Happy Holidays! Boardgaming continues to make inroads to wider audiences, and there’s no better time to get (or get your friends and family) into the hobby than an extended holiday break. There are boardgames out there to meet up with almost any taste.Boardgames are timeless, just as good today as they will be years in the future, so a purchase today will still be serving you well after the lockdowns go away. As we at GamerDad have done for the past 20-odd years, it’s time for an annual rundown of recent boardgames well worth your time. Feel free to delve into some past year’s guides for 2023, 2022, or older as they’re still great candidates for your consideration. You might not find all these titles at your local mega-mart but many can be found online or in a friendly local game store. Some may argue $60+ boardgames (or more) are expensive, but compare that to video gaming (and where multiple copies are required for multiplayer play) and the economics of boardgaming shows their true value. For each game, I’ve provided the publisher (to help you find it), an approximate MSRP (you can probably find it lower), the number of players, the expected time for one game, and the manufacturer’s recommended ages. These age listings are often set for legal reasons and I would say most could easily be skewed lower for experienced younger gamers. (Buy through this link and GamerDad gets a small kickback…)

On with the show!

Games for and With Kids
Games suitable for kids old enough to sit still and play, but contain enough interesting activity to entertain adults.

Crossbows & Catapults: Castle Battle (Goliath Games & Restoration Games – $35) 2p 20-30min 7+ yrs
Back in 1983, the classic Crossbows and Catapults game had two kids each build a castle out of plastic blocks and then smack the snot out of each other (the castles) with plastic ammunition fired from tiny almost-realistic catapults and other bits of plastic warfare. The premise was fairly straightforward – knock the other guy’s stuff down and hope they don’t do the same to you. It would be simple to just injection-mold some blocks, tie a few plastic beams together with rubber bands to make a catapult, and boom – instant kids classic. This remake has been engineered to make the blocks stack really well. They fall over easily but not TOO easy. The result are castle bricks that interlock well, but are also destructible when hit by the little plastic ammunition. Ammo is shot using catapults designed with springs rather than rubber bands, so they won’t snap or break over time. There are even little screws that can be adjusted to change the angle at which the catapults launch their missiles. In general, players take turns launching the plastic ammo to knock down the enemy army figurines. Players play one card each turn which determines which weapon is used (ground-hugging ballista or arial catapult) that turn – or possibly some other special event. Note, there are two distinct versions of the game. One version called “Crossbows and Catapults: Castle Battle” is a smaller, less expensive mass-market version handled by Goliath Games. The full, royal treatment version of the game is called Crossbows and Catapults: Fortress War and runs $90 or so. Fortress War has everything that is in the Castle Battle version, plus more stuff – so the two can be combined if you wish.

Star Realms Academy (Wacky Wizard Games – $30) 2p 20min 7+ yrs
Star Realms Academy is a new, slimmed down version of the Star Realms deckbuilder. It is its own game and isn’t compatible with the original Star Realms cards. Gameplay has been adjusted to make the game easier to play for the younger set. Due to the extensive use of iconography, reading is not even a requirement. The game remains very close to the earliest Star Realms release. Players play out ship cards to earn money or damage their opponent while base cards are similar but are kept in play after the end of a turn. Do enough damage (tracked with cardboard tokens) to your opponent to win the game. Players track their health and their money with cardboard tokens, which can be saved from turn to turn. Academy also serves as a great introduction to the world of deckbuilding games, if the gamer in you is hoping to progress

Garden Heist (Ravensburger – $25) 2-4p 15min 6+ yrs
Garden Heist is a sort of boardgame interpretation of the kids game red light / green light. Players move their racoon meeples forward on the game board, hiding behind the trees and obstacles. Eventually, the “scouting” player cuts things short and gets to bend down and look through the window of the house to see if they can manage to catch an ear or other bit of an animal-meeple sticking out from behind a bush. Racoons earn points depending on how far forward they are able to get, with buckets of points if they manage to get all the way up to the house.

