Best games released at SPIEL 2012 in Essen

In Love Letter, you must compete with other suitors to deliver a romantic letter to Princess Annette, who has secluded herself in the palace.

Dixit 3: Journey expands the enchanting world of Dixit with 84 new cards, each adorned with evocative and surreal artwork that stirs the imagination and fuels storytelling. As an expansion to the beloved Dixit game, it enhances the experience by offering a fresh array of visually stunning cards that players can use to inspire their tales, adding depth and variety to the game's creative narrative play.

Qwixx is a fast-paced and engaging dice game that involves all players actively, regardless of whose turn it is. It combines simple mechanics with a need for strategic decision-making, making it a fun and interactive game for all involved.

Cockroach Poker Royal (Kakerlakenpoker Royal) elevates the art of bluffing to a royally entertaining level. This game, a twist on the original Kakerlakenpoker, swaps the traditional poker deck for one festooned with critters like cockroaches, rats, and stink bugs, emphasizing bluffing over traditional poker hands.

Survive: Escape from Atlantis! is a thrilling and competitive board game where players aim to evacuate their pieces from a sinking island. The game is known for its intense gameplay and strategic decisions.

Coup is a strategic bluffing game set in an Italian city-state. Players, as heads of rival families, seek to outmaneuver and eliminate others to be the last one standing. Influence is key, represented by face-down character cards, each offering unique powers.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple is a cooperative, real-time board game that offers an exhilarating and unique gaming experience. The game's theme centers around players working together to escape a cursed temple before it collapses.

7 Wonders: Cities is the second expansion for the critically acclaimed game 7 Wonders. It introduces new elements and mechanics that add depth and aggression to the gameplay, enhancing interaction between players.

Carcassonne: Winter Edition wraps the classic tile-placement game in a picturesque blanket of snow, offering a seasonal twist on the beloved mechanics of Carcassonne. This edition captures the essence of winter with beautifully illustrated tiles that transform the familiar French countryside into a serene snowy landscape. Players continue to strategically place tiles and deploy their meeples as knights, farmers, and highwaymen, endeavoring to dominate this frosty version of the medieval terrain.

Concordia is a peaceful yet strategic board game set in Roman times, focusing on economic development and expansion. It is designed for 2-5 players aged 13 and up.

Tokaido is a beautifully designed board game where players embark on a journey across the "East sea road", one of Japan's most scenic routes. The essence of the game lies in experiencing the journey itself, with players encountering various events and collecting diverse items along the way.

The princess has once again been captured by an evil wizard, and it's time to rescue her from the enchanted tower. One player takes on the role of the wizard, who hides a key under one of 16 spaces on the board. The other players, as Robin, must find the key before the wizard does. Once found, they can attempt to unlock one of the towers; if they choose correctly, they win the game.

Dominion: Dark Ages is the seventh expansion for the highly acclaimed deck-building game Dominion. This expansion takes players to a grittier era, one filled with struggles and decline, as reflected in its theme and mechanics. It's important to note that Dark Ages is not a standalone game and requires the base game of Dominion or another expansion to play.

Players aim to swing their axes at a tower made of discs, each featuring colored plastic "gemstones" in grooves. During their turn, a player swings a plastic pickaxe twice at the tower, collecting any gemstones or discs that fall. The game ends when no gemstones are left, and the player with the most points wins.

Players collect cards to claim routes between cities on the board. They aim to connect cities shown on their secret tickets, earning points for claiming routes and completing tickets. The game features a map focused on Germany and Austria without the passenger mechanics found in other versions.

Stick 'Em, initially released as Sticheln, is a captivating trick-taking card game that turns traditional card game objectives on their head. Players aim to score points by collecting as many cards as possible, except in one chosen color—referred to as their "pain" color—which they seek to avoid. The game involves both strategic depth and a twist of predicting opponents' moves to avoid pitfalls.

Players try to complete various building tasks, often relying on their teammates for assistance. For instance, one player might need to construct something based on a teammate's description, while another could be tasked with building a structure blindfolded. All challenges must be completed within a set time limit, adding to the excitement and urgency.

Players use Sticky Sticks to grab game pieces that match the rolled dice. The board features plastic indentations containing various stones, each displaying multiple faces in different colors and expressions. The game continues until a certain number of indentations are empty, at which point players compare their collected stones, and the one with the highest stack wins.

There are too many monsters and adventurers in the dungeon. The treasure of the dead king is well-guarded, but the adventurers are fearless! Players must keep their secret character in the dungeon as long as possible or leave with the treasure.

