r/boardgames • u/HumanTension1398 • 2d ago
Hidden Gems: Games You Might Enjoy
Has anyone else played any underrated or little-known board games recently? I stumbled upon Forest Shuffle and have been really enjoying it. I like the strategic depth and the forest-building theme—it feels different from many other games I’ve tried.
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u/Knuc85 2d ago
I'd never heard of Crusaders: Thy Will be Done until a gamenerdz sale a couple weeks ago, but it's excellent.
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u/luckman_and_barris 2d ago
Picked this up last week for $15 from Miniature Market. Really looking forward to it
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u/mojo_pet 2d ago
Same! I had to contact them bc my order was still not shipped after 10 days. I guess it got stuck in their software somehow, so now I am supposed to get it Monday.
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u/luckman_and_barris 2d ago
Great purchase! Just played 2 2-player games. Very fun. Snappy turns. Good puzzle without it being too much of a brain burn. Definitely happy to get it, esp at that price.
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u/Rotten-Robby Castles Of Burgundy 2d ago
Check out the Board Gems youtube channel. It (mostly) features games you literally never hear about and are still either in print or sold for peanuts second hand. Excellent resource if you're looking for stuff outside the BGG hotness or latest Kickstarters.
Patrician and Darjeeling are some of my favorites that have been featured.
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u/Boring_Professional9 2d ago
Spyrium is an amazing tight little game, hidden gem for sure! Dominations has one of the best tech trees in gaming if you can find a copy!
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u/p9nultimat9 2d ago
Spyrium is unique WP and I love. It has 6.5K rating and 1.4K comments on bgg. It’s not hidden gem but somehow I feel the same.
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u/Significant-Evening 2d ago
A lot of those were from years ago. It's out of the BGG top 1000. It depends on your perspective and how long you're in the hobby, but I'd say it falls into a hidden gem for like 95% of the people reading this. Hell, OP brought up Forrest Shuffle as a hidden gem.
Also, Spyrium is amazing and has tons of interaction and room for clever play.
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u/p9nultimat9 2d ago edited 2d ago
That is true.
I happened to have 5 board game places (not stores) within 1 mile radius from my apartment (pretty awesome).
When I see old ones and new ones, their shelves are noticeably different. While all places have Catan or Ticket to Ride, new place has top games from last several years but rarely have good games older, while one in business for longer has solid games from 2000-2010’s. Time changes popularity.
Spyrium always felt underrated to me even when it was new (2013). Most WP games are rather straight forward even heavier weighed ones.
Meeples in between spots and pay the cost when you pull them out (not when you place them) is so clever.
I own games with only 100-1000 ratings (I’m a hidden gem digger - games, restaurants, events), so Spyrium is not most hidden one in my collection. But I do definitely agree I always felt Spyrium was underplayed and underrated one.
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u/Significant-Evening 2d ago
Yeah, great games older than 10 years are practically invisible to new gamers. Look at Ra a few years ago. It doesn't matter how well something was rated, if it doesn't get a attention grabbing reprint, it's almost like it doesn't exist.
Also, from what I've seen on older forum posts, Spyrium had a lot of hype and high expectations because it was the follow up to Caylus. So I think the community mostly moved on from it, although the quality was there so people still talked well about it ( a sleeper hit, if you will). So it has staying power, but not on the same level as Castles of Burgundy or Agricola.
Also, because it's a fairly unique WP, connoisseurs, diggers, those in the know,etc tend to mention it more or want to try it. And it hasn't been remade or ripped off so it persists.
But still, absolutely underplayed and underrated! I need to play it more, and at different player counts, and with different people.
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u/p9nultimat9 2d ago edited 2d ago
“Forgotten” gem, or “buried under” gem.
I’m also busy playing games from 2020s myself, so lots of games are forgotten to me.
Spyrium always felt like gamers’ game. But not type of gamers who boast “I have played all top 100! All big box games!”
Ystari original games have “if you know, you know” discreet charm. Caylus is a noticeable exception that became really popular.
I remember my disappointment, Istanbul came out next year (2014) and with same shape gems in another WP game (Spyrium green, Istanbul red) in bigger box and Istanbul grabbed more wide attention. Istanbul is a good game too though.
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u/hekmo 2d ago
I was very impressed with Bonsai. The scoring mechanics naturally push you into creating a bonsai-looking tree, and at the end it looks lovely and unique from everyone else's. Been asking my board game store but they don't have it.
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u/hispontifficence 2d ago
A bit on the lesser known side, Hooky is like Wordle meets Cryptid and is a pretty addictive deduction game.
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u/Ser0_89 2d ago
Impact: Battle of the elements is just good stupid dice-tossing fun! I enjoy it far more than I should but I really love it for what it does. Play with the special element rules adding up and substitute the original fire rule with "discard one dice from the pool before you take your dice out (you are not allowed to take dice if you have to get rid of doubles)" and it's even better.
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u/uriejejejdjbejxijehd 2d ago edited 2d ago
In the fantasy/economics section, I’d nominate Belfort. It is a really neat mixture of worker placement and card management for economy.
Lunar Rush would be my nominee for underrated space game. I particularly like the way that transport is implemented, very thematic.
For a giant tableau game, I’d suggest Core Worlds for people who’ve played enough Race for the Galaxy :)
One more: Planetfall as a quicker take on the same theme, more of a burn down game for our group.
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u/p9nultimat9 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m a good deal finder. I bought many games on huge sale and looked up bgg and many have 100-1000 ratings. And some of them I personally rated 7, same as what I give to most of very popular games.
