Board games tickled, trounced and astounded me in 2024. This year, I’ve steered space empires, strutted in streetwear from Tokyo to Paris and scrambled to suck carbon out of a rapidly warming atmosphere. In an era of high-tech entertainment , I’m awestruck by the range of experiences you can still squeeze out of cardboard and dice.
From brief to epic, cooperative to competitive, here are five of my 2024 favorites. ‘Couture’ “Couture” puts you into the stiletto heels of models competing on runways in New York, Paris and Tokyo. But don’t let the wispy fashion illustrations fool you — “Couture” is a razor-sharp numbers game.
You’ll start with four cards with values ranging from 1 to 3, which you’ll use to bid on cards across the game’s three venues. Deceptively deep, “Couture” is essentially a drafting game like “7 Wonders” or “Sushi Go” where, instead of building a tableau or a deck, you’re collecting card suits and perfecting your hand. Priorities also subtly shift based on player count.
At three players, you may avoid winning a venue because doing so may land you a dreaded Flop card for negative points. At six players — the game’s maximum — you’ll have to read opponents to see which venue may be least popular and thus most achievable. Quick to teach and play, “Couture” packs more tactics in its tulle skirts than most games twice its size.
‘Wilmot’s Warehouse’ I didn’t expect a stack of squiggly cards and a nearly bla.