Heimlich & Co. is a clever and secretive board game where players maneuver a group of spies around a track to earn points, all while keeping their true identity hidden. The game's unique twist lies in the mystery of each player's color, only revealed at the end, making deduction and misdirection key elements of play. With a simple roll of the dice, players decide how to advance the spies, influencing the scoring but trying to conceal their motives.

BraveRats is a simple and quick simultaneous action selection game for two players, played with cards. Each player has a hand of eight cards numbered from 0 to 7, with each card possessing a unique power. Players reveal their selected card simultaneously, with the highest card winning the round; the game continues until one player has won four rounds.

Taluva is a strategic board game set on an emerging South Sea island, where players compete to settle the land amidst the constant threat of volcanic eruptions. Each player must skillfully navigate the dynamic landscape, strategically placing tiles and buildings to expand their settlements while contending with the volatile natural environment.

In this abstract strategy game, players aim to collect as many points as possible by placing tokens on numbered spaces on a board composed of two concentric rings and several spokes connecting them to the center. Each player's turn allows them to either play a chain of tokens or draw new ones, while matching colors to earn points. The game ends when all dark gray spaces are filled or a player cannot draw enough tokens to complete their turn, with the winner being the one with the most points.

Players start with a secret dragon color from seven options and a hand of three cards. They begin by placing the Silver Dragon on the table as a wild card. On their turn, players draw a card and play one from their hand, connecting cards of the same color. The goal is to create a contiguous area of seven fields in their chosen dragon color.

Players act as art critics and gallery owners, working to increase the value of certain artists' works before redeeming them. The game includes masterpieces from five different artists, and players start with a hand of masterpiece cards that let them influence the fate of these artists. The game consists of four rounds where players earn money based on the popularity and representation of the artists’ works.

Qwirkle Dice is a continuation of Qwirkle, where the goal remains the same: create lines and columns that match either in color or symbol to score points. Players roll as many dice from their hand as they wish, create lines, and draw replacement dice. The game continues until there are no more dice in the reserve and one player has placed all their dice, earning a six-point bonus, with the player having the most points declared the winner.

Trains is a strategic deck-building board game that combines railway development with elements of capitalist competition. Set against the backdrop of the industrial revolution and the subsequent railway boom, players take on the roles of capitalists managing private railway companies in Japan. The game offers a fascinating blend of historical railway development and modern strategic gameplay.

Guildhall is a unique and competitive card game where players aim to progress from the Dark Ages by building a guildhall that attracts professionals from across Europe. The goal is to achieve economic stability and outmaneuver your competitors by gathering like-minded individuals into chapters and utilizing their collective skills to earn victory points (VP).

Hey, monkeys! It's time to climb and grab the juiciest fruits before the other monkeys do. To reach the top of the tree in Banana Matcho, roll the dice and create the most valuable fruit combinations while avoiding the top monkey "Banana Matcho" on an opponent's roll.

The expansion set Goldene Zeiten for Die Fürsten von Catan includes 125 new cards and introduces three thematic sets: "The Era of Explorers," "The Era of Sages," and "The Era of Prosperity."

Cheeky Monkey is a gambling game featuring eight sets of animals, including elephants, seals, and monkeys, represented by plastic chips. Players draw chips until they decide to stop or draw a duplicate of an animal already collected, returning their current chips to the bag in the latter case. Special rules allow players to steal matching animal chips from opponents or trade monkeys for chips on top of their opponents' stacks, with the game ending once the last chip is added and bonus points awarded for the most chips of a single type.

Smash Up is a unique and engaging "shufflebuilding" game where players combine two distinct factions, each with a 20-card deck, into a single 40-card deck. The game is known for its quirky and diverse factions, each with its own unique mechanics and gameplay style.

Tanto Cuore: Expanding the House is a standalone game and the first expansion for the series, introducing a garden theme with building cards like "Garden," "Lily Garden," and "Abandon." Players assume the role of a master of a mansion, hiring maids to fill their houses and compete to become the king of the maids. The aim is to score the most victory points by using a variety of maids and "Love" cards, while also managing the potential negative effects that opponents can impose on your maids.

Seasons is a captivating card and dice game that transports players to the mystical Argos forest, the venue for the legendary tournament of the 12 seasons. Aspiring sorcerers compete in this three-year contest to become the next archmage of the kingdom of Xidit. Players must skillfully draft cards, manage resources, and adapt to the changing seasons to emerge victorious.

