Hobby gamers are a fickle bunch and are always eager to try out the latest release. To stay viable, prolific designers and larger publishers maintain a catalog of games to support their brand and livelihood. Each year the major publishers release a new crop of games at major conventions like Essen, Origins, Nuremberg, and GenCon.
Although there are some notable exceptions, I believe that this business practice breeds a degree of mediocrity. Rather than take risks and blaze trails by releasing unique products, publishers and designers often rehash ideas, mechanisms, and themes of previously successful games. After a breakout hit, we’re bound to see a number of similar games or expansions hit the market shortly thereafter.
Fortunately, small publishers and less prolific designers provide an alternative. Since they’re not constrained by the same business model, they're more likely to take risks, innovate, and/or provide lavish production values. In recent years, a number of unknown designers and publishers have been responsible for some of the most interesting, original games.
Please add games created by small publishers and less-prolific designers that interest you or that you enjoy. Perhaps this list will help their games gain greater exposure and recognition.
«Quando non c'è energia non c'è colore, non c'è forma, non c'è vita» (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio)
The first game of a new Italian publishing house. It's a worker placement game and takes place during Renaissance in Florence.
In Florenza, the players are the heads of the most powerful families in Florenza during the Renaissance period. The goal of the game is to become the most famous patron of the arts by hiring the most famous artists of the period and financing their works.
Each player can commission artworks in his own district, the Cathedral, or in the civic buildings of the city. Each artwork requires money and resources to complete. To earn the money and resources the artists need, the players send their workers to labor in various workshops, possibly even in their opponents’ districts. Additional workers can be earned by offering charity to the church. During the game, players will earn prestige points, primarily by completing artworks. prestige points can be spent during the game, but at the end of the game they will be the player’s primary source of victory points.
All of the characters in the game are real historical figures that lived and worked in Italy during the Renaissance. Most of them worked in Florence. All of the buildings in the game were real Renaissance workshops. The artworks the players can complete include the masterpieces of some of the most famous artists in the world.
Propably the first ever Storm Chasing themed game(?)
Tornado Alert! is an unique mix of reaction speed and risk taking. Players play cards to central pile and there isn't any limitations for what card to play on your turn. Players are lurking for the best moment to capture photos before round ends. There is 12 different locations from where to shoot and they're numbered from 1 to 6. The higher the number is , the more dangerous the place is. There's also special cards numbered with value of zero. Most of the special cards can be good or bad depending from situation. Gameplay depends a lot from players and ranges from thinky and slow to mean and fast. Recommended for two players also but then there's no speed element and tactical playing has biggest role.
Tornado Alert! is published by Hyptic and is sold at their website www.hyptic.net and can be found at Essen Spiel 2010.
Munera: Familia Gladiatoria puts you in the role of Ianista as the head of a Gymnasium of Gladiators. You will take care of all aspects, hiring personnel, gladiators and have them fight the arenas all over Italy.
Lead your Champions to Glory and become the most glorious Gymnasium of the Ancient World.
Inevitable is a "raise your stats," quest-oriented roll-and-move game with a play feel that's similar to Talisman, but a radically different theme and significantly more player interaction. The darkly comic nature and themes of the game make it appropriate for role-players who like to play board games and cut-throat board gamers. During play, you adopt the role of a group's champion, running against HappyCOM-9 (a megalomaniacal supercomputer) in an election. The winner becomes absolute ruler of The City, the last bastion of humanity in a messed up, post-apocalyptic future that's not much bleaker than our own. As of December 2, 2010, copies of the first printing are still available.
Designer: Don Eskridge Publisher: Indie Boards and Cards
The Resistance is a party game of social deduction. It is designed for five to ten players, lasts about 30 minutes, and has no player elimination. The Resistance is inspired by Mafia/Werewolf, yet it is unique in its core mechanics which increase the resources for informed decisions, intensify player interaction, and eliminate player elimination.
Comments:
"If you want to know what its like to be part of a top secret sting operation planning on destroying evil Imperial bases while they infiltrate your team in an attempt to sabotage your plans....then this is your game. ... I honestly don't know if I've ever been involved in a game more intense than this."
"No moderation and no player elimination makes this game much better than Werewolf."
"Fantastic game, when you've got a reasonably sociable group this is a fantastic fit. Bluffing and deduction blend together rapidly with accusations and counter accusations flying, the only way to deduce who is spying is to translate their votes and the success of the missions they go on. Absolutely brilliant!"
