The best games from Martin Wallace 🇬🇧👨 2025

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game and a sequel to the 2007 game Brass. It immerses players in the world of industrial revolution entrepreneurs in Birmingham between 1770-1870.

Discworld: Ankh-Morpork is a board game designed by Martin Wallace and Treefrog Games, set in the imaginative universe of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, specifically in its largest city-state, Ankh-Morpork. The game captures the essence of the Discworld novels with its thematic elements and diverse characters.

Wildlands brings to life a rich, lawless fantasy realm where players vie for dominance, survival, and treasure amidst the ruins of a fallen kingdom. Designed by the acclaimed Martin Wallace, this game combines the thrill of skirmish battles with the depth of strategic card play, offering a dynamic tabletop experience that's accessible yet full of tactical depth.

Railways of the World, initially released as Railroad Tycoon, is a grand-scale board game where players build and manage their own railroad empire. This 2009 edition revitalizes the original with several improvements and expanded features.

Immerse yourself in the world of Dickens and Doyle, exploring the myths and legends of the Victorian era. The game features a city map where players place their agents and buildings using unique cards, each representing famous characters from various stories. Each player draws a secret personality with specific victory conditions, creating uncertainty about opponents' objectives while you strive to achieve your own.

London (Second Edition) is a refined version of a classic board game that caters to players who enjoy strategic planning and city-building. Set in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London, players are tasked with the ambitious goal of reconstructing the city. This game challenges players to balance the complexities of urban development, financial management, and social responsibility.

Hit Z Road is a thrilling and darkly humorous board game where players embark on a perilous journey through a zombie-infested America. Starting in Chicago and traveling along the famed Route 66, players face a multitude of challenges, including battling hordes of zombies, scavenging for essential supplies like gas and bullets, and navigating through haunted carnivals and areas filled with toxic gas. The ultimate goal is to reach the safety of California's beaches.

Brass: Lancashire is a compelling economic strategy game set during the industrial revolution in Lancashire. The game chronicles the story of competing cotton entrepreneurs and requires players to develop, build, and expand their industries and networks to capitalize on the growing demand for iron, coal, and cotton.

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.

Via Nebula is a strategic resource management game where players clear mists, harvest resources, and build structures in a mystical valley. The game combines cooperative and competitive elements, as players share paths and resources but pursue their own construction goals.

Players take on the role of entrepreneurial railroad barons during Japan's Meiji era, a time of rapid industrial growth. They plan tracks, upgrade trains, sell goods to distant cities, and use action cards to become the wealthiest railroad baron in Japan. The mountainous terrain often limits track placement, requiring strategic foresight and careful management of resources to outmaneuver competitors and build a successful railroad empire.

Players compete for consecutive point cards on the table by laying down cards with the lowest sum. There is one point card less than the number of players, meaning someone will always go without a card, reminiscent of musical chairs. Each player receives a hand of cards and selects one to play against others, with the player having the lowest value card winning a scoring card, continuing until only two players remain for the final showdown. The game is played over two rounds, and the highest total score at the end wins.

Something has broken in the multiverse, causing the universe to bleed. Reports of invaders wreaking havoc are emerging throughout Mega-City One, with Celtic barbarians and Russian nobles among them. The game features notable characters from various universes, each with unique action decks and special abilities, making strategic play essential for victory on the streets.

AuZtralia is an adventure and exploration board game set in an alternate 1930s, inspired by Martin Wallace's A Study in Emerald. In this unique setting, players are intrepid adventurers colonizing Australia after the northern hemisphere has been devastated by war and the Old Ones. Gameplay involves building ports, constructing railways, mining, and farming, all while preparing for the awakening of the Old Ones and their human armies. Time is a crucial resource, and as the game progresses, the Old Ones awaken and become active, posing a significant threat. Players must strategically prepare for their arrival, possibly cooperating with others to fend off these nightmarish beings using military units and recruited personalities.

A Few Acres of Snow is a strategic level deck-building game for two players, focused on the historical conflict between the French and British in North America.

Players assume the role of a British company commander in the trenches of Flanders, making critical decisions that affect the fate of their troops. They must advance through no man's land while managing artillery, tanks, and enemy aircraft, all while trying to limit their losses. The game involves a "push your luck" mechanic where players roll dice and play matching cards, deciding whether to advance further or perform card actions, with the risk of suffering significant casualties if they push too far.

