Ratings: Top 10 Board Games of 2023 – with The Brothers Murph

Check "Top 10 Board Games of 2023" and find the best price on all items from the top among sellers all over in the Netherlands & Belgium!

7.8
1-5
Complexity: 3.0

In a far-distant future, humans no longer inhabit Earth. The cause of their disappearance (or perhaps their demise) is unknown, but their absence left a void ready to be filled by another sentient species.

Over the span of untold generations, one species of the humble honeybee evolved to fill that void. They grew in size and intelligence to become a highly advanced society. They call themselves Mellifera, and they have made substantial technological advances in addition to the technology they adapted from human ruins, up to and including space travel.

In Apiary, each player controls one of twenty unique factions. Your faction starts the game with a hive, a few resources, and worker bees. A worker-placement, hive-building challenge awaits you: explore planets, gather resources, develop technologies, and create carvings to demonstrate your faction's strengths (measured in victory points) over one year's Flow. However, the Dearth quickly approaches, and your workers can take only a few actions before they must hibernate! Can you thrive or merely survive?

—description from the publisher

Not available

In a far-distant future, humans no longer inhabit Earth. The cause of their disappearance (or perhaps their demise) is unknown, but their absence left a void ready to be filled by another sentient species.

Over the span of untold generations, one species of the humble honeybee evolved to fill that void. They grew in size and intelligence to become a highly advanced society. They call themselves Mellifera, and they have made substantial technological advances in addition to the technology they adapted from human ruins, up to and including space travel.

In Apiary, each player controls one of twenty unique factions. Your faction starts the game with a hive, a few resources, and worker bees. A worker-placement, hive-building challenge awaits you: explore planets, gather resources, develop technologies, and create carvings to demonstrate your faction's strengths (measured in victory points) over one year's Flow. However, the Dearth quickly approaches, and your workers can take only a few actions before they must hibernate! Can you thrive or merely survive?

—description from the publisher

7.8
1-5 Players
60-90 Mins
Age: 14+
Complexity: 3.0
Not available
7.2
1-6
Complexity: 2.1

You are part of the Art Rescue Team, with the aim of fighting against "The White Hand", an organization responsible for many thefts of priceless works across the planet. Your team of specialists, the best in their field, will travel from Japan to Rio de Janeiro via Scandinavia in order to recover stolen works of art. Will you manage to gather, together, enough clues in the allotted time to stop this cultural looting?

In the co-operative game The A.R.T. Project, you play together against the game. Each player draws two mission cards at the beginning of each round, then all players decide the order of the round. Your jerrycan reserves, weapons, allies, and clues are all held in common, and their management is essential. When you play a mission, you spend common resources and find clues that will be useful to everyone. Try to save seven works before the end of the mission deck...

—description from the publisher

Not available

You are part of the Art Rescue Team, with the aim of fighting against "The White Hand", an organization responsible for many thefts of priceless works across the planet. Your team of specialists, the best in their field, will travel from Japan to Rio de Janeiro via Scandinavia in order to recover stolen works of art. Will you manage to gather, together, enough clues in the allotted time to stop this cultural looting?

In the co-operative game The A.R.T. Project, you play together against the game. Each player draws two mission cards at the beginning of each round, then all players decide the order of the round. Your jerrycan reserves, weapons, allies, and clues are all held in common, and their management is essential. When you play a mission, you spend common resources and find clues that will be useful to everyone. Try to save seven works before the end of the mission deck...

—description from the publisher

7.2
1-6 Players
40 Mins
Age: 12+
Complexity: 2.1
Not available
8.2
1-4
Complexity: 4.2

When Elsa von Frühlingsfeld presented her invention to King Frederik Augustus II of Saxony, people thought it was trickery. She used the recently isolated element Uranium to heat up a jar of water and used the resulting steam to power an engine that kept the Uranium active via a process she called “atomization.” Her device, the Nucleum, ushered in a new era of energy and prosperity over the next decades. Saxony went from a minor regional power to the hub of European science and engineering. Now, a generation later, factories are still hungry for more power, demanding bigger and more Nucleums to be built, more Uranium imported from the nearby country of Bohemia, and railways and power lines built across the country to carry the tamed power of the atoms to Saxony’s great cities. Inventors, engineers, and industrialists flock to the Saxon court, vying to be the leader in this new industrial revolution.

