The best games from Michael Schacht 🇩🇪👨 2025

Engage in the colorful and strategic gameplay of Coloretto, where simplicity meets tactical decision-making. The game revolves around drawing cards to play into rows or claiming entire rows to expand your collection. As the rounds progress, players aim to create extensive sets, but there's a catch – exceeding three colors incurs penalties, adding a layer of strategic depth.

Spirits of the Forest is a visually stunning and strategically engaging board game that invites players into a mystical world where the veil between the spirit realm and our own is momentarily lifted. In this enchanting setting, players embody seraphs of the elements, competing to collect the spirits of the forest and add them to their ethereal menagerie.

Night falls and your tamed creatures have escaped their enclosure. Venture into the forest and lure them back with juicy fireflies in a game about collecting cute critters for three to five players.

In Lucky Numbers, your challenge is to be the first to fill your grid with tiles, but there's a twist – you never know which tiles you'll have to work with! Each player receives a set of tiles numbered 1-20, which are shuffled face down. Players then strategically place these tiles in a 4x4 grid, adhering to specific rules to ensure success.

Zooloretto is a charming and strategic board game where players become zoo managers, tasked with building and managing their own zoos. The goal is to attract the most visitors by creating a diverse and well-organized collection of animals.

Zooloretto: The Dice Game adapts the basic Zooloretto Coloretto mechanics, replacing cards with dice that introduce uncertainty in which animals can be taken. Players keep track of scores for their zoo, accommodating five animal types, and can collect coins and barns for overflow animals. Each turn, players either draw two dice and assign them to transport wagons or take all dice from a wagon, scoring based on the animal coins shown. The game concludes when a player's animal boxes are filled, with scoring based on collected animals and bonuses, while penalties apply for overflow barns. The player with the highest score wins.

Web of Power is a strategic board game that immerses players in the quest for dominance over various European regions during the medieval period. The game cleverly combines area control with a simple yet profound placement mechanic, emphasizing monasteries and advisors as the primary tools for influence. The dual-layer strategy involves securing majorities in regions through monasteries and strategically placing advisors, whose presence is capped by the leading player's monastic influence in each region. This dynamic creates a tense and competitive atmosphere as players vie for control while navigating the limitations imposed by their opponents' monastery placements.

In Crazy Chicken, players strive to collect as many different types of chickens as possible. Each round, they draw two cards from different decks and either discard a card or lay down a set. The round ends when a player has six types of chickens, all types are laid out, or only one discard pile remains. Points are awarded based on the types of chickens collected, with the player earning the most points after four rounds declared the winner.

Players assume the role of zoo directors managing small zoos in Zooloretto Mini, the simplified version of the award-winning Zooloretto. They must acquire new animals and arrange landscape tiles, earning points at the end of the game. This standalone title features easier rules, a shorter playtime, and fewer components.

At the beginning of each round, six cards are arranged between players, each corresponding to the numbers 1-6 on a die. The cards display sailors of different nationalities or special actions that allow players to influence the die results or expand their crew. Players take turns rolling the dice and assigning one to a card until someone decides to exit and initiate Shanghaiing, at which point the cards are distributed to the player with more dice on their side. At the end of the game, the stronger nationality earns victory points equal to the value of the weaker team, while a player with a monopoly receives the value of their own team.

The world of Iwari is inhabited by five Titans who embody the spirit of the land. In this abstract Eurogame, players represent various tribes traveling through distant lands in search of identity while expanding their settlements across five regions on the board. Players use cards for actions like establishing tents and building nature totems, aiming to score points through majorities in territories and forming connections with the Titans.

Chefkoch Alfredo is in despair because he can't remember which soup is cooking in which pot. Players must help him distribute carrots, garlic, beans, and tomatoes into the right pots while ensuring their opponents do the same.

Players manage the planning and selection of animals for their water-themed zoo to earn the most victory points. They expand their water park and earn points by collecting a diverse range of animals. A key challenge is to place animals in a way that respects their need for space, preventing different species from being placed next to each other.

China is an engaging game of political influence, set in the backdrop of historical Chinese regional rulers vying for power. Players strategically use cards to place Houses or Emissaries across nine regions of the board. Scoring is based on achieving majorities in houses within regions and for emissaries across adjacent regions, as well as for creating uninterrupted sequences of houses along the game's roads. Distinct from its predecessor, Web of Power, China introduces changes such as no mid-game scoring, more options for card drawing, and expanded emissary scoring opportunities. The game is known for its tactical depth, simple rules, and quick gameplay, along with a special variant that includes fortifications.

A chaos has erupted in the closet, thanks to the little sock monster! Players must be attentive and quick to find matching pairs of socks. Once a player collects five pairs, they must capture the sock monster to receive a clothespin. The first player to collect three clothespins wins.

