What Next: Cooperative Adventure Board Game | Which Path Will You Pick?

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You want a good travel game: Seeing as it doesn't take up much room in use or when packed away, Jaipur is the ideal game to take with you on the go. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital hereor subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue. Studio Horrible Guild is following up on The King’s Dilemma with a sequel that looks to improve and expand on it in every way.

How it’s played: In Scythe, players represent one of five factions trying to earn their fortunes and claim land in post–World War I Eastern Europe. It's just as absorbing now as it was in the '70s, and few can match its slightly depraved creativity. What made it far more interesting is that there were major limitations on when players could talk about the cards in their hands.

Each factions' quirks (and the cards that can influence them) provide a wealth of options each turn, and while this is overwhelming at first, such flexibility makes Root truly compelling in the long-term. This is followed by Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, an adaptation of the classic team game where your actions have consequences that carry over from session to session.

There are so many different board games available these days, it can be hard to know where to look, but with our round-up of the best new board games, you’re sure to find something for everyone. Instead of fixed effects, each colour of dice is matched to a card that you can switch out between games. It looks set to shake up the formula with that sci-fi setting, a lunar battlefield, and the addition of new units like mechs. The trick is that they can’t see the target while they move the needle; instead, a member of their team acts as the “psychic” who tries to get them to guess the correct position. Each player in The Queen’s Dilemma takes the role of one of these council members and must collectively decide on how they should advise the monarch.

This Gloomhaven follow-up takes everything that was great about the RPG and improves it, leaving us with a strong game of the year contender that the community has been very excited about. This means the game can play fast and simple, allowing you to focus on the strategy and the stories that emerge from play. Trying to juggle the odds to get yourself an edge as your rivals also home in on the same likely winning horses horses is a statistical delight. Whether it's a holiday, gathering or just a wet weekend, the best new board games are a necessity for keeping you and your family entertained! Nonetheless, we were immediately hooked by this game’s immense strategic depth and the beautiful, steampunk-meets-pastoral idyll world-building aesthetic (which Gregory Han raved about in our 2016 gift guide).

After one player places the cathedral, the players take turns placing their variously shaped pieces to capture territory and prevent their opponent from doing the same. The bottom line: Seeing as it's more accessible than the original Gloomhaven (and much less expensive), this is a great place to start regardless of whether you intend to tackle other entries in the series or just want a taste of adventure.Seeing as both sides are given secret objectives to follow, the result is an anxious yet exhilarating race against time. You want something a little different: Cosmic Encounter takes one look at 'normal' rules, shrugs, and decides to go in the opposite direction. Villainous is downright beautiful; every illustration has been made with the utmost care stunning, and each mover is a work of art in its own right. It's probably better to stay away from this one - part of the fun in Pandemic is that it forces you to strategize on the fly as you work to manage a constantly-evolving situation.

The risk/reward element of The Last of Us: Escape the Dark is where much of the game’s tension and scares come from.Players begin with resources (including power, popularity, coins, and combat cards), a different starting location, and two (optional) hidden objectives. The variety and creativity on display in both the challenges and the adventures, which feature items to collect and difficulty spikes, is amazing, ensuring plenty of replay value even when you've mastered the skills to succeed. If not, you get to spend your faces and, once you've started adding new dice to your pool, many of them come with special abilities that you can look to combine to give yourself the biggest boost.