Best games released at SPIEL 2020 in Essen 2026

MicroMacro: Crime City is a unique detective game that immerses players into a detailed and expansive cityscape to solve intriguing crimes. The game centers around a large, detailed map of a city where various crimes have occurred. Players become detectives tasked with unraveling these mysteries using the clues scattered across the city.

Wingspan: Oceania Expansion is an expansion to the popular bird-themed board game Wingspan, focusing on the diverse and unique birdlife of Australia and New Zealand.

If you have played the 2019 Game of the Year so many times that you've memorized all the words, this expansion includes over five hundred new words to guess. It also offers two additional player easels, allowing up to nine players to participate.

Fantasy Realms immerses players in the role of rulers striving to build the most powerful realm. This card game is all about strategic combinations and choices, with every decision shaping the strength and nature of your realm.

The big moment has arrived. You have been appointed as a "Dragon Trainer" with the chance to encounter dragons on a mysterious island. Compete with other trainers to discover the most baby dragons while searching for dragon eggs.

7 Wonders (Second Edition) is an acclaimed board game known for its widespread recognition and numerous international awards. This new version rejuvenates the classic 7 Wonders game, maintaining its status as a cornerstone in the world of modern board gaming. The game is celebrated for its elegant drafting mechanics, allowing up to 7 players to participate simultaneously without downtime.

Nidavellir is a strategic bidding and set collection game set in a mythical dwarf kingdom. Players take on the roles of Elvalands, noble leaders tasked with assembling a powerful army to defend the kingdom against the dragon Fafnir.

Each round, players have their own unique topic card that is unknown to others, along with randomly drawn letters. They create a word or something resembling a word from these letters and place it in the center of the table, hiding their topic card. After mixing the topic cards, players secretly vote on which words match which cards, earning points for correct guesses and associations.

The expansion features illustrations by Sebastien Telleschi and adds 84 beautifully illustrated new cards to the game. The design of these cards differs from previous expansions, with many players considering them less abstract, as they often depict "only" people or leave little room for imagination.

It's a Wonderful World is a strategic card drafting and engine-building game, where players take on the role of leaders of expanding empires. The game is designed for 1 to 5 players and offers a compelling blend of careful planning and resource management.

My First Carcassonne, also known as Carcassonne Junior, introduces the iconic tile-laying gameplay of the classic Carcassonne to a younger audience. This game captures the essence of the original while simplifying the mechanics to make it accessible for children, making it a wonderful entry point into the world of board games.

Embark on a delightful rescue mission in The Isle of Cats, a captivating competitive board game designed for 1-4 players (expandable to 6 with expansions). This medium-weight game combines card-drafting, polyomino cat-placement, and resource management, offering an engaging and strategic gameplay experience.

Hansa Teutonica: Big Box is an expansive edition of the acclaimed strategy game "Hansa Teutonica," renowned for its deep strategic gameplay and interactive mechanics. This edition not only includes the base game but also all its expansions, offering an enriched experience of the historical Hanseatic League trading theme.

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a standalone game in the Carcassonne series, transporting players to the Stone Age. This version maintains the essence of the original Carcassonne game but introduces new thematic elements and rules suitable for this prehistoric setting.

Players count together from 1 to 20, taking turns to say a number. It may sound easy, but Fritz, the troublemaker, invents new rules that players must remember. Just when one rule is memorized, another one is introduced. How many rules can you keep track of?

Set in the dark and violent world of 1940s Los Angeles, this game is filled with mystery, deception, and investigations for 1-5 players. Most players assume the roles of LAPD murder detectives, eager for fame and willing to do whatever it takes to solve a case, including intimidating suspects and hiring informants. One player, however, takes on the role of The Chisel, whose goal is to thwart the detectives with bluffing and manipulation.

Players select a snail to train and care for, aiming to win the title of the world's slowest champion. This enjoyable board game features impressive 3D elements and wooden snail figures, suitable for children aged 4 and up. It uses a paradoxical logic that allows even the youngest players to achieve great results, promoting creative thinking and the popular tactic of slowing down to speed up.

Players experience an adventure while solving 24 original puzzles in a format resembling an advent calendar. The puzzles are set at a beginner difficulty level, leading them through the entire story and uncovering the mystery of the ice cave.

Cubitos presents a thrilling and colorful dice-racing game where players engage in the annual Cube Cup race, balancing strategy and luck to emerge as the champion.