"A great game. Player confrontation without player elimination and a chance to accuse your friends of being a spy!"
This game, especially with the second reprint and onwards, is simply fantastic. We've ended up with it being one of our most played games. Almost every games night starts with this now - given it handles 5-10 players and takes half an hour, you break it out as a quick appetiser at the start of the evening, and if any late stragglers show up, at least they only have to wait 20min and have something amusing to watch in the meantime.
"Like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick."
"This game is very innovative. There, someone had to say it. I did it, now it's out of the way! Moving right along... Seriously, this is a great game that is volatile, interactive, creative and just plain fun. People who do not enjoy tactics and demand long term strategy may not like this one, but if that doesn't bother you, this game is a heck of ride!"
"Apr 2010 Absolute brilliance. My feeling after five plays is that this is the best game since Race for the galaxy. Incredibly fun Civ game. If you like games with special powers, you will love this. I often dont like games with direct player interaction, this has some direct (but somewhat controllable) player interaction...and it totally works. Tons of combos and ways to make you feel clever."
"As a 2-player game, this is a complex and fascinating game. We love it!!! The cards and the other player's powers can ruin your plan, but you must -- and yes, you can -- come up with a new plan. Every turn is a complex new puzzle, but you must also think about your medium-term plans. A slightly-better player will win 8 out of 9 times, so do not fear the chaos."
"Very much like Pitchcar, except for two significant differences:
1) the base set includes a LOT of material (jump, tunnel, etc) to provide more interesting track options than vanilla Pitchcar can provide.
2) The nature of the Z-ball allows for some real skill and manipulation to the roll of the ball. You can turn corners. You can navigate up a hill. But its not easy and some experience will pay off. Despite that, you can open the box and everyone can be playing in moments....with no real learning curve to actually playing/enjoying the game.
I'm happy to own both games. I'm impressed with the production quality and support Bisikle is receiving. I foresee pulling this one out from time to time for quite a while. Set-up and take-down are MUCH easier than Pitchcar, which I can't ignore."
"The fact that you can put "english" on the ball and make it stop abruptly through back-spin and curve around corners, places it above Pitch Car for me. I really need to get this."
"Players race bicycles around a pre-constructed modular track. Ingenious flicking game, very similar in concept to Carabande/Pitchcar, where players take turns to flick their piece around the track. The difference here is the piece is a "Z-Ball" - a small plastic ball filled with metal ball-bearings to give it some heft and control. After a frustrating first hour, you can suddenly spin the ball around corners, make it stop on slopes, provide backspin for more control. Amazingly clever game, with fantastic components. Downside? Veterans will absolutely smash beginners which can kill the fun. Other than that, superb."
"Played once, found it a clever Carabande-like game. The interaction of gradients with the ball-bearing-weighted balls is especially interesting. I also like that it's got some inertia, so moves tend to be shorter and a little more tactical, and less likely to be blown out by a lucky shot, as can happen in Carabande. Also, the plastic playing surface and round ball are less likely to be impacted by seams and other track imperfections, which could be a hassle in Carabande. While the ZBall does have some interesting potential for spins and such, it's also still light and seems like it can be a little finicky, so we'll see if the game has staying power. But initial impressions were favorable, and it's very nice that that they give you get a little bit of everything (tunnel, jump, risers) in the base set."
"Whattt? No! They didn't write that! Oh, it says 'Flick'."
I came to comment the same thing but alas was beaten to it obviously
On a more serious note, this game looks great though. I was on the teetering edge of purchasing Pitchcar (Mini in my case) but now I may have to see where I can find this in stock
[Update] Battlecon has been successfully backed on Kickstarter. In fact, it achieved more than twice the goal. Apparently a lot of people besides me are excited about the game.
Level 99 Games is still taking preorders for BattleCon at www.lvl99games.com
Ever wish for a card game that had some of the wild unpredictability of Fluxx but had SOME strategy possible in its gameplay?
Perhaps, a more ORGANIZED kind of CHAOS?
This exciting game indeed combines unpredictability ( your entire hand and card set up could be turned over to someone else at anytime) with actual planning ( situations where you can see what cards other players might be about to play) and binds it all together for an incredibly unique mechanic--you have to be the player to NOT get rid all of your cards !! A great new game I can't recommend highly enough !
