We’re only two days away from Essen Spiel 2024 and the search for those must have releases has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. In this list I will share my most anticipated games that will become available in Essen this year. Of course, I won’t be able to buy them all, but I’m hoping to get at least some of them. I’ve tried to choose different kind of games so hopefully there will be something for everybody’s liking. For each game in the list I’ve chosen a back up game. An alternative that (hopefully) scratches the same itch.
1. Personal Favorites
Let me start with a couple games that I will try to get for sure (unless they are sold out very quickly). Daitoshi and Flatiron, two vastly different games that trigger different interests.
Daitoshi (1-4 players / €60)
Daitoshi was the big unknown Spiel 2024 release that everybody was talking about, which wasn’t surprising. I mean, the newest title by hit designer Dani Garcia from Arborea, Barcelona and (more recently) Windmill Valley-fame. With less than a week to go until de doors of the Messe will open, the first gameplay and review video’s of this game have been released, and they are unanoumsly positive.
In Daitoshi you are trying the balance progress and nature conservation, by building a circular city (rondel), depleting the surroundings lands and pleasing the the nature spirits (Yokai). The setting is a studio Ghibli-like steampunk world, which is absolutely and completely my thing.
Flatiron (1-2 players / €25)
Flatiron is the nickname of the famous triangle shaped Fuller Building in Manhattan, New York. In this two player game, you will play as one of the architects of this iconic skyscraper. You will be finding fundings, getting permits and actually building the steel structure of the Fuller building floor by floor. Each new floor gives new and different possibilities (actions) and the game ends when the concrete of the last floor has been hardened.
As a former architect this is a game that triggered my imagination right away. The added solo option is an extra bonus. This is a must have for my collection, but since the presale of publisher Ludonova has been closed a week before the start of the convention (because of success, so they claim), I do worry that I will miss out on this game for now.
2. Trick Taking Games
Trick taking is the genre that seems to be on every gamers’ radar this year. At Spiel 2024 about forty new trick takers will be released, each claiming to spin the genre in the most unique way. Being born and raised in a family that played a lot of those classical trick taking card games, this is a genre close to my heart (and one I am quite good at actually), so I couldn’t be happier.
LUZ (3-5 players / €16)
LUZ by designer Taiki Shinzawa is a redesign of the 2014 game by the same name that was only released in Japan. In this mix of trick taking and deduction players hold their cards’ value sides towards the other players. This means you only know the color of your own cards and you will have to deduce their values by looking at the cards of the others.
This sounds like a brain frying spin on the core mechanic and has the potential to be up there with Cat in the Box, if you ask me. On top of that the new art in the theme of stained glass looks stunning! A personal must have, but I am afraid it’ll sell out quickly, especially for the small price of 16 euros.
Lone Wolves (2 players / €20)
Lone Wolves by designer Yasuyuki Nakamura is a two player trick taking game that mixes trick taking with area control. Even though this sounds very intriguing to me, I am doubting whether this will hit my table that much, since I already own both Sail and Jekyll vs. Hyde.
3. Reimplementations
The cynic in me always feels some reservations when it comes to redesigns or reimplementations of existing board games. Quite often it feels like a money trap. The realist in me sees it as an opportunity to finally try out those games everybody has been talking about all these years.
Saltfjord (1-4 players / €55)
I have never played Santa Maria because the theme is so ridiculous. The reviews on the gameplay of this game have always been quite amazing, though. So I am very happy that designers Kristian Amundsen Østby and Eilif Svensson have made a new and improved version of Santa Maria, keeping the game close to their Norwegian heritage.
Not only has the colonization theme been replaced by the context of a Norwegian fishing village, but other gameplay elements and mechanics are added or improved upon. The tableau building is still there, as is the dice drafting, but activation of columns and rows in your village works a little different. Newly added elements are a fishing mechanic and a technology track (amongst others). Plenty of reasons to finally try out this game.
Endeavor: Deep Sea (1-4 players / €85)
Endeavor: Deep Sea is the newest game in the Endeavor universe, by designer duo Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray. It is a new and stand alone game, but builds upon some of the mechanics from the previous games in the series. Instead of discovering the world above sea level, you will now play as marine biologists who are mapping the depths of the oceans. The big unknown, so to speak.
