Notebook Nations

Notebook Nations takes the big, sprawling empire-building genre — the kind of game where a session can eat an entire afternoon — and shrinks it down to something that fits in an evening, with a hand-drawn, doodle-in-the-margins look that makes it feel more like a storybook than a spreadsheet.

How it works

Each player leads one of several asymmetric nations, growing their territory across a shared map, gathering resources, and choosing between paths of science, culture, or conquest. It is a genuine 4X game — explore, expand, exploit, exterminate — just condensed into a shape that plays out in a single sitting.

Games are set up to run short, medium, or long, so the length can be matched to how much time the group actually has.

What makes it interesting

Big strategy games are often intimidating because of their length and their fiddly bookkeeping. Notebook Nations keeps the interesting part — meaningful choices about how your nation grows — and cuts the parts that make people’s eyes glaze over. The charming, hand-drawn presentation also means it doesn’t feel like a “serious” strategy game, even though the decisions are real.

Best for

Families and mixed-age groups who want something with more strategic depth than a party game, but without the multi-hour commitment of a full-scale empire builder. Plays well with two, but really comes alive with a full table of four.