The board game industry just keeps putting out amazing games. We have gone through some of the new games that have caught our attention, and fit a wide range of ages, styles, and experience. Not to mention some themes that will grab your attention.

Games for the Whole Family

These games are easy to learn, and perhaps hard to master games that can be enjoyed by a wide range of players. These games are great for multi age game play and a range of gaming experience.

Doomlings

Age 10+
Players: 2-6
Play Time: 20-45 Minutes
Hand Management Card Game
Buy Doomlings here on Amazon

After major board game conventions there are always a few games that everyone is talking about, and that was the case for Doomlings. Once gamers go their hands on this game they could not stop talking about it. This was originally funded on Kickstarter and was picked up by Breaking Games to be distributed through major retailers.

Doomlings is a card game where you are trying to survive from the birth of lift to the end of the world. Each turn you are adding trait cards, but with each round an Age Card is drawn which affects all the players. Mixed in with these Ages cards are Catastrophe cards, which negatively affect everyone. When three Catastrophe cards have been drawn, that signals the end of the world and players add up their points to see who is the winner.

Chonky Donkey

Age: 12+
Players: 3-8
Playtime: 20 Minutes
Party Game
Buy Chonky Donky here on Amazon

Hilarity ensues with the latest party game from Gamewright, Chonky Donkey. In many party games, there is a judge of the cards submitted to a prompt in games such as Apples to Apples. Chonky Donkey takes it in a different direction. Instead of the judge selecting the card they like best, instead the reader must not laugh or smile. Especially when you know maintaining a straight face is required, it becomes increasingly challenging. If the reader laughs or smiles when reading an “answer” they player who submitted the card wins the card and point. However if the reader can maintain a straight face the entire time, they get the card and point.

Akropolis

Age: 8+
Players: 2-4 (solo mode available too)
Play Time: 25 Minutes
Tile laying and drafting
Buy Akropolis here on Amazon

Transport yourself to the Mediterranean and take on the role of a Greek architect to build the best city against your rivals. In Akropolis, players are drafting and laying tiles to build their cities. Stone can be earned from the quarries and used to select the best features for you city. Tiles can also be placed on top of existing tiles and those earn you more points at the end. There is a handy player guide so you easily can tell what features on the tiles have the potential to earn you the most points.

While the game box and enclosed rules are for two to four player, the publisher, Gigamic has also posted a solo mode varient on their website and you can print the rules here.

Planted

Age: 10+
Players: 2-5
Play Time: 20-30 minutes
Card Drafting/Resource Management/ Set Collection
Buy Planted here at Target

Caring for house plants can present its own challenges in remembering what each plant needs. In Planted by Buffalo games you are collecting house plants and trying to take care of them to earn the most points. There are multiple game mechanics going on throughout the game, but the cards make it easy to understand what needs to be done for each plant, and helps players streamline their strategy, and keep the game from becoming overly complex. The game is played over four rounds, and players can collect up to six plants. This Target exclusive game has top notch components for the MSRP of the game at $29.99 (and Target regularly has sales on their board games).

Teeter Tower

Age: 8+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 20 minutes
Cooperative Dexterity
Buy Teeter Tower here from Ceaco

Teeter Tower combines two favorite genres of family games, dexterity and cooperative games. This innovative game, combines rolling dice, cooperation and collaboration to place all the tiles before the pool of dice is used up or dice fall off the tower. You also can set the difficulty from Novice, Normal, Hard, to Insane to customize for your group. With simple rules Teeter Tower can be learned in minutes.

Everyone wins or looses (and then tries again) in this new spin on dexterity, strategy and cooperation. Challenge your family to build a tower upon the base block and successfully add the capstone block to with.

Next Station London

Age: 8+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 25 Minutes
Flip and Write
Buy Next Station London here on Amazon

Take on the roll of planning subway lines in flip and write game Next Station London. In this game players are using a common deck of cards to dictate what their choices are for the next station they can select on their individual map paper. This plays over four rounds, and the neat twist is that each round players complete their line in a different colored pencil. Players are trying to score as many points as possible by adding lines to as many of the 13 districts as possible, go to tourist locations, and crossing the River Thames. No matter your choices you may limit future moves, so plan your routes carefully.