In this game you discover the depths of the ocean one card at a time, and each card offers new possibilities (actions, tech tracks, bonuses) when revealed. The art by Fahed Alrajil looks amazing and I really like the more scientific context of Deep Sea. Unfortunately it seems like only the deluxe version will be available at Spiel, so I’ll probably pass for now, but this game eventually will end up in my collection. Who doesn’t want a yellow submarine meeple!?
4. Asymmetric two player games
Have I told you lately that I love asymmetric two player games? They’re hitting the table a lot here. Some of my favorites are Skulk Hollow, Unmatched and Pagan: Fate of Roanoke (my personal Spiel surprise of 2022).
Ironwood (1-2 players / €55)
A lot of people are talking about Ironwood, the latest addition to the catalog of Mindclash games. In this 1 vs 1 card-driven tactical war game designed by Maël Brunet and Julien Chaput, you will play as either the Woodwalkers (forest ninjas) or the Ironclad (knights in shining armor). These factions battle for control in the lands of Ironwood. The asymmetry is reached by vastly different cards decks, play styles and win conditions. Which sounds great!
There are two things that are holding me back, though. First of all, for me personally a price of 55 euro’s feels too high for a two player game (and is probably caused by the actual wooden and iron components the standard game comes with), and secondly I am wondering how different from Unmatched this game will be? A big pro on the other hand is the included solo mode.
Kelp: Shark vs. Octopus (2 players / €45)
A game that definitely is different from Unmatched is Kelp: Shark vs. Octopus by designer Carl Robinson. This game has been on my mind since the launch on Kickstarter. The premiss of that game and the beautiful production (the beautiful art by Weberson Santiago, the colors, those mahjong-like blocks) are luring me in!
In this game one player acts as the elusive and intelligent Octopus, and plays a game of hide and seek (and hand management). The Shark player on the other hand, is playing a game of catch by chucking dice. I am really curious about how these different mechanics are balanced. With a price of 45 euro Kelp is just a little more affordable compared to Ironwood.
5. Worker Placement with a Twist
One of my favorite mechanics still is the good ol’ worker placement mechanic. Of course this mechanic has been used in a bazillion games and it sometimes feels as the easy way out. Dare I say lazy game design? But every year there are some games that claim to twist the mechanic around. Enter Phoenix New Horizon and Shackleton Base.
Phoenix New Horizon (1-4 players / €55)
Of these two heavy euro games Phoenix New Horizon seems to be the lighter one. The narrative of this game by Jorge J. Barosso is far from original. After humanity wrecked their habitat by entering a nuclear war, we had to hide underground from the fall-out. Now it is time to take back the planet by sending commando teams to the surface and have them developing new technologies that will prep the earth surface once more for human civilizations.
That sounds a LOT like Aporta’s Revive, right? And to top it of there are also tech trees in Phoenix New Horizon. Your commandos walk up the branches of the tech tree so they can take more advanced actions. And apparently that twist on the mechanic of worker placement works remarkable well.
Shackleton Base (1-4 players / €60)
In Shackleton Base: Journey to the Moon several asymmetric space agency’s are building a permanent base on the South side of the moon and while they’re doing this, they are trying to keep the big corporations that sponsor these efforts happy. Cause money makes the moon go round.
There are seven corporations of which you’ll be using three random ones each games, which determine the win conditions in a game. The workers are astronauts in different colors that have different skills (engineers, scientists and technicians) and can activate action in different ways. Due to all these different strategies Shackleton Base seems a bit heavier than Phoenix New Horizon.
6. Accessible Card Games
My family loves to play games but they’re not that into heavy games. So I always make sure to bring some lighter and easy to teach games to birthday parties and Christmas dinners.
Courtisans (2-5 players / €20)
Courtisans is an evil stock market game disguised as a sweet Disney-like tableau builder. In your turn you place one card above or below the Queens’s table, place another in your own domain and place the third in the domain of your opponent. The power (score) of the families (the 6 suits) is determined around the Queen’s table.
The evilness in this game comes from the special powers on some of the cards, and the secret objectives all players get at the start of the game. I must say I am not a fan of the wrinkly (table) cloth central ‘board’ but it fits the theme, I guess.
