The best games from Phil Eklund 🇺🇸👨 2025

Pax Porfiriana delves into the rich historical backdrop of Mexico under the rule of Porfirio Díaz, spanning from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Players step into the shoes of powerful businessmen vying for economic dominance amidst political turmoil. The game is a blend of strategic card play, economic management, and political maneuvering.

Players assume the role of bankers in late 15th and early 16th century Europe during the height of the Renaissance. They can finance kings or republics, sponsor explorations, join secret cabals, or unleash jihad and Inquisition, impacting whether Europe advances into modernity or remains in dark feudalism. New components enhance the gameplay, and additional cards allow for more flexibility in setup, making it easier to transport.

Four players represent the tribes of Tunit (Green), Nordisch (Red), Sea Sámi (Blue), and Thule (Yellow) in Greenland from the 11th to the 15th century. Players strive to secure food, resources, and technology to grow their tribes while facing competing species and environmental challenges. The game progresses through six phases, including event resolution, assigning hunters, negotiation, resolving hunts, maintaining livestock, and taking actions with elders, leading to variable scoring based on players' theistic views.

As a banker of the Renaissance, you will finance kings or republics, sponsor voyages of discovery, join secret cabals, or unleash jihads and inquisitions. Your decisions will influence whether Europe advances into a bright modern age or remains trapped in dark feudalism.

With Napoleon's fall, the British East India Company shifted its trade from the Cape of Good Hope to the markets of Hong Kong. India became the center of an extensive imperial network, connecting the Far East to European markets and giving the British virtual control over the vast wealth of the subcontinent. In this context, two to five players take on the roles of Afghan tribal leaders, maneuvering through "The Great Game" to influence the supremacy of the Russian, British, or Afghan Empires.

Set in 43,000 BCE during the European Ice Age, players embody one of three human species: Archaic, Neanderthal, or Cro-Magnon. Assign hunting roles to your males while teaching vocabulary to your children to develop cognitive skills and tribal culture. Specialize your elders in key areas and choose from various mating strategies, as victory hinges on your choices regarding hunters, inventions, and domesticated animals.

Players represent various human subspecies, including Sapiens and Neanderthals, in a narrative that begins over 200,000 years ago. The game allows for the expansion of culture, language, and exploration, with opportunities to domesticate beasts and navigate the complexities of religion and rivalries. Victory comes through specialization as a cultural, political, or industrial civilization, highlighting unique paths to success beyond traditional conquests.

The new third edition includes the Sea Sami expansion, allowing for up to four players. Players represent different tribes of Greenland, such as the Tunit, Norse, Sea Sámi, and Thule, striving for survival from the 11th to the 15th century.

Players begin as proto-dinosaurs or proto-mammals in a world following the Permian extinction event. They track animals based on various characteristics, while endangered species are collected in designated areas on the map for scoring. Intense competition and environmental changes challenge players to create new species and mutate them, leading to bizarre combinations like vegetarian velociraptors and flying dolphins.

In the near future, nanofabrication techniques will allow for the creation of incredible new materials atom by atom, but only in the conditions of weightlessness and high vacuum in space. Players act as Earth’s governments racing to establish a functioning space program, gathering resources and colonizing other planets, moons, and asteroids. Water in low Earth orbit serves as currency for bidding on space-related patents, while players must balance the weight and maneuverability of their spacecraft to succeed.

Players begin at the dawn of the Phanerozoic era, managing herbivores and carnivores from various groups like plants, mollusks, or insects. They fight for dominance on continental plates during the Cambrian period, potentially leading to language-based consciousness. The second edition links to its predecessor, allowing influences from Bios:Genesis to affect the starting conditions of a Bios:Megafauna game, with a sequel, Bios:Origins, planned to cover Quaternary events.

One to four players begin shortly after the formation of the Earth, representing organic compounds through up to three Biont tokens. Players aim for a dual origin of life: first as autocatalytic life, which reproduces its components, and second as Darwinian life, using a template to replicate in an RNA world. The game can be played cooperatively, competitively, or solo.