Next week Thursday starts in Essen the SPIEL, the world's largest board and board games fair. Like every year hundreds of novelties can be played there and mostly also directly bought, from the simple children's game to titles with such complicated rules that they themselves put many players to the test. More than a thousand titles will be shown this time in the exhibition halls.
But what happened to the novelties of the past few years that did not end up in bestseller lists? Not all good games have received the attention they deserve. It just does not have to be the newest in party games.
In our image section, we present ten underrated games that may not be brand new but extremely entertaining:
Ten party game insider tips
Bunny Kingdom
In "Bunny Kingdom" the players want to conquer the country on behalf of the Hasenkönigs. Or better: the best sections of the country. For this they need cards, of which everyone initially gets a certain number. The game runs over four rounds, with each round consisting of three phases in which players pick and choose cards, and build and harvest.
If you have decided on a card, you give the rest to the next teammate, who in turn has the same dilemma: What do I want to keep, which in no case pass on? Victory points are awarded after each round, depending on the size and the various resources of the favors a player controls. If the player has a particularly large area that only produces carrots, but neither wood nor gems, he gets fewer points.
Conclusion: "Bunny Kingdom" is a well-balanced mix of the Area Control and Card Drafting genres and definitely a game for planners and strategists. The fact that the game board is teeming with rabbits does not hurt. The luck factor from the initially distributed cards is just right. The optics are so successful that even then no boredom comes up, if the players need a little bit longer in the card selection.
Iello; 2-4 players; from 12 years old; about 38 euros; Author: Richard Garfield
Dice Forge
Since the gods are a bit bored again, they organize a tournament for the people. The prize: a place among the immortals. Whoever has the most victory points in the end becomes a god himself. As an aid, each player gets two dice, whose surfaces change, so can forge.
The game runs over a set number of laps. In turn, each player is a starting player and can not only use his dice, but also different actions. Thus, the rolled gold can help to buy new cards on one of the seven islands of the game board. These cards bring additional options during a turn. Likewise, the remaining resources such as gold and moon splinters can be used for further actions. Who has earned the most victory points at the end of the rounds, can convince the gods and win.
Conclusion: Finally a game in which the manipulation of your own dice is mandatory! Granted, here you have to read the rules of the game more than once and an audition does not hurt either. But as soon as you get out, what you can do with your dice and what possibilities the cards offer, "Dice Forge" is a lot of fun. In addition, the clear layout of the game material is a real plus.
Libellud; 2-4 players; from 10 years on; about 35 euros; Author: Régis Bonnessée
Between two castles
The idea is as simple as it is ingenious. In "Between two locks", each player builds exactly two locks: one with his left-hand neighbor, one with his right-hand neighbor. At the beginning each team gets a throne room from which the castle is built. There are a number of different rooms, each type of room has different conditions. So basements must be built below the throne room, outdoor spaces can not have a second floor.
On each turn, players choose two cards, each of which places one face down on their locks. The remaining cards are passed on. When all are done with the selection, the cards are revealed and you consult with your co-builder, where the cards are to be created, so you get many victory points. But one should not be too greedy, because in the end, only the one with the lower score counts.
Conclusion: The game does not make it easy: The symbols on the castle cards are small, there is little space on the table and if you play it five, it will take forever, until everyone has consulted and at the end the points were determined.
But that's easy to fix with a few tricks. First, replace the large compartment for randomly drawn cards with a bag, there's more room on the table. Then you play the game either in threes, or with an even number of players, already all are busy at the same time. And when you do the scoring together and at the same time, that too is no longer complicated. Then you have a really successful placement game that has a high replay value and is pleasantly complex.
Fire land; 3-7 players; from 10 years on; about 33 euros; Authors: Ben Rosset, Matthew O'Malley
Chill and chili
Maintaining a garden does a lot of work, even in this game. You have to buy plants and accessories and create beds. And without enough water, almost nothing grows. The rules are simple. The active player can choose between three actions: buying vegetables or accessories, planting a vegetable patch or providing water and money supplies.
Before each turn, a water chip must be thrown into the pond. If the water supply is empty, the game is over too. The different vegetable cards show how many victory points they can bring in at the end. If you cover all the suns on the bed with drops of water, you can even double the points. If you decide to create a bed, you need different numbers of cards, depending on the vegetables.
Conclusion: "Chill and Chili" is a well-balanced, small resource game for the junior players. Even if you play to five, each player is quickly back on the train. The score can be easily observed through the open lying beds of the other players. And the slowly decreasing supply of water indicates how long the game lasts.
Schmidt Games; 2-5 players; from 8 years; about 20 euros; Author: Lenny Herbert
The portals of Molthar
A black magician causes unrest in the country and the players try to draw as powerful beings on their side: That's what it's about here. There are two types of cards: pear types with numbers from one to eight and character cards with different conditions to activate them. At the beginning of the game each player gets five types of pearls. For each turn, the active player can choose from three actions. Anyone who wants to bind one of the creatures on the character cards must first place it in his portal on the player tableau.