Nucleum is a heavy euro board game in which players take role of industrialists trying to succeed during the economic and technological boom of 19th-century Saxony, fueled by the invention and spread of the Nucleum (a nuclear reactor).

Players earn victory points by developing their networks, building and powering urban buildings, securing contracts, and meeting milestones (randomized endgame goals). Each player also gets unique asymmetric technologies, giving them special powers when unlocked. Gameplay is continuous; players take turns one after another with no rounds or phases.

—description from the publisher

Not available

When Elsa von Frühlingsfeld presented her invention to King Frederik Augustus II of Saxony, people thought it was trickery. She used the recently isolated element Uranium to heat up a jar of water and used the resulting steam to power an engine that kept the Uranium active via a process she called “atomization.” Her device, the Nucleum, ushered in a new era of energy and prosperity over the next decades. Saxony went from a minor regional power to the hub of European science and engineering. Now, a generation later, factories are still hungry for more power, demanding bigger and more Nucleums to be built, more Uranium imported from the nearby country of Bohemia, and railways and power lines built across the country to carry the tamed power of the atoms to Saxony’s great cities. Inventors, engineers, and industrialists flock to the Saxon court, vying to be the leader in this new industrial revolution.

Nucleum is a heavy euro board game in which players take role of industrialists trying to succeed during the economic and technological boom of 19th-century Saxony, fueled by the invention and spread of the Nucleum (a nuclear reactor).

Players earn victory points by developing their networks, building and powering urban buildings, securing contracts, and meeting milestones (randomized endgame goals). Each player also gets unique asymmetric technologies, giving them special powers when unlocked. Gameplay is continuous; players take turns one after another with no rounds or phases.

—description from the publisher

8.2
1-4 Players
60-150 Mins
Age: 14+
Complexity: 4.2
Not available
7.1
3-8
Complexity: 1.0

Can you remember a few items? Sounds easy?

It's a challenge in "That's not a Hat"!

Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them.

If they can't remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point.

An unforgettable game!

Not available

Can you remember a few items? Sounds easy?

It's a challenge in "That's not a Hat"!

Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them.

If they can't remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point.

An unforgettable game!

7.1
3-8 Players
15 Mins
Age: 8+
Complexity: 1.0
Not available
7.7
2-5
Complexity: 2.2
Language dependency: 3.1

In Forest Shuffle, players compete to gather the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thus creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna.

To start, each player has six cards in hand, with cards depicting either a particular type of tree or two forest dwellers (animal, plant, mushroom, etc.), with these latter cards being divided in half, whether vertically or horizontally, with one dweller in each card half.

On a turn, either draw two cards — whether face down from the deck or face up from the clearing — and add them to your hand, or play a card from your hand by paying the cost, then putting it into play.

During set-up, three winter cards were placed into the bottom third of the deck. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately, then players tally their points based on the trees and dwellers in their forest. Whoever scores the most points wins.

Forest Shuffle is the first in a line of Lookout games sporting the Lookout Greenline label, produced on FSC certified paper and avoiding plastic completely.

Not available

In Forest Shuffle, players compete to gather the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thus creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna.

To start, each player has six cards in hand, with cards depicting either a particular type of tree or two forest dwellers (animal, plant, mushroom, etc.), with these latter cards being divided in half, whether vertically or horizontally, with one dweller in each card half.

On a turn, either draw two cards — whether face down from the deck or face up from the clearing — and add them to your hand, or play a card from your hand by paying the cost, then putting it into play.

During set-up, three winter cards were placed into the bottom third of the deck. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately, then players tally their points based on the trees and dwellers in their forest. Whoever scores the most points wins.

Forest Shuffle is the first in a line of Lookout games sporting the Lookout Greenline label, produced on FSC certified paper and avoiding plastic completely.

7.7
2-5 Players
40-60 Mins
Age: 10+
Complexity: 2.2
Language dependency: 3.1
Not available
8.2
2
Complexity: 2.1
Language dependency: 1.8

Sky Team is a co-operative game, exclusively for two players, in which you play a pilot and co-pilot at the controls of an airliner. Your goal is to work together as a team to land your airplane in different airports around the world.

