Tis the season to buy more board games for your friends and family (and maybe even treat yourself)! Selecting the perfect gift can often be a Nightmare before Christmas, but worry not, Bitewing Games is here to guide you to some of the hottest games of the year for casual and hobbyist gamer alike.

Our selection criteria for this guide includes the following:

• The games have been tried, tested, and approved by us and/or trusted critics
• The games are generally available to purchase (links will be provided below to sites where you can purchase them)
• We won’t recommend anything from our past Holiday Gift Guides, but we still fully endorse those previous guides, so if you need even more recommendations then check out our 2020 Guide.

For your information, we receive no financial compensation, sponsorship, or advertisement money for this guide or these recommendations. The following are simply games we genuinely believe are great Holiday gifts. So why even make this guide? Well for one, we love to see this hobby grow. It means more games, gamers, and fun for everyone! Second, if you find value in our content, then we’d love to have you join our Bitewing Games newsletter! We use our newsletter to send regular updates regarding our latest content (like this gift guide) and publications (such as our Criminal Capers Collection of card games).

Let’s dive into the fun! Our 2021 Holiday Board Game Gift Guide is split into sections for your scrolling convenience (or you can click the link to jump to that section of the page):

• Gifts for the Casual Board Gamer
• Gifts for your Significant Other
• Stocking Stuffer Games (small & cheap!)
• Perfect games for your Holiday Party
• Gifts for the Hobbyist Board Gamer

Gifts for the Casual Board Gamer

Many people enjoy a good board or card game, but they don’t have the time or energy to invest in long/complicated games. The following games all play in roughly an hour or less and feature easy rules with stellar gameplay—perfect for any friends or family!

Kabuto Sumo – $34

If you’re at all familiar with coin pushing games found at the arcade, then you already understand the core mechanism of Kabuto Sumo. In this game, players are beetle wrestlers who try to push opponents out of the ring to win. This box is filled with chunky wooden discs and tokens of various shapes and sizes, and it features some of the most refreshing gameplay in years (click here to read my full impressions of the game).

This one features a kid-friendly mode, and competitive mode for adults, and works great from 2-4 players. In short, you can’t go wrong with making this Christmas a Kabuto Christmas.

Support the Publisher—Buy directly from Board Game Tables (this game is only available directly from the publisher)

Equinox – $40

Equinox is a fantastic card game from Reiner Knizia with a lovely presentation from artist Chris Quilliams. For those who aren’t aware, Reiner Knizia is the very same designer who invented our Criminal Capers Collection!

Here, players place bets on which mystical creatures they believe will last until the end of the game, and then they must play their cards wisely to keep their chosen champions alive! There is loads of replayability to be enjoyed here, as each session is crammed with cutthroat player interaction and uses only eight of the fourteen creatures and their unique abilities. You can learn more about why we love this game in my first impressions post.

Support the Publisher—Buy Equinox directly from Plan B Games

See current Equinox deals from online retailers

Hibachi – $30

If you’ve been looking to become a master chef, here’s your big chance!

Like Kabuto Sumo, Hibachi also features a mix of strategy and dexterity. This unique blend of mechanisms is one that I found to be quite engaging! 2-4 players take turns tossing their poker chips onto the large board, and they can buy or sell the ingredients that their chips land on. You can even aim for the smaller bonus spaces or knock opponent discs away from coveted spots. A precise flick of the wrist helps, but you’ll also need to play smart to manage your money wisely and outbid your competition.

All this is part of a race to complete three recipes first and win the game. It’s delightfully unique, it’s deliciously challenging, it’s Hibachi.

See current Hibachi deals from online retailers (this one is not available to purchase directly from publisher Grail Games)

Ethnos – $40

Don’t let the box art scare you off! Ethnos actually shares a lot in common with legendary family game Ticket to Ride. I admit that the visuals of this game could be more attractive and inviting, but what if I told you that I’ve introduced this game to dozens of people (friends, family, gamers, non-gamers) and ALL have LOVED it? It’s true! There’s a reason that Ethnos is in my top 50 games of all time!

Let Kyle share with you why this game rocks in only 7 minutes:

Support the Publisher—Buy Ethnos directly from CMON/Asmodee

See current Ethnos deals from online retailers

Chinatown – $45

I love a good game of trading and negotiation, and Chinatown is one of the best of this genre. Like Ethnos, this classic is a massive crowdpleaser. It features dead simple rules, wonderfully memorable player interactions, and satisfyingly clever possibilities.

The magic of Chinatown lies in the fact that you can trade anything however you’d like—property, tiles, money, favors, you name it! There is something so raw and satisfying about turning your worthless assets into profitable deals. But at the end of the day, the player with the most money earned from lucrative deals and businesses is the ultimate winner. This one is ranked #10 in my top 50 board games of all time, and it becomes an instant favorite for nearly everyone I show it to. Enough said.

See current Chinatown deals from online retailers (this one is not currently available directly from publisher Z-Man Games/Asmodee)

Gifts for your Significant Other

Want to give a game that says “I love you?” How about a game that you can enjoy together over and over again? We’ve got you covered with these recommendations:

My City – $35

If you follow Bitewing Games and the content we put out, then you understand that we are physically incapable of recommending My City enough. This masterclass polyomino legacy game from Reiner Knizia is featured in:

• My top 50 games list
• Our recent podcast discussion of games we’ve been playing
• My interview with designer Reiner Knizia himself
• My Top 10 Reiner Knizia Games article
• My deep dive article into what makes games refreshingly replayable
• My Battle of the Polyomino games article (spoilers: My City won)
• My top 15 board games of 2020 list
• Our top 10 Family Games podcast episode

…You get the picture. Now for a warning: don’t let the above list trick you into setting your expectations 300 miles high. The truth is that My City is simply an easy to recommend game, and it’s especially good for couples and families. My wife and I loved playing through it at 2 players, and this one scales all the way up to 4. I can think of few holiday activities better than cozying up to the table with some hot cocoa, a loved one, and My City.

See current My City deals from online retailers (this one is not currently available directly from publisher Kosmos)

Riftforce – $30

Riftforce is one of the few games on this list that I personally haven’t tried yet, but that’s only because it hasn’t yet been released to retail in the US (at the time of this writing). But worry not, this one hits stores in October and is available directly from the publisher today!

I’ve already preordered my copy, and that’s because Riftforce is already released in Europe and pleasing consumers and critics alike. It even earned itself a spot on my most anticipated games of 2021 part II list. This game takes some inspiration from the likes of Battle Line (Schotten Totten) and Air, Land, and Sea where two players duel across multiple rift spaces as they play cards onto their side of the rift. The interesting wrinkle here is that players assemble their own deck of four asymmetric guilds from the ten that come in the box.

Crafting and executing the right combo at the right time will be key to victory in this simple, strategic 30 minute card game.

