For those of us not lucky enough to be in Essen during Spiel, there’s always the question of what the hot new games are this year. One of the favorite ways of judging this are the ratings posted by Fairplay Magazine. We thought we’d pass on the final lists from the fair. This year, they separated them into two categories: Connoisseur and Expert Games, and Children’s and Family Games. The games are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is best. In each category, a game needs to receive a minimum number of ratings in order to get ranked, but there is also a second list of “Hidden Gems”, for games that received a smaller number of ratings. So here are the games that made the lists for 2024.
Connoisseur and Expert Games (minimum 13 ratings)
- Endeavor: Deep Sea – 4.4
- Black Forest – 4.2
- Windmill Valley – 4.2
- SETI – 4.2
- LotR: Duel for Middle-Earth – 4.2
- Civolution – 4.1
- Apiary – 4.0
- Beyond the Horizon – 4.0
- Nova Roma – 4.0
- Kathmandu – 3.8
Connoisseur and Expert Hidden Gems (5-12 ratings)
- A Message from the Stars – 4.4
- AI: 100% Human – 4.4
- Minos – 4.4
- Robotrick – 4.4
- Saltfjord – 4.4
- Chartered: Building Amsterdam – 4.3
- Galileo Galilei – 4.3
- Gibberers – 4.2
- Spectacular – 4.2
Children’s and Family Games (minimum 22 ratings)
- Bomb Busters – 4.2
- Castle Combo – 4.2
- Harmonies – 4.2
- Faraway – 4.1
- Fishing – 4.1
- Medium – 3.9
- 3 Chapters – 3.8
- Duck & Cover – 3.8
- The Gang – 3.8
- Middle Ages – 3.7
Children’s and Family Hidden Gems (11-21 ratings)
- Agent Avenue – 4.2
- Next Station: Paris – 4.1
- Krakel-Orakel – 4.0
- Treetopia – 4.0
- Rebirth – 3.9
- AI Space Puzzle – 3.8
- Leaf – 3.8
- Spotlight – 3.8
- Skyrockets – 3.7
- Slide – 3.7
Thanks, Larry! I always secretly hope to see my most anticipated games hit the top of the Fairplay poll (like Altay), but it took me a while to realize my gaming tastes don’t align with the popular vote. The new Endeavor is a surprise, but with 13 minimum ratings I guess it doesn’t mean much.
And thank you, Jacob. I hadn’t heard of Altay, but after your note, I checked it out and it does indeed sound interesting, so I’ll start following it. Apparently, Altay sold out early, so it’s conceivable that that was the reason why it didn’t make the Fairplay rankings.
The new Endeavor:Deep Sea is really good and the rating matches our group’s evaluation of it. Nice improvement on an already great game.
Pleased to see Agent Avenue top one of the lists, it’s really good!
Many thanks, Larry, as usual, for updates on the gaming world. My group does not play as many new games as my old group did, so this provides a critical information feed to satisfy my “cult of the new” fixation!
And as a possible contrasting view, here are the top 25 games from BGG’s GeekBuzz list from the same period of time. I’m not really sure if this is entirely drawn from Essen, but at least it gives us another data point.
1. SETI
2. Saltfjord
3. BombBusters
4. Galileo Galilei
5. Civolution
6. Ark Nova: Zoo Map Pack 2
7. Arcs
8. Gardlings
9. Spectacular
10. Intent to Kill
11. AI: 100% Human
12. Sparks
13. Castle Combo
14. LotR: Duel for Middle Earth
15. The Gang
16. Ada’s Dream
17. Captain Flip
18. ito
19. Unconscious Mind
20. Babylon
21. Rock Hard: 1977
22. 12 Chip Trick
23. Middle Ages
24. Agent Avenue
25. Duck & Cover
Other notable new games in the top 50 and their rank: World Order (28); Shackleton Base (30); Endeavor: Deep Sea (32); Neodreams (34); Kathmandu (36); Fishing (38); Flatiron (39); Galactic Cruise (40); Robotrick (41); Rebirth (42); Chu Han (43); Altay (49).