Or rather, Azul: De ramen van Sintra (don’t worry, there’s an English rulebook if you don’t have any Dutchies nearby). The sequel to the hit game Azul, this game has you create beautiful windows with coloured glass more efficiently than anyone else. Beautiful components, clever gameplay, and a big ol’ tower! Plays 2-4 players.

This spooky co-op until it’s not game has you exploring a haunted house as a team … but then suddenly one of you turns against the rest. For those who have played the popular 2nd edition, this edition addresses some rules clarifications and generally improves upon the Betrayal formula in many ways. Also, it can play up to 6 brave explorers!

One of the crown jewels of the Wageningen board game library is the social-deduction groupgame Blood on the Clocktower. Think Werewolves but bigger with about 70 different roles and many, many options. This game is quite complex though; it requires the storyteller to be very aware of all the things that could happen during this immersive journey of a game. Luckily there’s a guild on our discord that can help you get started!

This small narrative game puts you in the shoes of Bass Reeves. Will you become the first black sheriff like the historical figure or will you make different life choices? Cartaventura teaches you the rules while playing, and the rule book is mostly there to tell you more about the eventful backstory of your character. But don’t be fooled by the easygoing nature of this game, as it does an excellent job at making you experience firsthand the racism, bigotry and trauma facing this recently freed man. There’s 5 possible endings to explore in this historical game.

A cooperative game of investigation and deduction. There’s been a crime! And it’s up to you and your squad to lay out the case, interrogate suspects, and investigate crime scenes with your phone. That’s right, this game requires a phone to interact, so you’ll need to install the Chronicles of Crime app. But this app unlocks a lot of replayability with the game components, including community created custom cases. Plays as many players as you want.

The second edition of Citadels (known as Machiavelli in The Netherlands) gives a splash of paint to this much-loved game. Playing up to 8 players, this is a game of hidden roles, deduction, gold-making and building constructing. Every round, each player selects one of the many roles (includes expansion roles) to help them achieve their means, but beware those who seek to stop you – no-one is safe!

If you haven’t played Codenames yet, you’re missing out! And with the Pictures version, language differences aren’t a problem at all. Featuring hundreds of bizarre illustrations and dead simple rules, this team game is great for everyone – from board game expert to your half-deaf Lithuanian grandma. Plays 4-8, but best when the teams are equally sized.

Character + Time + Weapon + Animal… What? Ohh, you mean a cowboy! That’s Concept, except the clue giver has to stay completely quiet, only using tokens to lead your team towards guessing the secret word or phrase. Concept technically is played in teams, but most of the time it just turns into going around the table and playing for the fun of it, rather than for points. Plays 2 to as many as you want!

Coup is easily Sam’s favorite hidden role game. If you see someone stifle a laugh when another person claims “I’m the Duke”, you know they’ve been playing Coup. In Coup, you have two hidden roles of five possible roles and you need to bluff (and call bluffs) to be the last person left in this 5-minute game. But one round certainly won’t be enough! Plays 2-6, but best with at least 4.