Every month BHG staff pick out 1-2 of their favorite games to share! We strive to highlight a diverse range of tabletop games!

What would be your top pick this month?

Josh's Pick

Kutná Hora - City Building, Economic, Hand Management, Market, Medieval-Themed, Strategy Game

Join other ambitious guild leaders in mining and developing the famous City of Silver during its period of rapid economic growth and expansion in the 14th century — from the first discovery of silver near the Cistercian monastery to the construction of Kutná Hora, which quickly became one of the most important cities in central Europe.

—description from publisher

Kyndra's Pick

Hive - Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid, Pattern Movement, Insect-Themed, Abstract Strategy Game

Jeff's Pick

Backgammon - Betting, Bluffing, Dice Rolling, Score-And-Reset, Abstract Strategy Game

Backgammon is a classic abstract strategy game dating back thousands of years. Each player has a set of 15 checkers (or stones) that must be moved from their starting positions, around, and then off the board. Dice are thrown each turn, and each player must decide which of their checkers to move based on the outcome of the roll. Players can capture each other's checkers, forcing the captured checkers to restart their journey around the board. The winner is the first player to get all 15 checkers off the board. A more recent addition to the game is the "doubling cube", which allows players to up the stakes of the game. Although the game relies on dice to determine movement, there is a large degree of strategy in deciding how to make the most effective moves given each dice roll and measuring the risk in terms of possible rolls the opponent may get.

—description by boardgamegeek.com

Soby's Pick

Stories of the Three Coins - Story-Telling, Cooperative, Fantasy-Themed, Kids Game

In the land of Storia, a Traveler is in search of a happy ending – and you get to imagine how they get there! The players choose a card to be the Traveler, and the first player begins the story. As they tell the story, the first player flips over three cards and use the three magic coins to mark which card they think should be in the story next – so only they can see. The other players guess which card they think the storyteller chose. A wrong guess means the inkwell marker goes down a notch. As a team, try to tell the tale before the inkwell runs dry! As each player imagines their part of the story, they roll the booster dice to add exciting elements that they must work into the tale. Have fun, use your imagination and work together to reach a happy ending before the inkwell runs out of ink. It’s a cooperative game that fans of fantasy, creative or role-playing games will love playing with friends and family.

—description by publisher

Aidan's Pick

Chess - Grid Movement, Two Player, Sudden Death Ending, Static Capture, Abstract Strategy Game

Chess is a two-player, abstract strategy board game that represents medieval warfare on an 8x8 board with alternating light and dark squares. Opposing pieces, traditionally designated White and Black, are initially lined up on either side. Each type of piece has a unique form of movement and capturing occurs when a piece, via its movement, occupies the square of an opposing piece. Players take turns moving one of their pieces in an attempt to capture, attack, defend, or develop their positions. Chess games can end in checkmate, resignation, or one of several types of draws. Chess is one of the most popular games in the world, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments. Between two highly skilled players, chess can be a beautiful thing to watch, and a game can provide great entertainment even for novices. There is also a large literature of books and periodicals about chess, typically featuring games and commentary by chess masters.

—description by boardgamegeek.com

Wes' Pick

Quarto - Two Player, Pattern Building, Pattern Recognition, Square Grid, Abstract Strategy Game

Quarto! has a 4×4 board and 16 pieces. Each piece has four dichotomous attributes – color, height, shape, and consistency – so each piece is either black or white, tall or short, square or round, and hollow or solid. The object is to place the fourth piece in a row in which all four pieces have at least one attribute in common. The twist is that your opponent gets to choose the piece you place on the board each turn.

Sophi's Pick

Project L - Open Drafting, Tile Placement, Pattern Building, Video Game-Themed, Abstract Strategy, Family Game

Project L is a fast-paced, tile-matching brain burner with triple-layer 3D puzzles and lovely acrylic pieces. Challenge your friends to a game of simple design but intricate gameplay that makes a lasting impression!

The core of the game lies in using your pieces to complete puzzles. Starting with just two basic pieces, you use three actions every turn to develop a powerful engine. With more pieces of various types, you can efficiently complete even the most difficult puzzles. The puzzles you complete award you points or new pieces to further fuel your engine. Can you outsmart your opponents?

—description from the publisher

Brendan's Pick

Knarr - Hand Management, Open Drafting, Set Collection, Abstract Strategy, Card Game

Form the greatest band of Vikings!

In Knarr, you are the leader of a band of Vikings. Manage the recruitment of your crew and choose the best territories to explore. Depending on the destinations reached (for trading or influence), and the Vikings who accompany you, you can increase your reputation to gain even more wealth.

—description from publisher

Jordan's Pick

The Wolves - Territory Building, Area Majority, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid, Take That, Modular Board, Strategy Game

The Wolves is a pack-building strategy game for 2-5 players. It's survival of the fittest as you compete to build the largest, most dominant pack by claiming territory, recruiting lone wolves, and hunting prey. But be careful not to expand too recklessly into terrain where your rivals thrive – they may lure members of your pack away.

—description from publisher

Matthew's Pick

Draftosaurus - Closed Drafting, Set Collection, Simultaneous Action Selection, Dice Rolling, Family Game

Your goal in Draftosaurus is to have the dino park most likely to attract visitors. To do so, you have to draft dino meeples and place them in pens that have some placement restrictions. Each turn, one of the players roll a die and this adds a constraint to which pens any other player can add their dinosaur.

Draftosaurus is a quick and light drafting game in which you don't have a hand of cards that you pass around (after selecting one), but a bunch of dino meeples in the palm of your hand.

—description by boardgamegeek.com