Monopoly is a great game to play at home, but taking it on the road when you’re on vacation isn’t always easy. No one wants to start their vacation digging through clothes to find hotels and tokens!
So instead, why not pick up one of these travel-size Monopoly games? They’re much easier to take with you, and while they aren’t the full experience, they’re a great way to play something similar.
Travel size Monopoly games are usually faster too, which is great if you’ve got a lot of fun things to do while on vacation.
1. Monopoly Grab and Go
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- Players: 2 to 4
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 9.25” x 6.25” x 1.9”
- Weight: 8.5oz
Monopoly Grab and Go is the full Monopoly experience but in a more compact size. The plastic board of this Monopoly travel edition is a much smaller version of the classic Monopoly board with the same properties and rules.
The only difference, along with the size, is the quality of the pieces. Because they’re smaller, they’re not as robust. Playing tokens are plastic instead of metal, and naturally, because everything is smaller, it’s a little trickier to handle.
If you have an over-excited dice roller in the family, they could easily wipe out half the board. Aside from that though, it’s the perfect option if you want to play the full game without carrying the large box with you. And since it’s Monopoly, it’s one of the best travel games you could take with you anywhere.
2. World’s Smallest Monopoly
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- Players: 2
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 3.5” x 1.25” x 1.25”
- Weight: 2oz
Does the idea of Monopoly Grab and Go seem fun, but still just too big for you? How about the full Monopoly experience that fits in the palm of your hand?
It might sound crazy but the World’s Smallest Monopoly really is the full game, just completely shrunk down. Both dice will easily fit on a quarter with room to spare. You also get miniature playing tokens, houses, hotels, property cards, Chance and Community Chest cards, and, of course, money.
In theory, this means you can play Monopoly almost anywhere – even on the tray in front of you on a flight!
In reality, the pieces are so small that you’ll struggle to keep them safe, especially if you’re traveling.
Treat this mini Monopoly game as a fun novelty, but don’t expect it to be something you get more than one use out of. Unless you’re meticulous at keeping every piece safe, it’s highly likely that you’ll lose pieces when they’re this small.
As with all board games, it’s really important to keep smaller pieces out of reach of young children.
3. Monopoly Express
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- Players: 2 to 4
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 10.5” x 7.5” x 2”
- Weight: 11.2oz
Monopoly Express takes the concept of Monopoly and turns it into a really compact, tactical dice-based game.
It’s not the same as Monopoly, in that you aren’t trying to accumulate property to charge your other players rent, but instead, you’re trying to build up the best score you can, based on rolls of the ten dice included.
The rules are a little complex, but basically, you have a number of dice that you roll. These aren’t numbered, but instead have faces that represent property colors, utilities, and railroads. There is also the green ‘Go’ arrow, a house and hotel die, and a die with jail faces.
The aim is to collect points from the properties, hoping for bonuses based on getting a full color set and then houses. Roll three jail faces and your turn is over – you won’t score any points.
This game is tactical – you need to decide which dice to keep and which to re-roll. You could say that it’s a hybrid of Monopoly and Yahtzee.
Monopoly Express is great if you want a quick Monopoly travel size game to play. It’s also very compact and easy to carry with only a few pieces. However, if you’re looking for an authentic Monopoly-style game, this isn’t really it.
4. Monopoly Road Trip
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- Players: 2 to 4
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 11.7” x 5.7” x 2.2”
- Weight: 17.6oz
Monopoly Road Trip is a special themed Monopoly board game – so don’t expect the normal properties from the classic board.
Instead, the spaces are based on amusement parks, museums, and cafes. Also, there are fewer spaces – each color only has two spaces, and there are no utilities.
In this travel Monopoly game, players don’t buy houses and hotels, and there are shortcut rules in play too, so you can build up your attraction empire faster.
What really makes this set cool is that the pieces stay in place when you fold the game up, so you can return to it later. You also get clips to keep money and property cards together for each player.
If you want the same type of Monopoly gameplay but with a board designed for on-the-road fun, and that you can stop and start multiple times (maybe on rest stops over a long drive, or in short bursts at the end of fun-packed vacation days?) then this could be ideal.
Unfortunately, this game isn’t currently available in the US, although you can get it shipped from the United Kingdom.
5. Monopoly Deal
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- Players: 2 to 5
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 5.6” x 3.6” x 0.75”
- Weight: 3.8oz
Monopoly Deal is my favorite of all of the Monopoly card games. The aim of this game is to collect three full property sets on the table in front of you, but there are action cards that can have an impact on the flow of the game.
Players start with five cards, drawing two more cards each turn. You can play up to three cards per turn – Putting cash in your bank, playing action cards (which can give benefits or impact other players), or placing property down in front of you.
Play rotates until a player has placed three full sets in front of them. It doesn’t count if they are holding the sets in their hand.
There are two main benefits to Monopoly Deal. Firstly, it’s really compact and because it’s just a deck of cards, you can play it almost anywhere and there are no small pieces to lose.
