A year is only 12 months, and yet 2019 managed to pack in hundreds of board games for us to try and sift through in search of those shining new favourites to add to our collection.
Luckily, we’ve done all the hard work for you and played most of this year’s worthwhile releases, before putting our thoughts in one place so you know what the best board games of 2019 are and why you should play them. Hey, this is that place! Isn’t that handy?
We each picked our personal favourite Game of the Year and chatted briefly about why we reckon everyone should play them. Some of the games were brand new releases this year, and some were just new to us - either way, you're guaranteed a good time with all. With so much out there, we’ve got something to suit everyone - whether you’re into intense strategy puzzles, roleplaying games bursting with story or entertaining party board games.
You can see what Sara, Wheels and Alex Meehan picked in part one of our Game of the Year 2019 videos above. Expect an epic legacy board game about ruling a kingdom, a storytelling RPG about the collapse of civilisation (something I’m sure we can all sympathise after this year) and a worthy successor to the excellent Dixit - truly one of the best beginner board games around, in our opinion - with an extra dash of social deduction.
After that, take a look at part two below to find out what Johnny, Matt and Alex Lolies selected from 2019’s bumper crop of board games. There’s the latest expansion to an exciting new card game from the brain behind Magic: The Gathering, the stunning return of a mostly overlooked masterpiece from the designer of Root and the newest civilisation-building board game from the creator of Scythe. (Which might make an interesting back-to-back feature with Wheels’ civ-destroying pick, we’d reckon.)
Watch on to find out what we picked, and tell us your own Game of the Year for 2019 in the comments below! Have you played our top picks? What did we miss? What are you excited for in 2020?
Read more of Dicebreaker’s Game of the Year 2019 coverage, including personal Top 5 lists from the team, plus picks from top game designers.