I only have one question for you, dear reader, and that is has the holiday panic set in yet? If so, don’t worry – we’ve got one more list of great games hand-picked by our Hexperts to help you shop for the board game enthusiasts in your life! Or, if you’re the board game enthusiast trying to introduce something new to your friend and family gatherings, hopefully, this list can inspire you!

Straight from the streets of Calgary, in a little neighbourhood called Kensington, right from our hands to yours, here is the Calgary 2019 Staff Picks!

1) Scott

A common theme among Hexperts is their love of games that include an element of deception, and Scott’s big pick this year is a prime example of that! In fact, deception is literally the name of the game. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a hidden identity catch-the-killer game. In it, a murder has taken place and you, the detectives, are on the case. The Forensic Scientist knows who did it, what they left behind at the scene of the crime, as well as what the murder weapon was and they must lead the detectives to the right answer through a series of word association clues. But! Be careful! The murderer is masquerading as a detective and is trying to throw the entire case off! Plays from 4 to 12.

For a completely different kind of game that fits inside a super cute and tiny box, Scott recommends Startups! With the tagline “Believe in your future!” Startups is an engaging game where you are an investor looking to start investing in the startup scene and become the richest amongst your peers. As an investor, you’re looking to walk away with the biggest share of any company, and to do so you have to carefully consider what your rivals are playing. If you’re the largest shareholder and richest person at the end, you win! Plays from 3 to 7.

2) Heather

Winter is beautiful in many ways, but here in Alberta, it’s hard not to crave the warmth and brightness that is summer. The holidays are a great time to try and get away to somewhere more tropical, but if that isn’t in the cards maybe Heather’s big pick can give you a slice of sun. Photosynthesis is an elegant game all about competitive tree growing. The game plays in three rounds, with each round marked by the sun making a full circle around the board. Your goal is to maximize your tree’s growth to block the sun from other players and score as many victory points as possible. Photosynthesis is a relaxed journey into nature, collecting sun points to help your trees grow and flourish, following them to the end of their life span. Plays from 2 to 4. 

Heather’s stocking stuffer pick is a game that no one can say “No Thanks!” to, because her pick is No Thanks! No Thanks is a quick card game where your goal is to have the lowest number of points by the end of the round. On your turn, you can either pick up the card that has been turned over, and earn as many points as it lists, or pass on it and give up a chip. This continues until all 24 cards in the deck have been played. Whoever has the least amount of points, wins! Plays from 3 to 5.

3) Ben

Nothing says the holidays in Alberta like crisp snow, picturesque trees, and beautiful soft lights everywhere. The holidays can have incredible beauty about them, and many board games have stepped up their aesthetic recently. Ben’s picks this year have a lot of beauty to them, in both play, and art.

First, Ben’s big pick was one of the most anticipated games of this year – Wingspan. Wingspan is an engine-building bird game. Now you may be like, hold up a moment, what is that and why birds? In Wingspan you are a bird enthusiast trying to attract a variety of birds to your wildlife preserve, containing a forest, grasslands, and wetlands. Each bird you play will have some sort of ability, usually continual, that will add to further actions you take. However, every round you lose one of your action cubes, thus you must compose a board that is efficient adding more weight to each action you take. Ben says that Wingspan’s “art style is beautiful,” with each bird card having an illustration and fact about the bird, and that “the mechanics, especially the food mechanic, is a lot of fun and unique.” In addition to Wingspan, you can also pick up the newly released European expansion! Plays from 1 to 5.

For his stocking stuffer pick, Ben’s chosen Hanabi, a cooperative game about creating the most beautiful display of fireworks. Hanabi is a card game where each player has a hand of cards that they face outwards so they cannot see what the card is, but their companions can. Your goal is to create a perfect fireworks display by achieving a collective score of 25 by playing cards 1 through 5 for each colour in sequential order. On your turn, you can either give a clue, play a card, or discard a card to gain more clue tokens. Clues can only point out the same number or the same colour in a player’s hand. Ben says he likes it “because it’s cooperative, can be less stressful than competitive games, and that you’ll always be chasing that perfect score.” Plays from 2 to 5.

4) Rachel

Holidays tend to be entrenched in tradition. Family traditions, food traditions, decoration traditions – all the traditions! What happens when you want to change it up a bit? Rachel’s holiday picks this year are all about that shake-up, where each game you play will play a little differently each time. 

First up, Rachel’s big pick is the spooky haunted house game Betrayal at House on the Hill! Something strange has lead you to the old house on the hill. Something sinister. Now you’re trapped with a bunch of strangers and now you need to find your way out. Be careful though! One of your party may fall to the House’s will, and turn traitor on your party. Rachel says that she “like Betrayal because how it always changes and that you’ll never play the same game twice. It has a ton of replayability! Betrayal is also so fun because of the cooperative turned competitive elements.”

Rachel’s next pick is the tiny and cute Deep Sea Adventure! Deep Sea Adventure is a push-your-luck to collect treasure game. You and your fellow players are deep sea divers hunting exquisite treasures. The deeper you dive, the better the treasure. However, you all share one oxygen tank, and as soon as you start collecting the oxygen starts depleting. If you don’t make it back to the submarine in time, you lose all you’ve collected. Rachel loves Deep Sea Adventure because “it’s a small, quick game that can be set up anywhere! There’s a lot of secret strategy in the game that’s fun to discover, too.”

