Kingdomino - £13.99
Kingdomino is a charming, colourful tile-laying board game for two to four players. You’re competing monarchs, acquiring rectangular 2x1 land tiles that have two different terrains on them – including lakes, mines, pastures and more. There are 48 tiles in total, and in theory, the more valuable tiles are the higher-numbered ones. Some tiles will have crowns on them – these are worth precious points. The game ends after 12 rounds (24 rounds in the two-player variant). Players then multiply the size of each continuous terrain by the number of crowns within it. Highest score wins!
Terraforming Mars - £48.99
Yes, Mars is the setting here (oh, you’d already guessed?), and, much like Elon Musk’s plans at the time of writing, you’re a corporation looking to make the fourth planet habitable for the human race in the futuristic 25th century.
Spirit Island (Core Game) - £53.49
Spirit Island is a 2017 co-operative game from Greater Than Games. Deep, strategic gameplay unfolds against a startlingly compelling backdrop of island spirits fighting to defend their home from colonial invaders. Can you and your friends use your spirits’ powers effectively enough to repel Europe’s colonising hordes?
Though you will always have to try to drive the invaders away, no two games of Spirit Island will feel the same. One to four players choose from a set of eight spirits, each of which has four unique power cards. Each spirit is very different to the others, interacting with friends and foes in diverse and interesting ways.
On top of the eight spirits, players can also choose to face one of three different invader cards, each offering a new and distinct challenge. The board itself adds further variability, with four modular islands boards that each give the game a different flavour. Finally, four optional scenarios give you more variety if you want to change things up even more.
Scythe - £58.59
Set in an alternate reality 1920’s Europe, the game focuses on expanding your faction’s dominance across territory whilst harvesting resources, creating upgrades and battling your enemies. Whilst not exclusively a game about conflict, Scythe rewards players for conducting many different types of engine building leading to great variety in play styles.
Player count: 1-5
Time: 115 minutes
Age rating: 14+
King of Tokyo Second Edition - £24.99
Building dwarfing, laser from the eye ball shooting, ground quaking monsters have descended on Tokyo for the battle royal to end all battle royals. King of Tokyo sees you assume the role of one of a titan, a huge monster looking to prove themselves the champion of the unfortunate city.
Each turn you will take the pleasingly chunky dice and roll away. If you aren’t happy with the results you can re-roll, Yahtzee style, as many dice as you like. After a maximum of three rolls you are stuck with your results, and will use them to attack other players, heal yourself, gain energy to buy power cards or earn victory points.
Player count: 2-6
Time: 35-45 minutes
Age rating: 8+
Magic Maze - £18.29
The game is set in a fantasy world where you play the usual tropes of mage, warrior, elf and dwarf. They have somehow lost their weapons and equipment, so, obviously, they decide to rob the local mall.
When I say you play, I mean you play all those characters. Because no matter how many players there are you will all control the four characters. Oh, and your control of them is limited to direction tiles.
Each player will receive a tile or tiles, depending on player count, with a direction and/or action on them. For example, I might have ‘move north’ and ‘use stairs’. I can use these actions on any character, so together we have to move the pieces around the mall without talking. Sounds easy, but when you are trying to direct four different pieces, to four different places without talking the challenge becomes clearer.
Player Count: 1-8
Time: 15 Minutes
Age: 8+
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth - £60.79
Embark on your own adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic world with The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth, a fully co-operative, app-supported board game for one to five players! You'll battle villainous foes, make courageous choices, and strike a blow against the evil that threatens the land - all as part of a thrilling campaign that leads you across the storied hills and dales of Middle-earth.
Each individual game of Journeys in Middle-earth is a single adventure in a larger campaign. You'll explore the vast and dynamic landscapes of Middle-earth, using your skills to survive the challenges that you encounter on these perilous quests. As you and your fellow heroes explore the wilderness and battle the dark forces arrayed against you, the game's companion app guides you to reveal the looming forests, quiet clearings, and ancient halls of Middle-earth, while also controlling the enemies you encounter.
