Updated 25 October 2026
A good game doesn’t need a box the size of a suitcase or a price tag that needs a payment plan. Some of the best games ever made come in a box you can lose down the side of the couch.
Everything below was selling for under A$50 at several Australian shops when we checked. We’ve sorted them by price, so you can find the right one for a gift, a game night or a week when the budget is the main opponent.
Heads up: shop links here are affiliate links. If you buy, we may earn a commission. You pay the same price, and nobody pays us to recommend a game. How we make money
Prices checked on 25 October 2026 across Australian shops including Target, Kmart, Big W, Mind Games, Gameology, Good Games and Zatu. Ranges show the usual price, not a one-off sale. Prices change daily, so the buttons show what each shop charges today.
Photo: Urci dream, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
A handful of cards, a royal court and a race to get your letter to the princess. Teaches in a minute, plays anywhere, and costs less than the takeaway you’ll order while playing it.
Watch out: Very light. It’s a starter, not a main course.
Photo: Mannivu, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
Build a fireworks show together while holding your cards backwards, so everyone can see your hand except you. Clever, tense and tiny.
Watch out: Some people find the hidden-hand rule maddening. That’s also why others love it.
Play numbered cards in order without speaking. It sounds impossible. Then it works, and the table feels briefly telepathic.
Watch out: It’s an experience more than a strategy game. Play it in short bursts.
A trick-taking game played as a team, where you can barely talk. Dozens of missions that get harder as you go, in a box that fits in a coat pocket.
Watch out: The two-player version uses its own variant, so it shines most with three to five.
Photo: JIP, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
Two spymasters, a grid of words and clues that make perfect sense to exactly one person. Works for four to a crowd.
Watch out: Needs at least four to play properly.
A space-combat deck builder in a box the size of a phone. Buy ships, chain combos, blow up your opponent. Big game, small price.
Watch out: Strictly head-to-head and quite aggressive.
Photo: El Pantera, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
Dominoes, but you’re building a tiny kingdom. Fifteen to twenty minutes, very little reading, good with kids and still interesting for adults.
Watch out: Adults usually end up doing the scoring.
Claim you’re the Duke. You’re not the Duke. Call someone’s bluff or get assassinated. Fifteen minutes of shameless lying.
Watch out: Players get knocked out, but rounds are short.
Rival merchants trading spice and silk and hoarding camels. Half an hour, two players, plenty of tension.
Watch out: Strictly two players.
Coasters, bluffing and one skull hidden somewhere in the pile. Almost no rules and maximum staring each other down.
Watch out: Needs at least three, and it’s better with more.
Photo: Harrison Keely, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
Everyone writes a one-word clue and identical clues get cancelled. No losers, almost no rules, lots of laughing.
Watch out: Needs three or more players.
Photo: Bourbak, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Shows the game in play; editions and box art may differ.
Two civilisations race for science, war or wonders by drafting from a shared pyramid of cards. More depth than many games at twice the price.
Watch out: Strictly two players, with lots of symbols to learn.
Pilot and co-pilot land a plane together with dice and no talking. Short, tense and very satisfying when you stick the landing.
Watch out: Strictly two players.
We make Havenscar, so it isn’t ranked here, but it does fit the budget: one purchase from A$34.95 at havenscar.com, played on the TV with up to six phones. Mayhem isn’t on sale yet.
About HavenscarWe only included games that several Australian shops were selling for under A$50, so a single clearance listing didn’t sneak anything in. Player counts, times and ages come from each publisher. Popular games like Azul, Splendor and Carcassonne usually cost A$55 or more here, so they’re in our family guide instead.
Heads up: shop links here are affiliate links. If you buy, we may earn a commission. You pay the same price, and nobody pays us to recommend a game. How we make money
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