Support the Publisher—Buy Riftforce directly from Capstone Games

See current Riftforce deals from online retailers

Royal Visit – $25

Who doesn’t like a good tug-of-war? Royal Visit is a gorgeous new version of a classic Reiner Knizia tug-of-war game where two competing players attract guards, a jester, a wizard, and the king himself toward their end of the board by playing cards of a matching type. Each figure has its own interesting traits and abilities, and the ultimate goal is to get the king into your castle.

We’re big fans of this game at my house… we even played it again last night, twice! I dive into the nitty gritty details of Royal Visit with my first impressions post here.

Support the Publisher—Buy Royal Visit directly from Iello

See current Royal Visit deals from online retailers

Summoner Wars (Second Edition) – $50

If asymmetric dice combat chess is more your gift receiver’s style, then Summoner Wars fits the bill. The second edition of this much beloved game is a more polished and perfected version that released this year. Play cards onto the grid-based board, slide them from one space to the next, line up to attack your opponent’s cards, and bring down their summoner using your unique abilities! My first impressions of the game have shown that this is absolutely the way to go for those who prefer meaty yet streamlined dueling.

Support the Publisher—Buy Summoner Wars (Second Edition) directly from Plaid Hat Games

See current Summoner Wars deals from online retailers

Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! – $30

Here we have another hotly anticipated, soon-to-be-released game that is indeed titled “Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!” This one comes at us from one of my favorite designers, namely Paolo Mori, designer of Dogs of War, Ethnos (mentioned above), and Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg is an especially notable one here, as Caesar is the spiritual sibling to this critically acclaimed game, and its real title is Blitzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 Minutes (see the resemblance? ;).

Now listen here, I know what some of you are thinking: “I have zero interest in war games.” I get it, I was thinking the same thing when I first encountered Blitzkrieg. But even more than being a war game, Blitzkrieg is a tactical tug-of-war game (much like Royal Visit), and Caesar takes much of the same DNA of Blitzkrieg and turns it into an area majority game.

The elegance of these games lies within their turn-by-turn structure… simply place a tile onto the board (from your three tile options that are hidden behind your screen), resolve the effects, and draw another tile from your bag. This formula makes for one of the most tense and engaging 20 minutes out there. It’s why Blitzkrieg is also in my top 50 board games of all time.

Support the Publisher—Buy Caesar directly from PSC Games

See current Summoner Wars deals from online retailers

Stocking Stuffer Gifts

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, with hopes that small games would be placed in there. These ones are both conveniently compact and blessedly affordable. And they pack a punch!

Durian – $23

You can never go wrong with a stocking stuffer gift from publisher Oink Games. Their tiny, charming rectangular boxes were practically born to be nestled in stockings and hung by the chimney with care.

Durian is one of the best new Oink game releases of recent years about taking fruity orders and calling the grumpy gorilla boss on your co-workers. It’s simple, it’s fast, and it’s hilarious. We’ve enjoyed it so much that it even made my Top 15 Games of 2020 list.

Support the Publisher—Buy Durian directly from Oink Games (note to US buyers: you’ll need to select the Japanese language option… it comes with an English rulebook as noted in the description)

See current Durian deals from online retailers

Schotten Totten 2 – $15

Whether you’re a fan of the original Schotten Totten (aka Battle Line) or have never heard of those wacky words, Schotten Totten 2 is an excellent little 2-player game that should be on your radar.

Much like its predecessor, ST2 is all about playing chicken against the player across the table from you by forming poker-style sets of cards from your hand (runs, sets, sums, etc.). This sequel is unique in that the competing players have asymmetric roles, objectives, and abilities. The defender must protect their wall and keep the attacker from breaking through. Check out my first impressions of this clever card game here.

Support the Publisher—Buy Schotten Totten 2 directly from Iello

See current Schotten Totten 2 deals from online retailers

Illusion – $13

From Wolfgang Warsch, the designer of many popular games including Wavelength, Quacks of Quedlinburg, The Mind, and That’s Pretty Clever comes another excellent little card game.

Illusion is a tense game of arranging a growing row of cards in sequential order by the amount of one color shown on each card. The moment you feel that another player has added a card to the wrong spot, you can use your turn to challenge the sequence and reveal the backs of the cards that quantify how much area each color takes up. If your challenge is correct, then the previous player takes a penalty. If your challenge is incorrect, then you take the penalty!

I can personally vouch for this as a great stocking stuffer of optical illusions, because it’s exactly what I received and enjoyed last Christmas! I’m a huge fan of its captivating core, brilliant rules, and dramatic reveals.

Support the Publisher—Buy Illusion directly from Pandasaurus Games

See current Illusion deals from online retailers

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea – $15

We here at Bitewing Games are massive fans of The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine. You can find both my written review and Kyle’s video review of this cooperative trick-taking masterpiece.

Mission Deep Sea is the standalone sequel to our 2020 darling, and word on the street is that this one is even better. You’ll be able to get a whole lot of game out of this $15 box when it hits stores this fall. We can’t wait to try it!

Support the Publisher—Buy The Crew: Mission Deep Sea directly from Kosmos

See current The Crew: Mission Deep Sea deals from online retailers

Parade – $20

Kyle and I very recently had a podcast discussion about this quirky little Alice in Wonderland themed card game called Parade. It features gorgeous art, tough decisions, and elegant gameplay. You’ll be adding a card from your hand to the back of the parade and strategizing which colors to avoid and which colors to claim. Much like the other suggestions in this category, this one is a treasured gem on my card game shelf.

Support the Publisher—Buy Parade directly from Z-Man Games/Asmodee

See current Parade deals from online retailers

X-Trayz from Game Trayz – $2.32

Here’s a little stocking stuffer bonus for you. If your gift receiver has any bitty games that they play frequently, these trays are perfect for convenient storage and speedy organization.

It’s always satisfying when a setup merely consists of removing game trayz from the box and opening the lid. I love to fit these trays into my favorite game boxes including Concordia (for the wood resources), Dogs of War (for the cardboard tokens), and Yellow & Yangtze (for the point cubes). For games where I can’t fit the trays inside, I usually have some spare ones on hand to make for a cleaner table presence during play.

Check out all the X-Trayz options at the BGG Store.

Perfect Games for your Holiday Party

While people can never be replaced as the life of the party, a good game can help take that party to the next level. Here are our suggestions to help make your party fun and memorable…

Don’t Get Got – $22

Imagine a game where each player (up to 8 total) is given a wallet containing six secret missions they must complete. These missions challenge players to creatively trick each other without drawing suspicion.

You see, Don’t Get Got is one meta game that can be played in the background during a party, a game night, a holiday get-together, you name it! If someone calls you out on your mission attempt, then you fail it, but you’ve got six objectives total and the first person to complete three wins! I personally can’t wait to try this game of harmless and hilarious pranks… just waiting for the right occasion!

