This year, the games industry reported sales records months before the otherwise important Christmas business.
Thanks to the long Corona holidays in your own four walls.
Now the feast of feasts is just around the corner, albeit in a rather small circle.
In many households, the appetite for board games is still unbroken.
What else should one do with loved ones in the days "between the years"?
We have already presented nice games for children under eight.
The »Game of the Year 2020«, »Kennerspiel 2020« and all the other nominees, which were already awarded in the summer, are of course still worth a look.
Another ten family games that are fun for adults and older children alike are presented in detail in the following photo series and below.
"MicroMacro Crime City"
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You could almost think of »Hidden Object: The Game« when looking at »MicroMacro Crime City«.
In this game everyone solves criminal cases together on a 75 by 110 centimeter large, detailed cartoon city map.
Each of the 16 cases can be solved by carefully studying the plan, but you have to look carefully, sometimes through the supplied magnifying glass, and combine them well.
With the help of card sets, the players are guided through the falls.
On the cards you will find all the questions (and also the necessary answers if you get stuck).
»MicroMacro« can be played without any advance notice, but good lighting is required, as the details on the black and white city map can be decisive for success in the game.
Who is it for
»MicroMacro« is actually the perfect game for Christmas: It's new, quickly explained and everyone can join in, including younger children aged eight and over.
However, some of the lame cases are designed a bit unusual for the target group.
Children playing along should understand at least to some extent what jealousy, gold triggering and drive-by shootings are all about and why they can lead to murder.
MicroMacro: Crime City by Johannes Sich, Edition Spielwiese / Pegasus Spiele, 1-4 players, ages 8+, approx. 25 euros.
"Escape the Room: The Cursed Doll's House"
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While »MicroMacro« can best be described as a puzzle, maybe also a detective game, it is not a real escape room game.
This popular genre is represented at this point by "Escape the Room: The Cursed Doll's House", in which you don't just have to escape from one room, but from five.
For this purpose, something very special has been thought of for this game: the game box becomes a 3D doll's house with said five rooms in which the game takes place.
Halfway experienced escape room groups spend a good two hours playing this game.
After that it is not broken, by the way, but can be reassembled and passed on to another group.
Who is it for
The group of escape room friends has certainly grown even further during the Covid period, because even when the physical rooms are closed, there are tons of variants that are suitable for living rooms.
»Puppenhaus« adds something new to the genre that is sure to provide good entertainment for a cozy evening.
It's nothing for really small children, but ten- or twelve-year-olds can already join the puzzles.
Escape the Room: Das verfluchte Puppenhaus by Nicholas Cravotta and Rebecca Bleau, ThinkFun / Ravensburger, 1-4 players, ages 13+, approx. 35 euros.
"Spooky characters"
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A play on words should not be missing at Christmas, of course, and there is guaranteed not to be a family dispute about the validity of unusual words over »Spukstaben«.
You play »Spukstaben« together (or sometimes all by yourself).
The point is to create words from letters and thus prevent ghosts from stealing the letters.
Conceptually it doesn't sound really convincing, but it did lead to the nice pun in the game title.
For the gaming experience, the story is irrelevant anyway, as the aim is always to write down words that contain many of the letters within a minute.
Everyone puzzles for a moment on their own, until they see how often and in how many different words the letters have been used.
A game consists of ten such rounds, so that "Spukstaben" is also pleasantly quick.
Who is it for
"Spukstaben" works well in families.
Even third graders can take part, they just form shorter words.
Since everyone is playing together, it is not even noticeable that most adults can do this a lot better, and you can be happy together when all the letters have been saved.
Spukstaben by Moritz Dressler, Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag, 1-4 players, ages 10+, approx. 15 euros.
"Red Outpost"
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Red Outpost is an inexpensive game in a small box that feels like a lot more.
Thematically alone: the Soviets may have lost the space race to the moon, but discovered a habitable planet that they are now colonizing.
This works according to the worker placement mechanism, but different from many well-known games of this genre, as no one owns any characters or resources.
You have to be smart to shine in this alternative communist universe.
»Red Outpost« is not a cooperative game and towards the end it is important to have outmaneuvered the others and to have used the collective in your own favor.
Note: Only those who manipulate the simple-minded comrade characters well will make themselves more equal than everyone else and win.
Who is it for
"Red Outpost" is for experienced gamers who are looking for a new experience beyond the "game of the year" complexity.
The unusual topic shouldn't put you off either.
Red Outpost by Raman Hryhoryk, Lifestyle Boardgames / Asmodee, 1-4 players, ages 10+, approx. 25 euros.
"Wild Universe"
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Uninhabited planets are also explored in the card game "Wild Universe".
First of all, however, the aim is for the players to put together a crew of animals and robots with different qualifications, with which they then travel to worlds as far away as possible and collect credits there.
A game of "Wild Universe" only lasts ten rounds.
It is crucial to make every move as lucrative as possible by putting together longer sequences of bonus moves and extras with the help of smart card selection.
It's called "engine building" and it sounds more complicated than it is.
Who is it for
"Wildes Weltall" is a game for families with children from ten years and is certainly also fun for adult groups.
For a half-hour card game, it offers some nice decisions and is always played a little differently due to the many different card combinations.
Wildes Weltall by Joachim Thôme, Board Game Circus, 1-5 players, ages 10+, approx. 27 euros.