Summer Camp

Ages: 10+
Players: 2-4
Play Time: 30-45 minutes
Deck Building
Buy Summer Camp here on Amazon

For those of you who have enjoyed in the unique experience of summer camp this game will bring you back. For those of you like me who never went, you can get a taste of the unique dynamic. Each ga me players determine with three camp activities they will play in that game. By changing the actives each game it also changes which actions are available. On each turn, you play five cards from your personal deck. These cards will allow you to perform actions and acquire new cards. As you gain more cards, it adds to what you can do by gaining more power and abilities, and as you reach milestones, earn merit badges. Once a player earns all three merit badges, that triggers the end of the game, and the player with the most points wins.

Games For the Expert Gamer

Some of us have that gamer in our lives, or are that gamer, that loves complex games that take over an hour to play. These are new games that will be a good fit for making it a game day just to play one or two games.

Paint the Roses

Age: 11+
Players: 2-5
Play Time: 60 minutes
Cooperative Puzzle Game
Buy Paint the Roses here on Amazon
For the Deluxe version click here

You take on the roll as the royal gardeners for the Queen of Hearts in the fantastic world of Alice in Wonderland. You must work together to finish the royal grounds according to her ever changing whims before the Queen catches up to you. Each player has a secret Whim card which you may not share with the other players. However, there are some clues you are able to give to work towards your common goal, and some discussion is permitted with limits.

To move the gardeners players must guess the Whim cards, and if the card is guessed correctly the gardener token moves forward. If the players guess wrong when the Queen moves double her movement. There is also an expert mode that can be utilized. Since it is Alice in Wonderland, there is also the White Rabbit which moves when the gardeners pass the White Rabbit token.

For those who love the Alice in Wonderland theme, and are looking for a more complex game, this is a great option.

Ark Nova

Age: 14+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 90-150 minutes
Hand Management/ Set Collection/ Tile Placement
Buy Ark Nova here on Amazon

Work to build the most successful zoo. To grow your zoo, you will build enclosures, work for conservation projects, and even release animals into the wild. With five actions to choose each turn, and the power of that card determined by the location on the tableau.

The Action Cards include: Build, Animals, Cards, Association, Sponsors. Build cards let you add to your zoo through building enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions. Animal cards allow you to accommodate animals. With the Cards you can gain new zoo cards (basically the others listed), Associations give you the chance to let your workers perform different tasks. Finally, Sponsors allows the player to play a sponsor into your zoo or to raise money for your zoo.

This is a complex game, and time is needed to learn to play. For the experienced gamers looking for a game with more complexity and time commitment.

Games that Fuel Your Nostalgia

These games include a theme or characters from something we remember. Hard to believe we fell in love with these in some cases 20 or 30 years ago (or more)!

A Goofy Movie Game

Age: 7+
Players: 2-4
Playtime: 25 minutes
Set Collection
Buy A Goofy Movie Game here on Amazon

The 90’s seem even closer when you open up the box for The Goofy Movie Game. The map has all of the charm and bright colors that were the hallmark of the 90’s Disney, plus there is a Powerline concert poster picture on the back side of the map. As you move across the map, you are going to collect pictures for your scrapbook, and there are right from the events and locations from the movie! If you land on a spot to roll the die, you may send Goofy on a detour or get Powerline closer to the concert venue.

The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future

Age 12+
2 Player
Playtime: 45 minutes
Area Control
Buy The Rocketeer Fate of the Future here on Amazon

For those of us who remember watching the 1991 movie The Rocketeer, this board game will bring back some of your favorites from the movie. In the board game, The Rocketeer: Fate of the the Future, you are playing either as the Good Guys (Cliff Secord AKA The Rocketeer), Peeve Peabody, and Jenny Blake), or the Bad Guys (Eddie Valentine, Neville Sinclair, and Lothar). Just like in the movie, the Good Guys have the plans for the rocket that Cliff wears, and the bad guys are desperately trying to get those plans. Game play happens over rounds, but once the Luxembourg Zeppelin reaches Los Angeles, the final round is triggered and player with the most points wins.

While this game follows the premise of the movie, it has a lot of cards, and steps within a turn. The complexity of the Rocketeer: Fate of the Future, , makes it a game better suited for an experienced gamer, rather than an novice.

Our Favorite Themes

We all have favorite themes whether they are books, movies, shows, or other games. There is something about playing a game within your favorite world or with a beloved character. There have been a several games released in the past year that tap into a favorite topic.