MESOS (2-5 players / €25)
MESOS is a light open card drafting game in which players play as leaders of an ancient tribe. Via an open drafting system (that works a bit similar like Kingdomino), you claim the offer cards that suits your sets the most. Even in Mesolithic times synergy is preferred but you are always balancing that with your initiative, because the order of the selection also determines player order for the next turn. So some (light) planning is required. The similarity with Kingdomino also keeps me back a little because that game is already in my collection.
7. Small City Builders
Sim City is the video game that I’ve played the most during my teenage years and probably was one of the main reasons for me pursuing a studies in architecture. So it is not surprising that I am still very fond of city builders. Both Chandigarh and Cities are said to scale the genre of the city builder down to a small and easy to teach boardgames.
Chandigarh (2-4 players / €30)
Chandigarh is the second game by publisher Ludonova on this list and once more it is a game with an architectural theme. It retells the historical story of the famous French architect Le Corbusier who has been asked to come up with a concept for a new capital city for the Indian government.
This game looks like a city builder in its purest form. A gridlike set-up containing different plots, that’ll fit different colored building tokens. The design looks very clean which normally is not my thing, but somehow feels fitting to this conceptual stage in urban design. Like mentioned before, I am worried that the Ludonova stock will be depleted quite soon.
Cities (2-4 players / €28)
Cities is a city builder by designers Steve Finn and Phil Walker-Harding that has players building a city tableau, combining with some drafting and action selection mechanics. The most interesting part for me is that the game offers different existing cities that each has different end game bonuses. I am very curious about how thematic these end game bonuses will be.
8. Big Table Presence Games
A boardgames category that is also known as: games that are too big to fit on my table (and probably are too costly for my budget). Starting with SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the latest game by Czech Games Edition, home of success formulas like Code Names, Galaxy Truckers and Lost Ruins of Arnak.
SETI (1-4 players, €70)
I’m having the feeling that their main 2023 release Kutna Hora wasn’t the success they had hoped for, so it is time to come back with a bang. A Big Bang… (see what I did there?)
SETI is one of three euro games by rookie designer Tomáš Holek releasing during Spiel 2024. This specific game promises to be a scientific approach on space travel and research into the possibility of alien life. Besides that, I am simply intrigued by the rotating board based on our solar system. And those colors! SETI will be available for 70 euro, so it might not be for everybody.
Andromeda’s Edge (2-4 players, €70)
When SETI is Star Trek, Andromeda’s Edge would be Star Wars: an epic 4X game that’ll knock you off your feet. Screw science, hail fantasy! I’ve been on the hunt for Dwellings of Eldervale for quite a while now, but getting your hands on a copy of that illicit game by designers Luke and Maximus Laurie is either impossible or quite expensive.
But now there is Andromeda’s Edge! According to many, an iteration on Dwellings that is surpassing the original on many different levels. A game with asymmetric factions, a simple but rewarding battle system and engine building in the form of four tracks and a modular space base. Phew! The retail version will sell for ‘only’ 70 euros and comes with a lot less plastics than the deluxe version. Easy choice, if you ask me.
9. Party Games
What is a game night without a good party game, right? One of the biggest must haves on this list is a party game called Things in Rings, which is not an official Spiel release (but should be available according to the Spiel app). The other is a translation of the Japanese party game ITO.
Things in Rings (2-6 players / €20)
Things in Rings by designer Peter C. Hayward was in my top 10 most anticipated games for 2024. This word game around the concept of the Venn diagram seems genius and soothes my inner nerd in a way that is difficult to explain. So I’ll be on the hunt for this little card game. Hayward has had my attention since his sleeper hit That Time You’ve Killed me, a brilliant chess like abstract game that involves time travel. And how smart is that production! Using three colored shoe laces to create the three circles of the Venn Diagram. Love it!
ito (2-8 players / €18)
The Japanese cooperative party game ito has been quite the success in the land of the rising sun. This year there finally will be a European release (even though I like the Japanese design more). The game has been described as Wavelength light. Each player gets a secret number card (1 to 100), then a topic card will be flipped and each player must give a description of this topic fitting their number the best (with 1 fitting the topic badly, and 100 fitting the topic perfectly). The cooperative goal is to create the perfect line of numbered cards.
And now to Spiel!
So there you have it. Just some of the games that spiked my interest for one reason or another. I hope there was something of interest for you in my list. If so, let me know! But above all, I hope you’ll enjoy this edition of Spiel, if you are going there of course. Maybe I’ll run into you there!