Little Alchemists (Czech Games Edition – $50) 2-4p 20-45min 7+ yrs
Little Alchemists is a lightweight app-driven game (you use a phone/tablet app as part of the game) all about mixing up ingredients to see what you get. Since players are already using the app, it can also teach everyone how to play the game – no rulebooks required! Players pick two ingredient tokens and secretly use the app to find out what potion they made. After a few rounds of mixing to discover recipes, customers begin to appear and if players can make the potion the customer wants they are rewarded with money (which is also the victory points for the game.) Once all customers have come and gone, the game ends. The player with the highest number of coins wins the game. Little Alchemist is sort of a legacy game, designed to teach the game and slowly add some complexity. The game has seven chapters (each in a handy little cardboard box) and, depending on the final result of a game, the app will tell players when they’re ready to move to the next chapter. The first chapter teaches the extreme basic concepts of the game and needs only to be played once. Chapter 2 is actually when the deduction part of the game comes into play. Players start using the app to try and sort out the various ingredient combinations. The third chapter introduces new ingredients and customers and starts to bring in some lightweight eurogame elements. The game plays 2 to 4 players and is listed at ages 7+, but that is primarily because the complexity of the game increases as boxes are unlocked. You may backtrack to earlier game setups at any time and the early levels could easily work well with even younger gamers – if they are allowed to play with an app of course..

Party Games
The more, the merrier! Party games can accommodate at least 6 players and, unlike some games, tend to be more fun with more players. If you’re only aware of Charades (a classic) or Trivial Pursuit (only fun for know-it-alls) checking out some of these more engaging games will be a real treat.

Caution Signs (Wacky Wizard Games – $30) 3-9p 20-30min 8+ yrs
Caution Signs is a party game of drawing and guessing. One person is a guesser. The rest of the players (up to eight – there are eight sketch boards included) will be drawing. The drawing players receive two keyword triangles that fit top to bottom to make a yellow sign – the top word is an adjective while the bottom is a noun. Players then have 20 seconds to create a drawing that matches their sign. The triangles are mixed together and are handed to the guesser along with the drawings. The guesser then tries to assign all the sign cards correctly to their drawings. For the drawers, each single-word match is worth one point while a perfect (both words) match earns three. The guessing player scores two points only if they manage to match both words. The game ends once everyone has had a chance to be the guesser. Younger or non-native speakers are encouraged to take the option of discarding any unfamiliar words. In the case of the guesser, they would look ahead at the upcoming triangles and toss out unfamiliar ones before dealing them out to the players.

Trash Talk (Friendly Skeleton – $20) 2-8p 20-45min 8+ yrs
In Trash Talk, two teams are given identical sets of random trash objects – and I mean trashy. There’s a cheap plastic Slinky, an even cheaper plastic car, a glass bead, a honey spoon, some weird plant thing, and even a “working” cocktail umbrella. Play starts with identical sets of three objects and three cards are revealed. Both teams assign a piece to each card and then they are revealed. The goal, of course, is for both teams to match up their trash exactly the same. Success leads to a match of matching greater numbers of matching objects – all the way up to a final 10-card matching session. Of course, players are allowed – and even encouraged – to BYO trash to the game.

DaDaDa (The OP Games – $15) 2-99p 15-30min 8+ yrs
DaDaDa challenges 2 or more players to make sense out of a display of object cards using only the simple words provided. The active player flips a word (Puh!) and an object card and declares the word for the object. Another object card is flipped if it seems to be similar to the previous word; those two objects are lumped together. If not, a new word is drawn and assigned to the object (Eh!) Play continues through several object cards and word cards. Finally, a new group of objects is set out in a tableau. The active player must use only the words previously established in the game to convince the rest of the players to pick the card described.

Family Games
As your family gets older, they’ll have more fun with games with a bit more “punch”. Games in this category are playable by most any age level (so even the young ones can participate) but have enough strategy so that the older players have a chance to use strategy to increase their chances of winning.

