2021 Tabletop Game Gift Guide! Happy Holidays! In our annual tradition, LRM Online is here once again to help you find the perfect gifts for the gamers in your life! To narrow things down, we’ve picked a “best game” across a few different categories and note that all of these titles are brand new for 2021! Click the names of the winners to read our full review of each game!
Best Overall Game of 2021: Galaxy Trucker by CGE
Galaxy Trucker by Czech Games Edition
Price: ~$30.00
Players: 1 to 4
Playtime: 20 to 30 minutes
Perfect for: Families and groups who relish fast-paced, real-time, tile-drafting games with a dash of luck.
Galaxy Trucker is a game of hauling goods through space! Players must (rather rapidly) construct a vessel that can withstand the hostile environment of interplanetary travel which includes trigger-happy enemies, meteors, and more. But ship design is only half the challenge—once completed, players vie for who can collect the most goods along their journey and beat the opposition to the finish line…assuming they can survive the trek.
Best Competitive Game: Summoner Wars (Second Edition) by Plaid Hat Games
Summoner Wars (Second Edition) by Plaid Hat Games
Price: ~$50.00
Players: 2
Playtime: ~45 to 60 minutes
Perfect for: Individuals who enjoy strategic player vs. player competitive fantasy-themed deck management games
Summoner Wars (Second Edition) is a game of dueling factions! A remake of the 2009 version, this second edition includes six races of warrior tribes, each with their own set of distinct skills. Players must choose their team and outwit their opponent by being cunning and also a little lucky.
Best Co-Op Game (tie): Fast & Furious: Highway Heist by Funko Games
Fast & Furious: Highway Heist by Funko Games
Price: ~$30.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: ~60 minutes
Perfect for: Groups who love cooperative adventures filled highly thematic mechanics that necessitate intricate teamwork
Fast & Furious: Highway Heist is a game of daring and death-defying action! Players form a team by taking to their cars and collectively achieving a series of objectives highly reminiscent of the popular film franchise. Each character and car combo has their own set of uniques which the players must strategically leverage in order to win.
Best Co-Op Game (tie): The Night Cage by Smirk and Dagger
The Night Cage by Smirk and Dagger
Price: ~$45.00
Players: 1 to 5
Playtime: ~50 minutes
Perfect for: Groups who enjoy cooperative escape games laced with suspense, strategy, and a bit of luck.
The Night Cage is a game of cavern survival! Players find themselves isolated in a mysterious series of darkened tunnels, desperate to find each other and a way out. Armed only with candles, the party must traverse the cave’s passageways while searching for keys and an exit. But they must not delay because the wax of their light source is dripping away quickly. Plus, they are being hunted.
Best City-Building Game: Dinosaur World by Pandasaurus Games
Dinosaur World by Pandasaurus Games
Price: ~$60.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 60 to 120 minutes
Perfect for: Gaming groups who appreciate complex city/world building mechanics (and dino-enthusiasts in general).
Dinosaur World is a game of constructing and operating a park filled with thrills! Players spare no expense as they (literally) bring to life dangerous attractions to make their resort the ultimate zoological tourist destination. This means building not only the dinosaurs, but also rides, amenities, and appropriate safety precautions. The individual who can create the most exciting theme park—while keeping “incidents” to a minimum—will be victorious.
Best Game Design: Vivid Memories by Floodgate Games
Vivid Memories by Floodgate Games
Price: ~$60.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 30 to 45 minutes
Perfect for: Groups that love beautiful abstract games full of strategic decision-making with multiple paths to victory.
Vivid Memories is a game of holding cherished moments. Players work to ensure their favorite childhood happenings and events are with them forever by building pathways in their mind through a series of actions. Individuals who can create the strongest of collection of memories will ultimately be victorious.
Best Family Game (tie): Happy City by Gamewright
Happy City by Gamewright
Price: ~$16.00
Players: 1 to 5
Playtime: 20 to 30 minutes
Perfect for: Families who enjoy light and quick card-drafting mini-engine building games.
Happy City is a breezy game of town construction and citizen satisfaction! Players buy and collect cards which represent the buildings in their city. As their town grows and expands, they’ll have the ability to purchase even more expensive structures, vying with their opponents to have the happiest residents.