Exit Lord of the Rings: Shadows Over Middle-Earth

Age: 10+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 1-2 hours
Deduction
Buy Exit Lord of the Rings: Shadows Over Middle-Earth

For all those Lord of the Ring fans, now you can complete secret assignment for Gandalf, and buy Frodo and the Fellowship time. Escape rooms are a great way to spend an evening with friends, and the Exit games are an escape room in a box. These have puzzles and clues to complete a series of tasks and meet the objective. Depending on how long you take and how many clues you need determines your ” score”. Exit games are ranked by difficulty level, and this one is level 2 out of 5, making it great for those inexperienced with Exit games.

Star Wars Villainous

Age: 10+
Players: 2-4
Play Time: 50 minutes
Variable player powers, hand management, take that
Buy Star Wars Villainous here on Amazon

Ravensburger has brought the Villainous property to a whole new theme…Star Wars! For gamers who love Villainous and the Star Wars villainous, this is a must buy. While the villainous games are not best suited for the novice gamer, they are a blast to play with your favorite villain! In Star Wars Villainous you can play as: Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, or Moff Gideon. Each villain has their own objective they are working toward to win. So players need to both work on their villain’s objective and try to disrupt the progress of the other villains.

Wordle Party Game

Age: 14+
Players: 2-4
Party Game
Buy Wordle here on Amazon

The hit digital game Wordle has become an analogue party game using dry erase boards, where players take turns writing five letter secret words. Just as in the digital game. The other players need to guess the word in the fewest guesses. There are also four ways to play Wordle: Classic Play, Fast Mode, Timed Mode, Compete Mode. Classic Mode is the same format as the digital game. In Fast Mode, players race to be the first to solve the word. Timed Mode players are trying to beat the clock or earn the most points. Finally, there is a team mode, where players can play in groups.

For fans of the digital game, now you can play it in person with your friends and family.

Games for Younger Gamers

There are so many options for games for young children beyond the “classic” games everyone knows. What is great is the newer games tend to be more fun for the grown-ups playing with the kids. These are some of the newest games for kids age 7 and younger.

Burger ASAP!

Age: 7+
Players: 2-5
Play Time:
Party Game
Buy Burger ASAP! here on Amazon

Can you build the burgers to order first? In this wild party card flipping game, players each get 7 double sided ingredient cards and try to be the first to build the burger or burger from the challenge card. All cards must be used in each challenge, and you are likely to need to overlap cards. The challenge cards come in three levels of difficulty indicated by the number of stars at the bottom. There is also a puzzle aspect because there is only one solution to each challenge card.

With a Cherry on Top

Age 3+
Players: 2-4
Play Time:
Simple Strategy/Counting
Buy With a Cherry on Top here on Amazon

For some of the youngest gamers who can resist ice cream sundaes. In this adorable games players roll the dice and count out that number of scoops and place them on the open spaces on the banana split. This beginning strategy game has players consider where to best place the ice cream scoops. When they place the final scoop on a banana split, the player gets to put a cherry on top and get the card.

Octopie

Age:5+
Players 2-4
Play time: 15 minutes
Set collection and dice rolling
Buy Octopie here on Amazon

Set your sights under the sea as you work to build the first octopus with eight tentacles with the same color wins. Being a Gamewright game, even in games for young gamers, they make sure to add a few elements to keep the game interesting for all players. What a player can do each turn depends on the die roll. If a pie is revealed during your turn you get a pie token. These tokens give you an additional action or the ability to block another player’s action.

Board Game Accessories

Being a gamer lends itself to collecting. Sometimes it is challenging to find an amazing fit or you want to get something that is not a new game. Perhaps you need a small item for a small holiday container. There are great accessories that can enhance the gaming experience for a huge range of gamers.

Game Storage On the Shelf

Storage of board games can get challenging. Depending on your storage situation you may need to store them on their sides instead of laying flat. One item I have invested in are bands to hold the box closed and minimize the change of pieces falling out. This also helps with traveling with games where the lid is a smidge loose.

Click here for Silicone Rubber Bands on Amazon

Click here for Elastic Box Bands on Amazon

Traveling with Games

There are bags for carrying games, and then there are bags! You can get a more basic tote bag to bring your latest favorite to game night, or go all out on a special game hauling backpack or tote.

Click here for a USA Board Game Bag