The best games presented at the Spiel 1986 game fair in Essen, Germany 2025

Players engage in a tile-laying game with a light environmental theme. The game features 36 tiles depicting different leaf or twig silhouettes, arranged on a 6x6 grid to complete 2x2 squares and rows of six for points. The placement of each tile is unique, determining the layout early in the game and allowing players to play their tiles strategically based on their draws.

The game features an unusual tetrahedral game board with 121 dice in three colors. It includes a variety of games that range from dexterity to abstract movements and encourages players to create new games. The box of the Kosmos edition indicates an age range of "4-99," while the latest edition states "6+".

Set in the South American jungle, the story revolves around a jade statue of a king, stolen by Spanish conquistadors and lost under a curse. The game board features eight oracles, one of which will become the jade statue when a player solves three puzzles. It combines deduction with player movement, creating rounds where deduction may take a back seat to luck in movement.

Die Macher is a deeply strategic board game centered around seven sequential political races in various regions of Germany. Players take on the roles of leaders of national political parties, tasked with wisely managing their resources to lead their party to victory across these regional elections.

Chicago is played in a city where bars and casinos are fiercely contested. A player wins by achieving one of three goals and staying on top until the end of a game phase. If no player meets a goal by the end of the 24th round, the player with the highest wealth wins.

The game is based on the treasure hunt from "Treasure Island" by R.L. Stevenson. Two players try to determine the precise coordinates of the treasure. One player knows the latitude while the other knows the longitude of the buried treasure on the island. Both arrive at the same time and spy on each other to uncover the other's secret.

Corda is a challenging puzzle for one or more players that involves rhombuses displaying vines. In solo mode, the player tries to connect 48 rhombuses with thick branches or thin vines to form a continuous image. In competitive play, players share 35 or 36 pieces and take turns taking or returning pieces to complete their images, aiming to score points by placing tiles and forming closed rings. The player with the most points wins.

Players must quickly collect five differently colored discs with their animals, each of which has unique movement styles and abilities. As they journey through the forest, animals leave tracks marked on the board. If a space is entered twice, it becomes a barrier, making the path increasingly challenging. Players can use game pieces to create obstacles for other animals or remove hindrances from their own path.

Travel along the path with other Bavarians and strive to be the first to reach ten goals. Other players will undoubtedly try to stop you as quickly as possible.

The game is played on a 9×9 board. Each player starts with fourteen pieces arranged in the first three rows on their side, spaced one square apart. Each piece has a head in a different color representing its rank, influencing movement and combat strength. When a piece attempts to capture an opponent's piece, both players roll a die, and the highest score wins. The losing piece is removed from the game, while the winning piece is promoted by replacing its head with a higher-ranked one. A player wins by eliminating all opponent pieces.