The best games where you can take notes with pencil and paper 2025

Just One is a cooperative party game that combines elements of mystery and creativity. Players work together to guess as many words as possible, using unique clues provided by their teammates.

Telestrations is a light-hearted and entertaining party game that blends drawing and word-guessing in a hilarious and often unpredictable way. The game is based on the classic concept of "telephone" but adds a visual twist.

Engage in the riveting team-based challenge of Decrypto, where players strive to correctly interpret coded messages from their teammates while unraveling the intercepted codes of the opposing team.

In Trails of Tucana, players embark on an adventure to connect the mystical island's villages and landmarks through an intricate network of trails. This flip-and-write game, designed by the creators of Avenue and Doodle City, offers a unique challenge with each playthrough thanks to randomized village setups. Players draw trails on their maps, aiming to link together sights and harbors for points, while navigating the island's diverse terrains. Strategic planning and adaptability are key, as the terrain card distribution influences potential pathways and scoring opportunities.

Silver & Gold is a board game that offers players the thrill of discovering distant islands filled with golden treasures.

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale transports players to a realm where they take on the roles of mapmakers, tasked by Queen Gimnax to chart the northern territories for the Kingdom of Nalos. This game combines elements of strategy and creativity, challenging players to create the most efficient and aesthetically pleasing maps.

Next Station: London invites players to take on the role of project managers tasked with the ambitious job of redesigning London's iconic underground network. The game challenges players to strategically optimize connections, incorporate as many of the city's landmarks as possible, and efficiently use the tunnels under the Thames, all while adhering to the city's specific requirements.

That's Pretty Clever is a strategic dice game where players must make thoughtful choices to optimize their score. The game's title, Ganz schön clever in German, aptly describes the need for cleverness and tactical thinking.

Welcome To... is a unique, dice-less roll-and-write game where players take on the role of 1950s American architects, aiming to design and construct the most prosperous suburban neighborhood.

Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition is a captivating multiplayer puzzle game that combines strategy and luck to create a unique gaming experience.

Qwixx is a fast-paced and engaging dice game that involves all players actively, regardless of whose turn it is. It combines simple mechanics with a need for strategic decision-making, making it a fun and interactive game for all involved.

Wits & Wagers is a unique and engaging party game that combines elements of trivia with betting and strategy. It stands out from traditional trivia games by allowing players to win not only by knowing the answers but also by smartly wagering on the guesses of others.

This is an adult version of the award-winning Telestrations. While the gameplay remains the same, the word content has shifted to a more mature theme, featuring terms such as "Anaconda," "Jackhammer," "Doggie Style," and "Human Centipede."

The Search for Planet X is a captivating board game that immerses players in the world of astronomy and scientific discovery. Aspiring astronomers use a combination of observation, deduction, and a companion app to unravel the mystery of a hidden planet in our solar system.

Players create a sentence using two cards: one for the beginning and one for the end of the sentence. The paper is then passed left, where the next player draws what they see, hides the original sentence, and continues the process. The game ends when the papers are full, and players can vote on the funniest sentences for additional scoring.

Encore! (originally published as Noch mal!) is a dice-based board game that challenges players with strategic choices and a touch of luck. In this game, players use dice to determine the colors and the number of spaces they can mark off on their playing sheets.

Cartographers Heroes embarks players on a new voyage through the storied Western Lands, enhancing the acclaimed formula of its predecessor with fresh challenges and dynamic elements. As royal cartographers, players are tasked with mapping these perilous territories, their efforts now intertwined with the valorous acts of heroes who stand against the encroaching Dragul forces. This sequel not only retains the beloved core mechanics of drawing and mapping but enriches the experience with innovative map sheets, scoring cards, and explore cards, all while introducing ambush cards that bring unique abilities into play.

The goal is to score as many points as possible by marking off the nine numbers printed on the cards in front of you on a 3x3 grid. In each of the four rounds, you shuffle 18 cards and reveal nine, marking off the corresponding numbers on your selected cards. Bonuses are awarded for completing rows or columns, and players score points at the end based on their completed cards, stars, and moons.

This family-friendly version accommodates 4-6 players. Gameplay alternates between drawing a picture based on a given word and guessing a word from the received image. Humor emerges as players misinterpret the prompts, leading to increasingly outrageous results. The pack includes everything needed for hilarity and fun, making it perfect for families and small friend groups.

Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition is a dynamic and engaging multiplayer puzzle game where players aim to build the most efficient transportation network. The game revolves around connecting as many exits as possible on individual erasable boards using routes determined by dice rolls. Strategic planning is key, as players must balance the desire to expand their network with the risk of leaving routes incomplete.

Welcome to the Moon is an innovative flip-and-write game that evolves the gameplay of its predecessors, Welcome To... and Welcome To New Las Vegas. It takes players on a space colonization adventure, combining familiar mechanisms with new twists and a campaign mode that spans eight unique adventure sheets.

Qwinto offers a refreshing twist on the roll-and-write genre, engaging players in a simultaneous play experience where quick thinking and strategic number placement are key to victory. In this game, players race to fill out their scoresheets with ascending numbers in three colorful rows, while navigating the constraints of overlapping columns and avoiding duplicates to maximize their scores.

The box contains many cards, each featuring an image and a caption. During each turn, a card is revealed, and players write down eight words associated with the word on the card. Points are awarded for each word that matches another player's, with bonus points for the number of players sharing those words.

A standalone expansion adds 100 new cards to Mutabo, creating 90,000 new "stories." Players will need to provide their own pens and paper as the box does not include these items.

Richard Garfield presents Hive Mind, an exciting new party game about conformity! Players answer interesting questions based on their experiences and opinions. The more answers they share with others, the more points they earn. Represented by bee figures called Beeples, players navigate the hive, and those with the fewest points each round move closer to the exit. The game ends when one or more bees leave the hive, with all remaining bees winning and surviving the winter! It accommodates three to as many players as you like.

Players embark on expeditions along six colored paths, aiming to start with the smallest possible dice rolls. They must decide whether to continue an expedition or begin a new one each round, while artifacts and acceleration fields help them progress quickly. Each player has a scoring sheet with columns for colored paths, artifacts, and dice, and points are earned based on the filled fields, with bonuses for being the first to fill certain boxes. The game concludes when all players are exhausted or all bridges are crossed, and the player with the highest score wins.

Players create a unique city over four chapters, each containing three episodes. A die roll indicates which building to draw on the player board, with new challenges arising in each episode. Players can choose to play through the entire campaign or select individual episodes or chapters to replay.

Railroad Ink Challenge: Lush Green Edition enhances the well-loved roll-and-write gameplay of the original Railroad Ink series, introducing lush new strategies and player interactions. This version of the game is designed for 1 to 4 players and emphasizes not only route-building but also competitive objectives that encourage keeping an eye on opponents' progress.

Calavera is a dice game where players aim to score as many crosses on their block as possible, as more crosses mean more points. However, if players become too greedy, their precious points may melt away. The player with the best dice result who places the crosses correctly will emerge victorious.

Encore! Deluxe follows the same gameplay as its predecessor, engaging players with three color dice and three number dice to mark areas on their personal player boards. Players aim to fill columns or colors for bonus points. The game features wipeable boards, a 3D dice tower, a cooperative mode with shared objectives, and both an original solo variant and a new solo challenge with missions.