Alchemists introduce nightmares, obsession, and hysteria to the base game. Players work in new laboratories to distill essences that can free the citizens of Quedlinburg from these afflictions. The expansion can be played only with the base game or in combination with a specific expansion.

In the concealed underground city of Gravehold, survivors of a distant invasion find solace. Here, amidst the remnants of a desperate society, they unearth a revelation: the energy emanating from breaches, the very conduits exploited by hostile beings, can be harnessed. Various gems allow them to transmute malevolent energies into beneficial spells and weapons, becoming the last bastion of defense—the breach mages.

One day, Coyote and his friends crossed the river, but he was carrying too much and nearly drowned before Bear pulled him out. Feeling jealous of the other animals with their belongings, Coyote challenged them to a bluffing game to win their possessions.

Chaos reigns at the reef as various marine creatures form swarms. On their turn, a player selects one of six stones and places it on an empty space. Players aim to create groups of the same color or identical sea creatures, with the option to move a stone before placing a new one to form larger swarms. The larger the group, the more points it's worth, and the player with the most points wins!

Players must act quickly in a cooperative challenge to save a Dodo egg that has fallen from its nest on a mountain peak. Through teamwork, gather materials, collect tools, and build bridges to safely guide the rolling egg to the foot of the mountain. If they successfully direct the egg into the rescue boat, everyone wins together.

Players dive into the 17th-century Amsterdam, a bustling hub of global trade. Each player starts with a supply of 16 wagons and must collect transport cards, claim routes, and fulfill trade contracts to score points. The game ends when a player has two or fewer wagons left, leading to a final tally of points based on routes claimed and contracts completed.

Paris: La Cité de la Lumière is a two-player board game designed by José Antonio Abascal, beautifully illustrated by Oriol Hernández. Set in the enchanting city of Paris during the 1889 "Exposition Universelle," the game captures the era when electricity began illuminating the city, leading to its nickname "La Cité de la Lumière" or the City of Light.

Join the beaver gang, where teamwork makes you stronger! In this card game, players aim to collect the lowest values, but sometimes it's beneficial to gather larger numbers, as finding like-minded companions reduces penalty points. The winning team is the one that achieves the best combinations and the smallest card values.

Paleo is a cooperative adventure game set in the Stone Age, where players work together to ensure the survival of their human characters while completing various missions. The ultimate goal? To paint a woolly mammoth on a wall, leaving a mark of your existence (or just because it looks cool).

Travel to different countries in Spinlander through a simple yet challenging top management system. Players must navigate their way through various strategies to succeed.

7 Wonders Duel: Agora introduces a new dimension to the critically acclaimed 2-player game, 7 Wonders Duel, by adding the Senate board, a battleground for political dominance. In this expansion, players vie for control of Senate chambers, leveraging senator cards to gain special benefits. Dominating the Senate offers a path to victory outside the traditional routes of military might, scientific advancement, and civilian development.

Set in Goa, India, on May 22, 1972, players delve into a tragic expedition incident in the Himalayas. Rather than solving a crime, players act as fate weavers, traveling through time to prevent the disaster. Each time jump entails significant decisions that determine the outcome and the fate of the missing expedition members.

Players take on the role of a warrior, magician, dwarf, or ranger to journey through the land and rescue lost wolf cubs. Winning requires teamwork and wise decision-making. Each game presents new challenges to overcome together before the dragon reaches Rietburg.

Endeavor: Age of Sail invites players to navigate the high seas and earn glory for their empires. Set during the age of exploration, players sail from Europe and the Mediterranean, establishing shipping routes and occupying cities across the globe, all while building their industrial, cultural, financial, and influential power.

Players investigate strange events in an old building, taking on roles within a team to follow clues and shape the adventure. They explore locations, combine items, and unravel a mysterious story together. Unlike timed escape room games, this series emphasizes storytelling and discovery at a leisurely pace, with multiple pathways and solutions available. Each game comprises three chapters, each lasting about 75 minutes, and can be replayed without damage to the components.

Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared is a unique board game that offers a fresh and engaging experience for players. With its distinctive gameplay and innovative mechanics, it stands out in the world of board games.

This expansion for the 2020 nominated game features the "Cartographer: Ambush" mini-expansion, a pad with old maps from the original base game, and a pad with new maps. The new map includes the Tabula Rasa side and the H+C game board played by Hunter and Cron on CONspiracy 3, providing a fresh starting point to begin immediately. The original rules apply as usual.