To land your plane, you need to silently assign your dice to the correct spaces in your cockpit to balance the axis of your plane, control its speed, deploy the flaps, extend the landing gear, contact the control tower to clear your path, and even have a little coffee to improve your concentration enough to change the value of your dice.

If the aircraft tilts too much and stalls, overshoots the airport, or collides with another aircraft, you lose the game...and your pilot's license...and probably your life.

From Montreal to Tokyo, each airport offers its own set of challenges. Watch out for the turbulence as this could end up being a bumpy ride!

AWARDS & HONORS

2025 - Beeple Award - Winner

2024 - BoardLive Awards - Winner

2024 - Gagnant Prix Jokers - catégorie Duo

2024 - Gagnant Gold'n Gob - catégorie 2 joueurs

2024 - Gagnant Mensa d'Or - catégorie Meilleur jeu Duo

2024 - Nederlandse Spellenprijs 2024 Winner

2024 - Deutscher Spiele Preis 2024 - 2nd place

2024 - BG Stats - Most popular game

2024 - Gra roku (Game of the year Poland) - 2 player category winner

2024 - International Gamers Awards - 2 player category winner

2023 - Swams des Jahres winner

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best 2 player game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best cooperative game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Most innovative game

2024 - Spiel des Jahres Winner

2024 - Best Light Game - BBQ Awards

2024 - Best Cooperative Board Game - Origins Awards

2024 - Best 2023 Insider Game - Les Lys (Québec)

2024 - Game of the Year - Spiel des Jahres 2024 (Germany)

2024 - Best 2-Player & Innovation Gameplay - Big Awards 2024

2024 - Best 2-Player & Cooperative Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

Runner up for Best Innovative & Thematic Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

2023 - Best Cooperative Game - Board Game Quest

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Board Game Arena Awards

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Squirrelly Awards

2023 - Best Board Game - Dicebreaker Tabletop Awards

2023 - Two Player Board Game Winner - Game Boy Geek

2023 - Best Co-Op Game - Gaming Trend

2023 - Seal of Excellence - Dice Tower

—description from the publisher

Not available

Sky Team is a co-operative game, exclusively for two players, in which you play a pilot and co-pilot at the controls of an airliner. Your goal is to work together as a team to land your airplane in different airports around the world.

To land your plane, you need to silently assign your dice to the correct spaces in your cockpit to balance the axis of your plane, control its speed, deploy the flaps, extend the landing gear, contact the control tower to clear your path, and even have a little coffee to improve your concentration enough to change the value of your dice.

If the aircraft tilts too much and stalls, overshoots the airport, or collides with another aircraft, you lose the game...and your pilot's license...and probably your life.

From Montreal to Tokyo, each airport offers its own set of challenges. Watch out for the turbulence as this could end up being a bumpy ride!

AWARDS & HONORS

2025 - Beeple Award - Winner

2024 - BoardLive Awards - Winner

2024 - Gagnant Prix Jokers - catégorie Duo

2024 - Gagnant Gold'n Gob - catégorie 2 joueurs

2024 - Gagnant Mensa d'Or - catégorie Meilleur jeu Duo

2024 - Nederlandse Spellenprijs 2024 Winner

2024 - Deutscher Spiele Preis 2024 - 2nd place

2024 - BG Stats - Most popular game

2024 - Gra roku (Game of the year Poland) - 2 player category winner

2024 - International Gamers Awards - 2 player category winner

2023 - Swams des Jahres winner

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best 2 player game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best cooperative game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Most innovative game

2024 - Spiel des Jahres Winner

2024 - Best Light Game - BBQ Awards

2024 - Best Cooperative Board Game - Origins Awards

2024 - Best 2023 Insider Game - Les Lys (Québec)

2024 - Game of the Year - Spiel des Jahres 2024 (Germany)

2024 - Best 2-Player & Innovation Gameplay - Big Awards 2024

2024 - Best 2-Player & Cooperative Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

Runner up for Best Innovative & Thematic Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

2023 - Best Cooperative Game - Board Game Quest

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Board Game Arena Awards

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Squirrelly Awards

2023 - Best Board Game - Dicebreaker Tabletop Awards

2023 - Two Player Board Game Winner - Game Boy Geek

2023 - Best Co-Op Game - Gaming Trend

2023 - Seal of Excellence - Dice Tower

—description from the publisher

8.2
2 Players
15 Mins
Age: 12+
Complexity: 2.1
Language dependency: 1.8
Not available
8.0
1-4
Complexity: 4.1

Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful not to neglect one in pursuit of the other.

