2023 is here and at Good Games, we’re keeping our shelves packed to the brim with the best board and tabletop games you can get your hands on. Below are 5 of our favourite games hitting Good Games shelves this year. Whether you like deck building, economic, cooperative or real-time games, we’ve got something you’re sure to love!
Clank! Catacombs
CLANK! Catacombs is a tile-laying and deck-building adventure, all about exploring dungeons! If you’re looking for a fantasy style game that nails that feeling of exploring a dangerous lair, this is the game for you.
In CLANK! Catacombs, you’ll enter a dungeon, find troves of treasure, and get out. Sounds simple enough, but the unique tile-laying mechanic adds an exciting element of path-forging to the mix. Unlike in exploration games with a single game board, the tile laying means that not only will you be unsure of where your treasure is, but creating that path is an adventure of its own. You’ll need to actively explore (placing a tile each turn, choosing its orientation, and moving from room to room) and navigate through the ever-expanding catacomb to finally claim your prize. Travel through portals, navigate traps, and avoid countless perils!
The tile laying ensures a unique experience each time you open the box, making this game highly replayable. I recommend the game for people who love push-your-luck mechanics, as the slow unveiling of the map ensures you’re never certain of what lies ahead, and your resource-management decisions are game changing. The system is also ripe for expansions; I hope to see some exciting new tile packs in the future.
CLANK! Catacombs is a fantastic pick for lovers of fantasy, deck building, exploration, and is a solid, all-round board game experience. Available at your Local Good Games right now!
Kites: Time To Fly
Kites: Time to Fly is a fast paced, cooperative card game about keeping your kite in the air for as long as possible. If you’re after something quick, super fun, and easy to learn, this game will be perfect.
In Kites: Time to Fly, each Kite is represented by a coloured sand timer which is slowly running out. By playing cards on their turn, players can flip a timer and keep it going for longer. The second a timer runs out, it’s game over and the remaining cards in everyone’s hands are added together to get your score, which you’ll try to beat the next time you play. If everyone managed to clear their hands without any timers running out, congratulations - you won! It might be time to play with some challenge cards.
Each coloured timer in play lasts for a different length of time, from 30 – 90 seconds, and represents a different kite. However, there’s also a unique white timer. If you empty the draw pile while playing, you have until the end of the white timer to empty your hands.
Cooperation is highly encouraged in this game. Let people know what you’re planning to play and coordinate your moves, just keep an eye on the timers!
Kites: Time to Fly is fun, exciting, and great for all ages. Whether you’re looking for an icebreaker before a meal or something to warm up board game night, Kites is guaranteed fun. Pick up your copy at your local Good Games or online!
Free Radicals
In Free Radicals, each player takes the role of a faction striving to influence and build a utopia. The appearance of ‘The Sphere’ has generated a leap in technology and society is now close to a breakthrough. If you like economic, sci-fi themed games, and a solid victory point system, keep reading!
Free Radicals has 10 different factions you can play as, each of whom have very unique play styles (e.g. Artificers are all about hand management while Farmers build domino effects with their crops). This game has all the fun strategy of an economic board game, without the competitive elements. While it isn’t technically a cooperative game (there is still a winner), you are encouraged to help other factions advance with the potential to earn bonuses for your support. Free Radicals is a refreshing take on sci-fi strategy games, where you explore a vibrant technological world and strive for a better future rather than struggle against a horrifying apocalypse.
This game is also a great tool to introduce new board gamers to more in-depth game mechanics. If you have a friend who loves Ticket to Ride and Catan but is looking to step into the world of Gloomhaven and Baldurs Gate, Free Radicals is a good stepping stone. With its well-developed factions, robust mechanics, and encouragement of supportive interactions, this one is sure to be a hit for new and old players alike. Check it out at our online store today!
Iwari
As a reminder, all of our preorder games are 10% off until they're officially released so secure your copy and save!
Iwari is a beautiful area control game following a number of Tribes as they explore their dawning world. Build Settlements, connect with great Titans, and learn who you are. The game’s system is cleanly designed and easy to learn.
Players each control a Tribe, playing cards from your hand in order to place Tents and Totems, and fulfilling various recipes for earning victory points. Take turns playing cards until the draw deck is depleted, then the Half Journey scoring begins. Here the number of Tents placed in each region are tallied. The person with the most receives Victory Points equal to the total of Tents in the region (including other players’), the person with the second most receives Victory Points equal to the number of Tents owned by the person who came first, and so on.
Once the deck is depleted again or someone runs out of Tents, tent scoring happens once again, as well as scoring for Totems and Settlements. Points are awarded according to whoever has the most Totems across a given border, and Settlements are awarded for having uninterrupted groups of Tents.
Iwari is beautiful, easy to learn, and satisfying. This abstract strategy game is a fantastic option for your chill board game hangouts or family game night, when you don’t want something overly competitive. Not to mention the beautiful artwork and tidy game design. This one’s well worth picking up.
boop.
As a reminder, all of our preorder games are 10% off until they're officially released so secure your copy and save!
boop. is an adorable, and surprisingly strategic game for two players. Whenever a Kitten hops on the bed, it boops all the cats around it away, pushing some off the bed altogether. Your aim is to get three Cats in a row (and it’s important to note that Cats and Kittens are different).
boop. comes with a little blanket, placed on top of the box to represent the bed, with a grid stitched into it. Players take turns placing a Kitten anywhere on the bed. Whenever a Kitten is placed though, it boops any Kitten adjacent to it one square away. Kittens can be booped off the bed, in which case they return to the player’s hand, but they can’t be booped if there is another Kitten in the way, blocking them. Once you get three of your Kittens in a row, remove them from the board and replace them with Cats, which are placed in your hand.
Gameplay continues until one of you gets a row of three Cats. But to make it trickier, Kittens can’t boop Cats. If you place a Kitten next to a Cat, the Cat will remain where it is.
This game is super cute, super fun, and pretty ‘thinky’, as the developers describe it. A fantastic option when you want something engaging but don’t have many people handy, or when you want something kids will love, with enough strategy to keep them thinking. Grab boop. at your local Good Games next time you’re there!