If you take the out loftiness of games like Masterpiece and Modern Art and bring the play down to earth to the world inhabited by the guys on Storage Wars, you get Auction Junktion. This clever game mixes auction mechanics with bluffing as you try to get rid of sets of items that may hold worthless junk and try to bid for valuables !! Adding to the interesting mix is each player having a character that gives a special effect as to what KIND of valuables he or she is looking for.
A beautifully crafted card game riding the " wave" as it were of shipping-themed games. This game is a wonderful and atmospheric addition to this genre and has started becoming a word-of-mouth hit after being shown at a number of Game Cons.
Designer: Justin Oh Publisher: DG Games, Gemblo Korea
"Quite a fun dexterity game, sort of a cross between Don't Break the Ice and Jenga. I believe the second edition was the one I played. Very clever design, plays quickly and quite addictive. Yes, it's a kid's game, but a quality example of such."
"Silly but very addictive dexterity filler."
"Silly fun. Hit the tree with an axe to collect bits of bark without causing the core of the trunk to come crashing down. Nice (plastic) bits, and it's surprising how out of joint you can smack the tree without it actually toppling."
"Quite a fun dexterity game, sort of a cross between Don't Break the Ice and Jenga. I believe the second edition was the one I played. Very clever design, plays quickly and quite addictive. Yes, it's a kid's game, but a quality example of such."
This is actually a pair of games. The first game, Hanabi, has players cooperating to create fireworks. The second game, Ikebana, has players competing to create bouqets. Note that most ratings and comments refer to Hanabi.
"I love this game. At first, it appears to be a co-op deduction game, which got me really excited. But the more I dug into it, the more I realized it's a communication game. It's like bridge if you got rid of all that dull card playing and just did the fun bidding part. (Tongue-in-cheek there, but it's an apt comparison.) I'm relatively certain this is the best twenty dollars I have ever spent."
"Co-op deduction simplicity minus the chrome makes for a super simple game that is easy to teach, learn and play in minutes but the subtle nuances make for a game that I feel will last a long long time."
"Hanabi is not going anywhere. It's quick, it's the best memory and deduction game I've ever played (two mechanics that I generally loath), it's easy to teach, it takes coops in a completely new direction..."
"Hanabi has been getting much more buzz than Ikebana. That is due to it feeling more original than its brother. The game is tense, requires good use of resources, and has a nice learning curve"
Designer: Thomas Colthurst Publisher: Cambridge Games Factory
More card game goodness from the folks who brought us Glory to Rome?
"There are certainly different strategies to explore, by building around certain cards or colours. It also has the advantage of scaling well as a two-player game, and plays quite quickly - so you can play a couple of games back-to-back. I've played it close to 20 times so far, and am very impressed and long not sick of it. The alternate victory condition from the expansion cards makes a fun challenge too.
Don't make the mistake of judging this after just one or two plays! There's more to the game than meets the eye, which will only become evident with repeated play, so don't conclude too quickly it's boring or simple."
"I've found that more plays=more fun with Barons. This game has really caught my interest as I've played it more, and while I enjoyed the first couple of times that I played it, I'm really loving the plays after that, once I had a better understanding of what was in the decks. This game is great, 2 players especially shines, when you consider that it can play up to 6 players."
"With another play (this time a 2p) I'm starting to see some interesting card synergies develop (not that I'm any good at taking advantage of them). I thought at first that Barons was simply a GtR derivative. This is definitely not the case. There's spatial manipulation, resource development and management, and a whole slew of 'take that.' As a 2-player this one really shines. Looking forward to more plays (and possibly raising my rating again)."
"great new game from Cambridge Games that is a worthy successor to Glory to Rome. I enjoy watching my barony grow and finding beneficial combinations with the various cards. Highly interactive and fun"
"I've played this extensively and like it much more than Glory to Rome. It has an engine building feel like you'd see in a game like Dominion or Race for the Galaxy. Much like Race, this game gets better as you play it more due to increased card familiarity. And also like Race, everyone tends to ignore everyone else's board in their first game. The game is (slightly) deeper and more interactive than it looks at first glance."
Just stumbled across this and felt obligated to add my game to the list
Medieval Mastery was recently released at the UK Games Expo where it had an incredible response, selling 40 copies over the weekend and getting plenty of interest from retailers/wholesalers. In fact, virtually everyone who played the game bought a copy!
