Top 10 New Hottest & Most Popular Board Games Right Now AUGUST 2026

0:00 King of Tokyo is having a new version. Wingspan now will fit your pocket and Scythe. Oh boy, you can't imagine what will happen with Scythe. Just as well as you can imagine the hottest board games out there right now like a civilization game that will be super streamlined and good. Well, let's talk about how good and the hottest board games of the month. Number 10 is going to be Jewel of Melosh. Melosh? Melosh! Melosh. Meloch. So I speak whichever works, all right? To talk about the Jewel game first, we have to check Scythe and Expeditions because the Jewel game is kind of mixture of both of these. And let's start out with Scythe because we have it right here set up. There. We have set it up there. Let's move there. First up, you will pick up your faction like Republic of Polania and your action board and then you will be ready to discover the world of Scythe. Like in a Euro game, you will have your little worker that will be able to build some buildings and generate resources. The only difference is here are mechs.

1:08 These mechs will let you travel faster, move around your troops, and discover new lands. And the gameplay is very simple. You pick one of these four columns. For example, you can pick this one to produce. And there's different objectives in the game. For example, you can build four mechs and get a star. And then you can get eight workers and get a star. Or you can get 18 popularity and get a star. And just like in any other Euro game, you try to get the most victory points by collecting those stars, popularity, and so on. And Expeditions is kind of set in the same universe, just more about exploration because you will have your factions that you can build up by playing out cards that will let you move on the map and discover things. It has similar mechanisms, yet it's different. And the really cool part is that no Jewel of Moloch.

2:00 I don't know how to pronounce it or Miloch, Milosh, it's good enough. All right? It's a two-player board game where one player will play there with the rules of Scythe and the other player will play Expeditions rules and they fight with each other. You'll have a similar objective board right here. Just each player will try to get their sides objectives which are not the same because each of you will play a different game essentially. And as I said, it is a standalone board game and it will have its own map that is smaller and more compact. It will have their own factions and components and cards and so on. So you can play this game alone or you can use any part of this game of Jewel of Moloch to add to Scythe or Expeditions and so on. This sounds really exciting. How exciting? Let's rank it. To be honest, this has really made me want to play Scythe now. So I am excited. Just to be fair, I'm going to place it in the middle for now and then we will compare with whatever comes next if it goes higher or lower.

3:03 Have I printed these too small? No, all good. Very good. Anyways, we're going to place it here and see what comes up. But to be honest, I'm excited. But now it's time to talk about the ninth hottest board game which is going to be King of Tokyo Godzilla. We actually have the original so let's check that one out. In King of Tokyo, you are trying to be the best monster possible. In order to do that, you will roll a bunch of dice, keep whichever you want and then re-roll whatever is left. And do that one more time and now you're set. Whatever you have rolled, you have to live with. This result will deal damage to other players. This result will give you energy to buy new upgrades to your monsters. And these will give you those sweet victory points. And all of that makes one of the most popular party games ever made. So, what's so fresh and new in the new Godzilla version? Well, it's mostly a reskin. It looks different. It looks really cool. You have new wooden dice and pieces, new illustrations, new monsters, and Godzilla is finally the one destroying Tokyo. Makes sense, right? And there's one new thing. And that one new thing is, well, event cards. Now, there will be cards that affect all monsters because there might be some flood or anything happening that impact or deals damage to all players and so on.

4:29 So, a little bit more randomness, but generally it's going to be the same game. How excited I am about this new version? Let's see. As I said, there's not much new in this. It looks cool. It looks really, really cool. I would love to have this version, but I won't be rushing towards it at all. I mean, if it falls in my lap, sure. Would be happy. But in our other cases,

4:53 I'm definitely looking forward to all of Milosh Meloch Miloshin. I have to use whichever version is the correct one, all right? Don't leave all of them. You left all of them? Now, that's awkward. Let's move on to the eighth hottest board game, which is Night at the Zoo, or rather outside of the zoo, cuz you will have animals that have escaped the zoo. And they now realize that they're going to be in trouble if the zookeeper finds out that they ever went out of the zoo. So, they try to rush back in. Each player will have their own boards with the path towards the zoo entrance. And you will try to get your animals back in the zoo as quickly as possible. There are two parts in the game. The first part being drafting of tiles. You will have the tiles right here. And whenever it's your turn, you can pick one of these. For example, this yellow tile, which has two arrows on top of it. Remember that, all right? It's going to be important later.

