Since our very first post, we’ve been laser focused on publishing high-quality board game related content: whether it’s written or video. We craft and discuss, parenthesize, spellcheck, and edit until we’re happy with it. And this year we published 525 pieces; it’s just crazy for an all-volunteer team like ours.

Sneak peek...not only did we publish over 500 articles. We published our 3,000th piece on New Years Eve. But more on that in a few days!

Let’s walk through the content and see what stood out.

401 Written Reviews

2024 was a great year for games, with close to 5,000 titles marked as released in 2024 (according to BoardGameGeek). And while there’s no way that any team could review all of them (or would want to), we managed to review a respectable 141 of them, along with the other 250 games we reviewed which were released in other years.

By traffic, our biggest game review hits of 2024 were Wyrmspan, SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Kraftwagen: Age of Engineering, Tales of The Arthurian Knights, Andromeda’s Edge, and unsurprisingly our reviews of Arcs and Arcs: The Blighted Reach expansion. All this just proves that even though we regularly publish reviews of lower profile games, it’s generally the most popular releases that get the…

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These are the games that stand out, stand up, and won’t stand aside. Maybe it’s a light card game, or maybe it’s an hours-long space odyssey, the games on this list are our collective favorites that we played in 2024. Please join our team as we celebrate the best that board gaming has to offer.

Tom Franklin

Expeditions

2024 started with Expeditions, the sequel-of-sorts to Scythe. While the game uses similar iconography, that’s about the only thing Expeditions shares with Scythe.

While trying to outscore your opponents, you’ll be exploring new parts of the landscape, defeating the mysterious Corruption that has spread, collecting and using cards—and workers to activate them—to take specific actions. Your turn actions will be governed by a trio of options, only two of which you can take at a time.

In my review back in February I said Expeditions was an early contender for my favorite game of the year. My group played it again last month, and I found I still liked the challenges the game presents. However, there’s a game I found that I liked even better…

Spicy

It turns out I’m a big fan of bluffing games. This came as a surprise, as I hadn’t considered the gaming genre…

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2016 was a much different time for me. I was newly into my love of board games, Meeple Mountain was not even a year old, I’d never heard of Reiner Knizia, and the selection process I used for games was a mix of “did it look good on Tabletop” or “that cover looks really cool”. The latter criteria was what I used to decide on Kickstarting an unknown to me game called Circus Flohcati, by the aforementioned Reiner Knizia. I ended up selling it several years later, unplayed, because the game just never spoke out at me.

Fast forward to this past October when I received a box of games to review from our friends at 25th Century Games. Included were Tasso Banana, Sausage Sizzle, and Circus Flohcati. But this time I was ready: the good Dr. Knizia had become one of my favorite designers, my love of light card games had grown immensely, and it didn’t hurt that the cover and graphic design was still eye-popping!

Let me tell you about Circus Flohcati.

The Greatest Show On Earth a Dog’s Butt

Ahem! A quick reminder that Circus Flohcati is a game about literal fleas in a circus.

In gamer parlance Circus Flohcati is a “light press…

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Ticket to Ride: South Korea - K. David Ladage

One of the beautiful aspects of Ticket to Ride is the versatility of the core rules. Adding elements for new maps is a breeze! They have added tunnels and stations (Europe), stocks (Pennsylvania), passengers (Germany), a tech tree (United Kingdom), and exploitable resources (Heart of Africa). The game has been reimagined for smaller player counts and table footprint (New York, London, etc.), there is a print-and-play version that was created for the COVID crisis (Stay at Home), and they recently added a Legacy Campaign version to the series.. Every time they create a new map/expansion for the game, my friends and I are excited all over again to see what is coming next.

South Korea has a map where the track colors are grouped into districts. There is a district board where players are competing for up to ten points in each of the eight districts. In addition, you have three cards that allow you to add a one-time bonus of +1, +2, and +3 to an action: you can draw +1, +2, or +3 more cards (train cards or tickets) on your turn, you can gain +1, +2, or +3 more status in a district with your play, and…

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Recently I was browsing the Rollacrit website and stumbled across the Messenger Bag of Holding. As someone who loves board game bags in general and messenger type bags in particular I was very intrigued. After scrolling through the photos, I knew I had found a contender for our board game gift guide, as well as for the most stylish and useful game bag we’d ever reviewed. Join me as I walk you through the details of Rollacrit’s Messenger Bag of Holding and tell you why I think this is worth a look.

