2020 Board Games Gift Guide
Looking for the perfect gift for the board gamer in your life? Check out our list of games to get based on who you’re shopping for.
It can be hard to find the prefect gift for someone. With the holidays coming up, I thought I would do my best to offer a helping hand. Here are a few great games which released this year and making special note of who they might be best suited for.
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Who’s it for?
For someone looking to step up the complexity of their board game collection, but finds a board game weighing 20 pounds a little intimidating.
What is it?
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a slimmed down version of the immensely popular Gloomhaven. It’s a fully cooperative fantasy adventure strategy game. Players work together to go on missions and defeat monsters by playing cards to determine how they move and attack.
Jaws of the Lion uses a game book, and along with the companion app, the game is surprisingly easy to setup and play. The gameplay remains functionally the same and integrates completely with the base game, making it a perfect stepping stone for anyone looking to get deeper into heavier tabletop gaming.
Calico
Who’s it for?
Casual players who like pattern recognition…. and cats.
What is it?
Calico is Best Game 2020 for the box art alone. But it’s also a competitive pattern building game. Players each are attempting to add patches to their own quilt in an effort to attract cats to your quilt. Additionally, when players create color groups, they are able to sew buttons onto the quilt. At the end of the game, players earn points for having buttons, cats, and unique patterns in their quilt.
Project: ELITE
Who’s it for?
Experienced board game players who are looking for a new kind of gameplay that doesn’t exist in many other games.
What is it?
Project: ELITE is a cooperative real-time strategy game that uses an interesting risk/reward dice-rolling mechanic that works really well with the real-time mechanic of the game. Players work together to achieve the objective of the scenarios but have only limited time to take their actions each turn. But acting too fast can end up costing the players more than they are ready for.
My City
Who’s it for?
Families looking for a legacy style game without any of the grimmer, darker tones that so many of those games take.
What is it?
My City is a legacy style city-builder in which players create their own city through a pre-industrial state and up through full industrialization. So many legacy games feature a darker tone, but My City is very family and child friendly. It’s a great way to introduce kids to the hobby with more complex elements but without being too overwhelming.
Final Thoughts
There are a ton of great board games out this year, with a huge variety of tones and themes. No matter who you’re buying for, or for yourself, there’s a board game out there for everyone.
So get out there and start gaming!
Thanks for reading!