The limited edition copies are currently available for purchase at www.chaospublishing.co.uk - check it out!
Dragon Valley is a fantastic new game from a small publisher. It shows the future potential of one of the best new designers, CW Karstens. If you're looking for great depth of play this is for you. It has some very interesting mechanism and the decisions to divide cards, units, and enemies can be completely agonizing. This makes Dragon Valley a winner in my book!
Got a chance to playtest and wow, what a great game! The strategy you use for breeding comes out in the tactics of the races. I can't wait to see Tom's next effort.
Dragon Blast is a Super Powered, Martial Arts Combat Card Game AND Board Game! In this hybrid game, the players battle to see who will be the last one standing. You must use your cards strategically to attack and defend against the other players as well as move your character around a tactical game board. Battle to knock out your opponents while powering yourself up to unleash incredible, legendary attacks!
But you must beware, there are other incredible warriors with other super-powered attacks! You can play as one of six legendary combatants each with their own powers and style of fighting.
To be successful you must learn to use and master a variety of attacks and defenses! Punch, Kick, Block, Dodge and Blast your way to victory!
You can play this game in a two player duel or up to four players in a free-for-all brawl! Don’t like to be alone? Team up with a partner and play two versus two teams!
Choose from two different Battlefields to wage your destruction on!
My apologies, I didn't think it was necessary to do so. I put the post up myself since most of the people that I know that play this game don't really use BGG. But it's not just me that thinks its good. You can see some short reviews and comments here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/dragon-blast
So if its insulting to put up a post about my own game, I apologize.
NO Eddie it's not insulting, but it's considered good form to make it clear from the start. Nothing wrong with ( within reason) pitching your own stuff-- but BGG folk are understandably RATHER suspicious when this is not made clear. I Would have thought the mistake that Scott's friends accidentally made here shilling Man Hunt in a bombardment ( not that you are doing that) without Scott making it clear in his original posts that he was the designer might have indicated this to you.
"This game came out without much press, but WOW it's going to be quite a hit once some folks start to take notice. Without a doubt the best game released by Small Box Games to date. Easy to learn, fast-playing, action-packed, and addictive. I'll be playing this for a very long time."
"Dear Hype: I have seen your expectations and they have been met. This is simply a card game that feels like an Ameritrash boardgame. The depth of strategy available is quite impressive as well. If that appeals to you, get this game."
"Maybe the best game he's done yet. This rating is dependent on playing the "advanced" version so keep that in mind. Once you start drafting a lot of strategies are available and the depth really pops out at you. It's quick, strategic, good looking, and reasonably thematic for a card game."
"An excellent 2 player game combining resource management, area control, set collection and variable powers. Each player uses his available actions to draw "money" chips and "minion" cards (Soldiers for special one off abilities plus power, Beasts for power or discard them for special one-off abilities and Oracles for power and ongoing special abilities) in order to put minions into play to dominate one or more of the "cities" or achieve a common set of "feats". Domination of the cities provide spoils cards which give the player powers as well as VPs and more VPs are earned by achieving the feats. Rules are very well written and laid out although a player aid summarising the game phases would have been handy. Card quality is excellent and the card art is outstanding. Great."
«Potion-making. Practice» the board game – created in 2005. It has quickly become a Russian bestseller. In 2010 it was chosen as the “best Russian board game in the last 5 years” by www.boardgamer.ru portal. In that same year it was also chosen as one of the TOP-10 best board games by Forbes Russia magazine.
Number of players – 2-6 Ages – 8+. Playing time – 30-70 minutes.
Game elements: cards, player counters and point card.
Each player in the game is considered an alchemist. He or she will need to create elixirs, potions, powders and even avatars of magical creatures. By following instructions and using spell cards each player tries to create as much potions as he can. The stronger the potion or elixir, the more points a player receives.
The game has 2 expansions: “University Course” and “The Guild of Alchemists”. There is also a gift box containing all three sets.
Already played and i like the " first taste". I will play more to have a clear opinion about it! At first glance it seems to be a very good combination game.
As I own 8 of the games on the list so far. I realy hope more people add to this list. I must admit I am a conesiour of the small publisher/self published games so Im looking forward to more games to add to my collection.
Fountain
Colorado
Surrey
British Columbia
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to get my collection exposed a bit
Néstor