Support the Publisher—Buy Don’t Get Got directly from Big Potato Games

Skull – $20

Alongside our own upcoming Soda Smugglers, Skull is one of my favorite bluffing games thanks to its pure, tense gameplay for 3-6 players. It even earned itself a spot in my Top 10 Filler Games list (as well as the previously mentioned Parade and The Crew).

The rules are as follows: either add a coaster to your own stack facedown, or place a bid for how many coasters you think you can flip over without revealing a skull. Raising the bid sends out a signal to your opponents that your stack is safe and free of deadly skulls, but is it a false signal? If others call your bluff and leave you high and dry as the winning bidder, then your planted bluffing bomb can backfire!

It’s loud, funny, and fantastic. Just like any good party should be!

See current Skull deals from online retailers (not currently available directly from the publisher)

Bristol 1350 – $25

Bristol 1350 is a gorgeous game of wagon racing and Black Plague dodging from our friends over a Facade Games. This is the fourth game in their Dark Cities series featuring magnetic book boxes and social deduction in a grim period of history that allows 2-9 players.

I had the chance to help play and test Bristol 1350 back when it was a budding prototype, and the final production certainly packs a punch!

Support the Publisher—Buy Bristol 1350 directly from Facade Games

See current Bristol 1350 deals from online retailers

Sidereal Confluence – $70

I’ve got to be honest with you here… this one is absolutely not suited for your average Holiday Party. Sidereal Confluence is best for a tabletop gaming party where everyone comes expecting a meaty, strategic board game experience.

But boy, this one makes for a heck of an experience. Like Chinatown (recommended above), players will dive deep into simultaneous, real-time negotiation of anything and everything on the table. Only here, things are much more sprawling and complicated. Sidereal Confluence plays with up to 9 people, which is why it landed a spot on our Holiday Party board game recommendations. Just make sure you have an extra large table if you’re gathering 9 to play.

Support the Publisher—Buy Sidereal Confluence directly from WizKids

See current Sidereal Confluence deals from online retailers (I recommend you get the remastered edition pictured above, not the older version)

Decrypto – $23

Word clue games, such as the mega-hit Codenames, are all the rage these days, and for good reason! They’re usually social & casual, and they allow for creative personalities to spill into the gameplay.

Decrypto is one such game that is among our Top 10 Family Games and absolutely worthy of any party game collection. Two teams face off over multiple rounds as one player from each team crafts a code of clues that is easy enough for their team to decipher yet too tricky for their rivals to decode.

I’ve played it on over a dozen different occasions and still find it to be a killer experience. It even currently reigns supreme as the #1 ranked party game on Board Game Geek.

See current Decrypto deals from online retailers (not currently available directly from the publisher)

Rorschach – $30

Not two weeks ago I had the pleasure of trying Rorschach, the new family-friendly party game from Capstone Games and Deep Print Games. I’ll be sharing my full first impressions of this amusing little box next month, but here’s a little teaser for now:

In Rorschach, players are divided into two teams, and each team takes turns offering up a test subject who must connect three words to three inkblot images.  This is performed by placing tokens facedown onto the image cards that match the tokens which designate each topic card.  Then the group must guess which images the test subject connected to which words.  

At first, the inkblot images almost look roughly the same.  Merely a symmetrical smudge of black ink with some corners here or some squiggles there.  But thanks to the three face-up word cards which players are forced to use, the mind begins to fill in the blanks with details and silhouettes and settings that transform an incoherent mess into a tangible topic.  And it is within the cycle of these inkblot images starting out seemingly meaningless, irrelevant, and unrelated, but slowly coming to life with the help of one’s imagination that we find the magic of Rorschach.

Support the Publisher—Buy Rorschach directly from Capstone Games

See current Rorschach deals from online retailers

Gifts for the Hobbyist Board Gamer

Finally, we arrive at the meatiest section of all. No holiday board game gift guide is complete without solid recommendations for hobbyist gamers. If your gift receiver knows their Langs from their Knizias, their worker placements from their tableau builders, or if one of their favorite things to read is rulebooks, then these are the games for them…

Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile – $120

Much like Cole Wehrle’s other designs (Root, Pax Pamir, etc.), Oath is a game that is best suited for 4 or 5 gamers who love diving deep into a single design to explore its intricacies. If your gift receiver is one who never spends more than a couple plays on the latest hotness, then I suggest you keep on scrolling.

With the right group, Oath is a fascinating exploration of political powers, dynasties, and historiography. Players will spend sessions as Chancellor, citizens, and/or exiles competing to gain control of the kingdom through various objectives. Beyond the stunning production and whimsical artwork on display, every decision made by players has innovative ripple effects that influence the current game state as well as future plays. After only a few plays, this has quickly become one of my all-time favorite games.

Support the Publisher—Buy Oath directly from Leder Games

See current Oath deals from online retailers

Hansa Teutonica: Big Box – $50

On the opposite end of the spectrum from the shiny new Oath, here we have a tried and tested classic game which was recently reprinted in a regular sized box but titled Hansa Teutonica: Big Box. Despite its drab appearance, this game resides among the very best Euros thanks to its quick tempo and poignant player interaction. It’s so good that when I ranked my top board game releases of 2020, Hansa Teutonica: Big Box was number one!

On the surface, you’ll be placing out your merchants and establishing trading posts. But beneath it all you’ll be trying to outfox your opponents and take advantage of every little opportunity they give you to become the world’s greatest trader. This big box version provides plenty to explore with more game board maps that provide their own interesting wrinkles to the compelling core.

See current Hansa Teutonica: Big Box deals from online retailers (this game is not currently available directly from the publisher)

The Search for Planet X – $45

Perhaps your gamer prefers puzzly deduction over sprawling campaigns or classic Euros? Well then The Search for Planet X might just be perfect for them! Here you’ll use the help of a phone app to dole out clues to players in a smooth, flawless system where you can only blame yourself for any deductive errors.

Another benefit to this game is that each player can start at different difficulty levels (with more or less clues), thereby evening the playing field against more experienced players. It’s a fun puzzle to crack that comes highly recommended by yours truly.

Support the Publisher—Buy the Search for Planet X directly from Renegade Games

See current The Search for Planet X deals from online retailers

Beyond the Sun – $85

If there is any game on this list that is least likely to disappoint your gamer, it’s Beyond the Sun. That’s because this game has been the most popular new release I’ve shown all of my gaming friends. This futuristic, sci-fi game lets players develop technologies, colonize planets, and build an incredibly satisfying economic engine.

It was number fifteen on my top games of 2020… but since making that list, it has only gotten better with each play, and an updated version of that list would rank Beyond the Sun much higher. Between the collaborative tech track and aggressive planet board, there is something here for everyone.

See current Beyond the Sun deals from online retailers (this game is not available directly from the publisher, and it is expected to have a retailer restock in October)

Iberian Gauge – $40

It’s hard to resist the allure of a good box cover, and artist Ian O’Toole knows how to bring out best in a cube rails game. Iberian Gauge comes to us hot off the assembly line from the creators of Irish Gauge (illustrator O’Toole, designer Amabel Holland, and publisher Capstone Games). For those who aren’t familiar, cube rails games tend to feature simple rules (only 1 sheet of paper), shared incentives, stock opportunities, and network building goodness.

