Top 23 of 2023

The Ticket to Ride Europe board game takes you on a new train adventure through the largest cities in Europe. Players try to complete train routes on their destination cards. You do this by claiming connections between cities, which you can build via the right card combinations. Have you collected the most points with your train network at the end of the game? Then you are the winner! Ticket to Ride Europe is a Dutch, stand-alone version of the original board game 'Ticket to Ride' with a map of Europe. This game offers excitement and fun for the whole family! The Games Friends: “ Ticket to Ride Europe is a fantastic board game and, in our opinion, a deserved classic for years. The actions are super simple, but you can still make plenty of tactical choices in the routes you choose and the train cards you take. Every family should have this at home!"

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14 different peoples live in the world of Terra Mystica. Each player has their own people and tries to create the largest possible empire for them. Each nation has unique characteristics. For example, they all want to live on their own type of terrain (for example, witches choose the forest) and they all have their own skills and bonuses. The player who builds the largest possible empire for his people is the winner. You also have quite a bit of interaction with your fellow players. Of course they will get in your way, but you can't do without them either. If there are other players nearby, you get big bonuses! Terra Mystica is highly rated internationally and ranks very high on Board Game Geek's list of the best board games ever! The Games Friends: “ Terra Mystica is a great game and one of our favorite games. Due to the large number of peoples, every game is different and the replayability is enormous. In this game it mainly comes down to tactics and luck plays almost no role. If you like building a good engine, then this is the game for you!”

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In this well-known laying game, the players jointly build the French city of Carcassonne with all its roads, towns, monasteries and meadows. By deploying serfs they score points for completed projects. Each turn you place one land tile and you may place one follower on it. Which type it is depends on the tile. There are tiles with road sections, monasteries, city districts and/or meadow sections. In principle, there may not be more than one follower on a project, but if two unfinished parts are built together, it can still happen that more followers end up on them. Whoever has the most followers on a completed project immediately receives points. Different rules apply to the number of points to be received for each type of project. The game ends when all tiles have been placed. Whoever has the most points wins. Carcassonne is loved by both families and experienced players because it has sufficient depth despite the simple rules. The touch of luck gives everyone the opportunity to participate in the win until the end. The Games Friends: “ Carcassonne is of course a classic and we completely understand why. During Carcassonne you can relax and try to create the most beautiful landscape possible, while of course trying to outdo your opponent(s). Due to the many expansions, a game of Carcassonne is never the same and you can make the game as extensive as you want. Indispensable in every games cupboard!"

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A bird game full of tactics and excitement As a bird lover, you try to create the best living conditions for the birds in your sanctuary. Each bird expands a chain of powerful combinations in one of its habitats. These habitats focus on different growth factors: grabbing food, laying eggs and drawing new bird cards. Who will build the best action motor and score the most points with their birds at the end of the game? Each turn you play a bird, after which you can perform all actions in the relevant habitat. This way you can take food from a “real” birdhouse, place egg miniatures in nests or collect new birds. All options earn points in different ways. The Games Friends: “ Wingspan is absolutely fantastic! The artwork is beautiful, the game mechanics are very good and the rules are simple. As far as we are concerned, Wingspan should not be missing in any games cabinet. Really and truly! ”

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Robbers of the North Sea is set in the era of the Vikings. The players are warriors who try to impress the chieftain by raiding unsuspecting settlements. There is glory to be won in battle, even if you fall into the hands of the Valkyries! Assemble a crew, stock up on supplies and travel north to plunder settlements. Capture gold, iron and cattle. Gather your warriors, it's time to start plundering! The Games Friends: “Rovers of the North Sea gives a very fun twist to the well-known worker placement mechanism. Because you can only place one worker and only take one, you have to constantly weigh your choices. This makes Rovers of the North Sea one of our favorite worker placement games! Oh and did we mention it looks beautiful too?"

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In the board game Scythe, each player tries to make his faction the richest and most powerful in Eastern Europe. Players explore and conquer territories, recruit recruits, produce goods and workers, build buildings, and deploy monstrous robots. Players start in Scythe by building their infrastructure and exploring the world. As their factions slowly grow stronger, there is one big question: will you coexist peacefully or will you go into battle? Will you manage to seize power? The Games Friends: “ Scythe combines a fantastic appearance (beautiful artwork and detailed miniatures) with wonderful gameplay. The actions are not very complicated, but there is still a lot of depth in this beautiful board game. This topper should not be missing in any games cabinet! ”

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In Nemesis you are aboard a spaceship and wake up from a hibernation . The emergency procedure indicates that there is a critical system error that prevents the ship from continuing. The crew's goal is to find out the reason for this error and try to get back to Earth safely. But unfortunately there is an even bigger problem. One of the crew members is dead... You soon find out that you are not alone on the spaceship, because you hear strange noises around you. Sounds you've never heard before... The Games Friends: What a brilliant game Nemesis is. The rules are tough, but you get so much replayability in return. To start with, it is nice that the tiles are placed differently each time, so that every pot is different. And you really feel like writing a story while playing, because such cool things happen. In our opinion, a must-have for fans of dark cooperative games!