5:51 Because then comes the second part, where you take the tiles that you just picked and place them in your path thing in the on your board, right? So, for example, if you play out that yellow tile with two arrows, I hope you remember, right? That will let your animals move two spaces. Because it's a programmed movement, which means first you program it and then see what happens. And generally, it's that. It's quite a solo or soul turbo game. There's no interaction or anything except drafting of those pieces and then placing them on the board, but that's it. How excited are we? Well, let's So, this drops down a little and we'll place uh the thing magic, so it doesn't look like I'm really bad at this, all right?

6:43 Thank you, Mr. Zivic. Uh so, we're going to place this right in the middle between these two. It's time to move on to heavier board games and this one, oh boy, I think it's going to be quite a biggie. Rosalee is all about building a rose garden. You will be able to create your own species of roses. You will have these ingredients and you will be able to mix and match them in order to build gardens of roses. But, as simple and looks silly and beautiful as it sounds, well, it's going to be a tough task because, well, there's a lot that goes into it. You will have to build your own industry with your workers and buildings and everything in order to make that beautiful garden. And one of the very interesting premises is that money is always available to you. So, in this game, you will always be able to get more and more loans, more and more money. Yet, you will have to then repay it. But, look at the bright side, you will be able to grow the best rose garden possible, or at least try to do that. And because you will be busy in managing all of that, you will have your little robot workers that you will program to do any planting, breeding, tiling, and decorating. So, not only you have this industry and you have to build that, but also you have to control your little worker robots to build this garden. So, if you enjoy good-looking heavy Eurogames, this one might be for you. Is it for us?

8:16 I did the joke already, but let's do it second time. So, this one goes here. Whoop. Still climbing, and I place building a rose garden right here at the second place at the moment. Will anything dethrone Jewels of Miloch? Let's find out. Miloch? Meloch? One of those. Ah. It's a difficult to remember. I candidate to the throne, the Jewels of Miloch Miloch is going to be Wingspan Pocket. And to talk about Wingspan Pocket, we have to talk about Wingspan. Makes sense, right? In Wingspan, you're building your own bird aviary. First of all, you will be able to get birds from the market, and second of all, if you feed them, for example, this one wants a worm and a grain, you will be able to place it on your board like this.

9:10 And whenever you trigger this action, lay eggs, whoop, you also will be able to trigger all the actions from the birds in that line. And at the end of the game, you will score points based on the birds you will have, on the legs you will have, and on the objectives you have fulfilled. It's not only one of the most popular Euro resource management games in the world, it's also one of the most popular board games in the world, period. So, what does Wingspan Pocket give to you? Well, two things. Number one, now it fits inside your pocket, so it's a travel version. And second of all, there are birds that you have never seen before. Well, you might have in real life, but not in a board game form. These birds right here are something that you haven't seen in any other versions of

9:58 Wingspan before. So, more content, yet it all fits in your pocket really nicely, and you can play it wherever. The general premise is the same. You will have market for birds, and you will then play them in your line that you will then trigger. So, it's more streamlined and simpler and more movable. All right, how excited are we to try it? Let's see how excited we are about this mobile Wingspan version. Well,

10:30 pretty cool. I would love to have it. Yet, yeah, won't be running to the store just yet. Let's talk about the fifth spot, fifth hottest board game, which is going to be an infamous traffic second edition. Why second edition? Well, because the previous one did look like this. The biggest selling point for this board game is that it's a brutal economic board game. What it means is that there's tons of interaction. In this board game, you realize that there is a big demand in China for opium, for this drug. So, you want to fill it. First things first, you will roll a bunch of dice to see what the demand in China in different regions for opium. And then, once you realize that, you have to use your own resources to supply that demand.

11:16 And most importantly, you not only will try to sell opium and distribute it in China, you will also conspire against the government or will just try to influence it enough for your own good. But, be careful, because if you influence it too much or ruin the like economy there, everybody's kind of messed up. So, in other words, it's a really really high interaction board game. First, there's tons of dice rolling and lock involved. It's also a little bit of a simulation board game, which means that sometimes there will be things you cannot impact. This is right up Yiannis's alley. For me, Mhm, this might be really really interested, and I feel like a lot of people in the board game industry are looking forward to this immensely.

12:05 Fourth hottest board game is going to be Hacienda, which looks promising. It's a good looking cute board game about tile laying and animals. What's not to like? It's generally a card game. You will play out cards to place animals and different tiles in on the terrain. And you will score points based on the network that you have created with your animals as well as the terrains right next to them. So, you want to be as efficient as possible also creating the best kind of habitat for your animals. So, first of all, you draft cards, and then using those cards, you place tiles and things and tokens and so on. Why it's hot? Well, because of these two gentlemen that are the authors of the game, and they have created games like El Grande, Sagrada, and so on. And all of these are very popular board games.

