A 2024 board game gift guide
I'm starting the Don't Eat the Meeples annual board game gift guide with a look at some incredible games for board game enthusiasts — and potential board game enthusiasts.
My favorite annual tradition here at Don’t Eat the Meeples is my board game gift guide. In recent years, I’ve started splitting it into two sections, and I suspect I’ll do the same thing here — unless, of course, I can’t think of any games to put on the list, then I suppose it’ll be too short to justify splitting it. (Ha.)
So, here we are in the closing months of another year. Can you believe it? My little boy is still quite little, but he’s nearly 18 months old — remarkable! I’m still not playing games with him yet (I mean, at least games with established rules; he’s very into play as a concept, like children ought to be). Watching him grow and keeping him fed has been thankfully easier than it is in Agricola.
This year, I’ll be talking about games I’ve played recently, games I’ve been playing for a long time, and games that I’ve talked about already in this newsletter. We’ll divide into sections that will hopefully prove helpful to you. I’d also love to encourage you to write in to the comments below — let’s talk about your recommendations, too!
Before we dive in, a note about structure. In each guide I post, I’ll feature one category and write about the games in a little bit of depth. This week, I’ll feature some games for folks you’re looking to introduce to the exciting world of board games. I’ll also be writing up some recommendations for other categories in less depth. (Maybe they’ll become their own newsletter when they grow up. You never know!)
Six games for people you want to introduce to the hobby
You’re here presumably because you love games in some fashion. (Or, perhaps, you’re here because you’re a supportive friend. Thank you!) I’m guessing you have friends who are not as into board games as you are, and you’d like to introduce them to some great games that explore the depth and breadth of the hobby.
These games are commonly called “gateway games,” though the term has come under some criticism in the past. It’s not a term I love, personally. I also don’t love “core games” as a term, because it’s a bit more difficult to parse what’s meant. Whatever you call these games, they’re reasonably easy to teach and will generally be a success at the table.
I won’t be featuring classics here — look elsewhere for Ticket to Ride, Codenames and Carcassonne. Good games they may be, but you’ll find them all over the internet. If you’ve ended up here, I’m betting you know these games.
The Gang (2024) is the latest prominent spin on a classic card game. It takes the most popular poker variant, Texas Hold’em and turns it into a cooperative endeavor. Rather than trying to bluff your way toward claiming the strongest hand, you’re trying to work together to figure out the strength of each player’s hand. Think The Crew, but poker. (I know The Crew is a lot more than just, say, cooperative Spades or something, but you get the idea.) *Designed by John Cooper and Kory Heath, published by KOSMOS. The Gang plays 3 to 6 players.
Dorfromantik: The Board Game (2022) breaks one of the rules I’ve sort of set for myself: Shy away from board games based on video games. The adaptive process takes something away, I think. I don’t think that’s the case for other properties, but often, going from one medium of gaming to another medium is clumsy. Dorfromantik is making me rethink that. This tile placement game starts dead simple — the rules are easy to pick up, easy to explain, and you could really get started just a few minutes after you open the box. But when you finish a game, you’ll mark a campaign sheet, and you’ll unlock the game’s content. That’s a very video game thing, that ‘legacy’ idea. Dorfromantik tackles it seamlessly.
This is another great cooperative offering — I have another one in this section for your consideration, too. You’re working to build a map together, looking along the way to rack up points. Throughout, you’ll be trying to fulfill orders set by the denizens of the town — you’ll (nearly) always have three you’re aiming to fulfill at any given time. As you place tiles around the map, you’ll do so with an eye toward completion. It’s not too complicated, but the game gets hairier as time goes on. You have more and more options for scoring points. You’ll start to wonder where the simple game went, and why you’re not struggling with the more complex game that’s emerged. It’s a little bit of magic, this one. Designed by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach, published by Pegasus Spiele. Dorfromantik: The Board Game plays 1 to 6 players.
Sky Team (2023) is a two-player cooperative game that pits a pilot and copilot pair against the elements as they attempt to land an airplane. Each round, you’ll get an opportunity to plan together, then you’ll both roll four dice that you’ll get to use. You can’t show each other your dice, which are kept behind a little privacy screen, nor can you talk about what you’ve rolled. All you can do is silently attempt to execute your plans, taking care of air traffic, and controlling the plane.
