The best games from Markus Brand 🇩🇪👨 2025

Encore! (originally published as Noch mal!) is a dice-based board game that challenges players with strategic choices and a touch of luck. In this game, players use dice to determine the colors and the number of spaces they can mark off on their playing sheets.

Players split into two teams and compete simultaneously in a communication game. In each round, one player from each team attempts to get their teammates to guess a hidden word or phrase using only the 105 explanation cards provided. Speaking and acting is strictly prohibited; players must rely solely on the cards, each featuring a single word. The team with the most points at the end wins.

La Boca, the famous neighborhood of Buenos Aires, is known for its quirky skyline made from recycled fishing boats and colorful metal. Players form teams to creatively build skylines based on challenge cards while coordinating closely, as each team can only see their own view of the structure. The goal is to complete the colored blocks before time runs out, earning points, and the team with the most points after several rounds will shine as champions.

Santa needs urgent help! His golden book containing all his wishes and addresses has been stolen, jeopardizing his ability to deliver gifts on time. This Advent calendar offers a 24-part adventure story as players pursue the cunning thief to a remote mountain village, where strange occurrences unfold and items mysteriously vanish and reappear. There are only a few days left to solve the puzzles hidden behind each door.

Encore! Deluxe follows the same gameplay as its predecessor, engaging players with three color dice and three number dice to mark areas on their personal player boards. Players aim to fill columns or colors for bonus points. The game features wipeable boards, a 3D dice tower, a cooperative mode with shared objectives, and both an original solo variant and a new solo challenge with missions.

Players embark on a 24-part adventure to unravel the mystery of the Silent Storm. Each day, they open a door to discover a new puzzle that helps them progress. By following the clues and solving all 24 challenges, they will uncover the thief and the book, ultimately saving Christmas.

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.

Word Slam Midnight offers the same gameplay as the original but in a compact format. It includes 210 story word cards and 100 answer cards, featuring a total of 600 answers across four difficulty levels.

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.

Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure immerses players in the captivating world of puzzle-solving and adventure, akin to the thrilling experience of an escape room. This installment, part of the acclaimed Exit series, introduces players to the mysteries of a sunken treasure, offering a gateway to the series with a beginner-level difficulty.

Hollywood is calling! By chance, you find yourself in one of the largest film studios of the dream factory, where the set for a new Christmas blockbuster should be buzzing with activity. Instead, it’s dark and deserted, raising questions about the missing film crew and star.

Word Slam Family features the same gameplay as the original version in a compact format. It includes 100 word cards and 100 answer cards divided into seven categories, providing a total of 600 response terms. Two teams compete simultaneously, with players using only the explanation cards to help their teammates guess a hidden word or phrase without speaking or acting. An app replaces the dice and timer, and the game's two halves act as screens for answering cards. Word Slam Family can be played as an expansion or as a standalone game.

Rajas of the Ganges is a strategy board game set in 16th century India, during the rise of the Great Mogul Empire. Players take on the roles of influential nobles, striving to transform their estates into prosperous provinces.

Exit: The Game – The Abandoned Cabin plunges players into an immersive escape room experience in the form of a board game. Trapped in a cabin with barred windows and a locked door, players must rely on their collective wits to find a way out.

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.

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.

Noch mal so gut! is a dice game that adds new rules and options to its popular predecessor. Players can choose a seventh die, which offers unique elements like a bomb that crosses four spaces, a heart that provides bonuses for completed columns, and two stars that allow for crossing two spaces. Additionally, both rows and columns are scored, enhancing the gameplay experience.

The game combines two unique elements: dice and sausages, using animals as the connecting theme. Players roll four white dice featuring animals and four black dice showing numbers and sausages. The goal is to collect as many animals of one type as possible while ensuring high numbers on the black dice, as points are calculated based on the lowest number rolled.

The children's version of the dice game "Encore" brings excitement to the zoo. Players mark off animal enclosures based on the colors of the dice. By quickly filling columns, they collect valuable points, and everyone plays simultaneously, ensuring no one has to wait long. Those who use the dice wisely and with a bit of luck are sure to win.

Players engage in a puzzle game inspired by escape rooms. Starting from the third season, the EXIT series is divided into difficulty levels, with "The House of Riddles" categorized as beginner level.

Players can work alone or in teams during each round. The game presents a variety of puzzles on 36 oversized image cards, which are combined in new ways. Solve the riddles to unlock treasure chests.

Feel like taking a ride on the haunted roller coaster at the fair? What if that ride suddenly stops and you find yourself trapped? Work together with your fellow passengers to escape this eerie place as quickly as possible. This version of Exit is particularly suitable for newcomers to escape room puzzles. Like other titles in the series, it includes components that can be folded, written on, or torn, making it a one-time play experience.

Exit: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express is a captivating addition to the popular "Exit: The Game" series, which simulates the escape room experience in a board game format. This particular edition draws inspiration from the classic mystery setting of the Orient Express, offering players a challenging and immersive puzzle-solving adventure.

EXIT: The Game – The Mysterious Museum is a puzzle game inspired by escape rooms. Starting with the third season, the Exit series is divided into difficulty levels, and The Mysterious Museum is categorized as beginner level.

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?

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.

Monsters have escaped again, but that's not entirely bad; they bring fun to the villa! Meanwhile, Grandma Frieda is outside, terrified of the monsters. Players must catch them and hide them from her before she sees them.

Team spirit, creativity, adventure, and speed are essential in EXIT: The Game - The Stormy Flight. One to four players have limited time to regain control in a challenging situation: they are part of the crew on a passenger flight to Barbados that suddenly encounters a storm. With water entering the plane and equipment failing, will the team manage to fix the aircraft and land safely? Time is running out...

The Sinister Mansion is a puzzle game designed after the concept of escape rooms. Starting from season three, the Exit series is divided into different difficulty levels, with The Sinister Mansion categorized as medium.