12:59 Generally, from the looks of it, I'm not that excited. Spoilers. But, before I spoil even more, let's move on to the whiteboard. I think I'm the least excited to play this game. I might be wrong. I'm always happy to be proven wrong, but right now, it's at the bottom. Looks okay. We have come to the top three, and the third place goes to -60°, which is a heavy heavy Eurogame, and we don't have much information about it. This is the other side of the box and that's kind of all the illustrations that they have given us. Luckily, I could find low resolution rulebook and it actually has a little bit more information. In this game, a meteorite has fallen in Antarctica and you're building your own team to go and discover what that meteorite hides. And the first thing that happens in the game is you will get new cards. You can pull them out and swap at any time and then place them in the line right here. Plus also during the game, you will all be able to upgrade your team or your industry, your faction by building up new buildings and here you go, placing them on the map and so on. So, there's a lot of progress on your player board and your big task is to then travel through these tiles right to the meteor and explore it. How excited are we to play -60°?

14:23 Let's check it out. I would put it in like the same bag as Rosalind. It feels like a very very similar game. So, this one climbs up. Woo! No surprises there. This one climbs up. And I think these two are almost interchangeable, but I'll place it right here at the third spot right now.

14:45 -60°. Second hottest board game right now is Gray Loon. Gray Loon takes us back into medieval times and this board game looks gorgeous and promises us two things. Number one, it promises us worker placement because the game works like this.

15:04 You have your little workers and you place them between two cards and then you will be able to use those cards. For example, this lets you get a sword or for example, this card lets you get points and things and have quests or actions and so on. So, generally, place your workers and that will let give you stuff. All right, sounds good. And then there's the second part of adventure. What does that mean? Well, well, well, well. During the game, you will be able to collect these cards, which are like story adventure cards that will score you points. For example, if you meet the hermit, you can get two story points. That's kind of it. Obviously, there's more moving parts in this game like you have your own player board where you collect these cards and tokens and things and so on. And you have this gorgeous map, but generally, that's kind of it. This game will be released in September, soon, this year.

16:00 That is soon, very soon. So, that's why it's gaining hype. How hyped are we? Let's see. I already opened up a space right here. It promises that adventure and story part, which, while I read the rulebook, didn't feel like there's much of it. It's more about like mechanical

16:18 Eurogame, which is not bad at all. Uh yet, I didn't find like something that I was super hyped about. So, here we go, another month, another hottest board game. And this time, the top step goes to Time Span, which is a streamlined civilization game that looks gorgeous. In this game, you pick your nation, for example, Egyptians, and then you get your faction like visionaries. You can mix them and match them. There are six factions, six nations, and so on. So, each game will be very asymmetric and different for you. And then, what you do is you draft cards. You can get Gandhi. You can get cosmonautic. You can cure cancer. All of these things are possible to draft and add to your civilization. And the next thing that happens is you take your cards that you just drafted and add to your timeline. This timeline forever is moving forward, and when you're out of space, you just discard some cards and that goes into history of your civilization. These cards will give you resources, will set you on a path and so on. It's generally a civilization game where you go through time from like ancient times all the ways to space travel and so on. And what's very important I think are these keywords.

17:35 Number one, it's streamlined so it should be simple, the rule book should not be too bad. It's friendly. There is almost no player interaction or rather there's not not a bad interaction. There's no military fighting or anything like this. Everybody is friends with each other and so on. It's highly worried because of those asymmetric powers and things and it's simultaneous, which means that uh you basically will play at the same time most of the game so it's much quicker. How looking towards are we? That sentence probably doesn't make sense, but what makes sense is us ranking the game. So what it feels like is this board game only very streamlined and simplified. And I like this, just I don't get to play it. So hopefully I will get get to play this and it will feel similarly good, all right? So similarly goodly, I will rank it at the first spot. I'm really excited about this civilization game and I think it deservedly at the first spot. So these were the hottest board games of the month. What do you think? Which one of these are you the most excited to try?

18:40 Or maybe there's something completely different that we haven't mentioned. Let us know in the comments and remember to support the channel cuz that's how we can do all this research, spend time in making that lovely presentation and uh not remembering all the names of the games and people and so on. See you next time. Bye.