Someone Is Late To The Game? No Problem! Pull Out A Filler!

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Filler games, long a staple in the collections of many gamers, are those titles that are light enough -- and fast enough! -- to serve as entertainment before the main event. Are you and your friends getting together for a night of Dungeons & Dragons, but one or two players are running late? Turn to your filler games for an enjoyable diversion as you wait for the stragglers to arrive!

There's no shortage of fantastic filler games out there, from the classic Farkle (which we expanded with Munchkin Farkle) to the joy of Yahtzee: Steal the Deal (which continues to live in my backpack for all trips). If you require a filler game or two for your library of casual, fast-playing games, we've got several to choose from, including:

Zombie Dice

After over a decade on the market, Zombie Dice continues to give players a chance to know the pleasure of consuming many brains while trying to avoid getting blasted. Since its release in 2010, we've expanded the game, and it is currently available in three versions:

The Deluxe edition may be the most portable of the three; everything fits in the included dice bag, and the dry erase cards make it easy to track your scores!

Random Fun Generator

Although not as portable as some fillers, the Random Fun Generator box set is a treasure trove of filler games, with over 20 different games packed in one box. The game also includes 20 additional six-sided dice, but you can always add more dice to the box to seat more players at the table.

Munchkin Mighty Monsters

This stand-alone card game is suitable for kids and adults, and plays in just minutes. As a light party game, it can sometimes make for a loud table, but that's no problem when everyone slaps down their cards in a race to dodge wallops and try to stay in as long as possible. The first player to get walloped three times by the Munchkins loses as everyone else wins!

Deadly Doodles

Dry erase boards, cards, and a chance to explore a dungeon and grab the most loot? It sounds like the perfect game to play before your D&D session! Better still, Deadly Doodles 2 adds more maps, giving you new dungeons to invade plus new game mechanics to throw some twists at the basic rules.

Le Boomb!

Packed inside a tiny plastic "bomb," this dice game is so compact it will fit in most pockets . . . and plays so fast that you can wrap up several games while waiting for the others or while waiting for your order at a restaurant. We offer the game in four different colors. Choose your favorite one and shove it in your backpack so it's with you at all times.

These are only a handful of the games in our catalog that work well as fillers before game night starts. For a look at all of our games, both filler titles and larger works, please see the "Our Games" page on our site and then visit your local game store and pick up the games that best fit your group's immediate needs. If we neglected to mention your favorite, please comment in our forums and let others know which game you would have added to the list!

-- Phil Reed