Secondly, it’s a fast game – two players will be done in anything from 5 to 15 minutes on average, and even a 5-player game will last no more than 35 minutes.
So, while it’s not like traditional Monopoly, Monopoly Deal is a fast-paced and fun travel card game that can be replayed again and again and is really easy to carry around with you.
6. Monopoly Bid
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- Players: 2 to 5
- Age: 7+
- Dimensions: 5.6” x 3.6” x 0.75”
- Weight: 3.8oz
Monopoly Bid is another fun Monopoly travel card game that’s ideal to take on vacation.
Because this involves auctioning, it’s a little closer to traditional Monopoly rules, while still not involving many of the core features of the traditional game.
Players start with a mix of action cards and money, and take turns as the auction host. While hosting, a player can play action cards to draw more cards, or add a Wild card to their property collection.
The host then flips over a property card, and all players bid for it on the count of three using their money cards. Players can choose not to bid. The winning bid loses the money but keeps the property card. When a player has completed three sets of properties, they win.
Players are actively encouraged to trade and sell properties to each other and can do so at any point in the game. So, when you take into account the auctioning and the player trades, it does share a lot of similarities with Classic Monopoly.
Instead of the luck of dice rolls, it’s the luck of the card draw. For a portable Monopoly travel game that gives the same sort of feel as a classic Monopoly game, this is a great option.
Check out my Monopoly Bid review.
7. Monopoly The Card Game
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- Players: 2 to 6
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 6.3” x 5” x 1.5”
- Weight: 7oz
Monopoly The Card Game is probably the closest card game to traditional Monopoly rules.
The object of the game is to collect as much money as possible by the end of a set number of turns, or you can choose to play to a set value, such as $10,000.
In this game, you’ll collect property cards and achieve a full set, which you can then play to redeem for money. You can also upgrade the color sets with houses and hotels, which will get you more cash in exchange for your cards.
There are other action cards too, including free parking bonus cards, go to jail cards (which suspend your ability to play color sets), and Go cards (which give you an extra cash boost).
You can trade cards with other players, but it’s not a choice they get to make – you force trades, which is different from Monopoly, where any trades need to be agreed upon by all sides.
Of all the card games, it’s probably the most complicated, and so it’s not ideal for younger children in the family. You can dictate the length of the game, but it’s probably the least exciting version, so you’ll want to keep it short.
8. Monopoly Keychain
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- Players: 2
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 3” x 1.5”
- Weight: Unknown (very light)
This extremely small version of Monopoly also acts as a keychain. It’s not made anymore, but you can probably pick one up second-hand on eBay.
This Monopoly keychain game folds out into a full Monopoly board with spaces and has a slide-out drawer that includes two tokens and two miniature dice.
However, that’s all you get. So, you have options here. You could play a full game of Monopoly – you’ll need a notepad so you can keep track of money, who owns which properties, and which spaces have houses and hotels.
Without the property cards, you’ll also need to look up the property values and rent amounts. You also won’t have Chance or Community Chest cards.
The alternative is to invent your own simple version of the game. Maybe the first person to complete three loops of the board wins?
This game isn’t great if you really love the full Monopoly experience. It’s also an odd size – it’s too small for a full game, but for a keychain, it’s quite large and not very comfortable if you carry keys in your pocket.
If you want something super-small that’ll kill some time, you can have fun with this game.
9. Anti-Monopoly
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- Players: 2 to 4
- Age: 8+
- Dimensions: 7.5” x 4.75” x 1.75”
- Weight: 9.6oz
This is the only game on the list not officially tied into Monopoly, and it was created as a sort of challenger to the original rules.
Instead of trying to win just by creating a monopoly of property, this game lets you choose a side between a monopolist or a free-market competitor. Depending on the side you choose, you’ll get different rules that affect how you play.
For example, monopolists can charge much higher rents, but they need all of a color set to start building. Free market players can build on single spaces. This adds an extra layer of fun, as you can play multiple games and switch sides for each so you have a different experience every time.
As a travel game, this is reasonably sized and it comes in a tin rather than a box, which should stay nice and secure. It’s a little more complex again than standard Monopoly, but if you want something fun and different it could add a new twist to your vacation downtime.
The Best Monopoly Travel Game
Deciding which Monopoly travel game is the best is ultimately down to what you’re looking for. If you want the full Monopoly experience, then Monopoly Grab and Go is the best choice. It’s the full game with all the pieces you need, just in a smaller size.
I’d say that the next best choice for Monopoly to go is Monopoly Road Trip. It’s not a full board with Classic spaces, but the fact that the pieces stay in place means you can play in short bursts whenever time allows.
However, if you aren’t too worried about the exact same gameplay, and you just want something easy to pack, then Monopoly Deal is the best Monopoly card game.
If you own a Nintendo Switch, then Monopoly for Nintendo Switch is also a great way to play Monopoly on the go.
