The board game industry continued to flourish in 2018, continuing the golden age that started about a decade ago. Brass: Birmingham revived a classic with a new map and reworked rules. Root by Cole Wehrle proved that a wildly asymmetrical game can feel like four games in one and still come together for an engaging cutthroat experience. Tom Lehmann borrows some elements from Puerto Ricowith the blessing of Andreas Seyfarth, to create a game with the elements of two of the most beloved strategy games out there. New Frontiers puts each player in charge of their own galactic empire by developing technologies and colonizing planets. This is a game with much more of a table presence than Race for the Galaxy or Roll for the Galaxyas the worlds and developments are cardboard tiles that arrange nicely in your empire mat. In addition, the goods cubes are chunky plastic crates that look a bit like candy. The primary similarity to Puerto Rico is the action selection phase, in which the active player chooses an action with all other players may perform in turn. However, the designer points out that New Frontiers will stand out from both Puerto Rico and Race for the Galaxy as a tableau-building game with a unique feel. Comanauts Designer: Jerry Hawthorne Artist: Jimmy Xia, Tregis Release date: January 31 Publisher: Plaid Hat Games Players: 2 to 4 Playing time: 60 to 120 minutes In Comanautsplayers enter the mind of the brilliant Dr. Martin Strobal, who has fallen into a coma. He is the inventor of the Mobius Ring, a device that would have provided humanity with unlimited energy but instead has gone wrong and is sending out massive amounts of radiation. Strobal is the only one who can set things right, and the comanauts must carefully navigate his complicated mind to bring him back. Strobal from returning to consciousness. Comanauts is a spiritual successor to Stuffed Fablesalso designed by Jerry Hawthorne, and uses the Adventure Book system. The board is a book with multiple pages, allowing for an ever-changing world for the players to explore. This system works well in Stuffed Fables, and with Comanauts, gamers who may not have been keen on the stuffed animal theme can enjoy a more serious but no less imaginative setting. Antoine Bauza is best new pc games 2019 for designing 7 Wonders, 7 Wonders Duel, and Hanabi. Victorian Masterminds explores a London thrown into turmoil after the death of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. Villains can finally be villains, without the hindrance of conniving figures like Holmes. Each player is one such villain attempting to complete missions by traveling around Europe to build contraptions and cause destruction. But the Secret Service is out to put a stop to the madness, and only the most cunning villain will win. The post-Sherlock Victorian steampunk theme sounds like a ton of fun, and with two legendary designers behind the wheel, Victorian Masterminds is sure to be a blast. Different birds will allow for different actions and effects, allowing you to build up an engine and create combos. You feed your birds by putting custom dice into a dice tower, and colorful and delicious-looking egg miniatures can be collected. Wingspan offers a refreshing theme and stunning artwork that stands out in the ocean of colonization and fantasy games. Finally, a board game for birders. In March, a North American edition is finally on the way. Wolfgang Warsch has a knack for packing a simple yet intriguing game into a very small and affordable box. In this dice game, one to four players are rolling six colored dice and choosing which ones to write in the matching colored areas on their score sheets. Filling out your sheet can unlock abilities and make for combos and major points. This is primarily a game of striving to play as efficiently as possible and beat your high score—which is exactly what makes it so hard to stop playing. Astro Drive Designer: Mikko Punakallio, Max Wikström Artist: Sami Saramaki Release date: March Publisher: Stronghold Games, Lautapelit. Each player is piloting their own high-speed spaceship, avoiding obstacles and choosing just the right moment to boost in this cosmic race. On your turn, you play a card and can move your card a certain number of spaces forward and side to side. The player who pilots their ship with the most agility and speed wins the race. Helios Expanse is a one-hour game, attempting to pack a thorough experience of exploration, colonization, resource harvesting, and combat into a digestible block of time. Macleod set out to make a shorter game that would appeal to both casual and hobby gamers. Helios Expanse can be taught in less than five minutes, as its core mechanics are fairly simple, according to the publisher. This is an ambitious design, and it will be interesting to see whether Macleod succeeds in creating a short and simple 4x game that still provides players with complex decisions and strategies. If he does, this could be a big game for 2019. Bad Maps Designer: Tim Armstrong Best new pc games 2019 Matt Paquette, Kristen Pauline, and Peter Wocken Release date: March Publisher: Floodgate Games Players: 3 to 5 Playing time: 30 to 60 minutes This light programming game of pirates, treasures, and misleading maps gives players a chance to make their very own questionable