The aim of Scholars of the South Tigris is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained by translating scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 guilds, and by retiring translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is triggered once all 4 caliph cards have been revealed.

—description from the publisher

Not available

Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful not to neglect one in pursuit of the other.

The aim of Scholars of the South Tigris is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained by translating scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 guilds, and by retiring translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is triggered once all 4 caliph cards have been revealed.

—description from the publisher

8.0
1-4 Players
60-90 Mins
Age: 12+
Complexity: 4.1
Not available
8.1
1-4
Complexity: 3.9

When all you can identify in the horizon for many long days is the line that detaches the sea from the sky, the glimpse of a distant shore appearing before you will make you shiver at the understanding that the adventure is about to begin.

You find yourself astonished, landing on the shore that will be the origin of an extensive exploration through the Galapagos, a magic place of inconceivable beauty and endless biodiversity. There, you will gather repertoires and expand your knowledge of the natural sciences. Your eyes will learn how to detect the hidden species in the tropical forest, gazing at the countless colors and textures of nature. After inspiring hours spent studying and getting to enlightening conclusions, you will rest under a sparkling sky, admiring the stunning complexity of the animal realm.

Darwin's Journey is a worker-placement Eurogame in which players recall Charles Darwin's memories of his adventure through the Galapagos islands, which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

With the game's innovative worker progression system, each worker will have to study the disciplines that are a prerequisite to perform several actions in the game, such as exploration, correspondence, gathering, and dispatch of repertoires found on the island to museums in order to contribute to the human knowledge of biology. The game lasts five rounds, and thanks to several short- and long-term objectives, every action you take will grant victory points in different ways.

Not available

When all you can identify in the horizon for many long days is the line that detaches the sea from the sky, the glimpse of a distant shore appearing before you will make you shiver at the understanding that the adventure is about to begin.

You find yourself astonished, landing on the shore that will be the origin of an extensive exploration through the Galapagos, a magic place of inconceivable beauty and endless biodiversity. There, you will gather repertoires and expand your knowledge of the natural sciences. Your eyes will learn how to detect the hidden species in the tropical forest, gazing at the countless colors and textures of nature. After inspiring hours spent studying and getting to enlightening conclusions, you will rest under a sparkling sky, admiring the stunning complexity of the animal realm.

Darwin's Journey is a worker-placement Eurogame in which players recall Charles Darwin's memories of his adventure through the Galapagos islands, which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

With the game's innovative worker progression system, each worker will have to study the disciplines that are a prerequisite to perform several actions in the game, such as exploration, correspondence, gathering, and dispatch of repertoires found on the island to museums in order to contribute to the human knowledge of biology. The game lasts five rounds, and thanks to several short- and long-term objectives, every action you take will grant victory points in different ways.

8.1
1-4 Players
60-120 Mins
Age: 14+
Complexity: 3.9
Not available
8.0
1-2
Complexity: 3.2

The Oranienburg canal, which gave this game its name, was built between 1832 and 1837 in Brandenburg. The Havel River was difficult to navigate near the Oranienburg mills, so a canal was built from the Havel that crossed the older Ruppin canal, thereby forming the Oranienburg canal cross. During the industrialization in the 19th century, lots of companies and businesses were formed at this important waterway. Moreover, additional streets and railways were built.

In Oranienburger Kanal, you erect new industries and shape the infrastructure by building pathways, streets, railways, and canals. Most important of all are bridges that connect buildings. To do all of this, you have access to various actions that you select in the right moments.

At the end of the game, the player with the best industrial area and the best infrastructure wins.

Oranienburger Kanal also includes a solo game!