Iberian Gauge features an interesting balance of railroad investments and expenditures where the money you pay for stock becomes that company’s budget for expansion. The mix of strategy and tactics within this Iron Rail series (Iberian Gauge being the third in the series) has never failed to engage me. This one will surely make for a slim & slick gift.

Support the Publisher—But Iberian Gauge directly from Capstone Games

See current Iberian Gauge deals from online retailers

Article written by Nick Murray. Outside of practicing dentistry part-time, Nick has devoted his remaining work-time to collaborating with the world’s best designers, illustrators, and creators in producing classy board games that bite. He hopes you’ll join Bitewing Games in their quest to create and share experiences that, much like a bitewing x-ray, provide a unique perspective and refreshing interaction.

The post 2021 Holiday Board Game Gift Guide appeared first on Bitewing Games.

These past few weeks, my family has been bracing ourselves for our cross-country move to sunny Arizona.  As everybody knows, July is the perfect time of year to move there… for anyone looking to be baked by Mother Nature.  

If there’s anything that is just as reliable as as a hot summer in Arizona, perhaps it would be my enjoyment of a solid auctioning game.  There are a surprising number of ways that bidding and auctions can be incorporated into a board game, and I’ve had a blast exploring this entire spectrum of possibilities over the years.

In celebration of our own auctioning games launching on Kickstarter next month that are designed by the master Auctioneer himself, Reiner Knizia, I thought it fitting to explore the many games which have fostered my love for this genre.  The notable titles below are huge reasons why we loved auctioning game Hot Lead and quasi-auctioning game Pumafiosi enough to publish them ourselves.

Rather than rank these bidding games in order from my most to least favorite, I decided it would be more fun to award my favorites by category and type.  Hopefully these categories help you to find a new great game that would fit in perfectly with your collection…

Meanest Auctioning Game

The Estates

The Estates wins this category by a country mile… or maybe a city block?  You can’t possibly prepare a newcomer for the lurking savagery of the colorful, blocky Estates.  What starts out as innocent one-time around auctions to place out pleasant building blocks onto city plots rapidly crumbles into nasty maneuvers and cold-blooded tactics. 

Players can have their hopes dashed when their tall, valuable tower is covered and reclaimed by another player.  But even worse is the calculated sabotage of an entire row that contains your most valuable investments.  When the game ends, any incomplete rows transform from positive points to negative points.  And if I don’t have any personal investments on a particular row, then you better believe that’s my number one target. 

The Estates can go so far as to see the entire board fall into ruin with the player who earns the least negative points claiming the blood-soaked victory.

Honorable Mentions

• Age of Steam
• Tammany Hall

Best Large Group Auctioning Game

Medici

Auctioning games typically take a “the more, the merrier” approach, and perhaps nowhere is this more true than Reiner Knizia’s Medici.  Up to six players bid with their precious points on goods to fill their ships.  More players leads to more competition on the board and for the precious cargo, and navigating this wild journey is all kinds of fun, especially at a full table.  It’s these kinds of auctioning designs that often blur the line between strategy game and party game.

Honorable Mentions

• For Sale
• The Estates
• Skull

Best Small Group Auctioning Game

Biblios

There are quite a few auctioning games that play well at 3 players, but there are very few that play best at 3 and well at only 2.  I would argue that Reiner Knizia’s Hot Lead and Pumafiosi are strong upcoming contenders in this category, but for now Biblios is one of the few titles that excels within small game groups.  The reasons why it made my Top 10 Filler Games are the very same reasons why it’s such a great auctioning game.  And every time I’m with one or two other gamers looking for a fun, quick romp, Biblios is always an easy pick.

Best Game with just a Hint of Auctioning

Oath, Sidereal Confluence

These two mammoth games are like melting pots of all kinds of tasty mechanisms, and one of their shared flavors is that of auctioning.  

In Oath, these auctions take the form of claimed banners with either favor or secrets that pile high on them.  Both banners are frequently critical to the victor’s success, and the main way to reclaim them is through outbidding the current stack that the owner used to claim them.  Of course, you can also just simply sidestep the auctioning all together and bring in your war bands to steal them by force, but that can often be an even trickier route to take.

Sidereal Confluence’s auctions are one of the few mechanisms that breaks up the loud, lively simultaneous negotiation that makes up core of this game.  Yet, like Oath, this mechanism is not to be dismissed, as earning the right research or technology card with a strong bid of ship tokens can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Best Looking Auctioning Game

Modern Art

Huh.  A game about buying and selling art is the best looking auctioning game.  Go figure.  Of course, I’m not counting Oath as an official auctioning game for most of these categories or it would just win everything, including this one.  I’m just surprised that this category wasn’t more contested.  Going through all of the possible options, it seems that most auctioning games are pretty average looking, or the art is nice but the generic theme brings it down, but at least there are a few notably exceptional box covers mixed in. At any rate, Modern Art is a pleasure to lay out and look at thanks to its large, diverse art cards and wooden gavel.

Honorable Mentions

• Irish Gauge
• Age of Steam: Deluxe Edition
• Skull

Best All-Around Auctioning Game

Modern Art

Back-to-back victories for Modern Art!  If you know anything about it, you should have seen this game being a strong performer on my list from a mile away.  That’s because Modern Art possesses FOUR different types of auctions that keep each session saturated with bombastic bidding from start to finish.  It’s also designed by Reiner Knizia himself, who practically has a trademark on auctioning mechanisms.  I’ve already spoken plenty about Modern Art, as this one earned a spot among my Top 10 Knizia Games and Top 50 Board Games of All Time lists.

Honorable Mentions

• Amun-Re
• For Sale

Most Unique Auctioning Game

Hibachi, Q.E., Cyclades, Downforce

That’s right, this one is a four-way tie for me!  Hibachi, Cyclades, and Downforce all earned their way onto this category because they mix auctioning with something else entirely to make a truly distinct experience.  

Hibachi (or the original version, Safranito) is a dexterity set-collection game of tossing your poker chips facedown onto a board.  Once the chips are out, they are flipped face up and function as bidding tokens for the actions spaces that they landed on.  I’m eager to try out the new Hibachi when the kickstarter fulfills soon.

Cyclades is a member of the classic Matagot area control trilogy composed of Kemet, Cyclades, and Inis.  This one mixes auctioning, in the form of offerings to the gods, with area control where the player who wins an auction for a particular god earns their blessing and executes their category of actions.

Downforce is a modernized version of a racing game originally designed by Wolfgang Kramer.  Players will place bets on cars as they seek to help give their own racers the edge.  But the way you earn a car is through bidding on them at the start of the game.  Whatever amount you pay for your winning bids will be subtracted from your score at the end.