Messenger Bag of Holding Board Game Bag

At Meeple Mountain we grade all board game bags using the same 4 sets of criteria: Straps, Functionality & Durability, Capacity and Portability, Price & Availability. How did the Messenger Bag of Holding board game bag do against our metrics? Let’s find out…

Straps

The primary strap on the Messenger Bag of Holding is a 2” wide thick nylon strap (think seatbelt thickness and quality) with a lovely smooth texture and d20 printed pattern. It has a comfortable shoulder pad with a mesh covering for breathability and ¼” thick foam padding. It connects to the bag proper via double stitched loops at the…

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Isle of Cats Duel - K. David Ladage

There are games that do not really need a two-player adaptation because they play very well at that count. Then there are games that cannot be played at all with two players and, if a couple is going to enjoy the game, it needs one. Isle of Cats falls into the middle of this spectrum: it is a game that can be played at two players, but that player count will not deliver the best experience (to be honest, the base game plays at two players better in the Family mode than the Normal mode).

The Duel version of the game is excellent! It plays very well, offers some good decision space without being a heavy game. My wife and I were able to get into the play quickly, and everything we knew of the original aided in our introduction to this trimmed down version. We might find ourselves playing this more than the original, as good as that is.

If I have a complaint, it would be that the game plays in four rounds, but the mechanic to keep track of those four rounds does not use the ship token and movement as it is handled in the base game. The…

The post Quick Peaks – Isle of Cats Duel, Quacks and Co., Prey, Circus Flohcati, Torii appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

Everdell Duo - K. David Ladage

My wife and I love Everdell. It is an amazing little engine-builder that has so few flaws that they are hardly worth bringing up. My colleague, Bob Pazehoski, Jr., has taken a deep-dive into the game and the expansions (I highly recommend reading those if you have not before). When the news of a two-player version first came into my view, I knew I would be getting this (add to that the fact that you could also order the larger-format cards for the original and this was a no-brainer). In order to kick the tires and give this thing a test drive, my wife and I dove in, read the rules, and prepared to play. We decided to start with the cooperative game using the first chapter scenario. Our first few actions were awkward as we got used to the things that were a little different from Everdell, but it did not take long before we knew what we were doing. The tactical and strategic choices that have to be made in a cooperative play are interesting and thoughtful! This game is, as Mr. Pazehoski put it in his review, “...a streamlined masterpiece…” ‘nuff said.

Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ -…

The post Quick Peaks – Everdell Duo, Foundations of Metropolis, Alpina, Brian Boru: High King of Ireland, Pusheen: The Stacking Game appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

I love dice games. There’s just something about the feel of grabbing a handful of dice and chucking them across the table. Sure you’ve got to deal with lady luck, but that’s okay for the right game. And 2012’s press your luck dice game Sausage Sizzle, a game from Inka and Markus Brand re-released this year by 25th Century Games, might just be one of those games. Note that in Australia, a “sausage sizzle” is a community barbecue focused on sausages. You learn something new every day, right?

Light on theme, but heavy on fun, Sausage Sizzle has players rolling dice in order to score points for each of 6 Australian animals (echidnas, snakes, crocodiles, kangaroos, quokkas, and platypus).

The game plays out over 6 rounds, which correspond to the number of animals. Each round you’ll be scoring one animal, indicated by the 6 animal scoring tokens that each player has in front of them. On your turn roll all eight dice (4 with numbers 2-5 and a sausage, and 4 with animals), and keep at least 1. After you’ve set aside all 8 dice, you score. But what, dear reader, are you scoring for?

Sausage Sizzle scoring is all about multipliers. You’ll multiply the value of the…

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Giant wooden bananas!

When you see a hand holding one of the bananas, you might think the size is exaggerated, but you’d be wrong. The bananas in Tasso Banana really are that big. Open up the box and you’re immediately struck by the size.

[caption id="attachment_309041" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Tasso Banana box has a clever origami influence. It folds in on itself and is held closed by magnets![/caption]

These, my friends, are game pieces of substance.