—description from the publisher

Not available
#2. Oranienburger Kanal

The Oranienburg canal, which gave this game its name, was built between 1832 and 1837 in Brandenburg. The Havel River was difficult to navigate near the Oranienburg mills, so a canal was built from the Havel that crossed the older Ruppin canal, thereby forming the Oranienburg canal cross. During the industrialization in the 19th century, lots of companies and businesses were formed at this important waterway. Moreover, additional streets and railways were built.

In Oranienburger Kanal, you erect new industries and shape the infrastructure by building pathways, streets, railways, and canals. Most important of all are bridges that connect buildings. To do all of this, you have access to various actions that you select in the right moments.

At the end of the game, the player with the best industrial area and the best infrastructure wins.

Oranienburger Kanal also includes a solo game!

—description from the publisher

8.0
1-2 Players
45 Mins
Age: 12+
Complexity: 3.2
Not available
8.0
1-4
Complexity: 3.0
Language dependency: 1.0

The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimyo, from the top of the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where the koi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd the gates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circles of the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return to their clan.

In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans in order to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amass influence in the court, manage resources boldly, and place their workers in the right place at the right time. The authors are Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The Red Cathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terrible behind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle, where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimyo Sakai Tadakiyo.

The White Castle is a Euro type game with mechanics of resource management, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. During the game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tend the gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of the nobility. At the end of the match, these will award players victory points in a variety of ways.

The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor, divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room of the Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until they reach the circle closest to the Daimyo to enjoy his favor. There is also the pond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone can relax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important area is the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and stand guard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three types of dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and the personal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resources and where they will have the reserve of workers.

With accessible rules and a very careful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile title that will fit in with different gaming groups. As is tradition with Llama Dice titles, its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within the grasp of players.

—description from the publisher

Not available

The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimyo, from the top of the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where the koi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd the gates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circles of the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return to their clan.

In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans in order to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amass influence in the court, manage resources boldly, and place their workers in the right place at the right time. The authors are Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The Red Cathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terrible behind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle, where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimyo Sakai Tadakiyo.

The White Castle is a Euro type game with mechanics of resource management, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. During the game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tend the gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of the nobility. At the end of the match, these will award players victory points in a variety of ways.

The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor, divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room of the Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until they reach the circle closest to the Daimyo to enjoy his favor. There is also the pond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone can relax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important area is the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and stand guard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three types of dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and the personal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resources and where they will have the reserve of workers.

With accessible rules and a very careful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile title that will fit in with different gaming groups. As is tradition with Llama Dice titles, its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within the grasp of players.

—description from the publisher

8.0
1-4 Players
80 Mins
Age: 12+
Complexity: 3.0
Language dependency: 1.0
Not available
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Ratings: Top 10 Board Games of 2023 – with The Brothers Murph

Check "Top 10 Board Games of 2023" and find the best price on all items from the top among sellers all over in the Netherlands & Belgium!

7.8
1-5
Complexity: 3.0

In a far-distant future, humans no longer inhabit Earth. The cause of their disappearance (or perhaps their demise) is unknown, but their absence left a void ready to be filled by another sentient species.

Over the span of untold generations, one species of the humble honeybee evolved to fill that void. They grew in size and intelligence to become a highly advanced society. They call themselves Mellifera, and they have made substantial technological advances in addition to the technology they adapted from human ruins, up to and including space travel.

In Apiary, each player controls one of twenty unique factions. Your faction starts the game with a hive, a few resources, and worker bees. A worker-placement, hive-building challenge awaits you: explore planets, gather resources, develop technologies, and create carvings to demonstrate your faction's strengths (measured in victory points) over one year's Flow. However, the Dearth quickly approaches, and your workers can take only a few actions before they must hibernate! Can you thrive or merely survive?

—description from the publisher

Not available
7.2
1-6
Complexity: 2.1

You are part of the Art Rescue Team, with the aim of fighting against "The White Hand", an organization responsible for many thefts of priceless works across the planet. Your team of specialists, the best in their field, will travel from Japan to Rio de Janeiro via Scandinavia in order to recover stolen works of art. Will you manage to gather, together, enough clues in the allotted time to stop this cultural looting?