The final auctioning game that feels refreshingly unique, Q.E., doesn’t need any fancy mechanical hybridization tricks to be here.  In fact, it even takes some inspiration from Reiner Knizia’s classic High Society in the way that its highest cumulative bidder is eliminated from victory at the end.  Yet the reason it still feels extremely unique is because players are allowed to bid any amount from zero to infinity.  If that piques your interest, then Kyle sums up the rest of the game nicely in his 6-minute review.

Best New(ish) Auctioning Game

Nidavellir

I recently shared how Nidavellir won me over with its novel coin bidding and upgrading system despite the rest of the design playing things a little too safe.  Yet as I looked back over the past few years, I was surprised to find that nothing else tops it among the newly released titles of this genre.  Most of my top picks are over 3 years old, and many are even decades old.  So if you’re looking for the freshest auctioning game around, you can’t go wrong with the dwarf-infused Nidavellir.  

Best Auctioning Game I Haven’t Played (Yet)

Keyflower, The Great Zimbabwe

On my shelf of opportunity and among my preorders are the legendary designs Keyflower and The Great Zimbabwe, respectively.  These are two games I anxiously await the chance to play, as Keyflower ranks highly across the board from the many trusted hobbyists I follow while The Great Zimbabwe appears to be a solid step up from our household favorite Splotter game, Bus.  I’m very much looking forward to bidding with workers in Keyflower and cows in The Great Zimbabwe.

Honorable Mentions

• Dream Factory
• Container

Most Regret-Filled Auctions

Age of Steam

No game makes you feel worse for over-spending in the auctions or under-spending with your bid than the legendary Age of Steam by Martin Wallace.  That’s because bidding determines the turn order for the rest of the round, and even going one turn too late can mean the difference between making a lucrative route or delivery and being royally screwed by your opponents.  To make matters worse, if you don’t plan and budget your money with the meticulous care of Ebenezer Scrooge, then you can quickly find yourself plummeting back down the income track to bankruptcy and elimination.

Honorable Mentions

• El Grande
• The Estates
• High Society

Best Auctioning Game of Chicken

Condottiere, Skull, Taj Mahal

We’ve got another multi-way tie here between Condottiere, Skull, and Taj Mahal.  If you’re not familiar with the term “game of chicken,” I typically imagine two drivers speeding their cars toward each other, waiting for the other to be the first to “chicken” out by veering off course before a deadly collision.  That’s basically what these three games feel like, and I love ‘em for it.

Condottiere is the perfect card game for feigning your intentions and bluffing your hand as you play in a series of battles over individual regions.  Yet if that’s not sneaky enough for you, then Skull is bluffing distilled down to its purest form.  It’s another one that earned a place among my top filler games as it perfectly blends bluffing and bidding into a hilarious romp.  Yet for those looking for a fully fledged, strategic board game, no big box game does chicken better than the tense auctions of Reiner Knizia’s Taj Mahal.  We can only hope that another publisher picks this one up and reprints soon.

Honorable Mentions

• High Society
• For Sale

Best Shared Incentive Auctioning Game

Irish Gauge, Chicago Express, Modern Art, The Estates

Auctioning mechanisms and shared incentive gameplay go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Except I’m allergic to peanuts, and I prefer my jelly on warm toast, not cold bread… 

Whatever, it’s fine.  Here we have four games that band players together as easily as they tear them apart across evil auctions and engaging gameplay.  Interestingly, all four of these games see players selecting the item to auction off on their turn from a range of options.  Typically, you want to see some of your opponents invested in the same things as you to help protect those investments for external colluders.  The key is to benefit more from all those shared investments than anyone else.

Best Overall Auctioning Game

Ra

This list would be automatically disqualified if it didn’t feature the legendary Ra among its rankings.  It’s difficult to describe exactly how Ra achieves the pinnacle of auctioning games, but perhaps that’s related to the fact that it’s also a difficult game to acquire (at least until its inevitable reprint). 

The thing that makes Ra stand above the rest is the dynamic tension it provides thanks to its irresistible push-your-luck + auctioning combo within Knizia’s signature set collection scoring.  This entrancing, unsolvable beast is light on its feet through its perfect pacing and emergent gameplay.  You almost have to play it to believe it.

Two New Auctioning Games Coming Fresh out of the Oven

Hot Lead, Pumafiosi

Believe it or not, master Auctioneer Reiner Knizia still isn’t finished riffing on one of his favorite mechanisms.  When he presented to us a wide variety of fresh, unpublished card games for our consideration, we were delighted to discover these particular designs.  Hot Lead and Pumafiosi both hit the spot as 20-minute capers perfect for a casual family gathering or a hobbyist filler activity.  Even after all the great auctioning games I’ve explored, I’ve found plenty of reasons to love the distinct auctioning twist that Knizia has given to these two games.

In Hot Lead, players participate in sealed bidding by using the 11 card hand they start with.  Similar to the second phase of For Sale, players select a card from their hand, place it face down on the table, reveal their cards simultaneously, and earn a specific reward from the middle depending on what everyone else bid.  Yet in Hot Lead, the low cards in your hand are just as valuable as the middle and high ones!  That’s because the highest bidder doesn’t lay claim the most valuable reward.  Rather, they simply lay claim to the card that is positioned closest to deck in the column of displayed cards.

Hot Lead also features the tasty combination of push-your-luck and auctioning that fans of Ra have come to love.  Of course players want to win the higher value cards on display for their inherent points, but the juicier prize lies within the formation of sets of exactly three cards of the same type.  You see, a set of three cards of the same type represents enough evidence collected on one criminal organization, perfect for convicting them for 10 bonus points at the end of the game.  The only problem is that once a fourth card of that type is collected, you’ve investigated too aggressively and scare the criminals underground, losing yourself all four cards of that type!

What results is a game of reading your opponents’ minds—predicting which evidence cards they are hungry for and what numbers they will bid with—in order to claim the right evidence for yourself and force the wrong evidence onto your opponents.  It’s a roller coaster of a game that punches way above its simple rules and zippy playtime, and we can’t wait for you to enjoy it as well.

While Hot Lead is unquestionably the auctioning game of Reiner Knizia’s Criminal Capers Collection, Pumafiosi offers its own interesting combination of quasi-bidding and quasi-trick taking.  I say quasi because each round sees participants playing one card from their hand face-up to the table in clockwise order with the second highest card winning the trick or auction or whatever you want to call it.  Why the second highest, you ask?  Because Pumafia members don’t want to stick their necks out too far or they’ll end up in prison or dead.

The winner of each round takes their winning card and uses it to claim a point-scoring step on the Pumafia Hierarchy.  The catch is that those points won’t be scored until the end of the game, and opponents can claim your spot and knock your card down by playing higher value cards on that same step.  The twist that really makes you second-guess where to stake your claim in the Hierarchy is the fact that every step you get knocked down earns you negative penalty points in addition to the shrinking Hierarchy points.

