Board Games

 The board game industry is constantly expanding, and with so many new titles on the market, finding the right one, whether that is a new treat for yourself or a gift for someone else, can be tricky. Here at Gathering Games, we have combined our passion for board games and this board game community to create a site that will help you find the game you are looking for. 

From this page, you will find useful information and links to board games in some of the most popular categories, as well as some guidelines on what to look for when buying a new game in our handy buyers guide.

We will bring you some Top Picks for 2024 or top recommendations from one of our themed lists. Are you looking for great games to take on holiday? Why not check out our Best Holiday Board Game article? Maybe you are looking for a great game for 2 people. Have a read of our Best 2 player board games right now for some inspiration. You can find these and more reviews and useful lists on our board game blog.

Here at Gathering Games, we love board games and we love talking about board games. If you haven't found what you're looking for or would like some more tips and advice, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Top Picks for 2024

Here are some of the best games recently released onto the market:

Dune Imperium: Uprising - This has been one of the most popular games on the market in the last 6 months, a brilliant combination of worker placement and deck building mechanics. Dune is set in the struggle on the planet Arrakis as competing houses vie for power and the powerful natural resources of the planet, Spice. Read our Dune Imperium: Uprising review.

Wyrmspan - Set in a world where majestic dragons soar across the sky. In Wyrmspan you are a novice dracologist exploring and excavating tunnels to create a haven for these creatures. In Wyrmspan you are building a brilliant engine as you attract dragons to your tunnels, triggering powerful effects and gaining the respect of the dragon guild. Read our Wyrmspan review.

If dragons don't excite you, why not look at Wingspan, the brilliant predecessor to Wyrmspan and still a hugely popular game. Wingspan focuses on filling your wildlife preserves with amazing birds. Gather the right food types, lay eggs and draw on a huge stack of bird cards as you look for the right combinations for your habitat.

Looking for something a bit different? Quoridor Pacman is a reimplementation of the wonderful abstract strategy game Quoridor. In Quoridor, you use strategy and quick thinking to move across the board while positioning walls to slow your opponent down in a quick and highly addictive game. The Pacman version of the game takes all that is great about Quoridor, combining it with the nostalgia as it recaptures the feel of that famous video game.

A good place to get information and see what games are doing really well at the moment is BoardGameGeek. Here, you can find the number one board game as rated by its community, Brass Birmingham, and the Hotness list, which lists the games people are most looking forward to.

Board Games Buying Guide

When you're looking for a new board game, there are so many things to consider. To make it easier, we wanted to share a little bit of advice from our experience buying board games and helping others pick out great games. 

The first thing I consider is, ‘Who am I going to play this game with?’, ‘What do they like’? I have bought so many games in the past that I have been so excited about that family or friends are just not interested in. What are their interests? What have they enjoyed before? Do they want a long, intense strategy game of direct conflict? Or are they into something more casual and want to be able to play a game whilst having a conversation in a more relaxed evening? Does the theme interest them? If you are buying for kids, think about the complexity and length of the game.

The theme is so important. You can be playing, mechanically, the best game of the year, but that won't matter if the theme doesn’t interest you. It can be really hard to enjoy the game if you simply don’t find it interesting. Similarly, you might love WW2 themed games, but if your group doesn't, the game will just sit on the shelf. 

Finally, consider the mechanics of the game. Does it rely on dice rolls? Are you drafting cards? Is there an auction mechanic? Or are you controlling areas of a map with beautiful miniature figures? The list of game mechanics seems to grow every year, but you can find a pretty good list of mechanics on Board Game Geek if you would like to know more.

The best recommendation I can give you is to try some games. Try different themes, mechanics, and complexity of games to get a good idea of what you enjoy. Find a local games group or even something like BoardGameArena, where you can try many games for free. 

You can get more inspiration from our regular board game blog or have you seen our YouTube channel? Why not subscribe for regular, top notch content.