MIND MGMT (Off The Page Games)
Mind Mgmt is a hidden movement game based off the comic book of the same name. If you’ve seen David Cronenberg’s seminal Scanners you have a kinda, sort of touch off point for the story of the comic (psychic warfare, espionage). The game, however is quickly shooting up to one of my favorites after 2 plays. It is a hidden movmenet game in the vein of such classics such as Letters from Whitechapel or Fury of Dracula, but in this game it’s the recruiter vs. rogue agents as you try to capture the recruiter before the game end. The base game is simple and amazing, but the game uses a SHIFT system that makes the game deeper (if you want) the more you play. The loser opens a package that changes the rules ever so slightly for the next playthrough. The artwork (one of the games prime selling points) is in keeping with Matt Kindt’s comic series, but you don’t have to be familiar with the series to enjoy the game (most people I played with…errr my wife) weren’t. If you like hidden movement and are looking for something new check this out.
Guild of Merchant Explorers (AEG)
Sometimes you want something that hits that nice middle zone between quick and easy, and complex/long. I feel like the next two games on this list do that incredibly well. Guild of Merchant Explorers is a flip and fill game where you explore your local kingdom of Tigome, and expand out your capital finding treasures, villages, and so on. The look of the game is kind of basic, but the overall of it is a lot of fun.
Wormholes (AEG)
Wormholes is a fast and fun addition to my game groups’ table rotation and since you build a new galaxy every time, no game will be the same allowing tons of replayability. Additionally, with it’s great looking art and well-made components, the aesthetics push that over the top. If you like quick games, space travel, or, you know, fun I can’t recommend this game enough. – Ryan Miller
Decorum (Floodgate Games)
Decorum is honestly a perfectly themed game to play with my wife. She has always been obsessed with decorating every place we lived, finding the perfect lamp or just another pillow to put on the couch, so needless to say when I read a description of Floodgate Games “hidden objective” game which takes a group of players, and puts them into a new house, where they have to decorate a series of rooms. I knew this would be the perfect game for the 2 of us. The game occupies 30 rounds where each player has to fulfill a personal condition, while other players judge their result, and try to simultaneously complete their condition sometimes to hilarious results. If at any point you find all conditions are satisfied you win, if you make it to round 30 and are not satisfied, you lose. We have been playing this a bunch since the deluxe edition touched down on our door step. If hidden objective games are exciting to you, or you just straight up like the theme this is one to buy.
Zombicide 2nd Edition (CMON)
OK, so this is a 2021 release, but I’m counting it. This site reviews a good deal of horror and grindhouse fare, and you can’t do a lot a lot better than adding a Zombicide game to your table. CMON’s flagship franchise is an amazing, goofy, violent, and straight up fun time, packed with tiles, models, and a more straight-forward rule set than prior editions.
Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go to the Ghost Town (Board Game Tables Dot Com)
This is the 2nd and final hidden movement game on this list, and I’m going to say I had a lot of fun with this one. It’s small and straight-forward, but basically you have a “Mayor” that builds a new town each game, and the pizza deliverers need to find everything in it. It’s a small box, and a short game and is good game to play on nights you don’t want to bring anything epic to the table. Plus I like the light horror imagery.
Libertalia – Winds of Galecrest (Stonemaier Games)
I would pretty much recommend Libertalia – Winds of Galecrest to just about anyone. It’s got something for everyone, whether that thing be pirates, sky pirates, or anthropomorphic sky pirates. Jokes aside, a game this cute and simple could probably lure your average monopoly player to the dark(read: interesting) side of board gaming. The re-playability will have you returning to voyage for more loot often, and the card abilities will have you envisioning combos in your sleep. Surprise, another impressive Stone Maier release.
Clever Cubed (Indie Boards and Cards)
OK, so I’ll start by saying Clever Cubed was sent over by my own request for this gift guide by Indie Boards and Cards, because I love these Clever games. You will some dice, you mark off some values on a sheet, and you try to get a high score. It’s themeless but addicting, and each game in the series changes things up to make them more interesting (and complex). However, about a week after we got Clever Cubed to add to the guide Clever 4Ever dropped so if you are a Clever fan like we are, you might want to check that out as it is the latest!
Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set – Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (Wizards of the Coast)
This is the third starter box for Dungeons and Dragons 5E (I count the essentials kit), and quite possibly the best one yet. I know a lot of the people who have started with 5E will chalk up the adventure the Lost Mines of Phandelver as a firm favorite, but the included adventure here Dragons of Stormwreck Isle seems like it might be the best one yet (Haven’t gotten it to the table). The game rules are streamlined and make it simple to get the game to the table, and it’s a nice cheap way to start tabletop RPG’ing.
Dungeons and Dragons – Expansion Bundle
I could have included the new Wizards of the Coast bundles that included the PHB and DMG, but it’s 2022 and a new edition is being prepped very publicly. So I’m going to straight up assume you have those if you want them. This is the expansion bundle, it has the Monsters of the Multiverse book which expands on the Monster Manual and also includes Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Guide to Everything giving PC’s and DM’s more options.
Dungeons and Dragons – Dragonlance – Shadow of the Dragon Queen
So D&D sets have been getting more elaborate the last year with the epic Spelljammer set, and now this. Longtime fans have been clamoring for the reintroduction of Krynn into the D&D world and now we have it in an epic way. Shadow of the Dragon Queen comes in 3 forms the regular art book, the alternative art, and a Deluxe Edition that comes with a board game called “Warriors of Krynn”. Warriors of Krynn is a “Pandemic”-y style board game where the players enact the battles found throughout the campaign instead of roleplaying them they actually play them as a board game. It’s kind of a strange way to do it, because roleplaying and board gaming are 2 different things, but it’s an exciting edition that expands the scope of the experience.