We are now less than a month away from launching the Kickstarter campaign for Reiner Knizia’s Criminal Capers Collection, and we need your help to bring these games to life.  We here at Bitewing Games do not currently have the luxury of bringing these games direct to retail.  Our only hope is that those who share in our passion for juicy auctioning games, for clever Knizia designs, for thoughtful productions and a striking table presence, will also share in our vision for the Criminal Capers Collection.

If you would like to support Bitewing Games for the meaningful content we share, for the refreshing games we are crafting, and for the exciting plans we have in store, then the best thing you can do is subscribe to our newsletter or social media channels of your preference, prepare for our August Kickstarter, and share this upcoming campaign with anyone and everyone who may be interested.

Thanks for your support.  And please share with us your favorite auctioning games, especially the ones that were left off this list!  I’m always hungry for more of that good stuff…

Article written by Nick Murray. Outside of practicing dentistry part-time, Nick has devoted his remaining work-time to collaborating with the world’s best designers, illustrators, and creators in producing classy board games that bite. He hopes you’ll join Bitewing Games in their quest to create and share experiences that, much like a bitewing x-ray, provide a unique perspective and refreshing interaction.

The post Top Auctioning Board Games appeared first on Bitewing Games.

Not much of a reader? You’re in luck! This post also exists in podcast form shown below. Happy listening!

It’s about time to kiss (or more appropriately, kick) 2020 goodbye! As we hopefully look forward to a new year of long-awaited returns to normalcy, what better way to get hyped than to peek behind the curtains and get a glimpse of the most exciting board games to come!

I’ve cooked up quite the list with a variety of promising titles that might just deserve a spot on your wishlist. Several of these games were also explored in my Kickstarter Case Study: How to Win Backers and Fund Projects. Let’s see what’s on the 2021 menu…

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile – Q2/Q3 2021

We might as well start off with my most anticipated game of 2021. Cole Wehrle’s magnum opus is right around the corner. With the publishing passion of Leder Games, the artistic flex of Kyle Ferrin, and the design chops of one of the industry’s hottest designers, we’ve got a recipe for success in Oath. Along the lines of Root and Pax Pamir, Oath is a highly strategic, cutthroat, and political game that best suits a group of regular players.

This title innovates upon legacy and campaign designs by taking the results of one game and integrating them into the objectives and setup of the next. Nothing is scripted or predetermined, rather the game organically follows a meta narrative controlled entirely by the decisions of the players. The ripple effect of players’ actions will be felt by all for games to come, and they can even keep record of this fascinating history in the Chronicle Session Journal (included in the kickstarter copies or likely to be available directly from Leder Games).

Kemet: Blood and Sand – Summer 2021

The area-control darling, Kemet, has been an established favorite for nearly a decade now. In 2021, Matagot will be releasing version 2.0 with a completely revamped presentation, improved rules, and new gameplay. Matagot’s legendary dudes-on-a-map trilogy has proven its worth to me with the incredible card-drafting Inis and solid auction-style Cyclades; Kemet is the remaining classic that I have yet to try, and Blood and Sand appears to be worth the wait.

Hibachi – Fall 2021

Hibachi flew a bit under the radar when it recently launched on Kickstarter, but it appears to be firing on all cylinders as a family-friendly set collection dexterity game. The design is a reimplementation of 2010’s Safranito that retains the core fun it presented.

Players toss poker chips onto a large board in an attempt to center the poker chip’s hole over ingredients and bonuses that will help the fill orders. The catch is that your poker chips are also used as a sort of blind auction for drafting order and other privileges. The value of your chips will stay face-down as you toss them onto the board, so a combination of skillful tosses and wise chip selections will ensure that you come out on top when the chips are flipped and the ingredients are claimed.

Grail Games promises that the leftovers from this Kickstarter will go to retail (or you can late pledge here), so keep your eyes peeled come Fall 2021 if you’re hungry to jump in on this fun feast.

Coffee Traders – May 2021

Capstone Games has gone all out with their debut of Coffee Traders. This heavy economic Euro from the makers of Wildcatters boasts over 650 deluxified, colorful components including wooden donkeys and plastic coffee beans! More importantly, the design promises a meaty, interactive competition within the sprawling coffee industry of the 1970s.

While we’re likely to see a more affordable, standard version of the game down the road, it’s hard not to get behind such an ambitious, beautiful project spearheaded by a highly capable publisher. If you can’t get enough sprawling Euros in your life, then this one is a no-brainer for any group of 3-5 players.

Whale Riders – Spring 2021

Dr. Knizia is on another hot streak spanning back to 2017 with the likes of Quest for El Dorado, Babylonia, My City, and more. Whale Riders brings us another team up of old faithful designer Knizia, ever stalwart artist Vincent Dutrait, and the consistently solid publisher Grail Games.

In this economic race, players must decide how to spend their 2 actions each turn as they ride whales along the arctic coast. You can sail ahead to claim the greatest treasures for yourself, but you’ll be missing out on golden opportunities along the way.

Next year, if you find yourself in need of a simple strategy game with enough subtle tension to satisfy everyone at the table, then you’d be hard pressed to bet against Reiner Knizia.

Undaunted: Reinforcements – August 2021

For fans of the Undaunted series, Reinforcements is the modular expansion you never knew you always wanted. This title will include new scenarios, units, and rules to keep the fun rolling. Compatible with both Undaunted games, this expansion even provides 4-player and solo modes for owners of either version. While the details are still sparse, this series already earned its right to the title of Undaunted when it initially debuted among the top board games of 2019. Undaunted will go down as one of my all time favorite deck builders thanks to its elegant flow and painful decisions. I’m thrilled to have more reasons to dive back into this excellent system.

Anno 1800 – Q1 2021 (English Version)

While the game setup isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, Anno 1800 doesn’t need to look amazing when it boasts the design talent of Martin Wallace, creator of Brass: Birmingham and Age of Steam.

Anno 1800 is based on the popular PC game from Ubisoft, but I’m more interested in what Mr. Wallace has done to create a city building tech-tree game. The German version is already on the market, and early buzz around this medium-weight Euro is positive.

Switch & Signal – 2021 (English Version)

Speaking of German games that have yet to make it overseas, Switch & Signal is a cooperative train game from one of the designers of Undaunted: Normandy. This game is as simple and accessible as Pandemic, yet thankfully it is not another Pandemic clone. Switch & Signal sees players guiding trains across a map of Europe or North America to deliver cargo to its destination before time runs out. Each turn involves deciding how to spend your cards to move trains, adjust signals, and switch tracks to keep engines along the most efficient paths possible.

There’s no official date for when this game hits North America, but we can safely assume that Kosmos is planning to localize and release it sometime next year, as it debuted in Germany just a few months ago.

Don’t Get Got: Shut Up & Sit Down Special Edition – Apr 2021

Don’t Get Got is a clever party game that has been around since 2018. It received high praise from popular critic site Shut Up & Sit Down in their highly entertaining review. Thereafter, Big Potato Games reached out to the funny folks at SU&SD and pitched a collaboration for a special edition which successfully funded on Kickstarter this year.