treasure maps. Designed by Best new pc games 2019 Armstrong, Bad Maps puts each player in the role of a pirate captain creating a map for minions to follow. The minions obey these maps, following instructions to hopefully avoid obstacles like pits and find the treasure. Each best new pc games 2019 earns points for the distance of specific minions from the treasure. Whoever racks up the most points from their bad maps is declared the winner. May Godsforge Designer: Brendan Stern Artist: Diego L. Rodriguez Publisher: Atlas Games Release date: May Players: 2 to 4 Playing time: 20 to 40 minutes In his debut game, Brendan Stern puts each player in the role of a spellcaster who is heading to the godsforge to collect the invaluable resource known as Etherium. Godsforge is played simultaneously, with each player rolling dice and playing cards to attack the player on their left and defend from the player on their right. These cards are revealed in any order and are paid for with dice and veilstones. These cards introduce either Spells or Creations, which give damage, protection, and effects in different ways. After one player has been defeated, the remaining players start taking damage each round until one player is left to claim the Etherium for themselves. In this game of magical forces in 19th Century Europe, each player is a character from the novel traveling from city to city as they gather power to take on the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair. Not much is known about this game, but from what we know so far it sounds like it will be a race to become the player strong enough to take down the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair. Hopefully it includes enough of the book to please fans while entertaining newcomers as well. Honeycutt, and Masao Suganuma Best new pc games 2019 Noboru Hotta Release date: Spring 2019 Publisher: Pandasaurus Games Players: 2 to 4 Playing time: 30 to 45 minutes The next game getting the Legacy treatment from Rob Daviau is Machi Korowhich Daviau is designing with J. The description from the publisher sums up the game pretty well: Machi Koro Legacy features the same gameplay as Machi Koro. Though it also sounds like this would make a great first Machi Koro experience if you have a dedicated group willing to play through the whole campaign. The master of all 9 dimensions of space time. Reality bends to your every whim and desire. You are the absolute best there ever has been. A Necromancer at the top of their game. The only downside is no one likes you. On account of creeping around with dead bodies and the lack of sunlight. But who needs friends, when you can make them. The gameplay is a clever interplay of a unique action selection mechanism that allows players to choose both a private action followed by a group action, requiring tense decision making on the timing of the different phases of the game. Collect bodies, crystal skulls, runes and bring the dead back to life. Because, the game is super metal. Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea Designer: Tony Boydell Artist:. Release date: Summer 2019 Publisher: Matagot, Surprised Stare Players: 1 to 5 Playing time: 45 to 120 minutes Tony Boydell, known for Snowdonia and Guilds of Londonexplores 19th Century Darjeeling in a game of trains, tea, and trade. Each player is managing their own tea empire as they create a network of rails, hire workers, and harvest tea to create a thriving network. By placing workers which can be motivated with a bit of Chaiplayers strive to create the best tea network and score points based on how much they contributed to the building of the Darjeeling and Himalayan railways and how splendiferous their tea gardens are. In order to climb the wizard ranks, players will give each other one-word hints while recalling past hints and navigating challenging hexes. This little word game plays in just six minutes—a great sweet spot for a quick time-filler at game night. This is a game that speaks for itself. Players take the role of the racers from the show, choosing from characters like the Slag Brothers or Penelope Pitstop. On your turn, you play a card indicating the terrain type you will move best new pc games 2019. But you have to navigate the traps laid by Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley as you struggle to keep your lead. One race lasts just 10 to 15 minutes, and a longer championship mode is also available. The miniatures look lovely, and the short playtime make this sound like it will be a quick and hectic little game. Players: 1 to 6 Playing time: 30 to 45 minutes First-time designer David Files pits players against each other in Bad Bones as they vie to have the last tower standing in an unending onslaught of undead foes. Turns are simultaneous, and up to six can play this charming tower-defense game with a healthy dose of spite. The King will only choose one design, so each architect must plan and build carefully to attract his attention. Players place 3D plastic wall pieces on their boards as they construct their defensive layouts. But which type of wall you place is determined by a die roll. After the first age, the Vikings will attack, forcing players to rebuilt in the second age. Whoever has the most coins after the second age is declared the best architect of York.