Players colonize the Chinese hinterland in Qin by conquering territories and expanding their influence through the placement of game pieces and pagodas. A turn is straightforward: choose one of three pieces from your hand, place it on the game grid, and draw a new piece. By creating territories from neighboring landscape tiles, players can conquer areas, expand their holdings, take over opponents' territories, and connect their regions with villages to ultimately place pagodas. The first player to place all their pagodas on the board wins.

River Dragons is a dynamic and strategic board game where players aim to cross a river by building a network of planks over foundational stones. The challenge comes from the fact that each player plans their moves secretly and simultaneously, leading to unexpected outcomes and interactions as players' paths cross and plans collide.

Players are chosen to participate in the Qladitorial Games, summoned every four years by Empress Quiana to compete in the grand Quolosseum. The expansion introduces forty new custom dice featuring six new creatures and two new spells, along with a new "lock" mechanism that allows certain creatures to create lasting game effects.

Village is a board game that captures the essence of life in a medieval village, where each player manages a family's journey through generations, seeking fame and glory in various ways. The game is renowned for its innovative handling of the passage of time and the inevitability of death, making it a unique and tactically rich experience.

Keyflower is a strategic board game designed for 2-6 players that spans over four rounds, each representing a different season: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The game combines elements of auction, tile placement, and resource management set in a medieval world. Players start with a "home" tile and a team of workers, using them to bid for new tiles, gather resources, and build their village.

Jinx is a new game from the Dixit family, featuring abstract images instead of realistic illustrations. Players place nine cards face up in a 3x3 grid, and the active player selects a location card to guide their play without revealing it. They creatively express the connection, while others guess the correct card; successful guesses earn points, while mistakes result in card exchanges.

The four Colts are adventurous and great friends. They love to see who is the fastest among them, jumping over any obstacle. Players create a colorful obstacle course and move their Colt based on the rolled colors. If the colors don’t match, the Colt stays in place, but players can extend the course to make it more exciting.

Players embark on a ten-day journey through Germany, aiming to complete their trip first to win the game. Each player has a rack with ten pieces representing different sections of Germany and trains, which come in five colors. On their turn, players can draw a piece and either discard it or replace one from their rack while creating a valid path connecting regions and trains.

The Palaces of Carrara takes players to the renowned marble-producing region of Italy, where they compete to acquire marble at the best prices and use it to construct buildings. The game's strategic depth lies in balancing the cost of marble with its potential value in building construction. Players must be savvy in their purchases, as any decrease in marble prices can also benefit their opponents. The decision of when to buy marble becomes crucial, especially when considering the fluctuating values of buildings in the town. The Palaces of Carrara includes two levels of play – beginner and advanced – making it accessible to new players while offering depth for experienced gamers. Wolfgang Kramer, the co-designer, emphasizes the importance of starting with the beginner version to fully grasp the game's mechanics and how they interact.

Players navigate a labyrinthine board to reach symbols displayed on their hidden cards. The board consists of fixed tiles and movable rows and columns that shift the tunnels, altering the paths available. A Darth Vader variant adds a twist, requiring players to maneuver Vader instead of their own token when a specific symbol is drawn, allowing for simultaneous competition to control Vader's movements.

Players compete in various card-based challenges inspired by a German television show. The game features over two thousand quiz questions, including tasks like unscrambling words, counting letters, and identifying quotes from movies. Challenges are randomly selected, and points are awarded for each, with the team scoring the most points after a set number of challenges declared the winner.

Legends of Andor is a cooperative adventure board game that immerses two to four players in the role of heroes defending a fantasy realm. Designed with a strong narrative focus, the game challenges players to balance strategic decision-making with immersive storytelling.

Munchkin Conan is a core set consisting of 168 cards featuring 101 doors and 67 treasures. Players can embody epic characters like a Cimmerian warrior or a Stygian sorcerer, using unique items such as the Sword of the Phoenix and concocting strategies against monstrous foes. New mechanics like Birthrights introduce additional gameplay elements, allowing players to tweak their strategies while adhering to classic Munchkin themes.

Munchkin Cthulhu is a humorous and quirky standalone game in the Munchkin series, this time diving into the eerie and absurd world of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Players navigate a realm filled with classic monsters and oddities from the mythos, vying for treasure and the chance to level up.

Zombie Fluxx is a dynamic and thematic variation of the classic card game Fluxx, featuring an exciting zombie uprising theme. In this version, players navigate an ever-changing set of rules along with the addition of a new card type: the Ungoal card, introducing conditions where all players could lose the game.