The individual cards have activation conditions that can be met with the help of the pearl types. For example, simple beings require a triplet of fours, more complex beings a road of five numbers. If you have activated the creature successfully, you turn it around so that the number of victory points is at the top. In addition, some of the creatures have unique or permanent abilities that the player can use. If you manage to score twelve victory points first, you win.
Conclusion: "The portals of Molthar" is the best example that a good game does not always need a lot of material. 110 cards, five player boards and a guide are enough here. The game flow is fast, the possibilities of variation are great. It is easy to keep track of which teammates can be dangerous to their own victory and so quickly thwart their plans. In the small game box is a successful game for everywhere.
Amigo; 2-5 players; from 10 years on; 10 Euro; Author: Johannes Schmidauer-King
fusion
Numbers, colors and symbols: you do not have to pay much attention to much more. The game consists of 81 cards, which are evenly distributed to all players. Each card has a color, a symbol and a number. There are three discard piles. On the first, the next card must either have the same symbol or the same color as the card you have laid out. The second stack requires a higher or lower number than the current one and on the last stack the follower card may not match the previous one. The game is played simultaneously, each player may always have a maximum of three cards in his hand. It wins who has gotten rid of all cards first.
Conclusion: "Fusion" is a quick-to-learn card-drop game. Since there are only three different discard piles, it does not get confused so quickly. And a round is just long enough that, although nice rush comes up, but you want to play directly the next game. A great starting game for a longer game night.
NSI; 2-4 players; from age 6; about 8 euros; Author: Reinhard Staupes
Crazy Coconuts
Four monkey catapults, a whole series of cups and many rubber coconuts - this is "Crazy Coconuts". Depending on the number of players, the cups are set up in the middle of the table and the monkey catapults around it. The player in turn must try to use a catapult to carry a rubber coconut into a cup. Tumbled cups may be placed in their own play area and can still be stolen by the other players. The aim of the game is to first build a pyramid of cups in front of him. If that's too easy for you, special cards can make it difficult for your teammates to win.
Conclusion: wonderful nonsense. The catapults are working really well and anyone who knows "Looping Loui" knows that such a thing can not only be fun for kids.
Pegasus; 2-4 players; from 5 years old; 13 euros; Author: Walter Schneider
The Legend of the Cherry Tree
The cherry tree blooms only every ten years and the one who manages to collect most of the falling flowers, he fulfills a wish. If you are too greedy in this game, you lose. Each player has a privacy screen, placed in front of and behind the cherry blossoms. If it's your turn, you can grab up to three times in a bag of flowers. Each time you have to get at least one flower, a maximum of eight per turn. However, the flowers have different colors and not every drawn combination brings one closer to victory.
Depending on which combination you have pulled, you may put flowers in front of or behind your own screen. Who has the most victory points in the end, wins. In addition, so-called master cards still offer bonus promotions, which can bring the players closer to the goal of the game.
Conclusion: "The Legend of the Cherry Tree" is a very beautifully designed push-your-luck game. The game is entertaining and does not require too much strategic skill. At the same time, the additional cards offer the opportunity to make the game more challenging, if one has the impression that one is not enough demanded.
Iello; 2-4 players, ages 8 and up; about 20 euros; Author: Hinata Oriyuchi
Impact - Battle of Elements
In "Impact" the box becomes a cube arena. The goal of the game is to have as the last player still dice. Initially, the dice are distributed according to the number of players, a starting die comes in the middle of the arena. Each cube shows one of five different symbols and one empty cube side. The game can be played in different game modes. In the simplest mode, the active player throws a dice into the arena trying to score at least two equal symbols. If he succeeds, he is allowed to remove these dice and the next player is on the move. If he does not succeed, he can either continue to throw dice in the arena until he succeeds or he ends his turn, but loses the dice used.
Conclusion: A very entertaining game in between. The simple game mode is also suitable for younger children. If you like it more complex, you can try one of the variants in which the diced symbols trigger an action. In this case, for example, dice with the water symbol remain in the arena and can not be taken out. Or there is a rule that with multiple fire symbols, each player must build a tower from his dice as fast as possible. The fastest player then wins all dice with multiple symbols from the arena.
Ravensburger; 2-5 players; from 8 years; 18 euros; Author: Dieter Nüßle
Roll floes
If "roll off", the player who is on the turn has four dice. Each cube has three sides with floes, one side with a fishhook, one with water and one with a doubler. All dice are rolled at the same time. As long as the player rolls dumplings, which he puts into the net of the box in the form of yellow and red clods, he may continue to roll the dice. A fishhook allows you to steal the thrown fish from a fellow player, and the doubler, right, doubles the entire catch of the roll.
Water and doublers are put out permanently, so players have to think hard about how far they want to reach their dice luck. Because only because the fish are in the net, they are far from ashore. Only when a player finishes the move does he also have to catch.
Conclusion: Another great push-your-luck game, even for Kopfrechenmuffel. It does not take very long, it's easy to learn and you can annoy your fellow players by stealing the fish from their nose.
Amigo; 2 - 8 players; from 8 years; about 8 euros; Pure Knizia