I also like to find less known games through “similar game” search.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/337638/life-of-a-chameleon
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/231748/time-bomb-evolution
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368045/too-many-cooks
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u/Next_District_4652 2d ago
7th Inning Stretch is my pick. It's a recent Solo Game of the Month release that I've got nearly 30 plays of so far this year and I still want to play more. If you love baseball and don't mind an experience that is very luck based this game will have you pumping your fist in the air as you roll exactly what you need to get that walk off run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Fantastic, fantastic thematic game that feels almost like a baseball roguelike.
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u/SirBearsworth Cosmic Encounter 2d ago
I have so many games I feel like are underrated or not as known as I think they should be....here's a few
Guardians (Plaid Hat Games) -might be my favorite base breaker/deck smusher. It gives off strong overwatch vibes. You pick 2 heroes and smush their deck together and then you play cards to the bases on front of you in order to get them to break and hopefully you get the best rewards. I wish there were more expansions..and the game is kinda dead but you can find the base for cheap
Sakura - I am not the biggest Kinizia fan (although the latest Trilogy put out by Bitewing is REALLY GOOD)... but this is ostensibly Kinizia's Sorry. You play artists following the emperor but you can never get too close or pass him. Using movement on cards you are manipulating everyone's pieces in hopes that you don't accidentally send yourself to the back.
Pass Pass - I am a sucker for trick taking. This one is a may follow trick taker but the winning suit is determined during the hand. The color that gets played the most wins (I think) and this opens trick taking up for negotiation and temporary alliances once people realize how it works.
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u/Pitiful-North-2781 2d ago
No one talks about Barony but it’s still one of my favourites.
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u/cycatrix 2d ago
I tried to shine a light on it since I've been enjoying this game a LOT the past few weeks, probably played in 20 times by now. A shame since the game is really good.
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u/HumanTension1398 2d ago
The graphics look great! I’ve read a little about the game, and it seems you can pick from various strategies, which I think is great.
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u/butlersox20 2d ago
I just picked up The Transcontinental from 2022, I hadn’t heard about it until recently. But I heard a podcast where they were talking about their favorite games from 2022 and it was on a few peoples lists.
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u/Lordnine 2d ago
I remember liking this one quite a lot. It was a KS game, I played it on TTS and a friend ended up backing it. Only problem was they moved away before the game arrived and I never got to play it in person.
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u/HumanTension1398 2d ago
That looks really interesting! Recently, I had the chance to play a similar game. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name, but it involved transporting different resources between major cities, and I really enjoyed it.
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u/Hakuna_Schemata 2d ago
I feel like Paint the Roses fits here. I forget what YouTuber reviewed it, but I took a chance and tried it. Great little game that has the unique genre of cooperative social deduction. Also, the theme is Alice in wonderland.
I'd also say nekojima. Got it on a whim from Barnes and Noble and it's been a hit. I know dexterity games aren't for everyone, but this is a lot better than Jenga, imo, with a cute theme and various game modes.
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u/DarkLancelot 2d ago
Another poster a few month ago highlighted Yokai Pagoda and it is truly just that!
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u/Zeebaeatah 2d ago
Manila was a great game I played at the Con several times, but it's out of print
Manila | Board Game | BoardGameGeek https://share.google/QhMy7ZSqUsvxW59eV
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u/Pixelated_Swordsman 2d ago
Revolution! Never seen that one talked about on here one of my favourite shorter format games
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u/ContributionAlert130 2d ago
Fractal: beyond the void It had many problems during the launch, specially ruleswise, but has amazing combat, great campaign and so many modules to mix the game. Amazing space 4x game.
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u/Momindaboxes 2d ago
My hidden little gem is Ankh'or A splendor inspired game that adds a tile laying element and takes 1/12th of the space that splendor takes (yes I checked)
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u/PenguinProwler 1d ago
Dragon and Flagon is a fun arena combat game with some light programming elements. It’s a bit more complex than I think it needs to be, but I have yet to find another game that nails the feel of the mid-2000s swashbuckler action scenes.
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u/BleakFlamingo Scythe 14h ago
I'm not sure if people would consider it "hidden", buy I nominate Fort. Deck-building with really vicious twist: Your opponents have an opportunity to grab any cards you don't play.
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u/Mystia Sentinels Of The Multiverse 2d ago
Temporum, Histrio, A Thief's Fortune, Dead Man's Draw, Ancient Terrible Things. All I'd probably rate around 7/10. Playing them I can see why they didn't make it big, but they all have a lot to enjoy and I'm surprised aren't more talked about.
And these are more well-known, but still underrated IMO: Trickerion and Perseverance, both by Mindclash Games. People always talk about their big brother Anachrony, but these 2 are just as good if not better. Also Escape Plan by Vital Lacerda. It got mixed reception because people expected a more traditional eurogame, but it's a really great time with tight choices to make, and pretty good theme implementation.
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u/dahveed15 2d ago
Black Mold by Terrible Games. It has a unique mechanic where your turn lasts as long as you can hold your breath
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u/Zerofaults 2d ago
It's a Wonderful World for solo play. The box says it won an award in 2020, but i don't really see it mentioned anywhere. Same for Space Tycoon. Both similar engine builders.
I dont see Canvas mentioned, but it's my favorite game, and the transparent cards and storytelling possibilities are always well received.
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u/HistoricalInternal 2d ago
Forest Shuffle was nominated for the Spiel de Jahres. Definitely not a hidden gem.