While I often sort of skirt some rules during cooperative play around communicating (I’m not trying to break them fully, but I definitely have been known to obliquely hint), Sky Team is giving you systems by which you can communicate with your dice. If you’ve placed a high value on axis, a low value on engines, or focused on some ancillary task, you can implicitly tell your teammate something. What that something is — that’s completely up to you. Designed by Luc Rémond, published by Scorpion Masque. Sky Team plays two players.
River Valley Glassworks (2024) is one of my favorite new games. In this colorful, chunky game, you’re collecting glass as it flows down a river, placing it on your player board. That glass comes in many colors, different rarities and a variety shapes, each of which will matter greatly as you look to collect the best glass. As you place them on your board, always going from left to right, you’ll be adding to a grid. Rows earn points for their completedness, and your two most full columns score points. Columns further to the right score more points than columns to the left, but importantly, ties are broken in favor of low-value columns.
River Valley Glassworks is easy to explain, easy to play, and almost guaranteed to bring you a little bit of pain. It’s a little bit of a puzzle, and while it’s always approachable, it does reward you for paying attention. There’s a lot to love about this game. Designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle; published by Allplay. River Valley Glassworks plays 1 to 5 players.
Seers Catalog (2024) is great if your gift-receiver has experience with trick-taking or climbing games. Maybe they’ve played a more modern offering like Skull King, or maybe they’re experienced with some traditional climbing games, like Big Two or Scum. This is an approachable card game, but it has some elements that make it really sing for newcomers.
First, the scope of melds you can play is pretty limited, and that makes it a bit easier to pick up: You need only concern yourself with single cards, sets of matching ranks, and suited runs — not hard at all. Second, there’s a major twist when you’re just about of cards, as once one player is out of cards, any player with fewer than six cards remaining in hand gets points for their lowest-ranked card remaining in hand. Finally, there are a number of different special cards that will be used, but only a subset is used in any particular game, making it a bit easier to learn what’s going on without too much chaos. This is a really nice one. Designed by Taylor Reiner, published by Bezier Games.
Stamp Swap (2024) is a game about stamp collecting, which sounds frighteningly dull to outside parties, but to board game enthusiasts, it’s fresh territory that’s yet to be explored. In this one, you’re drafting stamps from a shared supply each round, then you’re splitting those stamps into two groups for your opponents to pick from. It’s a nice game with decisions that aren’t too weighty, but you always feel like you’re making meaningful decisions.
After picking your stamps from your opponents, you’ll place them on a grid board, displaying them in the most pleasing (read: most points-earning) way you can. After that, you’ll be competing in one of four stamp-displaying competitions, earning points for various attributes of your stamp collection. Maybe you’re scoring points for balancing your stamps’ themes, or maybe you’re going to score for focusing in one theme. These events are shuffled at the beginning of the game and never chance, and once you compete in one of them, you can never do it again. It’s a great way to keep the game fresh without feeling like an overt attempt to add “replayability” — instead, each competition feels interesting on its own. Designed by Paul Solomon, published by Stonemaier Games.
There is, of course, a whole set of games out there you could consider. Browse this newsletter and you’ll discover I’m writing about them all the time. My “Replacing the Classics” series is basically generally approachable games that could be good replacements for classic offerings — so, all that to say, if one of these games doesn’t quite strike your fancy, I’ve written about a lot more.
Five other games to consider:
The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine (2019) is a great spin on trick-taking with cooperative play and missions, and it rules.Designed by Thomas Sing, published by KOSMOS.
If you like drafting colorful game pieces, try Sagrada (2017), in which you’re constructing those famous stained glass windows with dice. Designed by Adrian Adamescu and Daryl Andrews, published by Floodgate Games.
Paint the Roses (2022) is a cooperative deduction game in which your teammates place colored flowers and card suits according to goal cards in-hand. You’ll be guessing the cards. It’s tough and fun! Designed by Ben Goldman, published by NorthStar Game Studio.
Burgle Bros (2015) sends players on a cooperative heist as they try to bust open a safe — but the whole time, you’ll be trying to avoid guards and obstacles along the way. Designed by Tim Fowers, published by Fowers Games.
Forest Shuffle (2023) is a tableau building card game in which you’re building the best forest, earning points for various sets of cards. Chain your abilities for even more card-play fun. Designed by Kosch, published by Lookout Games.