Who can create the funniest pictures? Players use small graphical elements such as dots, commas, and lines to create an image. The challenge is to guess what others have drawn while they try to guess your creation.

Players take on the role of characters in different seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each with unique gameplay rules. The numbers on the dice indicate the dimensions of a marked area on the game sheet where a forest symbol is selected for scoring. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Players compete as architects to design the best urban planning project, which will be selected by the city council. They construct their city with buildings and pathways to connect them, earning votes from the council based on the length of the paths. The architect with the most and longest pathways wins the game!

In Carpe Diem, players step into the roles of wealthy patricians in ancient Rome, striving to build prosperous city districts and accumulate prestigious points. Designed by the accomplished game designer Stefan Feld, this board game offers a unique and engaging gaming experience.

Dodelido Extreme features gameplay similar to its predecessor, where players play a card from their hand onto a discard pile and call out the characteristics of what they see. The game includes up to four discard piles and adds the extra games Dodo and Didelidi.

Players use dice with eight symbols to develop their province, collect goods, and sell them in the market. They can also win influential personalities in the palace and sail up and down the Ganges. The game concludes when a player’s fame and money markers cross on the two opposing tracks, winning the race for wealth and glory.

Forres Jump and his band of flightless insects aim to reach the small island in the pond using clever jumping techniques. They decide to hold a competition to see who can best utilize the various launch positions of the Jumpkins dice to stack as many of their kind as possible, creating the tallest tower on the island.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a standalone adventure game that serves as a prequel to the highly acclaimed Gloomhaven. It's designed to be more accessible to a broader audience, with streamlined rules and an integrated tutorial.

Dominion: Menagerie is the 13th expansion to the celebrated deck-building game Dominion, introducing a vibrant and whimsical animal theme to the strategic gameplay. This expansion delves into the diverse world of the animal kingdom, offering players new mechanisms and card interactions inspired by the traits and behaviors of various creatures. With 400 cards and thirty new Kingdom cards, Menagerie adds a layer of complexity and fun, encouraging players to adapt their strategies and explore new ways to achieve dominion over their rivals.

Players take on the role of detectives investigating various complex cases and mysterious stories. They collect clues, interrogate suspects, make arrests, and cross-reference information to solve the case successfully. In the second case, players act as journalists sent to a small town to cover a local festival, but this time they will uncover something much more interesting.

Players aim to escape from prison in a scenario that questions moral choices. They might choose to free other inmates in exchange for assistance, raising trust issues among them. The game is the seventh in a series of cooperative experiences inspired by real escape rooms, where solving puzzles and understanding the narrative is essential to escaping efficiently.

Clever Cubed, also known as Clever hoch drei, builds on the intriguing dice mechanics of its predecessors, Ganz schön clever and Doppelt so clever, introducing fresh categories and strategic layers that invite both seasoned players and newcomers.

How do you take the perfect picture of a group when you only have one chance? Each character has different desires; some want to be front and center, while others wish to be next to someone specific or avoid being near a certain person. Players arrange 14 characters, each with three hidden wishes, and must trade or conceal information to achieve the ideal alignment. The player who fulfills the most wishes wins and is crowned the master photographer.

Love is in the air... or maybe not! Players choose someone to offer a rose, hoping they'll accept. Create bouquets on Valentine's Day to earn points, but beware—too many thorny roses can ruin the arrangement! Knowing when to say "no" is crucial.

Players roll as many times as they want in Chili Dice to maximize their score, but there are only thirty rolls available throughout the game, so caution is advised. The game includes six dice, with one side of each die featuring red seeds. In each round, players roll all the dice, set aside those they want, and can turn any red faces to the desired side before deciding to continue rolling or stopping to tally their score across ten categories. The player with the highest score wins!

A new galaxy has just been discovered at the edge of the empire! Command your spaceship to explore this treasure-filled Eldorado, planet by planet. Recruit specialists and robots to enhance your crew, and attract empire delegates who will assign you valuable missions. Gather wonders from this new galaxy to become the richest explorer!

Spirit Island: Jagged Earth is an expansive expansion for the cooperative, strategic board game Spirit Island. This addition significantly enriches the game's universe by introducing a vast array of new content aimed at increasing the depth, complexity, and replayability of the game.