Don’t Get Got is a meta-game that can be sneakily tucked into the background of a game night, group party, or work environment. Each player receives a small wallet with unique objectives that typically require harmless but ridiculous tasks. These tasks span from “Get a player to compliment your hair” to “Make up a word and get a player to ask what it means.” The catch is that if players suspect foul play, they can call you out on your odd behavior and cause you to fail that mission. The first player to complete three missions wins the game.

I’m hoping to receive this game while I’m still at my General Practice Residency program with 7 other dental residents, where the setting is ripe for getting got!

Ra (New Versions)- 2021

Ra, one of all-time greats of the auctioning genre, has been criminally out of print for years. It’s a game that perfectly mixes agonizing auctioning with precarious push-your-luck mechanisms. 2021 is the year where that changes. Dice Tree Games is a South Korean publisher known for its deluxe productions of Knizia classics including Modern Art and Winner’s Circle, and they have a version of Ra ready to release seemingly any day (the game is listed as a 2020 planned release).

25th Century Games, best known for its Splendor-like 2017 release, Space Explorers, is a US-based publisher planning to release an English version of Ra in Summer 2021 as well. Details are sparse, but this release will be one to keep an eye on for anyone looking to jump into this masterclass design. I reached out to Chad (25th Century Games) and learned that he’s aiming to “create the nicest quality and visual art version of the game to date.”

It sounds like a fantastic way for new fans to jump in or old fans to update their copy. Although for those who already own a copy (Alea, Rio Grande, or Uberplay versions in particular), Board Game Geek will be offering delectable Geek Up bits in the spring! All hail the year of Ra!

Tutankhamun – Jan 2021

Speaking of 25th Century Games, they’ll be releasing another Knizia design that has been refreshed and revitalized in Tutankhamun. Players travel down the Nile and collect artifacts in a race to 30 points. The rules are easy enough for any friends or family, simply move your boat downstream and collect the tile you stop on. The key is to have majority in artifact types and lunge for the special power tiles when the timing is right to end up on top.

Dead Reckoning – May 2021

Dead Reckoning is nothing short of ambitious. This mega-project from AEG and John D. Clair (Space Base, Mystic Vale) takes their card crafting concept to the next level. Transparent cards will be combined, flipped, and rotated within sleeves to create a deck-building experience that sends players on a 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXtort, eXterminate) journey through piratism.

It also features a wildly creative combat system where cubes are dropped onto a battleship that sends them cascading across a battle board, giving a cannonball-like effect that determines the result of the attack by where the cubes land on the board.

This game has so many mechanisms and pieces crammed into it that I’ve opted to leave it on my radar and wait to strike if the reviews come in overwhelmingly positive. It won’t be simple or cheap, but it promises quite the epic adventure.

Kabuto Sumo – June 2021

BoardGameTables.com is back at it with another novel design and gorgeous production. Kabuto Sumo is inspired by coin-pushing arcade games and real-life rhinoceros beetle wrestling. That’s pretty stinking awesome if you ask me.

Players will be shifting the push platform around the sumo ring to line up their move of pushing a piece into the ring in hopes of shoving opponent beetles off. This combination of physics, tactics, and dexterity promise to be a breath of fresh air for any game night. The world can never have too many refreshing dexterity games, and Kabuto Sumo is teed up to be the next one.

So, You’ve Been Eaten – 2021?

That’s right, the game is titled So, You’ve Been Eaten. With a name like that, it has to be good!…. Right?…

After initially rearing its head and riding high on the hotness wave of BGG, news on this title seemingly vanished… like it had been eaten. But more recent updates indicate that they’ve been quietly cramming even more tasty content into the game as they prepare for a Kickstarter launch.

The game claims that it is for 0-2 players. You read that correctly, zero players. A bold miner takes on a massive beast by burrowing into its intestines for crystals as the beast’s immune system fights back. Players can take on the role of either the miner or the beast… or neither?… in a 1v1, 1vGame, or GamevGame showdown.

Bristol 1350 – April 2021

The Dark Cities games have always taken the bones of a classic social deduction game and dressed them in various thematic mechanisms. From witch trials to pirate mutinies to wild west bank robberies to now escaping the Black Plague.

I’ve already played Bristol 1350 plenty of times leading up to my written preview of the design. The timing of this plague-themed game is uncannily coincidental, but the design has been a blast ever since I first tried it two years ago. I’m looking forward to experiencing the full vision that Facade Games had in mind for this quick, engaging gem of a deduction game.

John Company (Second Edition) – 2021?

Wehrlegig Games, the publisher of Pax Pamir (Second Edition), is cooking up their next project in John Company (Second Edition). Designer Cole Werhle’s most recent update reveals that the design has received a complete overhaul to help streamline the rules, focus on the game’s strengths, evoke the period art, and presumably deluxify the production. This heavy political economic romp is sure to be a strategically engaging and historically informative exploration of the British East India Company.

Railroad Ink Challenge – Q1 2021

One of our household’s favorite roll & writes makes an explosive return with Railroad Ink Challenge. The Shining Yellow and Lush Green editions promise player interaction, special structures, and new dice to help keep the puzzle fresh and interesting for series veterans. The development team has also cooked up a cornucopia of extras from an Epic game board to loads of expansion dice.

Iberian Gauge – Summer 2021

Like the previous two games in Capstone’s Iron Rail series, Iberian Gauge already exists among many other cube rails options. These cube rails games possess a common thread of stock investment, railroad expansion, and shared incentives. The key differentiator with the Iron Rail series is that publisher Capstone handpicks a solid design from the many options, gives it the Ian O’Toole makeover, and brings it to the masses. These slim, gorgeous boxes contain a single sheet of rules but pack a huge punch in roughly 1-hour of fun.

Sleeping Gods – Q1 2021

Sleeping Gods was on our most anticipated games of 2020 list, and it’s back again for another round of hype! The good news is that this cooperative exploration adventure is right around the corner, with fulfillment planned to begin in January. Players will be chipping away at this epic adventure a little bit at a time, and they can save their progress and pack it back into the box at any time. I spoke more about how Red Raven convinced me to back their project in my Kickstarter Case Study: How to Win Backers and Crowdfund Projects.

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea – March 2021

Ooo baby, designer Thomas Sing is dipping back into the well in an effort to satiate my unquenchable thirst for more of his brilliant cooperative trick taking. All we know thus far is that we’re going from space to sea, but hopefully Mr. Sing still has a few more tricks up his sleeve to mix up the formula. Either way, I’m all in on this sequel to one of the greatest cards games of all time.

Publishers To Watch

That’s right, we’re not done quite yet! Many publishers like to play their cards close to the chest, meaning that there are surely more hype-worthy games waiting to be announced and planned to be released direct-to-retail than the 19 we’ve already covered. We’ll point you toward a handful of publishers that have been on hot streaks recently and show no signs of cooling down.

