The best games released in 2024📆 2026

A dark rumor arises from Mordor, and the time has come for the Fellowship to unite once more. Players can choose to defend the free peoples as the Fellowship of the Ring or pursue Frodo and Sam as Sauron, deploying their hordes at enemy city gates. The fate of Middle-earth rests in your hands as you navigate the three chapters of the game, strengthening your skills and gathering resources to achieve one of the victory conditions.

Players build landscapes by placing colored tiles to create habitats for their animals. To score the most points and win, they must cleverly integrate these habitats into their landscapes and attract as many animals as possible.

Agent Avenue is a competitive card game about retired spies in a suburban neighborhood. Players bluff, collect sets, and use an I-split-you-choose mechanism to outmaneuver rivals and reveal their identities first.

Hitster is a party game featuring summer hits from past decades. Players take turns placing cards in the correct chronological order on their music timeline. This edition can be played on its own or combined with other Hitster editions.

Ahoy, Captain! Raise your flag, recruit a crew, and fill your coffers with shiny gold coins. The game is simple and can be explained faster than a cannon shot. On your turn, draw a tile from the bag; if you like it, keep it, and if not, flip it over. Place it on your board to build your crew. With nine characters and four boards featuring different tactics, it offers an engaging and fun experience.

New cards are added to the base game to bring even more variety to your gaming tables. Players aim to attract the most valuable species to their forest, with some cards being removed from play based on the number of players. This first expansion introduces 36 new multifunctional cards, including two new tree species, along with some changes to the base game rules.

Players move through the seasons and encounter tiny creatures that emerge from flowers or hide in tree hollows. Choose one of the revealed cards carefully, as you must consider which ones to leave for your opponents. Cards will be stacked and scored at the end of the round, along with your largest color zone and spirals.

River Valley Glassworks is a cozy family-weight game about collecting colorful glass from the river and arranging it in your workshop. Players draft pieces, manage rows and columns, and score through a compact set-collection puzzle.

The expansion introduces new elements to enhance gameplay without extending the playtime. It features two new wonders, Ur and Rome, offering players more building options, along with new science tokens that can be mixed with the original ones, enabling unique abilities. Additionally, players draw random medals at the start of the game, which can grant victory points if certain conditions are met.

Players are transported to the idyllic landscapes of Japan in this standalone successor to the award-winning board game. With the introduction of cherry blossoms as a new element and over 40 achievements to unlock, there's plenty of exciting challenges to face. Numerous surprises await as players explore the world of Dorfromantik - Sakura.