In the co-operative game The A.R.T. Project, you play together against the game. Each player draws two mission cards at the beginning of each round, then all players decide the order of the round. Your jerrycan reserves, weapons, allies, and clues are all held in common, and their management is essential. When you play a mission, you spend common resources and find clues that will be useful to everyone. Try to save seven works before the end of the mission deck...

—description from the publisher

Not available
8.2
1-4
Complexity: 4.2

When Elsa von Frühlingsfeld presented her invention to King Frederik Augustus II of Saxony, people thought it was trickery. She used the recently isolated element Uranium to heat up a jar of water and used the resulting steam to power an engine that kept the Uranium active via a process she called “atomization.” Her device, the Nucleum, ushered in a new era of energy and prosperity over the next decades. Saxony went from a minor regional power to the hub of European science and engineering. Now, a generation later, factories are still hungry for more power, demanding bigger and more Nucleums to be built, more Uranium imported from the nearby country of Bohemia, and railways and power lines built across the country to carry the tamed power of the atoms to Saxony’s great cities. Inventors, engineers, and industrialists flock to the Saxon court, vying to be the leader in this new industrial revolution.

Nucleum is a heavy euro board game in which players take role of industrialists trying to succeed during the economic and technological boom of 19th-century Saxony, fueled by the invention and spread of the Nucleum (a nuclear reactor).

Players earn victory points by developing their networks, building and powering urban buildings, securing contracts, and meeting milestones (randomized endgame goals). Each player also gets unique asymmetric technologies, giving them special powers when unlocked. Gameplay is continuous; players take turns one after another with no rounds or phases.

—description from the publisher

Not available
7.1
3-8
Complexity: 1.0

Can you remember a few items? Sounds easy?

It's a challenge in "That's not a Hat"!

Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them.

If they can't remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point.

An unforgettable game!

Not available
7.7
2-5
Complexity: 2.2
Language dependency: 3.1

In Forest Shuffle, players compete to gather the most valuable trees, then attract species to these trees, thus creating an ecologically balanced habitat for flora and fauna.

To start, each player has six cards in hand, with cards depicting either a particular type of tree or two forest dwellers (animal, plant, mushroom, etc.), with these latter cards being divided in half, whether vertically or horizontally, with one dweller in each card half.

On a turn, either draw two cards — whether face down from the deck or face up from the clearing — and add them to your hand, or play a card from your hand by paying the cost, then putting it into play.

During set-up, three winter cards were placed into the bottom third of the deck. When the third winter card is drawn, the game ends immediately, then players tally their points based on the trees and dwellers in their forest. Whoever scores the most points wins.

Forest Shuffle is the first in a line of Lookout games sporting the Lookout Greenline label, produced on FSC certified paper and avoiding plastic completely.

Not available
8.2
2
Complexity: 2.1
Language dependency: 1.8

Sky Team is a co-operative game, exclusively for two players, in which you play a pilot and co-pilot at the controls of an airliner. Your goal is to work together as a team to land your airplane in different airports around the world.

To land your plane, you need to silently assign your dice to the correct spaces in your cockpit to balance the axis of your plane, control its speed, deploy the flaps, extend the landing gear, contact the control tower to clear your path, and even have a little coffee to improve your concentration enough to change the value of your dice.

If the aircraft tilts too much and stalls, overshoots the airport, or collides with another aircraft, you lose the game...and your pilot's license...and probably your life.

From Montreal to Tokyo, each airport offers its own set of challenges. Watch out for the turbulence as this could end up being a bumpy ride!