Puerto Rico is a strategy game where players become colonial governors in Puerto Rico, aiming to earn victory points through trade and construction.

In this cooperative word game for one to four players, participants work in an old-fashioned printing house threatened by hordes of mischievous ghosts trying to steal valuable typeset blocks. To defeat these "Spukstaben," players must come up with words containing stolen letters, which reduces the ghosts' energy. The game spans ten rounds, where players have one minute each to think of impactful words while collaborating to keep the ghosts at bay.

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy is an enhanced version of the original Eclipse game, first released in 2011. It's a grand strategy game set in the depths of space, where players lead their own interstellar civilizations to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.

After defeating the dragon, new and exciting adventures await the heroes of Andor. They rebuild the burned-down farms with the help of people from the West and encounter Arbaks, the Andorian spirits of the forest. Soon, they face powerful, unknown enemies, including an ice demon, an ancient earth spirit, and the chief of the Skrale, while uncovering a long-guarded secret within the Grey Mountains. The expansion features three new legends, starting with a pivotal moment on the Cave Mine map.

JAWS is a suspenseful and strategic board game that captures the essence of the classic film. In this game, players are immersed in the iconic struggle between the monstrous great white shark and the determined crew of the Orca. The game is designed for 2 to 4 players, where one player assumes the role of the shark, while the others take on the characters of Brody, Hooper, and Quint.

The Castles of Tuscany is set in the picturesque region of Tuscany during the 15th century, where you, as an influential prince, aim to expand your domain during the Italian Renaissance. Through strategic card play, you'll support the growth of towns, villages, and monasteries, extract marble, and transport goods, all to see your lands prosper and score victory points.

A special edition celebrates the 25th anniversary of Catan. It includes the base game, Catan: Seafarers, and two scenarios: Catan: Hawaii and Catan: Iberian Peninsula.

Tired of Bandido always being on the run? A new gangster is in town. Choose your side: play as the police trying to stop Bandida from escaping or join the wild side to assist. This new pocket game offers everything you loved about Bandido and more, featuring three different modes of play and collaboration for even greater fun.

Players assume the role of consiglieres for established families in Absurdistan and its neighboring countries. The goal is to gain the most influence by sending agents through card combinations that represent numbers. The total of those numbers determines the destination for the agents, and players earn points based on their presence in those locations. The player who cleverly combines their cards will ultimately score the highest.

Tobago: Volcano enhances the treasure hunt with the introduction of a volcano on the game board, adding lava to the mix. Players set up triangular tiles on the island's edge, one of which is covered with lava, shifting the dynamics of the game. Collecting amulets adds more lava fields, altering the island and potentially relocating treasures. Players must navigate carefully, as routes can be cut off by lava flows.

Players embark on a relaxing walk through a forest that turns chaotic upon encountering strange fairy tale creatures and even stranger puzzles. The game features components that can be folded, written on, or torn, making it a unique one-time experience. Will you ever find your way out?

Players must keep track of a busy rail network filled with trains. As more trains are placed on the board, the game becomes increasingly intense, requiring effective coordination to transport goods without delays. The journey spans Europe, the United States, and Canada, and with simple rules, players can start right away—time is of the essence.

Players recreate a map of a city they have visited together, such as Kyoto or Singapore. They rely on fragments of their memories to piece together the scenery, earning bonus points for matching their recollections with the main board and other players. Each round introduces a memory card that reveals patterns to build, triggering memories of buildings to be placed on the shared board for points.

Players compete in a majority game using dominoes, suitable for 2-4 participants. Each player has a game board with wooden tiles depicting grass, bushes, pines, and oaks, which are used for majority scoring on a central board. Throughout the game, players can place dominoes and plants, earn points based on their placements, and strategically acquire resources to maximize their scores. The game concludes when all players have used their dominoes.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – The Monster Box of Monsters Expansion introduces players to new challenges and adventures, expanding the universe of the beloved cooperative deck-building game. By venturing into the Forbidden Forest, players encounter new creatures and overcome perilous encounters, adding depth and complexity to the gameplay.

Greenville 1989 is a cooperative narrative game where each player embodies a character who has experienced supernatural events. Players must describe these events to their teammates, who then need to locate and save the character. The role changes each round, ensuring everyone has a chance to be either lost or found, as failure to be found risks drawing the group closer to the void threatening to engulf the town.