• Capstone Games: At the time of this writing, I’ve had the chance to try ten of Capstone’s releases of 2018-2020, and they have all been killer games. 2021 releases will include Coffee Traders, Iberian Gauge, Pipeline Emerging Markets (expansion), and more.

• Leder Games: Most famously known for the deceptively charming and deeply asymmetric war-game Root, Leder Games is banking on their next mega-hit being Oath. But with Oath development wrapping up, they’ve shared that their next big project will be another Root expansion featuring militant factions of a Rat warlord and Badgers (expect a Kickstarter in Q1)! Patrick Leder is also working on his own spin on Twilight Imperium known as Void Lich. And who knows, maybe we’ll get a Fort expansion as well…

• Boardgametables.com: I’ve found that the best approach to take with Boardgametables.com’s publications is to expect the unexpected. They’ve brought us a band touring roll & write, an unchained auctioning game, a thinky pirate treasure deduction game, a trio of pretty fillers, and soon a coin-pushing style dexterity game. Whatever they cook up next, it’s sure to be unique and well-produced.

• Eagle-Gryphon Games: With recent killer deluxe versions of Rococo and Age of Steam, heavy hitters like On Mars, on upcoming refreshes such as For Sale Autorama, Eagle-Grypon games is not a publisher to be dismissed.

• WizKids: WizKids has been bringing their A-game recently with the incredible Sidereal Confluence: Remastered Edition, spicy Tournament at Avalon, and juicy Super Skill Pinball 4-Cade, all from 2020 alone. I’m hoping they have just as good of a lineup for 2021.

• Grail Games: This Australian publisher has earned a spot on my radar because of their ability to dig up and dust off the underdog games of yesteryear. Thanks to them, I’ve been able to discover and enjoy Knizia classics including Stephenson’s Rocket and Medici, and I’m excited to try Yellow and Yangtze and Whale Riders. Outside of Hibachi, they have many more exciting plans in the works for 2021 and beyond, including a Yellow and Yangtze expansion, an updated version of cult fan-favorite Fjords, and a two-player climbing card game known as ChuHan from the designer of Race for the Galaxy.

• Osprey Games: This publisher is based in Great-Britain and has drummed up at least 1 killer title every year for the past few years. Those games include Cryptid, the Undaunted series, The King is Dead (Second Edition), and more. They certainly deserve our attention for whatever else they have in mind for 2021 besides Undaunted: Reinforcements.

Designers to Watch

We’ll top this post off with a list of designers that, much like the above mentioned publishers, are on hot streaks of their own. Whenever I catch wind of a new release coming from one of these creative folks, my ears always perk up:

• David Thompson: I’ve talked plenty about David’s upcoming Undaunted Reinforcements and Switch & Signal, and that merely scratches the surface of David’s designs that are hitting the market in 2021. Others include War Chest: Siege (an expansion to Undaunted-like abstract game, War Chest), Soldiers in Postmen’s Uniforms (a WWII inspired solitaire game), Sniper Elite: The Board Game (a hidden moment design based on the video game series of the same name), and Dire Alliance: Horror (a cooperative/competitive tactical deck builder). And those are just the ones we know of. Needless to say, he’s certainly one to keep on the radar.

• Paolo Mori: We’re big fans of Ethnos, a family-weight area majority game that was #8 in my most recent top 50 games of all time list. We’ve also been digging 2019’s Blitzkrieg, a 2-player tug of war game that made a fantastic 1st impression and still holds up after several more plays. There’s no telling what Paolo will do next, but odds are it will be amazing.

• Alexander Pfister: This is the legend who brought us the excellent Great Western Trail, Isle of Skye, Maracaibo, and much more. His latest release, CloudAge, should probably be among the list of games up above seeing how the North American shipment appears to be delayed into the new year (thanks for nothing, Covid!). Regardless, the man is a machine who continues to impress with his designs. I expect to see another big one from him in 2021.

• Wolfgang Warsch: From The Mind to Quacks of Quedlinburg, from Wavelength to That’s Pretty Clever, you know him, you love him, he’s Wolfgang Warsch! After seemingly bursting onto the scene in 2018, Wolfgang has been on a design rampage ever since. Hopefully he hasn’t run out of steam for 2021. You can do it, Wolfgang!

• Kramer & Kiesling: Like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling have been tearing it up together for years with classics such as Tikal or Mexica and more recent releases including our Holiday Board Game Gift recommendation, Renature. Not that they actually need each other, as Mr. Kiesling is the genius behind Azul and Heaven & Ale while Mr. Kramer is mastermind behind El Grande and Downforce. Indeed, these gentlemen should already be on your 2021 watchlist.

• Cole Wehrle: I started this entire post out with Cole’s upcoming design, Oath, and quickly followed it up with his returning hit, John Company (Second Edition), so you already know where I stand here. He’s both a lead designer/developer at Leder Games and he runs Wehrlegig Games with his brother, so anything coming from either company is going to have his fingerprints on it. Why do I appreciate his handiwork so much? Aside from him owning two spots in my top 10 games of all time, I’ve found Cole to be more interested in creating immersive experiences than tossing out gimmicky, shallow designs. He’s churning out arguably the most fascinating designs in the industry with the help of many talented colleagues. Keep it coming, Cole!

• Ryan Courtney: Ryan is the newest published designer among those on this list. In fact, his first game, Pipeline, was categorized as a Lover in my recent revisit of the best games of 2019. His other design, Curious Cargo, continues to impress as well. The man takes “thinky” to the next level, and I’m there for whatever he cooks up next.

• Uwe Rosenberg: It’s breeding!… It’s polyominoes!… That’s right, it’s Uwe Rosenberg. Uwe is one of the all time greats in the industry, and his most recent hits, including New York Zoo and Nova Luna, prove that he’s still got it. He’s always a safe bet when heading into a new year of releases.

• Reiner Knizia: Alongside Cole Wehrle, Reiner Knizia is my absolute favorite board game designer. I own and love more games from Dr. Knizia than any other designer (15 and counting)! He’s best known for his decades old evergreens including Tigris & Euphrates, Lost Cities, and Ra, but he’s been on another hot streak with recent bangers including Babylonia, My City, and Quest for El Dorado. This man is the Willy Wonka of board games, with over 600 titles to his name. Of course they’re not all going to be amazing at that kind of output, but the sheer number golden designs that have come from this one mind is staggering. I’ll take three more decades of Knizia releases, please and thank you.

Hungry for more board game hype? Then continue on to PART TWO of my Most Anticipated Board Games of 2021!

Article written by Nick Murray. To learn more about his tabletop gaming tastes and preferences, check out his blog series: Tabletop Tastes: My Favorite Flavors in Board Games. To follow his designs as they come to fruition, subscribe to our newsletter and follow Bitewing Games on social media!

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