The 12 Games of Christmas
Amritsar: The Golden Temple is a beautiful strategy game that was released in 2023. This game uses one of my favorite mechanisms. Players are able to follow the active player and perform an action even when it is not their turn. I love when games do this as it eliminates down time keeps everyone involved throughout the game. The pieces and production of this game are top-notch and the elephant meeples are awesome! Link to pictures and purchase here.
Risky Adventure is a dice rolling treasure hunting game Released in 2016. With a 1.67 weight on BGG it is a gateway level game that has been a favorite in our family. You have to collect equipment to explore new areas and discover treasure. It's a lot of fun but might be a little too simple for you more hardcore gamers! Link to pictures and purchase here.
FIrst in Flight is a deck-building, push-your-luck game released in 2023. The game actually comes with some pretty nice inserts but they do not do a good job of keeping everything neat and tidy if you store your game on it's side. We have found that the main tray is very useful during game play but the tray that holds the Friend, Technology, and skill cards is not. If you eliminate that tray everything fits quite nicely. But if you want to keep that second tray you will have about 1/2 inch of lid lift. Link to pictures and purchase here.
I picked up Sagani this year but it was released in 2020. This is a tile placing game that takes about 1 minute to learn to play but still has a lot going on. The quick turns mean that there is not a lot of down time and the game time is true to the box's claim of 45 minutes. This means you should have enough time to play it again, and I think that you will want to! Link to pictures and purchase here.
Looot is a lightweight worker placement game released in 2024 and nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2025. It's a little unique in that you place your workers, but you don't get them back, they stay on the board for the rest of the game. I have enjoyed my 3 play-throughs. And while the theme is pretty shallow, it adds a bit of fun to what is a fairly abstract game. Link to pictures and purchase here.
It's about time we had a party game on this list! Hues and Cues was released in 2020 and plays up to 10 people. This weekend we were hanging out with family and played twice. It is a simple idea that is maddeningly challenging. Just what shade of green is an un-ripe banana? Link to pictures and purchase here.
Freshwater Fly is a fishing themed game released in 2019 That we picked up when our booth was across the Isle from the Bellwether Games booth at Origins. My son loves fishing and wanted to try it out and it turned out to be a fun game with a unique theme and beautiful art. The player boards have a really cool fishing reel mechanism that you use not only to reel the fish in but also as a strategic tool to earn bonuses that will help you in the game! Link to pictures and purchase here.
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship is a cooperative game as difficult as it's name is long! The game was released in 2025. I have played through this game twice, both times with four players and my record so far is: Sauron 2 - My Fellowship 0. As with all Pandemic style games it escalates quickly and keeps everyone scrambling to keep the board under control. The game also includes one of the coolest looking cardboard Dice Towers ever! Link to pictures and purchase here.
We love this Game! Rajas of the Ganges was released in 2017. My wife and I have played this 1v1 more times than I can count but it also scales nicely to 3 or 4. If you haven't had a chance to play Rajas I would highly recommend it. On it's face it is a worker placement/tile laying game. But really it's a race to get your fame marker and money marker to meet somewhere in the middle of their two opposing tracks. First one to do so, wins. Link to pictures and purchase here.
Endeavor: Deep Sea won the Kennerspiel des Jahres this year. I have only had the opportunity to play through the game once and I can't wait to play again. We played competitively with three players but you can also play cooperatively or solo. This is a BIG box and has a lot of components. I set it up with two Originals per player for the player's pieces in order to keep it a bit more organized. This is also the first game added to our set library to utilize our new dividers! Link to pictures and purchase here.
Five Tribes is a classic that I have owned since it came out in 2014. My copy has been well loved and has traveled with us all over the country as can be seen by the wear and tear on the box. It remains one of my top 10 favorite games. The bidding mechanic for player turn is super fun and allows you to set yourself up for 2 turns in a row, if you want to pay for it. The game comes with a perfect example of a good but not great box insert, and I Think that this set really takes it up a notch! Link to pictures and purchase here.
Chandigarh is a pattern matching game released in 2024. I've had the opportunity to play a handful of times with my group and we have really enjoyed it. It's quick and easy to learn but has high re-playability due to the 12 specialist tiles that can be mix and matched. Each specialist changes the rules slightly and makes the gameplay quite different. I also found this set to be very satisfying. The bits fit well into the bins and the bins fit well in the box. A perfect combo! Link to pictures and purchase here.
