I try to play a new board game at least once a week and find it’s become a common theme in our weekly board game group for us to take months to get to playing a game a second let alone a third time. 

Though this has it’s downfalls in the fact that we haven’t finished pandemic legacy or Charterstone it has its upsides.

The upside being in doing this have the opportunity to cover a lot of different games some of them are we fall in love with instantly others take a couple of plays and then there are the games that we shall not speak of or ever play again. 

These are some of the games from the last couple of months that I fell in love with instantly and would recommend straight away in a heartbeat and why. 

Wingspan 

Wingspan is one of the latest releases from Kickstarter famous board game publisher Stonemaier games and designed by Elizabeth Hardgrave this bird lovers dream game combines the hobby of bird watching with some of the mechanics that Stonemaier games have become known for. 

The game is so fantastic that even if you are not into the theme (like my entire group) you will still find yourself loving the gameplay then complaining to me afterwards about how it should be about dragons instead. 

Personally, I think the bird theme is perfect and wouldn’t change a thing about it and I am not alone this game just won the kinderspel so the rest of the world must agree. 

Game Description 

Wingspan is a competitive bird-collection, engine-building game for 1–5 players.

You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your aviary. Each bird extends a chain of powerful combinations in one of your habitats (actions).

These habitats focus on several key aspects of growth: Gain food tokens via custom dice in a birdfeeder dice tower Lay eggs using egg miniatures in a variety of colours Draw from hundreds of unique bird cards and play them.

The winner is the player with the most points accumulated from birds, bonus cards, end-of-round goals, eggs, cached food, and tucked birds.

Featured Components:

  • • 170 uniquely illustrated and designed bird cards
  • • 75 egg miniatures
  • • 1 birdfeeder dice tower
  • • 5 huge player mats
  • • 5 large custom dice
  • 2-piece Game Trayz custom insert

Crusaders 

Crusaders is one of those games that just has so many fantastic elements players spend there turns upgrading their skills, fighting army’s, building structures all to gain victory points from a central pool. The twist is the game ends when all these victory points have been claimed. 

This game was fantastic and has so much to it I fell in love instantly and with different abilities for individual characters your gaming experience is never the same this is the perfect example of a great strategy game that is very replayable.

Game description 

Move your knights, erect buildings, and go crusading to spread the influence of your Order.

When the Orders get too strong, King Philip will become nervous and disband all Templar orders, ending the game.

Crusaders use a combination of the popular Rondel and Mancala mechanisms. Each player has their own rondel, which they can upgrade over the course of the game, that controls their action choices during the game. Your faction gives you a special power to control your rondel, and the buildings you erect will help you form a strategy.

Men at Work 

Men at work has so many great elements that are both comical and fun as you try to build your collective structure without losing your workplace safety certificates and trying to become the employee of the month. 

But be warned men at work is not for faint of heart or the shaky of hands. 

Game Description 

Higher and higher, the construction grows. Before long, the steel girders reach dizzying heights

Fearlessly, the workers carry on, with nothing more than hardhats to protect them. The danger of collapse hangs over everything — so just make sure that nothing happens! You also have to impress Rita, the boss, if you want to be Employee of the Month. There’s a lot to do, so let’s get going!

Men At Work is a stacking and balancing game in which players compete as workers on a job site who are carefully constructing a tower to avoid accidents and, maybe, earn Employee of the Month. The game includes three gaming modules to add loads of replayability, as well as wooden components housed within a well-designed insert for easy set up.

Game Contents:

  • 8 supports
  • 28 girders (in 4 colors)
  • 16 workers with hardhats
  • 36 instruction cards
  • 1 Boss Rita card
  • 15 safety certificates
  • 13 Worker of the Month awards
  • 1 rescue hook with measuring stick
  • 12 wooden beams
  • 12 bricks
  • 1 rulebook

Tokyo Highway 

This strategic dexterity game is a great combination of a good game to play with some mates while having a couple of beers and the hardest thing you will do that week. 

The less silly alternative to men at work this game will have your problem-solving skills working overtime while you try to construct your highway. 

Game Description 

Go your own way!

This game is based on Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway known for its distinctive metropolitan structure. The game has no board, no squares. Players build roadways across each other’s highway and compete to place all their cars under a certain rule. As you follow the simple steps and build your way, there arises a unique architectural space on the table. Build your original highway with the balance of your fingertips and creative construction strategy.

Features:

  • In Tokyo Highway, players compete to place all of their cars on the road — but to do that they will first have to build the roadways!
  • Over the course of the game, players construct columns of varying heights by using the 66 squat cylinders in the box, then connect those columns with sticks that serve as roadways, with the columns not necessarily being the same height when connected.
  • Once you have a highway, you can possibly place one of your ten cars on it.

Game Contents:

  • Highway support tokens
  • Building tokens
  • Highway bars
  • Car tokens
  • Tweezers

Railroad Ink 

Railroad ink is my favourite roll and write I have played so far this year! This type of game has had a huge surge of popularity over the last 12-18 months the game involves rolling dice and then drawing train tracks to connect as many stations as you can. 

It’s quick fun and engaging and if you buy both copies of the game you can even support 12 players. 

Game Description 

New lands have opened up and the race is on to create the best network of rail and road lines through it

In Railroad Ink, players roll the Route dice and must then draw the subsequent results on their individual Route boards. Players score points for having long interconnected Routes, as well as connecting the entry points to their board, plus having Routes through the center of their boards. But beware, they’ll lose points for leaving unfinished lines. It’s a challenge to keep their roads and rails from getting destroyed, and having to repair them when they are. Or, players can combine the two for epic, 12-player games!

The Deep Blue Edition brings Rivers and Lakes to the board, giving players more ways to create Routes and score points.

Game Contents:

  • 4 Route Dice
  • 6 Boards
  • 6 Markers
  • Rulebook
  • 2 River Dice
  • 2 Lake Dice

What Games Have you been Playing

What board games have you played this year that you really loved we would love to know.

Share them in the comments below.

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