Players head out across the Galapagos, examining unusual animal species, investigating life’s diversity, and contributing to the field of biology as they dispatch information back to museums to further human understanding. The complex and interconnected worker placement mechanics demand careful strategy from the start, with nearly every action crucial to securing victory. With board art that recalls Darwin’s familiar sketchwork, it’s a thinker’s game that celebrates the mystery and discovery of science.

This charming but strategically rich tableau-building game challenges players to build a natural ecosystem while drafting cards from a vast supply of over 300 options. Each player mixes and matches things like the island and climate where the game begins, lending an asymmetrical quality. Featuring strong ecological overtones, Earth’s most impressive trick is how it keeps every player acting and engaged with gameplay, even when it’s another player’s turn.

2016’s Scythe was a standout success thanks to its tightly balanced engine-building gameplay and gorgeous alternate-history setting. Expeditions is the sequel, and while the evocative art style and world are the same, there’s plenty new to discover. Players compete to build power, finish quests, and investigate the mysteries behind powerful meteorite pieces, all with a strong focus on exploration and discovery.

Plaid Hat’s celebrated Crossroads system gives tremendous flexibility and choice to players for crafting their course through a tale, and the cooperative Freelancers is one of the best to date. Like a game of Dungeons & Dragons set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the game doesn’t use a game master like an RPG might. Instead, the integrated recorded audio elements add flavor, depth, and fun. It’s a rollicking, creature-slaying, player-driven good time.

We’ve seen many Marvel tabletop games in recent years, but this cooperative venture is one of the strongest. Players team up to take on one of four distinct villains, each controlling one of the iconic heroes from the comics. While globetrotting to confront the bad guys, players are kept busy with a brisk turn order that never leaves anyone waiting long to do something fun. And combo and team-up opportunities are plentiful, capturing that sense of heroes who must work as one to save the world.

Not every strategy game needs to consume your playgroup for hours at a time. Mycelia is a charming deck-builder in which players compete to bring dew drops from the forest to the nearby shrine, using adorable and friendly fungi hero cards as gatherers. Gameplay is brisk, the components make for a beautiful table display, and double-sided player boards lend replayability. It’s a lovely choice for players seeking adorable fun or even for families with older children.

Part of the ever-growing genre of word party games, Sides challenges two of its players to act as detectives in pursuit of a mystery word. The other players attempt to offer one-word clues leading to the mystery word, but clues must start with a particular letter on the table, demanding clever use of vocabulary and context. The fewer the clues, the higher the score. It’s a simple, approachable game that embraces the fun of the meanings behind our chosen words.

Ticket to Ride has been a fixture of the tabletop hobby for years and is widely touted as an ideal gateway into more involved board games. The new legacy treatment maintains the core structure of building your railroad empire but gradually introduces new rules and features over a dozen scenarios. You even get to choose how to expand the map as America reaches ever westward. Just as the original game welcomed newcomers, Legends of the West serves as a pathway for players to uncover the joy of a linked and evolving campaign.

Earlier Unmatched sets offered tense, competitive, asymmetric miniature skirmishes. Tales to Amaze is a new twist using the same system to tell themed cooperative scenarios inspired by pulp adventure stories. Players band together to take on the Mothman or Martian Invader. The simple-to-understand rules don’t hold it back from significant tactical complexity, and the stellar art and production values make this an ideal way to experience the growing series – you can even mix and match existing heroes from other sets into play.

Since it’s been some time since a new Witcher video, fans should consider sating their monster-hunting hunger with this excellent competitive adventure board game. Set in the years before Geralt’s exploits, Witchers wander the Continent, seeking trophies to cement their legacy. Players build their deck of cards to establish power, and the fun comes from combining different attacks, magic, and other abilities to win battles and resolve quests. It’s fun to play, beautifully presented, and a credit to the best aspects of the franchise.