The Best Board Games of 2023

gameinformer.com:

Incredible gaming was not limited to the screen this year. A wealth of fantastic board, card, and miniature games found their way to tables, bringing friends and families together for evenings of strategy, imagination, and fun. From simple party games to sprawling quest-driven adventures, these are some of the year’s best new projects for your gaming group.

Players head out across the Galapagos, examining unusual animal species, investigating life’s diversity, and contributing to the field of biology as they dispatch information back to museums to further human understanding. The complex and interconnected worker placement mechanics demand careful strategy from the start, with nearly every action crucial to securing victory. With board art that recalls Darwin’s familiar sketchwork, it’s a thinker’s game that celebrates the mystery and discovery of science.

This charming but strategically rich tableau-building game challenges players to build a natural ecosystem while drafting cards from a vast supply of over 300 options. Each player mixes and matches things like the island and climate where the game begins, lending an asymmetrical quality. Featuring strong ecological overtones, Earth’s most impressive trick is how it keeps every player acting and engaged with gameplay, even when it’s another player’s turn.

2016’s Scythe was a standout success thanks to its tightly balanced engine-building gameplay and gorgeous alternate-history setting. Expeditions is the sequel, and while the evocative art style and world are the same, there’s plenty new to discover. Players compete to build power, finish quests, and investigate the mysteries behind powerful meteorite pieces, all with a strong focus on exploration and discovery.

Plaid