AWARDS & HONORS

2025 - Beeple Award - Winner

2024 - BoardLive Awards - Winner

2024 - Gagnant Prix Jokers - catégorie Duo

2024 - Gagnant Gold'n Gob - catégorie 2 joueurs

2024 - Gagnant Mensa d'Or - catégorie Meilleur jeu Duo

2024 - Nederlandse Spellenprijs 2024 Winner

2024 - Deutscher Spiele Preis 2024 - 2nd place

2024 - BG Stats - Most popular game

2024 - Gra roku (Game of the year Poland) - 2 player category winner

2024 - International Gamers Awards - 2 player category winner

2023 - Swams des Jahres winner

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best 2 player game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Best cooperative game

2024 - Dice Tower Awards - Most innovative game

2024 - Spiel des Jahres Winner

2024 - Best Light Game - BBQ Awards

2024 - Best Cooperative Board Game - Origins Awards

2024 - Best 2023 Insider Game - Les Lys (Québec)

2024 - Game of the Year - Spiel des Jahres 2024 (Germany)

2024 - Best 2-Player & Innovation Gameplay - Big Awards 2024

2024 - Best 2-Player & Cooperative Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

Runner up for Best Innovative & Thematic Game - Golden Geek Awards 2023

2023 - Best Cooperative Game - Board Game Quest

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Board Game Arena Awards

2023 - Best 2-Player Game - Squirrelly Awards

2023 - Best Board Game - Dicebreaker Tabletop Awards

2023 - Two Player Board Game Winner - Game Boy Geek

2023 - Best Co-Op Game - Gaming Trend

2023 - Seal of Excellence - Dice Tower

—description from the publisher

Not available
8.0
1-4
Complexity: 4.1

Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful not to neglect one in pursuit of the other.

The aim of Scholars of the South Tigris is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained by translating scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 guilds, and by retiring translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is triggered once all 4 caliph cards have been revealed.

—description from the publisher

Not available
8.1
1-4
Complexity: 3.9

When all you can identify in the horizon for many long days is the line that detaches the sea from the sky, the glimpse of a distant shore appearing before you will make you shiver at the understanding that the adventure is about to begin.

You find yourself astonished, landing on the shore that will be the origin of an extensive exploration through the Galapagos, a magic place of inconceivable beauty and endless biodiversity. There, you will gather repertoires and expand your knowledge of the natural sciences. Your eyes will learn how to detect the hidden species in the tropical forest, gazing at the countless colors and textures of nature. After inspiring hours spent studying and getting to enlightening conclusions, you will rest under a sparkling sky, admiring the stunning complexity of the animal realm.

Darwin's Journey is a worker-placement Eurogame in which players recall Charles Darwin's memories of his adventure through the Galapagos islands, which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

With the game's innovative worker progression system, each worker will have to study the disciplines that are a prerequisite to perform several actions in the game, such as exploration, correspondence, gathering, and dispatch of repertoires found on the island to museums in order to contribute to the human knowledge of biology. The game lasts five rounds, and thanks to several short- and long-term objectives, every action you take will grant victory points in different ways.

Not available
8.0
1-2
Complexity: 3.2

The Oranienburg canal, which gave this game its name, was built between 1832 and 1837 in Brandenburg. The Havel River was difficult to navigate near the Oranienburg mills, so a canal was built from the Havel that crossed the older Ruppin canal, thereby forming the Oranienburg canal cross. During the industrialization in the 19th century, lots of companies and businesses were formed at this important waterway. Moreover, additional streets and railways were built.

In Oranienburger Kanal, you erect new industries and shape the infrastructure by building pathways, streets, railways, and canals. Most important of all are bridges that connect buildings. To do all of this, you have access to various actions that you select in the right moments.

At the end of the game, the player with the best industrial area and the best infrastructure wins.

Oranienburger Kanal also includes a solo game!

—description from the publisher

Not available
8.0
1-4
Complexity: 3.0
Language dependency: 1.0

The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimyo, from the top of the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where the koi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd the gates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circles of the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return to their clan.

In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans in order to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amass influence in the court, manage resources boldly, and place their workers in the right place at the right time. The authors are Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The Red Cathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terrible behind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle, where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimyo Sakai Tadakiyo.

The White Castle is a Euro type game with mechanics of resource management, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. During the game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tend the gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of the nobility. At the end of the match, these will award players victory points in a variety of ways.

The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor, divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room of the Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until they reach the circle closest to the Daimyo to enjoy his favor. There is also the pond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone can relax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important area is the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and stand guard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three types of dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and the personal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resources and where they will have the reserve of workers.

With accessible rules and a very careful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile title that will fit in with different gaming groups. As is tradition with Llama Dice titles, its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within the grasp of players.

—description from the publisher

Not available
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