Sagrada - £28.99
Sagrada is a game of “dice drafting and window crafting” where players compete to construct a stained glass window masterpiece while gaining extra prestige through the completion of public and secret objectives and even calling upon the church for favours from time to time in order to achieve their goal.
Played in a series of 10 rounds, this abstract family game sees players drafting dice from a central pool and adding them to the window grid on their lavishly illustrated player boards.
Player Count: 1-4
Time: 30-45 Minutes
Age: 13+
Small World - £34.29.
Welcome to Small World, more people than space, so all that can happen now is rivalry for control of what little there is.
Within Small World there are 14 different races and 20 different powers. At the start of the game, each player will choose a random combination of race and power allowing different changes to the game and a different amount of race tokens. Each round a player will claim territory with their race tokens and score points based on how many they have conquered.
Player Count: 2-5
Time: 40-90 Minutes
Age: 8+
Everdell - £54.99
In its heart, Everdell is a tableau building, worker placement game. These two mechanics work together as players progress through their turns by sending their workers out to claim new resources and draw more cards, and play cards from their hand to add to the new city they’re building within the forested valley of Everdell.
Player count: 1-4
Time: 40-80 minutes
Age rating: 13+
Root - £48.29
Root is a game of adventure and war in which 2 to 4 players battle for control of a vast wilderness.
The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats. In this effort, the Alliance may enlist the help of the wandering Vagabonds who are able to move through the more dangerous woodland paths. Though some may sympathize with the Alliance’s hopes and dreams, these wanderers are old enough to remember the great birds of prey who once controlled the woods.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the region, the proud, squabbling Eyrie have found a new commander who they hope will lead their faction to resume their ancient birthright. The stage is set for a contest that will decide the fate of the great woodland. It is up to the players to decide which group will ultimately take root.
TIME Stories (Including Asylum Mission) - £26.79
T.I.M.E Stories is a narrative game, a game of "decksploration". Each player is free to give their character as deep a "role" as they want, in order to live through a story, as much in the game as around the table. But it's also a board game with rules which allow for reflection and optimization.
Unlock! - £21.79
Unlock pits you against the clock, where you and up to six players, in a co-operative manner, have to figure out a number of crafty riddles that will drive you through a narrative.
Unlock comes with three different adventures in it. Before you play any of them, you’ll also need to download the free smartphone app (available on both Google Play and the App Store for iOS). You’ll use the app to pump in answers you believe to have deduced throughout the venture – and it also acts as the 60-minute timer with which you have to complete the quest.
Player Count: 2-6
Time: 45-75 Minutes
Age: 10+
Azul: Summer Pavilion - £31.99
In Azul: Summer Pavilion, players return to Portugal to accomplish the task that never began. As a master artisan, you must use the finest materials to create the summer pavilion while carefully avoiding wasting supplies. Only the best will rise to the challenge to honor the Portuguese royal family.
Azul: Summer Pavilion lasts six rounds, and in each round players draft tiles, then place them on their individual player board to score points. Each of the six colors of tiles is wild during one of the rounds.
EXiT - Dead Man on the Orient Express - £12.29
This very popular series of escape room games continues to deliver a huge variety of puzzles, bringing the escape room experience to your home in a small box.
With an innovative cipher system, the EXIT game series asks you to bring just a pen, some scissors and some paper to the table. Using a couple of decks of cards and a booklet of initial information, you’ll be led through a number of different puzzles.
Player Count: 1-4
Time: 45-90 Minutes
Age: 12+
Zombicide - £65.99
Zombicide is a collaborative game in which players take the role of a survivor – each with unique abilities – and harness both their skills and the power of teamwork against the hordes of unthinking undead! Zombies are predictable, stupid but deadly, controlled by simple rules and a deck of cards. Unfortunately for you, there are a LOT more zombies than you have bullets.
Ages 13+
1-6 Players
45-180 Minute Playing Time
Citadels - £24.99
In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects their eighth building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.
