The latest board games we can’t stop playing

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Our latest list of board games are clever, fun, and kind of addictive!  Two of them are great two-person games, too, which are perfect for at-home date nights.

 

Four games.

All of them are strategy games, although that’s where the similarities end.  They really couldn’t be more different.

Before our boys left for college, we got Camel Up and Decrypto and loved them so much we played as much as we could before they left.

Since we’ve become empty nesters, my husband picked up Santorini and Quacks of Quedlinburg and it’s so much fun to have new games that the two of us can play together.

I can’t wait to tell you about these.  You are definitely going to find something to love here!

Latest Board Games

I’m calling these the latest board games, because they’re new to me, and two of them are new in the past year or so.  But according to my husband, a couple of them have been around awhile.

Here’s what you need to know:

Camel Up

Age: 8 years and up

Number of Players: 3-8

Description:  The idea of moving camel pieces around a racetrack didn’t sound super exciting to me. But this game will wow you.  There are surprises in every turn thanks to the stacking feature and two crazy camels.

This version of Camel Up is an update of an older game.  And I absolutely love how clever the board it.  It includes a dice-rolling pyramid and stand-up palm tree (because…why not?).

 

Players make bets on which camel will be in the lead at the end of each leg as well as trying to predict how the race will finish.

Simple premise, and the game play moves pretty quickly. (Unless you have someone who likes to work out every possible outcome before taking their turn, then not so much.  Ask me how I know.)

 

Decrypto

Age:  12 and up

Number of Players:  3-8

Description:  “Teammates try to transmit secret codes without letting the opposing team intercept them.”  Sounds simple, but once my husband started reading the instructions to us, it felt very confusing.

This is a game that you just have to start playing and then the directions make total sense. Trust me.

Essentially, Decrypto is a clue-giving game.

The challenge is to give clues that are specific enough for your own team to understand them, while at the same time keeping the opposing team from figuring them out.

Tricky!!

It’s very loosely like Code Names in that you’re having to come up with unique ways to give clues.  Definitely a thinking game.

Pro tip:  Provide notepads for each team to communicate via writing to keep everything hush-hush.

 

Quacks of Quedlinburg

Age:  10 and up

Players:  2-4

Description:  This was named Game of the Year 2018 and I can totally see why.  My husband and I played it three times the first day we had it. (Although the fact that I won the first two times and he really wanted a chance to beat me might have had something to do with the third round.  Maybe.)

Players are quack surgeons in the middle ages and are each trying to brew the best potion.  Everybody has their own board, a pot that they’re adding ingredients to in the form of tokens that they pull out of the supply bag.

You have to decide when it’s time to press your luck and when to stop drawing.

Being able to vary the ingredients makes this game infinitely playable and always slightly different.

The Quacks of Quedlinburg is pretty quick.  And while it is a game of strategy, it’s also a game of luck.  You never know what you’re going to pull out of the bag.

 

Santorini

Age:  8 and up

Players:  2-4

Description:  Players are each trying to build and climb their way to the top of a three story building while blocking other players from doing the same.  Sounds easy.  It’s not.

The strategy of this game reminds me of chess…if chess were set on a Greek Island with pristine white structures.

Adding in the optional Greek god cards gives you extra powers to make Santorini even more challenging.

 

You are going to want to try one of these board games ASAP!

 

Click here to see lots more games that we play and love.

 

P.S.  If you have dork-game-loving fellas in your life like I do, here’s one final suggestion that might be right up their alley.  It’s one of my guys’ current faves.

As described by my husband:

Gloomhaven is a great dungeon-crawl game for 2-4 players.  This is not D&D, in that there is no roleplaying or gamemaster.  The players enter a world where they control a character and battle various enemies in caverns, sewers, mountain passes, etc.  The game uses no dice, but instead has an innovative system where players pick two cards from their character’s deck each round, and use one action from each card to perform that round.  The actions may be movement, attacks or various other actions or spells.

The game is huge and is a legacy game, meaning the game expands and changes as you play.  There is an overall story, and the character you are playing has a goal, that when met, causes your character to retire, but also unlocks a new character you can then take on.

This game is the number one rated board game at boardgamegeek.com for a reason.  It’s a blast!