Spotlight (Horrible Guild – $25)1-5p 15min 6+
Spotlight is based around a sort of competitive Where’s Waldo hidden pictures search. Each player is given a sheet full of people and things crowded together in what one might call a standard setup. A playing card is then flipped up displaying a specific character. All players then have a limited time in which they can scan their card to count how many times that character appears – they do not have to be in the same pose as on the card! To make things more difficult, the boards are set up to be entirely black and one can only “see” the underlying characters using a special wand that you can move around giving one the feeling of controlling a spotlight (thus the name.) At the end of time, players guess how many times that character occurs and score points depending on how close they are to the correct answer. Players do not have identical boards, although the frequency of the characters are the same. Once players become so familiar with the characters that they remember the frequencies, the game has a mechanism to play using only 3 of the four quarters of their game board. The game also has a cooperative mode. Dice and cards are used to track a “moon” mechanism and players must keep scoring to stay ahead of the moon. Players are allowed to “share” their progress in order to help others catch up. Some of the cards providing the search subject are flagged with a heart symbol – indicating those are particularly good if you’re playing with a younger audience. The players’ spotlights actually come in two sizes. Flipping over the spotlight makes a significantly smaller field of view. This can increase the difficulty of the game, and could be used as a handicap against those pesky players who are just too good. Of course, reducing the timer is another great way to make the game harder.

Rallyman:Dirt (Holy Grail Games – $60) 1-6p 45-60min 14+
Rallyman: Dirt is based on the racing game, Rallyman GT. Rallyman GT is a roll and move racing game where players can push your luck to go further on their turn. On their turn, players roll gear dice (or possibly coast along and/or roll break dice) to see how far they move. Each die has some faces that display a warning sign. Roll 3 warning signs and you spin out. Players can roll the dice one by one to be careful, BUT braver players can roll their dice at once to earn a Focus token. Focus tokens can be used to get a guaranteed success at a later time. Rallyman Dirt has similar mechanics to the original GT but Dirt but focuses more on maneuvering around on the track than just outdriving one’s opponents. The expectation is that Rallyman Dirt will be a bit more strategic and a little bit less luck than the GT version. While the MSRP of the game is around $60, at the time of this writing Amazon has it on sale for $36.

The Gang (KOSMOS – $15) 3-6p 20min 10+
The Gang has players attempting to play a game of cooperative Texas Hold-em poker. The idea is that everyone is playing poker and, without explicitly talking about their cards, they must determine the ranking order of everyone’s hand at the end of the deal. This is accomplished by players taking chips after each new card is added to the set of communal cards in the middle of the table. Players “win” the round if they’re able to rank their cards in correct order after the last card is revealed. After a win, a challenge card is added that modifies the game to make it a little harder. However, each loss grants the players a bonus card granting some small benefit. The goal is to win three rounds before losing three. Due to the nature of the game, it’s more difficult when playing with more players but the difficulty of the game can be increased at any time by adding in more than one of those challenge cards at a time.

Family Strategy Games
These are great games for most families – or a group of adults looking for a medium-weight game to play casually around the table to end an evening. These are a notch up in complexity kid’s or party games, but are simple enough for teens or preteens to enjoy.

Heroscape: Age of Annihilation (Renegade Game Studios – $45 up to $125 or more ) 2-4p 30-60min 14+ yrs
What is there to say about Heroscape other than any teen or pre-teen interested in smacking armies against each other and rolling dice should check it out. Rolling into stores in 2004, the game made a big splash due to its cool hexagonal terrain and spiffy unique army units that combine to make an extremely accessible army figurine game. The game centered around building a coordinated army made of sets of figures that all have basic attack and defense stats but also have some unique abilities. It’s the possible combinations of the various special abilities that really makes the game great – managing to keep the game simple in general but allow for deeper strategies when drilled down to the specific. Heroscape continued to expand for many years but eventually died out, partially due to escalating prices. Anyone wishing to try the game out then needed to find a friend or pay a premium to get ahold of older stuff. However, it has now risen from the grave and is back in a new form. Technically two new forms: The game can now be purchased with unpainted miniatures for those on a “budget” or just getting into the game or prepainted sets are available for almost double the price. I recently brought all my new (2024) sets to a school game day and they were enough to keep two tables of players occupied for the entire gaming evening. If you are trying out the game for the first time, the Battle for Wellspring ($45) can give you a small stand-alone taste of the game. The larger Age of Annihilation Master Set ($125) is the jumping off point for someone wanting to see what the game truly can offer. If you want to expand further, I recommend the very cool techno-undead figures in the Revna’s Rebuke: Necrotech army ($45). There are several other releases of additional terrain and dressing for purchase. Of note, if you want a bigger battlefield the Land of Valhalla Terrain Expansion ($70) should about double your available selection of interlocking hexagonal terrain.