Five games for people already excited about board games
There’s nothing you can give most excited gamers (a gamer that, importantly, doesn’t yet own far too many games) that will delight them more than a game that’s created a lot of buzz. When they open your gift and tell you how much they’ve wanted to play the game, you’ll know you’ve picked a winner. (Bonus points if it’s a game from a small publisher. Gamers generally love small publishers.
French Quarter (2024) — A roll-and-write game set in New Orleans in which you’re exploring the streets of the famous city. There are a ton of different paths to victory here: Will you specialize in one or more aspects of the city, or will you try to experience everything? (Is this really just a game about visiting a new city? The theme!) Designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle; published by Motor City Gameworks.
Wyrmspan (2024) — The sequel to the highly successful Wingspan, but this has a bit more meat on it. There are multiple paths to success here, and you’ll want to find the best way to accomplish your goals. I love the birds in Wingspan, but Wyrmspan scratches an itch. Designed by Connie Vogelmann, developed by Elizabeth Hargrave, published by Stonemaier Games.
Tír na nÓg (2024) is a drafting game with gorgeous artwork, a lovely theme, and some nice decisions. As you draft cards and play them to your tableau, you’ll trigger various effects that help you work toward completing a rotating set of goals. Designed by Isaac Shalev and Jason Slingerland.
Nocturne (2024) is a back-and-forth game in which you’re trying to gain items from a grid by casting stronger spells than your opponents. The game’s very clever and a bit of a puzzle. Designed by David Iezzi, published by Flatout Games and AEG.
Daybreak (2023) is a cooperative game in which you’re trying to prevent a climate collapse. You’ll play cards to a tableau that give you increasingly powerful abilities, but along the way, you’ll have to deal with increasingly difficult challenges. Designed by Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace, published by CMYK.
Five somewhat obscure games you’ll need time to find
Occasionally in this newsletter, I’ll talk about games that are difficult to find. I always feel a little bit of guilt about that — after all, I don’t want to taunt you about games. I want to talk to you about games that I love, and if you want to buy them, great! (I don’t get anything if you buy them. I’ll never link to an Amazon page in this newsletter — certainly not with an affiliate link. This is because I love games and want to share them with you.) The gift guide provides me a rare opportunity to talk about games that are on the harder-to-find spectrum, so let’s have at it.
The Ghost Lift (2024) — A climbing card game in which the direction of the tricks you play changes from ascending to descending and back again, depending on the cards played — just like an elevator. You’ll almost certainly have to find this one used at this point, but hopefully a new edition emerges. (At time of writing, there were two on the BGG Marketplace.) Designed and published by Ridge Gear.
For Science! (2021) — A cooperative, real-time, dexterity game. I think this game is really cool, but it’s weird and out of print. Sad — but there are used copies in the BGG Marketplace. Go look! Designed by R. Eric Reuss, published by Grey Fox Games.
The Kakapo: Buddy & Party (2023) — A trick-taking game with tile placement, but it’s cooperative, and you’re placing colorful birds on the board. I love this game, but it’s really tough to find right now. Maybe keep your eye out if this ever makes it out internationally, or another edition drops in Japan. Published by Chatra Games.
Carcassonne: The City (2004) — A classic game reimagined by its designer, but this time with city walls on which you can place followers. It’s a really cool game, and while it’s not tough to find, it’s a bit pricey, as it’s out of print. (Maybe get this for yourself. I won’t judge you.) Designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, published by Hans im Gluck.
Hokito (2020) — A true abstract strategy game in which you’re stacking your pieces on your opponent’s. Each piece moves either one, two or three spaces, based on what’s pictured on it, but it skips over empty spaces. Designed by Claude Leroy, published by Cosmoludo.
Thank you for joining me over at Don’t Eat the Meeples! I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I hope you find value in my annual board game gift guide all the same. (No judgment if you’ve been getting your tree up. You do you.)
Next week is more of the same — it’s part two of the gift guide. I’m not trying to draw this out even longer, it’s just that I’ve got a lot more to say.
Sagrada 2017 is very good but the colours are difficult to distinguish for colour-blind people. I discussed this with the Sagrada team at UKGE this year and they've already planned a new edition with better colour definition.
Sky Team has been our go-to game! Excellent mechanics that require both forethought and luck. Incredible replayability. Been a long time newsletter subscriber and have gained a lot from your recommendations! Thanks for the guide, Matt!