Cyberpunk Red – Tales of the Red – Street Stories (R. Talsorian Games)
One of my overall favorite tabletop releases this year comes from R. Talsorian games. This book contains 9 modules (I’ll never stop using that term) for the newly released Cyberpunk Red system. I don’t like creating my own written stuff for a system until I play it properly like the writers intended, and R. Talsorian have given us 9 different ways to play Cyberpunk Red in Night City. This is a fantastic book, and something I have been waiting for since Red dropped. If you are a fan of Cyberpunk this is a MUST. I cannot wait for the Chrome book next year.
Runequest – Weapons and Equipment (Chaosium)
My name is Scott MacDonald and I am Chaosium addict. I haven’t played much Runequest, but every book that comes out for this system to me is a must buy. This book just like the title says is “weapons and equipment”, but Runequest is not just a simple RPG experience, and this is not just a book of tables and statistics. Runequest is a setting, Glorantha, and this book gives you details on the equipment and how it applies to the setting. Like all other Runequest material it’s just another gateway to Glorantha.
Call of Cthulhu – Cults of Cthulhu
Now this is my RPG book of the year. This one, right here. I might pick up a book and flip through it, and then stick it on my shelf until I need to actually use it (and it could be years). I started reading Cults of Cthulhu, and I couldn’t put it down. This book has sheer entertainment value in it’s reading outside of game playing. It goes into the background of Cthulhu Cults. Some in depth, some not, but it’s all sheer fun. It also includes 3 modules to play at the end of the book detailing 3 of the cults in the book. If you play CoC and are buying one book this year, make it this one.
Call of Cthulhu – Regency Cthulhu
This is one Call of Cthulhu book I didn’t expect, but I should have. This book written by Andrew Perigrine, Lynne Hardy, and the rest of the Chaosium crew take a look at Jane Austen’s England through the lens of Lovecraft. Aside from AP English classes in high school, and the occasional cinema adaptation, I never gave Austen much of a look, but her iconography is obviously timeless. Like most Call of Cthulhu books this one gives some nice history so the Keeper can go in depth on the period (or reasonably in depth) before going into how to create investigator’s their careers and things like that. We also get 2 scenarios 2 play out in this world, a background on the primary location Tarryford, and how to expand on the world outside it. Very much recommended.
Cinema Speculation – Quentin Tarantino
If you’ve ever read a screenplay that Quentin Tarantino has written you know the man is wordy, but he has started applying that to prose with the Once Upon in Hollywood novel. Here we are with a book of non-fiction film essays and some biographical material. You won’t always agree with it, but you will be entertained.
Liarmouth – John Waters
This book is the basis for John Waters upcoming film, his first feature in over 2 decades. It tells the story of Marsha Sprinkle, a suitcase thief, and it’s full of the camp trashiness you have come to expect from waters.
Biblical – Rob Halford
I admit I don’t read a lot of rock or celebrity biographies these days, but Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Fight is one of my all-time favorite vocalists, and I couldn’t resist picking up his latest book of short stories and anecdotes which are perfect to pick up and read on the fly.
Disheveled Cuss – Into the Couch
Nick Reinhart is my favorite guitarist and has been since I first discovered his band Tera Melos back in the mid-2000s. His new band Disheveled Cuss had a stunning debut in 2020, but the pandemic and the cancellation of all his tour plans for that record sent Reinhart to his couch. And it was on that couch that he wrote an entire album on acoustic guitar called, appropriately enough, Into the Couch. As the project evolved, some special guests showed up including Jimmy Chamberlain of The Smashing Pumpkins and Josh Klinghoffer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. While not depressing, Into the Couch is an achingly beautiful, moody, laid back, and often mega-bummer of an indie rock record. Songs about the tragic final thoughts of Ben Tramer of Halloween II (1981) fame and the time that Reinhart’s catalytic converter got stolen are highlights. Released completely independently on custom cassette-shaped thumb drives, this is an incredibly dynamic album and easily one of the best of the year.
https://disheveledcuss.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-couch – Richard Glenn Schmidt
Guerilla Toss – Famously Alive
I stumbled across Guerilla Toss on an Audiotree Live session and sent it to my wife. Her immediate response was, “Oh, so they created a band just to suit your tastes.” And she wasn’t wrong. Like at all. This electro-infused band of art rockers brings so much spaced out nerdiness and effortless weirdness to the table. Guerilla Toss is some truly out there stuff, but they ground all their more recent material in a toe-tappin’ pop framework that makes you want to freakin’ dance! Their new album, Famously Alive, is a wickedly happy slam dunk that will tear your ears off and sew them back on before you even know what happened. Highly recommended.
https://guerillatoss.bandcamp.com/album/famously-alive – Richard Glenn Schmidt
The Prople – Rise
Horror punk masterminds The Prople have returned with a new album that is just the journey that your weirdo brain needed but didn’t know it needed. Songs about Ahsoka Tano the jedi, the Insidious films, Doctor Sleep, and the most gut-wrenching jam about Gwen Stacy that you’ll ever hear are all here. The Prople’s songs are dense and heavy, and Rise leave you wanting more when it’s all over.
https://theprople.bandcamp.com/album/rise – Richard Glenn Schmidt