The election of the Aztec High Priest is imminent, and candidates compete for prestige to win the favor of the gods. Players build the most beautiful feathered serpent sculptures called Cóatl, using colorful plastic tiles for the head, tail, and body segments. The game ends when a player completes their third Cóatl, and points are awarded for achieving goals; the player with the highest score becomes the new High Priest.

The Farmer's Market Expansion adds a new victory condition centered around vegetable farming to Minecraft: Builders & Biomes. Players can mix vegetable plot tiles with building and monster tiles at the start of the game. Growing vegetables allows them to trade for unique items from villagers, each offering powerful abilities, such as a crafting table that turns stone into emeralds or a beacon that grants an extra action per turn. Items are revealed on the market at designated times, encouraging players to grow their crops quickly for the best opportunities.

Players come up with clever words that will be hard to decipher and cleverly combine letter pieces to guess secret words. Decipher is a unique word game for 2-4 players, where players create and solve word puzzles using four differently shaped letter pieces. Each round, a different player constructs a secret word puzzle, while others gather clues and points to identify the word.

Players grow food in their own garden and raise livestock, embracing the trend of self-sufficiency while managing the challenges of running a successful farm shop. In this family game, players roll three dice each round to make decisions about farm expansions and activate various farming actions, such as milking cows, shearing sheep, harvesting honey, or collecting eggs. The goal is to earn the most money by selling these resources.

Dwarves face a dark threat from orcs, trolls, and elves. They must unite their strengths and coordinate actions to defeat evil. This cooperative game for 2 to 6 players aged 10 and up immerses players in various scenarios where they wisely spend action points to gather equipment, complete missions, utilize special abilities, explore the land, and fend off the advancing threat of darkness.

Anno 1800: The Board Game is an immersive game that captures the essence of the popular Ubisoft PC game, Anno 1800. Players are tasked with developing their home island by building a robust industry, engaging in trade, and meeting the evolving needs of their population. The game emphasizes strategic planning and resource management, set against the backdrop of the 19th-century industrial revolution.

The expansion adds five modules for BANG! The Dice Game, which can be used individually or in any combination. It introduces eight new furious gunslingers and two new duel dice for combat duels. Players must draw a duel wound marker if they lose a duel, which cancels matching symbols on dice they wish to keep. New dice feature a whiskey bottle symbol that allows players to draw a rage card under certain conditions, adding that card's symbols to their dice results. With four or more players, the "Undead or Alive" module can be played, introducing a pile of Boneyard cards that may lead to a zombie outbreak when the graveyard is full.

Players go ice fishing in this chilly challenge. They reveal cards from a hidden pile, aiming to catch matching fish as quickly as possible. Watch out for the polar bear; if it appears, the game ends!

A serious accident occurred during a concert of the FIVE CULTURES, resulting in the death of the band's manager from electrocution. Players must collaborate to unravel the mystery surrounding his shocking death, including identifying potential motives for murder. Within 60 minutes, they will explore clues, interpret evidence, and reveal secrets to solve the case.

The active player uses the dice to decide which letters all players must write. Choose wisely to challenge the other players while creating words in a crossword style. Each letter of a word earns you 1 point!

Players embark on an expedition as the youngest members of the Royal Monstrological Society, hunting legendary monsters spotted in the clouds, the deep sea, and the haunted forest. They improve their camps, catch new monsters, and utilize the abilities of previously captured creatures through optimal dice combinations. At the start, each player receives a set of three supply camps, and a wilderness display is created from ten cards, leading to thrilling monster hunting experiences.

Players take on the role of investigators trying to solve a crime in this fully cooperative board game for 1-5 players. The game features three standalone cases, each designed to be completed in about 90 minutes, with settings and styles that challenge players in unique ways. From uncovering family secrets in a British mansion to navigating gang tensions in an Italian neighborhood, each case offers an intriguing mystery to unravel.

Players take on the role of Wiggins and his friends, the Baker Street Irregulars, solving four different types of cases to prove their worth to Sherlock Holmes. They will encounter various criminal foes and face numerous puzzles that test their skills. Only with unwavering determination and quick thinking can they emerge victorious in this cooperative adventure.

Players send their animals onto boats that won't capsize as long as strict weight limits are observed. Each round, three animal cards are drawn, two played face up and one face down. Boats can only hold three animals, and any boat that exceeds the weight limit sinks, while the surviving animals yield victory points. The player with the most points after four rounds wins.