Our board game suggestions

Three suggestions for board games to discover as a family, group or couple

Stephanie Morin
The Press

Pierre-Marc Durivage
The Press

paleo

In this prehistoric-themed cooperative game, players unite their efforts to try to survive in a hostile environment. The members of the tribe must face different dangers, gather food, collect wood or stone to build new tools… while avoiding injuries. If the players manage to collect all 5 pieces of rock painting, they win. But if, on the contrary, it is the skulls (thus the dead) that accumulate, they lose. And know that in the time of the mammoths, we died young…

This thrilling game offers different combinations of cards through which several scenarios unfold. Each card can hide good or bad news. Fortunately, mutual aid makes it possible to overcome many obstacles. This game won the prestigious German KennerSpiel award in 2021, the equivalent of the Oscars for board games, in this case, for the “games for connoisseurs” category. It was well deserved. Notice to those who have had the pleasure of tasting this jewel: three extensions have been added to prolong the pleasure. – Stephanie Morin, The Press

Numbers of players : from 2 to 4
Age : 10 years and over
Duration : 45 to 60 minutes
Difficulty level : intermediate
Author : Peter Rustemeyer
Publisher: Z-Man games
Price : $75

Herd

If you had to choose, would you rather have robot arms or robot legs? What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? What is the best Christmas movie? All these funny questions form the basis of the Herd party game. The principle is simple: everyone indicates their answer on a piece of paper and when the results are revealed, those who have the majority answer earn points. The most original, with their unique answer, could harvest the infamous pink cow… Impossible to win the game as long as it grazes in your field.

This quintessential intergenerational game was a big hit at a recent family gathering. Of course, we had to carefully choose the cards that might interest Justine, 9 years old… Each question generated interesting discussions on everyone’s preferences. The only problem: the cards are few, and you go around them quite quickly (especially when you sort them!) But nothing prevents you from inventing your own questions! – Stephanie Morin, The Press

Numbers of players : from 4 to 20
Age : 10 years and over
Duration : 30 minutes
Difficulty level : beginner
Publisher: Randolph
Price : $32

The Castles of Tuscany

The Castles of Tuscany is a more accessible and faster variant of the popular The Castles of Burgundy, now a classic for experienced players. Stefan Feld’s latest creation, while retaining some related traits, is nonetheless completely distinct. It combines tile placement and resource management with the goal of creating the most prosperous kingdom in Tuscany. There are several ways to achieve this, by laying several tiles of the same type adjacent, by prioritizing certain improvements over others, or even by choosing to randomly draw income cards.

“You can try different strategies and bet on them to see if they pay off,” one of our regular testers aptly tells us. “The danger with games like this is that you can find the ultimate scheme that makes beginners have no chance, notes in turn another experienced player. Here, there are plenty of ways to earn points: the way your tiles are placed, the order in which you will choose to play the different upgrades. It’s a nice mechanic. And the game is also fast, without downtime: “You think about your next move, and your turn comes immediately, you’re still playing, supports our third game partner. If someone knows how to play, he explains the rules in five minutes, and you can quickly play with anyone. —Pierre-Marc Durivage, The Press

Numbers of players : from 2 to 4
Age : 10 years and over
Duration : 45 to 60 minutes
Difficulty level : intermediate
Author : Stefan Feld
Publisher: Alea/Ravensburger
Price : $55

Code Names Quebec

Message for those – and there are many of them – who enjoy the Code Names game: a Quebec edition has just arrived on the shelves. The principle remains the same, which is to make your teammates guess as many words as possible by giving a single clue. The first team that manages to unmask all the words they had to find wins. The novelty: a few typically Quebec terms have been added such as roommate, boucane, poutine, skullcap…

The quantity of these Quebecisms is not sufficient to justify the purchase of two separate boxes, but for those who want to learn this fun game of associations of ideas, the Quebec version is the perfect choice. – Stephanie Morin, The Press

Numbers of players : from 2 to 8 (and more)
Age : 12 years and over
Duration : 15 minutes
Difficulty level : beginner
Author : Vlaada Chvatil
Publisher: Iello
Price : $37