The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth (Repos Production – $35) 2p 30-45min 10+
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth is a variation of the game 7 Wonders Duel with fun thematic and mechanistic changes. Players take turns selecting from a pyramid tableau of overlapping cards. Only cards without anything overlapping them may be picked. At first, only the bottom row is available but as they are selected, cards in higher rows become available. Some of the cards begin face-down and are only flipped face up when they become available for selection. Players select and play cards into their own area by paying for them with resources showing in their personal area. (Some cards provide resources which can be used to buy future cards.) If a player is missing a needed resource, they can spend coins (collected during the game) to make up for it. The cards are color-coded: Grey for resources, green for “technology”, blue for “points”, red for “armies”, and gold for “monies.” Resources and money are the primary way to accumulate what is needed for later card purchases. Technology cards are collected into sets (three of a kind or one of each) to award a special in-game power. Collecting a full set of technology cards is one way to win the game. The red cards are “army” cards that are used to place armies on a simplified map. If one can place an army piece in each area of the board, they win the game. Of course, your opponent is trying the same thing and army pieces can fight to eliminate each other. There are always some super-expensive (non–card related) things available to be built which grant an immediate bonus but also create a difficult-to-eliminate fortress on the map board. The final color, the blue ring cards, are the most thematic of them all. There is a very cool tracking board consisting of a clear, black rider slider on top of a clear, hobbit slider. When a ring is played by the good guys, the bottom slider is moved along the track to represent their journey to Mount Doom. When the bad guys play a ring card, they move their upper Nazgul slider closer to the hobbit player. Thus, when the hobbit moves, the Nazgul moves as well (but doesn’t get closer.) Essentially, the players are both trying to move X spaces but the way the sliders work you get a very cool visual of the hobbits racing to Mount Doom while the Nazgul close in from behind. This game wins the prize of the most/best thematic game of the holiday shopping season. The theme comes through strongly and the gaming bits (especially the ring track) are just so well done.

G.I. JOE: Battle for the Arctic Circle (Renegade Game Studios – $60) 2-4p 90min 14+
Set in the G.I. Joe universe, this game is loosely based on the Axis & Allies game system. Players control areas to earn money to spend on units to contest control for more areas. If you are familiar with Axis & Allies there are a few notable differences. First, the game is played on a hexagonal map of the north pole. There are two sides with two leaders on each side. There are only two land units (troop and tank-ish), airplanes, and two naval units (destroyer and carrier.) The units for each side are slightly different – most have the same stats but they usually have some small thematic bonus rule. For example, one side’s planes are more powerful but the other side’s planes can land almost anywhere instead of very specific locations.

Strategy Games
Just a bit more complex and requiring a bit more planning, these strategy games are great for an evening of gaming. They may be a bit much for someone who is primarily there for the social element, but this year’s crop isn’t going to overwhelm the typical boardgame player. None of these are nowhere near as complex as some past years’ “serious strategy” recommendations, but are still best played by people willing to put up with a few rules in order to find a game that has substance.

Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze (Restoration Games – $60) 1-4p 20-60min 9+
A new stand-alone game that is compatible with the Unmatched game system, Tales to Amaze is a cooperative version where players band together to defeat a big boss enemy and a selection of their minions. The Unmatched combat system is a combat-focused game between heroes/villains, all with quite different (asymmetric) powers. The Unmatched games play out on boards based on linked locations and areas (rather than a grid) and players each use a hero specific deck during the no-luck tactical combat. This brings us to Unmatched Adventures. For the first time, players can play cooperatively against AI controlled villains – the Mothman or the Martian Invader. The two villains fight on their own battlefield and while they’re happy to just destroy the heroes, they also have their own objectives. The Mothman will slowly gather doom counters as they work to destroy bridges on the board and spread havoc while players going up against the Martian Invader will find themselves fighting off waves of aliens showing up on the board. Special villain minions will show up in the form of the Jersey Devil, And Queen, Loveland Frog, The Blob, Tarantula, and (my favorite) Skunk Ape. The enemies’ turns are governed by special action cards and a set targeting system to govern their movement and attacks. To fight off the villains, players take control of one of four new heroes. Nikola Tesla powers up using electricity; Annie Christmas slowly powers up; The Golden Bat is a bit of a grab-bag, and Dr. Jill Trent, uses a bunch of self-made gizmos. The bonus here is that all four of the heroes can also play in the regular combative Unmatched games AND the other Unmatched heroes can be plunked down into the cooperative version of Unmatched Adventures. Fans can think of it as a super-expansion (and a cost-effective one at that) while the rest of us can use the game as a good jumping-off point to the Unmatched game system. Look out for the recent Slings and Arrows stand-alone expansion which includes Shakespeare (yes, him), Titania, Hamlet, and the Wayward Sisters. Now you see just how varied those heroes can be..

Nexus Ops (Renegade Game Studios – $65) 2-4p 90min 12+
I think of Nexus Ops as the best incarnation of a fast-playing Axis and Allies game. This reprint keeps the neon-fluorescent blacklight-glowing pieces of the original game, but also contains the alternative rules set from the Fantasy Flight release. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it’s like Axis & Allies in terms of gaining money to spend on different styles of troops. These are used to explore and claim spaces on a hexagonal map. The central spire can only be occupied by a dragon but it awards some nice bonuses so there’s a fun king of the hill vibe that goes on as well. Rather than a straight territory fight, players earn points for combat and other goals (provided by cards) throughout the game. Having the largest army or the one with the most area isn’t going to guarantee a win if another player is good at finishing their goal cards. As a result, it has much of what I like in Axis & Allies (strategizing on which troops to purchase) but plays quite quickly. You don’t have to eliminate your opponent entirely to win. The game can be played in a free for all match but particularly shines when played with two teams.

Ezra and Nehemiah (Renegade Game Studios – $60) 1-4p 90-120min 13+ yrs
It isn’t often you find a biblical themed game. In Ezra and Nehemiah, players manage cards and resources to build up the Jewish temple and the wall around Jerusalem after the exile. It plays 1-4 players (there’s a solo mode) and has a bit of a snowball feel as players’ options grow as the game progresses over three weeks. Anyone with a passing interest in Jewish history or the Old Testament will find some of the goals and mechanisms interesting.

Harvest (Keymaster Games – $60) 1-4p 30-60min 10+ yrs
Yet another farming-related game, Harvest is a worker-placement game for 1 to 4 players. Played over four days (rounds) players choose when they wake up (player order, also tied to income) and then place their workers around the board. There are five main areas that are available, and most are slightly better for the first visitor of the round. You can get resources, plant things (points and money), build things (to get new or improved abilities), and if your opponents are screwing you over, you can go to the Trading Post and pay good money to do what they’re blocking you from doing. (If you want more details, read last year’s Gen Con overview) What grabs me about the game is the farming part. To farm, you first have to plant seeds, which need a bit of poo for fertilizer (you want to be organic, right?) You could then harvest, but what you really want to do is water your crops to help them multiply. You can double your crops by watering them, and since water is easier to come by than poo, it’s a good move if you have the space. After that, you harvest to earn points and money. The tricky bit is that all those crops take up space – space in the form of polyminos (Tetris-like) of various shapes and sizes.. What you plant and harvest will have to do with your personal strategy. Grain is cheap to plant (no poo required) but they’re huge and take up large bits of your farm area. Strawberries are tiny so they can multiply well if you start Tending in earnest. Blueberries actually form a little plant to make it easier to produce more berries in the future. Finally, there are the pumpkins. Pumpkins are huge L-shaped plants that take up quite a bit of space but score a crazy amount of points. As is the case with most games nowadays, it provides lots of starting options for variety. Every character (there are 8) has their own unique ability. Each farm board also has a bonus ability (4 double-sided boards for 8 different abilities.) Feel free to math that together for options if you wish.