5)  Roxas

One of the most common questions we get at the cafe is “do you have any good games for two players?” Boy-howdy do we EVER! Roxas is a huge fan of games for two, and his two picks for this holiday season center on two games made for two. 

First up, in his words “my most favourite game ever” is Mr. Jack, a hidden identity deducing game. In Mr. Jack, one player is the “Detective” and the other is “Mr. Jack”, subtly named after Jack the Ripper. The Detective’s goal is to catch Jack before he escapes the city, but the problem is he doesn’t know who Jack is – he could be anybody. The Detective works to figure out the hidden identity of Jack and catch him, but time is against him. As the shadows grow and the streets darken, Jack is all the more likely to escape. Each round consists of the Detective and Jack taking on various characters with special abilities to try and set the game in their favour. Can you catch the killer? Plays 2.

Next, following the two-player theme and also another cat and mouse game is Fugitive. Designed by Tim Fowers, Fugitive pits two players against each other in a hide-and-seek card game. One player is the Fugitive, the other the Marshal. The Fugitive’s goal is to escape by getting to card #42, the Marshall’s goal is to figure out all of his hideouts. It’s a quick-paced card playing game that’s super portable due to how small the box is! Plays 2.

6) Kevin

Steampunk is a fashion choice for some, a lifestyle choice for others, and for Kevin, it’s his big pick this year! Steampunk Rally is a fast-flying game of creating and using Steampunk machines. You take on the role of famous inventors of the past, such as Nikola Tesla, and create wondrous machines to race against each other. With danger and peril ahead, will you as an inventor make it through the rocky terrain? Plays from 2 to 8.

Onitama, Kevin’s stocking stuffer, is what we like to call martial arts chess. In Onitama your goal is to either claim the opponent’s Grandmaster or get your Grandmaster into your opponent’s temple. To do this, you’ll utilize moves such as “Dragon” and “Rabbit” and so on, that will allow you to move one of your disciples or your Grandmaster. Each player starts with two move cards, with one card in the middle. As soon as you choose and move your piece, you must exchange the move card you’ve used with the one in the middle. Trading cards back and forth between you and your opponent is a unique mechanic and as a player, you must be aware of what you’re giving up each time you move! Plays 2.

7) Daniel

We all like variety in our lives. We, ourselves as humans, have a lot of variety among us. Daniel’s big pick this year is all about the nature of variety and survival: Evolution. In Evolution, you influence species biological traits to help them survive an ever-changing landscape. Do they need food? Perhaps have them have a long neck to reach food others cannot? Or horns to protect them from carnivores? Daniel says that “Evolution is an interesting, dynamic game” which makes it very replayable, and that the “artwork is beautiful.” The game is always changing: it depends on who you play with, what your play style is, and what creatures you end up evolving. Plays from 2 to 6.

Daniel’s stocking stuffer pick is one that many at Hexagon know and love: Coup. Coup is, in Daniel’s words, “the quintessential social deception game.” In Coup, you play as a high noble in a dystopian universe. You hate each other. You want other nobles dead. To do so, you must throw “coups” to overthrow them. You start the game with two influence, if you lose both, you’re out. Each influence card has a role on it with a special ability. You’re the only one that knows your cards. You can absolutely lie about who you have. Can you outwit the other players and be the sole noble standing? Plays from 2 to 6.

8) Cassie

    The holidays often have an air of whimsy about them, with fantastical stories running through the heads of everyone, often starring a sweet fairy. Cassie’s big pick Catch the Moon is one that embraces the joy of whimsy. In Catch the Moon you are trying to reach the moon, and to do so you must place ladders. With a roll of the die, your fate is chosen, and you must place according to what you’ve rolled. If you knock ladders down or cannot place your ladder correctly, the moon sheds a tear in sadness. The person with the least amount of tears at the end of the game wins. Plays from 2 to 6.

    For her small pick, Cassie has chosen the fast paced card game Jaipur, a card game for two. In Jaipur you play as a powerful trader trying to win the favour of the Maharaja and earn a two seals of excellence. On your turn you only have two possible actions: sell cards or take cards. Taking cards to build up a powerful hand of cards is valuable, but you must be quick for the value of the goods you are selling for decrease as they are taken! Plays only 2.

    9) Larissa 

    Disney has many great forms of media for this time of the year as many families and friends sit down to enjoy their favourite holiday Disney movie, TV show, or soundtrack. Larissa would like to add a new Disney tradition to your holiday gathering with the addition of Villainous. Just like the title implies, Villainous focuses on the villains of the Disney canon, showcasing characters such as Scar, the Queen of Hearts, and Hook to name a few. Villainous is a card game where you try and complete the villains story – tipping the scales in their favour instead of the heroes for once. With varied play between characters, different win conditions, and villainous trickery, the game is an engaging and exciting romp through the other side of the Disney universe. Plays from 2 to 6.

    On the other side of the scale, when you want to say yes to love and no to treachery, Larissa has the perfect small game picked out for you: Love Letter. In Love Letter you are a suitor trying to send a love letter to a very distraught princess. Your goal at the end of the game is to be the last person standing or have the highest numbered card. All you do on your turn is draw a card and play a card. Love Letter is a very quick game that plays until someone has succeeded three times. Super quick, super fun, easy to pick up and put down when needed, Love Letter is a Hexagon favourite. Plays from 2 to 4.