Tinners' Trail takes you back to 19th century Cornwall, where you dive into the world of copper and tin mining. Your goal is to extract these valuable resources efficiently, keeping an eye on market prices to sell at peak times. Strategic placement of developments like ports, adits, and trains will reduce your mining costs. The twist? Your earnings should be reinvested in industries beyond Cornwall to rack up victory points. The sooner you invest, the better the returns.

Players take on the role of witch apprentices in the magically charged land of Lancre, learning their craft and tackling the various challenges that life in the Discworld presents. They will encounter famous Terry Pratchett characters while managing both minor and major problems, from a sick pig to a full-scale elf invasion. The game can be played competitively, cooperatively, or solo.

Steam is an engaging railroad-themed strategy game where players focus on building railroads and delivering goods across a dynamic network of tracks and stations. As players work to construct tracks, upgrade towns, and optimize their trains, they strive to complete the most profitable deliveries.

Age of Steam transports players back to the pioneering days of U.S. railroad expansion, offering a strategic gaming experience centered around building and operating a railroad empire.

Players compete in three consecutive mini-games to evaluate who excels at solving cases. Each mini-game involves secretly receiving a suspect card, a crime card, and a location card, representing the case to be solved by the player to the left. Players place investigators, select evidence cards, or attempt to resolve their case, scoring points based on how many others have solved their cases in previous rounds. After all cases are resolved or only one remains, investigators are removed and the board is reset for the next mini-game. The player with the most points after three mini-games wins.

Runebound: Second Edition is a fantasy adventure board game by Fantasy Flight Games, set in the mythical world of Terrinoth. It offers players the chance to become heroes, embarking on epic quests to prepare for the ultimate showdown against the formidable Dragonlord Margath. This game is known for its deep thematic elements, strategic gameplay, and unique features.

Players must balance their penguin and ice floe resources to reach the bottom of the world, where penguins live in Antarctica. The game features 72 penguin cards and 18 ice floe cards, along with a final scoring card. Each round, players bid with penguins to collect ice floes, while the end of the game sees them comparing points to determine the winner.

On July 21, 1861, the untested armies of the North and South clash in the first battle of the American Civil War. Players can assume the role of either General Beauregard defending Virginia for the Confederacy or Union General Irvin McDowell trying to stop the Southern rebellion and reunite the nation.

Players assemble a deck of 24 units to fight battles inspired by ancient and medieval warfare. The game consists of two phases, starting with unit selection, followed by a battle on a battlefield made of five terrain cards. Winning requires controlling three of these terrain cards, while army cards represent key troop types with distinct strengths and weaknesses, adding strategic depth as players manage movement costs.

The genre of road construction games is a key passion for English game designer Martin Wallace. In La Strada, players aim to connect settlements for victory points while managing limited resources. The scoring system decreases points as more players connect to a settlement, adding a strategic layer to road building that can lead to surprising outcomes.

Players take on the role of Union and Confederate commanders in a fast-paced, card-driven strategy war game set during the American Civil War. The game focuses on area control and hidden army strengths, utilizing point-to-point movement without dice. As players cycle through their decks, the Union gains stronger cards, while the Confederacy adds weaker cards, leading to strategic decisions about resource management and unit construction.

Set in 19th century Cornwall, players represent a mining conglomerate during the peak of tin and copper mining. They must auction properties across Cornwall and efficiently manage their "work points" and money to explore for resources. Once a mine is established, players extract ore while managing increasing costs. Investing early in industries outside Cornwall yields victory points, but they must outmaneuver competitors to succeed. This edition features changes such as accommodating 1-5 players and using tiles instead of dice to determine resources, along with the introduction of double-use cards for strategic advantages.

Based on the graphic novels by Dr. Grordbort, the game features a satirical take on the British Empire in the late 19th century, focusing on the exploitation of the solar system rather than Africa. Players aim to build an empire by racing around planets and moons to claim game pieces that provide various advantages. The game is straightforward, playable in about 90 minutes, and involves managing crisis tokens that can lead to disastrous events like Martian invasions and robot rebellions.

A relatively simple game set in North America revolves around stocks and building railway lines with some unexpected twists. Players use their investment dice to bid for control over six companies. Gaining control allows players to earn shares, leading to potential profits based on the railways built. The game lasts five rounds, with players receiving victory points instead of actual money. At the end, companies pay out additional profits based on their connections to different regions.