are our favorite nap time games.
Arboretum (Emily's #1)
If this was a list of prettiest artwork on a card game, it would win every time. The artwork is gorgeous and it has a beautiful table presence.
Overall gameplay is pretty simple: draw two cards, play one card, discard one card. In Arboretum, 2-4 players play different types of tree cards in sequences into their tableau (arboretum) to form paths. Paths must be played in sequence and start and end with the same type of tree. Only one player may score each type of tree, which makes this game surprisingly cutthroat for how pretty it is.
Fun story about Arboretum, the first couple times we played just two player (as we do for most of our games) and found it to be a super chill and relaxing experience. We brought it over to play with another couple and described as chill and relaxing. Turns out at 4 players it is AGGRESSIVE and you are far more likely to get screwed out of being able to score. After that game we needed to pick a much friendlier pallet cleanser game to end the night so we could all stay friends. Bring this to game night only if your friends forgive easily.
The relatively chill gameplay (AT TWO PLAYERS) and the lovely artwork make this a perfect mid-day breather from the rush of parenting and everything else that comes with managing our lives.
Race for the Galaxy (Sarah's #1)
Like many others, we were initially intimidated by the iconography, but found it surprisingly intuitive once you start playing. The first few times we played was a bit tedious, but once we got the hang of it this became a go-to for a quick playing game.
Race for the Galaxy is a tableau building game for 2-4 players (wider range with expansions). The game plays in two phases: action selection and action execution. In the first phase, players simultaneously select an action card they want to play that turn. Actions vary between drawing cards, playing cards into your tableau, or producing or selling goods for victory points. The game ends once someone places the 12th card into their tableau or all VP chips have been taken. The most VPs from tableau cards and VP chips wins. Expansions add ways to score, cards, and other minor mechanics.
Race for the Galaxy offers so much depth, strategy, and replayability that the base game will be suitable for nearly everyone. It is excellent at 2 players and we can typically get through a game in 30 minutes, although more players and expansions add some time. Once familiar with the game, we recommended playing with the 2 player advanced variant allowing both players to select 2 actions in the action selection phase. For us, this is definitely the best way to play Race for the Galaxy.
Missed the first half of this list? Read HERE to see Part 1 of our other favorite naptime games.
Did you agree with our ranking? Did we miss your favorite game? Let us know in the comments!
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