On September 20, 1519, preparations are underway as sailors rush to load supplies onto five ships. Players take on the role of captains journeying around the world, aiming to collect as many goods as possible. Each player starts with a set of cards, competing to build stacks in different colors and claim ocean cards based on their card combinations. The game continues until all players have played their cards, and the player with the highest total of claimed ocean cards wins.

Call to Glory is a fast and entertaining card game packaged in a medium-sized tin. Players aim to collect Japanese characters of varying values and can play cards to score at the end of the round. If an opponent lays more cards of the same type, previously played cards are discarded. The game has two variants: "Imperial Tasks" for completing bonus objectives and "The Power of the Ninja," which increases the strength of Ninja cards. It accommodates 2 to 4 players.

Players do their best to avoid taking home blind chickens in this card game. The game features fifty number cards (0-49), seven penalty cards, and three reward cards. Players arrange their cards at the start, and during each round, the player with the highest card wins the trick, with penalties for taking multiple chickens and rewards for catching a pig. At the end, players tally points based on the cards they have, and the one with the highest score after several rounds wins.

Two spice traders share a warehouse filled with hungry rats that they need to manage. Players must stack boxes and keep their spices organized while covering the rats. The game features strategic placement of pieces and scoring based on grouped spices, while also avoiding exposing their own rats.

Players desperately search for pairs among the hidden game pieces on the table. Both the color (gold, green, or blue) and the animal (monkey, zebra, lion, penguin, or flamingo) must match to qualify as a pair. The goal is to fulfill the conditions on one of four gate tiles, such as collecting three pairs of animals in different colors, while using only one hand and not looking at the collected pairs.

Players compete to grab the correct items on the table in TohuWabohu, also known as Tip Tap. After placing all the colorful and oddly shaped cardboard pieces on the table, one player acts as the director and flips over a card showing one or more pieces. Players rush to place a finger on the items shown; once claimed, the items cannot be moved. If a card reveals a previously claimed item, the owner must secure it with a finger or risk having it stolen by other players. The round ends when a player collects seven or eight items, and the game concludes after a set number of rounds, with points awarded for collected items.

Hansa is a strategic board game where players assume the roles of merchants in the Hanseatic League, a powerful economic and trading alliance during the Middle Ages. The game involves navigating a ship around a simplified map of Scandinavia, engaging in buying, selling, and expanding trading posts. The goal is to accumulate sets of goods to trade for victory points, while also expanding market presence to increase revenue.

A new mayor is needed for Quietville, a city plagued by frequent disasters, including an erupting volcano, alien invasions, and a mutated dinosaur. Candidates must demonstrate their leadership by managing parts of the city while avoiding damage from these calamities. The player who can build and protect the wealthiest neighborhood will be elected as the new mayor.

Players compete against each other and the clock in this game. Each player has a small world map with empty spaces, selecting tiles representing various animals and environments to create complete areas on their map. When time runs out, players earn points for completed environments and lose points for mismatched tiles and empty spaces. The game features three difficulty levels along with additional goals for earning and losing bonus points, as well as rules for solo play.

Gold! is a card game with 60 cards in six colors, featuring valuable gold cards worth 3-8 and some donkeys worth -2. Players start with a differently colored donkey and must perform one of three actions each turn, including taking the lowest displayed card or trading cards. When players collect three cards of the same color, they score points, while also having the chance to steal a card from an opponent. The game ends when the last set of five cards is revealed, and players sum their points to determine the winner.

Set in the Middle Ages, wealthy men were inspired to build grand towers to showcase their prosperity. Players act as builders, seeking to profit from these vanity-driven families by constructing towers and earning glory for their work.

In the 1920s, the US stock market experienced unprecedented growth, turning many into overnight millionaires. Players buy and sell railroad stocks, trying to outsmart both their opponents and the market. The game ends when a crash card is revealed, at which point players tally their wealth based on their depots and remaining shares, aiming for the highest total.

Players collect antiques in the game while needing to prove that these pieces form a coherent collection rather than just a heap of old junk.

Players travel through Africa, participate in expeditions, and strive to reach various destinations first. They can buy adventure cards with the money earned, which bring valuable antiques. The game features a board divided along the equator, with different cities marking purchase locations for adventure cards. Each player has an explorer token and can take one of three actions per turn, including drawing travel cards or purchasing adventure cards. The game ends when all expedition cards are used, and players score points based on completed expeditions, sets of adventure cards, and currency on hand. The player with the most points wins.

The game features similar gameplay to another title by the same designer, with double-sided boards introducing new rules and variants. Players use cards to place figures in nine regions on the board, with specific rules for claiming locations and scoring points based on the number of houses and ambassadors they control. Variants on both sides of the board allow players to enhance their strategic options, such as starting with a fortification or receiving a marketplace for additional placement opportunities.