2021 has come to an end, I don't know if you have played any impressive new board games this year?
This year's board game market is actually affected by the global epidemic, there are basically no "phenomenon-level" masterpieces, but there are also many new works with good reputation and rapid rise in BGG rankings, and the quality and playability of these new works also need more players and longer time to test.
Let's take a look at what board games can be ranked in the top "500" of the BGG list this year!
Sleeping Gods
BGG overall ranking: 221
Suitable number of people: 1-4 people, the best 2 people
Game Genre: Co-op, Adventure, Storybook, Sandbox open world
In this game, the player plays the role of the crew of the Scorpion-tailed Lion ship, lost in a strange world, and in order to return home, they must awaken the sleeping ancient gods. Along the way, you'll work together to explore the island, improve your crew in various stories and battles, and search for the totems of the gods hidden everywhere.
The publisher has produced masterpieces such as Oasis Cave Sky and Near and Far, and has a wealth of experience in story-driven, but this time they have increased the volume of the familiar mode, and the game map is an atlas, each page represents a small part of the world that players can explore, and together they form a huge open world.
When you want to pause the game, you can record your progress on the travel log, and the next time you play it, you can easily get back to place, and the freedom to explore is very high. The game's art is very fresh and exquisite, you can experience an immersive sandbox adventure, players who like this type of game will fall in love with it at a glance! At present, Chinese version has been launched, you may wish to experience it~
Cascadia
BGG Overall Ranking: 224
Suitable number of people: 1-4 people, the best 2-3 people
Game Type: Plate Splicing, Family, Competition
In this game, players, as adventurers, will experience a hike in the continent of Cascadia, a habitat for wild animals, creating a healthier and more harmonious ecosystem by placing sections of habitats and raising wild animals in them.
Players will start with three hexagonal habitat plates, then select a new combination of habitat plates and wildlife markers in each round, stitch the new plates into pieces with the original plates, place the wildlife markers on the habitat suitable for them, and finally the player will score points according to their layout.
This kind of abstract game that is simple to use, has a high appearance, and can also learn wildlife knowledge has always been popular with the majority of families. At present, Chinese version has been launched, and if you want to enter the pit board game, you may wish to start with this type of game!
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
BGG overall ranking: 230
Suitable number of people: 2-5 people, the best 4 people
Game Type: Card, Cooperative, Eat Mound
This is the sequel to BGG's #42 Star Quest, and players who have successfully returned from the universe have thrown themselves into the arms of the deep sea in search of the lost continent of Mu, and how far you can go depends entirely on your teamwork.
The core mechanics of the game are also to cooperate in the case of restricting communication (because the deep sea interferes with communication), and the condition of victory is to eat the corresponding cards (and some other mission objectives) according to the requirements of the mission.
However, in this game, the setting of the mission has changed, and the player will randomly draw the mission cards, so the reopenability has increased. The Chinese version of the game is not yet heard, but the amount of text is not large, and the English version does not affect the game experience.
Ankh: Gods of Egypt
BGG overall ranking: 414
Suitable number of people: 2-5 people, the best 2 or 4 people
Game Type: German, Zone Control, Model, Combat
This is the final chapter of Eric M. Lang Wolf's mythical trilogy, in which the player transforms into the Egyptian gods and engages in a fierce battle of gods for believers and offerings, and only the last one who survives can become the only true god in all of Egypt.
It follows the perfect game experience of the territory control and cool mutual car of this series of works, and contains very typical "wolf-style" design elements such as "mouth cannon, guessing boxing, psychological game" and so on.
In addition, a very magical "fusion" mechanism has been introduced, after the third conflict, the two players with the lowest faith will merge into one, discussing tactics, sharing technology and dual divine abilities, bringing a new change to the battlefield and giving the last player the opportunity to surpass the Jedi. And if you are too passive and wait for the combination to turn over, you will also be eliminated early because the score is not up to standard.
The basic game contains a total of 50+ gods and creature models, and there are also large statues of gods with a height of more than 10cm, which can be greatly satisfied by German and American players! At present, Chinese version has been launched, and if you are interested, you can fight!
Reinventing Mars: The Ares Expedition
BGG overall ranking: 419
Suitable number of people: 1-4 people, the best 3 people
Game Type: German, Card, Variable Action Sequence
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition is a card version of the famous Reinventing Mars (aka Colonizing Mars), preserving the original Martian experience while giving players a new option that is both portable and short-lived.
As a lightweight version, in addition to streamlining the accessories and layout of the original game, it also simplifies the action stage and settlement sequence of the game by using an action lottery mechanism. Each round can be roughly divided into three stages: planning, settlement and ending, and players can act at the same time in each stage, which greatly shortens the game time and waiting time, and optimizes the game experience.
In general, it continues the essence of Mars, simplifies complexity, boldly changes the heart, brings surprises to many Martian fans, and also opens up a new path for newcomers to enter the pit mars. At present, the Chinese version is about to be shipped, and friends who have participated in the pre-sale of the "New Thing Collection" can take the lead in experiencing it!
Destinies
BGG overall ranking: 489
Suitable number of people: 1-3 people, the best 2 people
Game Type: American Story, Cooperative Adventure, Role Playing, Free Exploration
This is a rare large-scale American new game in this inventory, it is a story-driven adventure exploration game with competitive elements of the APP, the game is set in the dark Middle Ages, and the player plays a hero to complete his mission.
The game has a unique destiny system, which consists of a series of side quests, and each turn the player will discover a completely new part of the world and choose a point of interest to explore. Every choice is crucial because it changes the state of the world and ultimately there are at least two completely different paths to victory. Through cooperation and competition, players strive to push the world to the end of their destiny.
By introducing the APP, the results of the player's interaction with the scene in the game are opaque, which greatly increases the fun of exploration. However, the amount of plot text in the game is not small, and the English bitters can only wait for the news of the Chinese version.
This is currently ranked in the top 500 of the BGG list of several new works in 2021, 221 "Sleeping Gods" is currently the fastest rising game, and most of them are abstract, family and German games, the American style seems to be a little weak, maybe the epidemic has really brought a lot of challenges to the production capacity of major board game manufacturers... I hope that in the new year, we can get rid of the impact of the epidemic as soon as possible and see more competitive masterpieces.