Adventure Games
Boardgames with a strong role-playing look and feel continue to flourish in the boardgame world. Perfect for gamers who want that role-playing feel without having to dedicate the dozens of hours needed to play traditional pencil and paper RPGs. These games run the gamut from simple and inexpensive to detailed and very expensive. Here is a sample cross-section.

Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth (DV Games – $20) 1-6p 90min 10+ yrs
More of a choose-your-own-adventure sort of game than a dungeon-delving one, Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth is a cooperative game that has players placing cards to move and interact with the environment (the Minotaur labyrinth in this case) as a single character (controlled by all) investigates things. Players can move to new locations between cards and interact with characters and items. Location cards show available interactions which will lead to more cards, etc… Players have to maintain their Courage as a sort of game-ending tracker while they are trying to fulfill prophecies and gain favor which serve as points. Due to the way the cards come into play, one might be able to play it another time or two before maxing out all it has to offer, making the game available to lend or regift in the future.

Talisman Alliances: Fate Beckons (Avalon Hill – $35) 2-6p 60-90min 12+ yrs
Not a full game, but an expansion for Talisman 5th Edition, Fate Beckons takes the Talisman formula and adds a fully cooperative mode. Players join forces in one of five different trials to defeat the villain. Some Talisman games have a slow burn as players develop but the villains in Fate Beckons power up over time so players need to focus on progressing forward to reach the objective. Eventually, if the maximum “doom” level is reached, players can no longer heal and lose 1 health per round. In addition to the main villain, monsters spawn onto the board and move around – joining forces if they happen to overlap each other. The trials are laid out in a series of games forming a campaign, although any of the scenarios can be replayed. As players go through the trials the obligatory new cool stuff is unlocked like new characters and other fun.

Solo Play
Whether it’s hard to find an opponent, or just hard to get out of the house, the realm of solo gaming (playing a boardgame solo) has been on the rise. Traditionally the realm of a dedicated wargamer, there is now a large breadth of solo games available. Many games come with solo rules but a few are designed specifically for solo play. (Note that many games in this year’s list have a solo player option. Of those, ones I think work particularly well include Unmatched: Tales to Amaze, Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth, and Next Station: Paris.)

Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs (Cephalofair Games – $30) 1p (duh) 20-30min 14+yrs
In a “Honey, I shrunk the adventurer” moment, Buttons and Bugs have you playing as a miniaturized hero from out of the Gloomhaven universe (a extremely popular huge-box adventure game.) A miniature adventure deserves a miniature game, and Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is a miniaturized (rules, not box & pieces) version of Gloomhaven that is played as a solo game. Even the play time is miniaturized, running about 20 minutes per session. Everything about the game is slimmed down to make a faster playing game on a smaller footprint. Rather than a whole deck of cards, a player starts with just 4 cards to use. When used, however, they are flipped over to show a new card on the back. That means you better get what you need done in nine rounds. There is no longer a map. Well, there is still a map but it is now shrunken down (by the same magic, perhaps?) to a single card. Monster and hero attack decks have gone away. Instead, dice provide randomness (+,-,x) cross referenced with a table so one can see the possibilities as they start to come up. The entire solo game runs through 20 different scenarios. Both the attack table and a player’s cards can be improved as they level up during the game. For those needing variety, there are a total of six heroes (from previous games) available to use. In the past year, I’ve had good times with the game. In terms of value per gram (or mL), it’s very close to the top of my collection.

