Board Game News #1

Spring isn't exactly the typical season for sitting around playing board games. The outdoors are calling, after all. But if you aren't a fan of spring festivities, or you're hiding from allergens or sore legs, a fresh new board game will come in handy. We've picked the following new releases for this month.

For a party: PAC-MAN: The Board Game

Who doesn't know Pac-Man! The whole world has known this perpetually hungry hero since 1980. Now he has arrived in the world of board games. The result is a fast-paced and easy-to-play game for players of any age—specifically 10 to 999 years old. It's a game suitable for kids and parties with people who only know games like Ludo. While it doesn't offer sophisticated gameplay for dozens of hours, its accessibility appeals to absolutely everyone. One player has the dice and Pac-Man, the other players have cards and ghosts, and you're ready to go!

Buy PAC-MAN: The Board Game here.

For demanding players: Messina 1347

More experienced board gamers don't need an introduction to Vladimír Suchý. This Czech board game designer is known primarily for his extensive Eurogames (games where luck plays a minimal role, if any) that can keep you busy for hours. At first glance, his latest work looks like another classic Eurogame full of tokens and bits. As the head of a noble family, you take care of a village, its lands, and its inhabitants. But, as luck would have it, the plague breaks out. Suddenly, you have your hands full! Any resemblance to recent events is purely coincidental. :) Messina 1347 brings relatively fresh mechanics and a well-functioning theme to the Eurogame genre.

Buy Messina 1347 here.

For an evening with friends: The Thing: The Board Game

It started with the short novel Who Goes There?, then came the great horror film The Thing, a solid and unfairly forgotten video game, a rather weak film remake, and finally, the board game. However, all incarnations have one thing in common—a mysterious space creature is crushing the crew of an Antarctic station, turning them into mutated monsters covered in limbs and toothy heads. It always starts very subtly—the infected act like nothing is wrong. You can't trust anyone, and anyone could be a host. An ideal premise for a board game! In this atmospheric semi-coop (players can cooperate, but it's not a requirement), you'll manage the base, but your main goal is to find out who is infected, escape the base, and above all, survive. The Thing board game is the perfect entertainment for those hiding from spring allergies.

Buy The Thing: The Board Game here.

For the whole family: Wonder Book

This beautifully crafted story-driven board game adopts a recently popular principle where the game board is a book that guides the game and offers branching paths (similar to Stuffed Fables, for example). However, Wonder Book goes even further, with the book forming a beautifully colorful pop-up spread full of 3D structures. Players follow a mysterious story together, make decisions about its progression, collect items, or fight enemies. Thanks to its complete localization, Wonder Book will captivate even younger players (if they can read) and will definitely be one of the most beautiful pieces in your collection. A possible downside is, logically, lower replayability. After all, who would want to play through the exact same story over and over again…

Buy Wonder Book here.

For beginners and advanced players: Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders (expansion)

Lost Ruins of Arnak was a pleasant surprise in the Czech board gaming scene not long ago. The relatively accessible game combines worker placement, deck building, resource management, and quick combat. As adventurers, players try to find mysterious artifacts and explore an uninhabited island. The new expansion, Expedition Leaders, brings, well, new expedition leaders. :) They introduce a bunch of new strategies and options to the game and perfectly complement an already well-functioning system. This expansion is a must-have for owners of the original game, and for others, it's a great opportunity to try the original hit game as well.

Buy Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders (expansion) here.

author Karel Krajča