In Tasso Banana your goal is to be the first to get rid of all your bananas by placing them out on the game board. Bananas on the same level can’t touch each other, the table, or one of the included banana leaves, or go outside the boundaries of the playing field (as defined by the game board). A stacked banana can only be stacked on two other bananas, and a banana which already has another banana on top of it can’t support any other bananas. With these rules you’ll wind up with a crazed jumble of gently curving fruit, some stacked on their sides, some arch side up, as if poured out of the…

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The Dwarves: Big Box - Andy Matthews

Up until 2022, I’d never heard of The Dwarves, a hugely popular German five book fantasy series, which spawned a video game and a board game. And I certainly never expected to play it. But my game group wanted to inject some cooperative action into our game nights and The Dwarves was picked.

The goal of The Dwarves is to work your way through a scenario deck of cards, while protecting your lands from invading orcs, trolls, and elves. Players may also complete side quests which can provide valuable bonuses or cause trouble in Girdlegard (the dwarven homeland). At the beginning of every player’s turn the hero marker advances can trigger new enemies to emerge, cause drama in the dwarven high council, or cause negative effects to the side quest deck. In typical coop game fashion there are multiple ways to lose, but only one way to win.

My group had a good time playing The Dwarves, and even spent some time afterwards talking about different approaches we might take in our next play. While I don’t think The Dwarves is going to win any awards, it’s a solid game and one we’ll be playing again. 

Ease of entry?:
★★★☆☆ - There were…

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The last few years have seen a resurgence in the popularity of board games. Tens of millions of people all over the world are spending time playing board games with their friends, families, and even perfect strangers; all for the love of the game. And now you’re here, looking for gifts for friends, family, coworkers, and perhaps even random strangers. But never fear, our 2024 Holiday Board Game Gift Guide is up to the challenge.

Gifts for Board Gamers

Our 2024 Holiday Board Game Gift Guide features a wide range of categories, from wallet-sized and wallet-friendly games, games for the first timer and games for friends who have been playing for years. From lightweight stocking stuffer games you can play in minutes to multi-hour epics your gamer will love. Or maybe you’re the board game geek and you’re on the prowl for something new and interesting! But no matter what you’re looking for, or who it’s for, the…

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Flip 7 - Andy Matthews

I love it when a game "hides" the premise in plain sight, like Flip 7 from The Op. It's a lightweight (and I do mean light) press your luck game that has you flipping over cards from a shared deck and deciding "do I stay or do I go?". Number cards earn you points, action cards do special things, and if you ever "Flip 7" cards you earn a sweet 15 point bonus and end the round. But if you flip over a number card that you already have in front of you, then it's a bust for you.

You'll earn points based on the numbers on the cards; their values ranging from 0-15. With the exception of the 0, each card is worth its face value and there are that many cards in the deck: three 3 cards, ten 10 cards, etc. But there's also a handful of action cards which can be both angel and demon (depending on who's receiving them). The Second Chance card lets you skip a "bust", the "Freeze" card helps you stop a runaway leader, and the "Flip Three" card forces a player to flip over three cards even if they might bust!

I played with 3 players and it hummed along…

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At the GAMA Expo in 2024, publishers from all over the country showcased their upcoming releases. One night, in a relatively small room, I had the opportunity to look over close to 150 games from large and small publishers alike. After making a circuit of the room to see what looked interesting, the Stalk Exchange (stylized as $talk Exchange) table from The Op was the first one I came back to, and the only one in which I sat down to play an entire game. I was impressed with the artwork, the simple gameplay, and the play time—around 30 minutes or so. So when The Op offered to send a copy for review, I jumped at the chance. And everyone who’s played it so far has raved about it, some going so far as to say, “This is what a market manipulation game should look like.”

So let me share the love for Stalk Exchange.

“Flowers don’t tell, they show.” — Stephanie Skeem

In Stalk Exchange, 2-5 players compete to build the best floral portfolio, a wealth of dahlias, daffodils, globemasters, snowdrops, and tulips. You do this by planting flowers from “the exchange” into the shared garden, and by trading flowers between the exchange and your hidden portfolio.…

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