Ages 10+
2-8 players
30-60 minutes playing time
Disney Villainous - Wicked to the Core Expansion Pack - £20.99
In Villainous: Wicked to the Core, each player takes control of one of three Disney characters, each one a villain in a different Disney movie, specifically the Evil Queen from Snow White, Hades from Hercules, and Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.
Players 2-3
Playing time 40-60 mins
Ages 10+
Disney Villainous - Evil Comes Prepared Expansion Pack - £20.99
In Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared, each player takes control of one of three Disney characters, each one a villain in a different Disney movie, specifically Scar from The Lion King, Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove, and Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective.
Arboretum - £17.79
Arboretum is a strategy card game for 2-4 players, aged 10 and up, that combines set collection, tile-laying and hand management while playing in about 25 minutes. Players try to have the most points at the end of the game by creating beautiful garden paths for their visitors.
War of the Ring 2nd Edition - £78.21
In War of the Ring, one player takes control of the Free Peoples, the other player controls Shadow Armies. Initially, the Free People Nations are reluctant to take arms against Sauron, so they must be attacked by Sauron or persuaded by Gandalf or other Companions, before they start to fight properly: this is represented by the Political Track, which shows if a Nation is ready to fight in the War of the Ring or not.
The game can be won by a military victory, if Sauron conquers a certain number of Free People cities or vice versa. But the true hope of the Free Peoples lies with the quest of the Ringbearer: while the armies clash across Middle Earth, the Fellowship of the Ring is trying to get secretly to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Sauron is not aware of the real intention of his enemies but is looking across Middle Earth for the precious Ring, so that the Fellowship is going to face numerous dangers, represented by the rules of The Hunt for the Ring. The Companions however can spur the Free Peoples to the fight against Sauron, so the Free People player must balance the need to protect the Ringbearer from harm, against the attempt to raise a proper defense against the armies of the Shadow, so that they do not overrun Middle Earth before the Ringbearer completes his quest.
Ages 13+
2-4 players
150-180 minutes playing time
Barenpark - £19.79
Translated from German, Phil Walker-Harding’s Bärenpark means ‘bear park’. Here, up to four players compete to see who can create the best zoo, which is dedicated to housing different subspecies of bear. Bärenpark is a gratifying tile-drafting/tile-laying, set collection game
Player Count: 2-4
Time: 30-45 Minutes
Age: 8+
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island - £40.49
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is a 1-4 player fully co-operative game where you choose from four characters: The ship’s cook, carpenter, explorer or soldier. There are also additional characters, including a dog and Robinson Crusoe’s trusted friend Friday, who can be used to support solo or two-player modes.
Each character has a set of unique abilities, and you work together to complete a specific scenario objective whilst trying your best to stay alive. If one of you dies before you complete your objectives, you lose. If you don’t complete your objectives within the round limit, you lose. Sounds easy right!
Player Count: 1-4
Time: 90-180 Minutes
Age: 14+
Stuffed Fables - £45.79
Stuffed Fables, by Jerry Hawthorne and Plaid Hat Games, is an adventure book, co-operative, dungeon crawler, campaign game that is great for all the family. It has a wonderful theme and great miniatures, whilst the artwork and storytelling throughout is just amazing.
Players take on the role of a small band of stuffed animals. Yes that's right, you get to play as a group of teddy bears. You come to life at night to protect the little girl who is moving into her big girl bed. You have to protect her against evil creatures that come out of the shadows. These are all based on other toys and similar and fit the theme perfectly.
Player Count: 2-4
Time: 60-90 Minutes
Age: 7+
Tiny Epic Galaxies - £30.79
Tiny Epic Galaxies comes from the highly popular Tiny Epic series, allowing players to take control of a galactic empire, their aim to grow and expand their influence by fighting over and obtaining planets while also growing their space fleet!
Tiny Epic Galaxies, a game for 1-5 players utilises a dice-rolling combo mechanic where players will roll a number of dice (this number being determined by the level of their home planet) and then using the result of their roll to perform various actions, ranging from moving their ships from planet to planet, to increasing their power and culture to enable them to perform more powerful actions later in the game.