"Draftosaurus"
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Now comes the secret weapon: dinosaurs!
The little game "Draftosaurus" consists of 90 percent cute wood dinosaurs, which are settled by the players in their small parks according to simple rules.
If twelve giant lizards are placed, a short evaluation takes place and the most beautiful »Jurassic Park« wins.
"Draftosaurus" only lasts a quarter of an hour and offers an interesting mechanism: the players hold their dinosaurs in their hands, then at the same time choose one for their park and pass the remaining dinosaurs on to the neighbors.
This mechanism is called drafting and is used in many far more complicated games.
The great thing about drafting: Everyone always plays at the same time and it never gets boring.
Who is it for
"Draftosaurus" is a little game for in between, between the main course and dessert, coffee and cake, "Oh Christmas tree" and brandy.
The whole family can participate and it really doesn't overwhelm anyone.
Promised!
Draftosaurus by Antoine Bauza et al., Board Game Box, 2-5 players, ages 8+, approx. 22 euros.
"King of Tokyo Dark Edition"
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In 2011 "King of Tokyo" was published and described as a funny, cartoon-like hit-and-run game.
It was really fun to throw a city to rubble and ashes like a manga and fight with other monsters for supremacy in the metropolis.
The game became a colossal success and a worldwide bestseller with many expansions.
This year "King of Tokyo" was reissued as a "Dark Edition", which has a lot to offer in terms of graphics.
This makes the game look contemporary again and is definitely a highlight of the game year for families who do not yet know the predecessor.
The players shouldn't be too sensitive, however, because you can get on the pear yourself.
Fortunately, a game never lasts very long, so "King of Tokyo" always invites you to take rematch.
Who is it for
"King of Tokyo" is a wonderful family game with which you can also encourage children to play, who otherwise like to play on the console.
It is wild, without being particularly brutal or seriously confrontational, the game is too much of a comic for that.
Only families that already have the original are advised not to use the »Dark Edition«, the different versions are too similar for that.
King of Tokyo Dark Edition by Richard Garfield, Iello, 2-6 players, ages 8+, approx. 40 euros.
"Virus"
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This game could be seen as an opportunistic attempt to quickly turn the coronavirus into a game.
But that is not the case.
"Virus" came on the market a few months before the pandemic.
"Virus" is a slightly macabre card game, in which the aim is to get well as quickly as possible, which means: to collect four functioning organs.
Unfortunately, the other players try to infect you with various viruses and damage your organs in this way.
So antibodies are formed, vaccinations are given and operations are carried out, which in the worst case scenario can lead to malpractice or to forget a glove in the body.
It is - it is hard to believe - quite a joke.
At its core, "Virus" is extremely catchy: play or swap cards, follow suit, and it goes on.
Malicious glee and nasty sayings then come all by themselves.
Who is it for
"Virus" is a game for jokers and card game friends who don't want to let the pandemic get them down.
You have to like the topic, and if you have the faint-hearted in the family, you prefer something else.
Vaccine skeptics better too.
Virus by Carlos López, Domingo Cabrero, Santi Santisteban, Game Factory, 2-6 players, ages 8+, approx. 13 euros.
"Faiyum"
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Faiyum is an oasis-like basin that was first converted to farmland in ancient Egypt.
The players help to make this valley tangible in order to get the favor of the Pharaoh.
That sounds like a classic board game task, but mechanically »Faiyum« is extremely interesting.
Author Friedemann Friese has combined the market from his bestseller »Funkenschlag« with a drafting mechanism.
So you buy cards that help you develop.
But you don't just collect them, play them through and take them back into your hand from a draw pile, as is usually the case.
Instead, you always have all cards to choose from, but once you have discarded cards you can only retrieve them to a limited extent.
So the timing and the order in which the cards are placed is crucial.
This system is new and makes "Faiyum" a challenging business.
Who is it for
»Faiyum« is a game for experts who like to dig into new game mechanics and have no problem playing a game several times in order to better understand card combinations and processes.
However, if you only play »Faiyum« once or twice a year, you will probably hardly dive deep enough into the game to really enjoy it.
Faiyum by Friedemann Friese, 2F games, 1-5 players, ages 12+, approx. 43 euros.
"Heaven & Ale"
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Agriculture and handicrafts are also practiced in »Heaven & Ale«, but the focus is clearly on hops, barley, yeast and water.
Experts immediately recognize that beer is brewed here, according to the purity law.
Visually and thematically (monks in the Middle Ages), "Heaven & Ale" is a classic optimization and placement game in which momentous decisions are made again and again, which makes this somewhat older work one of the more demanding games on this list.
But »Heaven & Ale« is also cozy.
It's just nice to sit comfortably at the living room table for one and a half hours in the evening amidst all the chaos and quietly brew a delicious beer.
You can drink whatever you want with it.
Who is it for
"Heaven & Ale" was once nominated as "Kennerspiel des Jahres", so it is definitely something for frequent gamers.
At the time, the jury wrote: "Finding the right balance of resources and the right timing for the tight scoring options is a stimulating task."
Those who like that should check out the game.
Incidentally, it also works great for two.
Heaven & Ale by Michael Kiesling and Andreas Schmidt, eggertspiele, 2-4 players, ages 12+, approx. 32 euros.
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