Joan of Arc: Orleans Draw & Write (Capstone Games – $30) 1-5p 30-45min 12+yrs
In Joan of Arc: Orléans Draw & Write, players are drafting followers that will help them move about France, gather goods, build buildings, and lots of other things… In the “big” Orleans game, players are drawing follower tokens from their private bags and use them to trigger actions and other things on a common board. Here, one player pulls a handful of followers from a common bag and then players draft the follower they want to use, marking things off on their scoresheet (like almost every other XXX & Write game.) Where Joan of Arc stands out from many other games of this type is in the amount of player interaction. Players are typically marking off things on their own scorepads, ignoring the other players. Here, much of the best scoring options are going to the first player to satisfy the appropriate conditions. Thus, the game is very much a race between players, but one that is battled on half a dozen or so fronts (depending on what you want to race for.) In the end, the player who can best utilize the followers they manage to draft will take the win. In the game’s solo mode, the backside of the scoresheet is used instead. Here, the player competes directly against a semi-programmed Joan of Arc player at one of three difficulty levels.

Stockings
Got a bit of space left in your sock over the fireplace? Here’s a great small game that you might be able to cram into the toe, or at least it’s easy on the pocketbook… (In addition to the game listed below, several others in the list are on the smaller, less expensive side including Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs, Lost in Adventure, and The Gang.

Next Station Paris (Blue Orange – $22) 1-4p 25-30min 8+ yrs
Next Station: Paris is a sequel to a similar game based on Tokyo and London. Players are given an abstract map of Paris covering various lines connecting intersections on a grid. Each player is given a colored pencil (one of four) and then via a series of flipping of cards players must draw a continuous subway line from point to point. After a set number of cards are flipped, players score that subway line, trade pencils, and start a new line and new set of card flips. After four colors (subway lines) the game ends and there is bonus scoring for places where multiple subway lines meet as well as a few other specials. Next Station: Paris is set apart from the other games in this series by a huge central hub with lots of subway connections (making it easy to connect all four lines there) and landmarks scattered around the map which provide an extra way to score.

Expansions:
If you already have favorite games in your collection, you may be pleasantly surprised to find there are expansions available to breathe new life into old favorites. Here are a few I like that expand some of the meatier games I’ve recommended in the past.

Star Wars Villainous: Revenge at Last (Ravensburger – $20) 2p 50min 10+ yrs
In Villainous, players take on the role of a villain and try to out-villain all the other villains at the table. Star Wars Villainous: Revenge at Last is a standalone game that can be added to other Star Wars Villainous games. Revenge at Last brings in Darth Maul and Captain Phasma. Darth Maul is trying to recruit a Jedi to their cause while Captain Phasma is trying to establish a footing for their First Order Stormtroopers. Revenge at Last also has a healthy dose of iconic ships and transports from the Star Wars franchise.

Heroquest: Jungles of Delthrak (Avalon Hill – $45) 2-5p 90min 14+ yrs (realistically, I’d go down to 9+ yrs)
The current HeroQuest is a reprint of a popular, beginner level, dungeon exploration game. Players cooperate together against a dungeon master player as they take on the roles of adventures trying to progress through a series of dungeon experiences. A handy free app can also be used as the dungeon master controlling the monsters to make the experience fully cooperative. The HeroQuest remake continues to see additional content created. Jungles of Delthrak is an all-new expansion (as opposed to redoing a classic one featuring, surprise, a jungle theme. There are two new heroes (with male/female minis) and DINOSAURS! (Buried the lead, there…) The expansion plays like a choose your own adventure where gamers play through around 10 of 16 possible quests. Gamers wanting a challenge (or perhaps a more casual one) can adjust the difficulty of the scenarios. The base HeroQuest game is rather pricey (around $90) but this winter HeroQuest: First Light will give a slightly smaller, cheaper initiation into the game, running around $50.

Conclusions
No matter what toys and presents the holidays bring, be sure to keep time in your schedule for playing with friends and family. While the games here come highly recommended to provide fun for a wide range of players, there are plenty other choices available. Ask your local game store, a boardgaming friend, or check some of our past recommendations.

*Disclaimer, many of these games were provided by the publishers for review purposes. Of course, plenty others were provided who didn’t make the cut.

Tags: Game Reviews, Misc, Uncategorized, Unplugged