Games of the Year 2020

Ticket to Ride is a railway-themed strategy board game where players compete to earn the most points by collecting cards, placing trains and completing journeys.

Ticket to Ride is a railway-themed strategy board game where players compete to earn the most points by collecting cards, placing trains and completing journeys. It is an easy-to-learn game that can be gently competitive and has become a popular classic.

Santorini is a strategy game where you place buildings on a Greek island in an effort to get your character to the top.

Santorini is a strategy game where you place buildings on a Greek island in an effort to get your character to the top. This creates a chess-like three-dimensional competitive puzzle that changes as each player adds pieces to the village.

Last Defense! is a game about saving a city from alien invasion in just twenty minutes.

Last Defense! is a game about saving a city from alien invasion in just twenty minutes. You play by rolling dice and moving to stop the invading monsters, free Scientists from the rubble and discover Tools.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple is a cooperative traversal game where teams try and escape an ancient temple before it collapses.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple is a cooperative traversal game where teams try and escape an ancient temple before it collapses. You repeatedly roll dice to move from room to room, adding new tiles to the catacombs as you go.

MicroMacro: Crime City is a puzzle brain game where you solve crimes by discovering clues hidden in black and white pictures.

MicroMacro: Crime City is a puzzle brain game where you solve crimes by discovering clues hidden in black and white pictures. You solve a series of cases that relate to different large pictures you lay out on the table between all the players.

The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine is a cooperative trick-making card game.

The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine is a cooperative trick-making card game. You play as a set of astronauts completing missions in a space adventure.

Shifting Stones is a competitive brain game where you manipulate a grid of Stone cards to match arrangements on your Pattern cards.

Shifting Stones is a competitive brain game where you manipulate a grid of Stone cards to match arrangements on your Pattern cards. The trick is that you have to spend your Pattern cards to swap or flip the Stone cards.

Pictures is a puzzle game about recreating pictures with everyday objects.

Pictures is a puzzle game about recreating pictures with everyday objects. You are assigned a picture from a grid of cards on the table and given a set of materials (cubes, sticks and stones, cards) to make it with.

Herd Mentality is a communication game where players aim to score points by sharing the same ideas as others.

Herd Mentality is a communication game where players aim to score points by sharing the same ideas as others. One person reads out a question, then everyone secretly writes an answer trying to match the most popular answer.

Yarrr Har Hunt is a traversal game where you are a band of pirates working together to follow the clues and find buried treasure.

Yarrr Har Hunt is a traversal game where you are a band of pirates working together to follow the clues and find buried treasure. You move from clue to clue but must work together and share movement to be efficient and find the treasure before the enemy pirate ship gets to the island.

7 Wonders is a card collecting game where players compete to build one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

7 Wonders is a card collecting game where players compete to build one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You play by collecting and playing cards to perform different actions.

Mass Transit is a cooperative card game where you build transit routes to deliver six commuters safely home from work.

Mass Transit is a cooperative card game where you build transit routes to deliver six commuters safely home from work. You place cards around a hub to build routes or discard them to move the commuters forward.

Blood Bowl is a sporting and fighting American football-style game played with two teams of Tolkienesque fantasy races.

Blood Bowl is a sporting and fighting American football-style game played with two teams of Tolkienesque fantasy races. They compete to either get the ball to the end zone or kill all the opponent players.

Meeple Land is a world-building game where you race to create the most successful theme park.

Meeple Land is a world-building game where you race to create the most successful theme park. You place Ride and Concession tiles to attract visitors to your park, but you are also racing other players to collect people from the buses, so can't take too long finessing your plans.

Monza is a simple car racing game.

Monza is a simple car racing game. You move your car by rolling six dice to reveal six colours and then using each one to move along the colour-coded track.

Top Ten is a communication game where you have to match other player's answers to silly questions on a scale of 1-10 scale.

Top Ten is a communication game where you have to match other player's answers to silly questions on a scale of 1-10 scale. You play by reading a question, then giving answers you hope the guesser can put in the right order to match your number.

Tranquility is a silent cooperative card game where you fill in the sea with a grid of Island cards.

Tranquility is a silent cooperative card game where you fill in the sea with a grid of Island cards. The challenge comes from having to play cards into the grid in sequence and not being able to talk to each other to coordinate.

Cantaloop is a trilogy of goofy point-and-click adventure games in book form.

Cantaloop is a trilogy of goofy point-and-click adventure games in book form. It's set in 1976 where you play Oz "Hook" Carpenter who's just returned from exile and is seeking revenge.

Food Chain Island is a single-player strategy game where you combine animal cards to get one of them to the top of the food chain.

Food Chain Island is a single-player strategy game where you combine animal cards to get one of them to the top of the food chain. You can only stack animal cards if their predator number is higher, which leads to a web of decisions with unintended consequences.

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a collecting game where you explore an uninhabited ancient island.

Lost Ruins of Arnak is a collecting game where you explore an uninhabited ancient island. You play Action cards to find resources, defeat monsters and uncover treasures.

On Tour is a sequencing game where you are planning a tour of America for your band.

On Tour is a sequencing game where you are planning a tour of America for your band. Each round you roll dice and then write that number into locations on your map to decide the order of dates for your trip.

The Muddles is a card sequencing and collecting game where you combine animals to create mixed-up creatures.

The Muddles is a card sequencing and collecting game where you combine animals to create mixed-up creatures. With the target creations in the middle, you use your hand to combine the words and pictures and make the muddle.

My City is a world-building game where players compete to create the highest-scoring city by placing Tetris-shaped buildings on their map.

My City is a world-building game where players compete to create the highest-scoring city by placing Tetris-shaped buildings on their map. However, it's a Legacy game which means the board and rules change as you play through 24 rounds over a number of sittings.

Marvel Battleworld is a battle game where you are Marvel heroes fighting to save the world from evil.

Marvel Battleworld is a battle game where you are Marvel heroes fighting to save the world from evil. You play by rolling dice and using special abilities to defeat enemies.