ARK NOVA
A sprawling simulator-type game in which you manage pretty much everything involved with running a zoo.
So much of this game I’ve never seen implemented in another game before. The action selection mechanic has you assigning actions to power spaces increasing from 1 to 5, from left to right. As you use an action at a specific power level, it is shifted back to the start of the line, making room for every other choice to shift up, rewarding the player for diversifying the actions they take. Also, the game has two score tracks, one moving clockwise and one moving counter-clockwise, and the game ends whenever one player has both score markers meet in the middle. So much innovation for a game that could’ve just easily been Zoo Tycoon: The Game.
BOHNANZA
A trading and hand management game in which you are trying to optimize two plots of beans, planting, harvesting and rotating your crop.
I picked this one up after hearing from several sources how it’s an all-time classic and after a few games I can see why it has garnered so much praise. I enjoyed how it balanced strategy with the chaos of rapid-fire shouting trade offers back and forth across the table.
CASCADIA
A tile drafting/laying game where you are managing the wilderness of the pacific northwest as well as the wildlife that resides there.
I think this game might be a Carcassonne-killer for me in that it’s a tile-laying game essentially layered on top of another tile-laying game. It’s interactive enough that you kind of have to keep an eye on what your opponents are doing, but not so much that you can really be too mean to anyone. It’s very relaxing and one of my new go-to games for people new to the hobby.
CAT IN THE BOX
A self-described “quantum trick-taking game.” Players play cards in a trick, picking the suit of the card as it’s played and marking the history of all cards played in a round on a central board.
You have to strategize your card playing to only win as many hands as you predicted at the start of the round and also avoid getting stuck in a position where the only cards you have left have already been played, creating a paradox. On top of everything, the board that marks previously-played cards scores at the end of the round for contiguous player tokens in what is kind of a weird mini-game of area control. Pretty much everyone I’ve played this with so far has had a mental breakdown trying to understand it, 10/10.
PAINT THE ROSES
A cooperative hidden information and deduction game set in the world of Alice in Wonderland.
Players must place tiles in order to convey relationships between the symbols and colors printed on them, trying to signal the relationship printed on their own hidden cards. I picked up the Deluxe edition of this game at PAX Unplugged this year and fell in love with how it reminds me of a co-op Cryptid, one of my favorite deduction games.
SCOUT
A quick and fun trick-taking game where cards are locked in position in your hand and can only be played in groups of multiples or successive runs (1, 2, 3, etc.).
If you run out of moves to beat the current trick, you can “scout” cards from the active hand, adding them to your hand. This game is so refreshingly simple and easy to teach and one of the few games I can play round after round of without losing interest.
THE SEARCH FOR PLANET X
A puzzle-y deduction game where players are performing logic tests to determine the location of a hidden planet among a map of celestial bodies.
This game hits so perfectly with me because it’s essentially a multiplayer Sudoku game where everyone is wagering their time and effort to get little hints about how the hidden game board is laid out. A tiny bit of bluffing is thrown into the mix where you can decide to publish research on a specific piece of information without knowing 100% for sure if you’re actually right and watch your opponents react as if you know what you’re talking about.
VITICULTURE
A worker placement game that tasks each player with running their own vineyard.
I’ve only played this game at two players, but I have quite a few games under my belt. At nearly 10 years old, this game really does feel like it came around the start of this recent explosion in board game popularity. Next to the games that are coming out today, it feels a little bit basic, but it meshes together a few different game mechanics in such a way that playing it feels greater than the sum of its parts.
WONDERLAND’S WAR
A area control and “bag-building” game where you build out and deploy an army in the world of Alice in Wonderland (again).
Maybe I was taken in by the gorgeous deluxe version I played, but the tactility of building up a bag of chunky tokens and placing miniatures out onto the board really activated something in my brainstem. Being able to bet on the outcome of battles between opponents really adds a fun twist to let everyone engage in every battle, even if they don’t have any stake in the matter.