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Taverns of the Old Town is a deckbuilding game about competing taverns, where drinking brothers and noblemen drink their beers and drinks. The players are valuable in their own establishment and try to make their pub the best in the old city through the right investments. As an innkeeper, you attract new customers and occasionally a nobleman, who promotes fame. You will also have to invest in tables, recruit staff and find suppliers of the golden liquid. Each round, players roll and choose dice and pass them to their neighbor. The dice determine which beers you tap and pour. Do you serve your regulars at the bar again or do you choose that rich stinker in the corner? The Games Friends: “ The Taverns of the Old Town fit together very well and have an extremely high replayability due to the four different modules. But the real power of this game lies in the theme, which is very original and perfectly implemented in the available actions. A winner!"

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In the beautiful Everdell Valley, beneath the treetops, lies a civilization full of hardworking forest dwellers. For years this place has provided shelter, but now it is time to expand. In Everdell you are the leader of a group of forest dwellers and you are tasked with expanding your empire. You do this by building buildings and adding new characters to your group. Will you have the strongest civilization before the winter moon takes over the valley?

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On an uninhabited island in unknown seas, explorers have found traces of a new civilization. In the lost ruins of Arnak, you lead an expedition to explore the new island and find lost artifacts. In your journey you will encounter terrifying guards that you will have to face off against. You do all this to discover the secrets of the island. The Vanished Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration and inventory management. Will you discover all her secrets? The Games Friends: " Arnak plays very smoothly, but the combination of worker placement and deckbuilding gives you a lot of tactical choices to make. The theme is fun and the artwork is beautiful. Highly recommended! "

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Terraforming Mars takes place in the year 2400 on the planet Mars. In this board game you start with a minimal income and from there you try to build a successful machine. Together with your opponent you will convert Mars into a habitable planet, while trying to buy the right cards that can give you victory! The Games Friends: “ Terraforming Mars is a unique game that perfectly combines cooperative components with the battle for victory. You are dependent on each other, because together you are trying to make Mars habitable. But only one person will walk away with the victory... Highly recommended! "

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Take a journey through Cascadia in northwestern North America and create a balanced ecosystem. The turns are simple: choose a combination of habitat tile and animal token and place it in your growing ecosystem. Receive points by satisfying the animal species' wishes. You also receive points for the size of your habitats. With 20 different animal cards, every game of Cascadia is different. Cascadia is a puzzle game for 1 to 4 players. With the performance walking path you can also take on the challenge alone or together to complete certain assignments and become the expert of Cascadia. In this challenge (3 modules) you will find a total of 30 different assignments that you can complete. The Games Friends: Cascadia is a real hit! It has the same ease as Calico, but we still find this game a lot more fun. Due to the different animal cards, there is sufficient variation in the game, which makes it something that is often on the table here. Highly recommended!

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At the end of the 19th century, America was developing rapidly. New railroad companies compete to meet the needs of the growing population. Traders, officials, food and goods have to be transported from one place to another. A complicated network of train connections has now emerged. Thaddeus Reeves was one of the young entrepreneurs who dreamed of connecting the entire nation and succeeded exceptionally well. Reeves Rails quickly built lucrative train routes from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi, and the company's future looks bright. But greedy railroad magnates are lurking for an opportunity to take over Thaddeus' growing railroad empire. As the years have passed, Reeves Rails has continued to grow and develop considerably. With your new railway company you can now play a role in this important industry. The potential and wealth really shine from your new steam engines and these new railway carriages should make the difference. Satisfied, you open the newspaper and read the headlines from the West... Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West gives you the chance to board your favorite train game and experience the imagination of Rob Daviau, Matt Leacock and Alan R. Moon. You'll embark on a twelve-game journey as you lead your North American railroad to riches and fortune through a campaign full of adventures. Obtaining your destination cards remains your main goal, but you will also need to develop other skills if you want to overcome unexpected events and resourceful enemies. Game after game, route after route, you fill your vault with your earnings. As the game progresses, you'll open region boxes that offer new rules, content and many more surprises. Like other Ticket to Ride games, this game is easy to learn and offers an immersive experience with an extensive storyline that any fan of the game series will enjoy. And after playing 12 Legacy games, you'll be left with a unique game that you can keep playing!

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Go on an adventure in the world of the Vikings and work as a trader, hunter or plunderer. Build houses, discover distant lands and contribute to the celebration of Odin every round. In this grand strategic game, Uwe Rosenberg takes you to a bygone era. A variety of action options and equipment cards for your Northmen guarantee a unique game, where you try to optimize the possibilities on your player board every time! “Odin” is a saga in the form of a board game. You relive the cultural successes, trading expeditions and plunderings of the tribes we now know as “Vikings”. This term came to be used very differently around the end of the first millennium. When the northerners went on a plundering expedition they said they were going on a "viking". The Scandinavian ancestors, however, were much more than ordinary pirates. They were explorers, traders and founders of states. Leif Eriksson was probably the first European in America, long before Columbus. In the region now called Normandy, the invaders were not called Vikings but “Normans”. One of them was the famous William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066. He achieved what the King of Norway could not achieve a few years earlier: conquering the English throne. The fact that the people of that time became good sailors had to do with the fact that it was difficult to live from agriculture alone. Major crop shortages caused much suffering. In this game you can plunder and discover new areas. You also experience what everyday life was like by collecting goods that give you a strong position in society. Ultimately, the game is won by the player whose possessions are worth the most.

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