Best Family Game (tie): Kingdomino Origins by Blue Orange Games
Kingdomino Origins by Blue Orange Games
Price: ~$35.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 25 minutes
Perfect for: Families who enjoy mildly competitive strategic set collection games with a bit of luck.
Kingdomino Origins is a game of world building in a prehistoric era! Players must assemble a landscape where the terrain types connect together to form large patches of desert, lakes, grasslands, and jungles. But with scarce resources up for grabs, individuals must be thoughtful about which land types to invest in thereby maximizing their value. Added to the mix are volcanoes, wildlife, and even cavepeople that can drastically alter scoring.
Best Party Game: Super Mega Lucky Box by Gamewright
Super Mega Lucky Box by Gamewright
Price: ~$16.00
Players: 1 to 6
Playtime: ~20 minutes
Perfect for: Groups who enjoy bingo with a few twists to keep things engaging.
Super Mega Lucky Box is a game of playing the odds in your favor! To begin a game, players choose three cards from five dealt to them. Every card contains a 3×3 grid, with a random number (ranging from 1 to 9) in each block. From a deck of eighteen numbered cards (1 through 9, twice) half are randomly chosen for the round. Play proceeds with the reveal of a number and each person having the opportunity to cross the digit off one of their cards until the deck gets exhausted.
Best Narrative: The Adventures of Robin Hood by KOSMOS
The Adventures of Robin Hood by KOSMOS
Price: ~$60.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: ~60 minutes
Perfect for: Games and families who enjoy cooperative adventures with engaging storytelling mechanics.
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a game of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor! All while not being captured, that is. Players assume control of the classic literary characters (Robin, Marian, etc.) while traversing an interactive world. On these journeys, the merry crew evades the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham while doling out good for those less fortunate.
Best Game for Crafty People: ArchRavels by XYZ Labs
ArchRavels by XYZ Game Labs, Inc.
Price: ~$45.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 30 to 45 minutes
Perfect for: Family members of all ages who enjoy light resource and set collection games—knitters especially!
ArchRavels is a game of crafting art from yarn! Players collect threads of various colors in order to construct teddy bears, scarves, hats, blankets and more following their associated patterns. Eventually these knitted creations can be bundled together to finish projects which are even more valuable.
Best Card Game: Power Failure by Genius Games
Power Failure by Genius Games
Price: ~$15.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: ~45 minutes
Perfect for: Groups and families who enjoy card management, tableau-building games with a hint of dexterity.
Power Failure is a game of electricity generation! Players must collect resources which can in turn be used to build power plants. Those plants then power cities, netting a player victory points. However, constructing plants and producing energy results in carbon emissions, represented by a tower of blocks that builds as the game goes on. Toppling the tower means consequences for all!
Best Legacy Game: Goonies: Never Say Die by Funko Games
The Goonies: Never Say Die by Funko Games
Price: ~$35.00
Players: 2 to 5
Playtime: ~50 minutes
Perfect for: Groups and families who enjoy one vs. many games, with a light dungeon crawler/RPG mechanic (and of course, fans of the classic 80s movie).
The Goonies: Never Say Die is a game of adventure and treasure hunting! In an adaptation and expansion of the storyline from the 1985 film, this tabletop version allows players to team up as members of The Goonies while exploring caves and caverns seeking One-Eyed Willy’s fabled riches. But as the young intrepid spelunkers make their way through the underground labyrinth, they must contend with deadly puzzles and monsters while being pursued by the Fratelli crime family.
Best Expansion: Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Secrets and Soiree by Stonemaier Games
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Secrets & Soiree Expansion by Stonemaier Games and Bezier Games
Price: ~$20.00
Players: 1 to 8 (with expansion)
Playtime: 25 to 60 minutes
Perfect for: Players who enjoy strategic tile-laying mechanics and intricate scoring.
The Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Secrets & Soiree Expansion expands upon the excellent game of clever construction at the crossroads of collaboration and competition. For context, in the base game (which is necessary for this expansion), players serve on two teams of two working with the person to their left and the person to their right, drafting and placing tiles. The goal is to create two castles each with the highest point value possible; at the end of the game the player will only keep the score of the lowest castle they worked on of the two.
Lets us know what you think of our 2021 Tabletop Game Gift Guide below.
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