Our Most Anticipated Board Games For Essen 2025

I'm really sad that you're not going to Essence Spiel again this year, Tarant. >> Yeah, it's tough for me to uh make the time to get all the way over there when I do have another job, but fortunately, we can send you and you get to enjoy. >> That's true. Well, this video is about our anticipated games of essence bill 2025.

And hi everyone, it's Stella >> and Taran. Welcome to Maven University. >> Will you be there? I am planning to be in the media meeting area, the SA Europa area. You know which one, right? >> On Saturday from 3 p.m. So, if you are going to Essen and you happen to be free, I'm planning to play some party games there.

I don't know what it is yet. Maybe we can play your games. Who knows? >> So, here are our games. We're going to split into two. The first one is the one that we have played and we would recommend you to get it as an >> games you should anticipate. >> You should anticipate also what the rest of the games you shouldn't anticipate >> the other games we can all anticipate together.

>> I miss you at Essen Taran to carry around my games and your moral support. So the games that we have played I'm going to mention you would have probably seen it. First one is the peak team. This is a cooperative game where you completing contracts and the twist and what I like about it is that you are the one that giving your cards to your partners to do the action.

The cards are your actions. You use the card to do your actions and there's a limited communication here and you have to look around and then give the cards to your partner. Yes, it keeps everyone keeps everyone involved in thinking it through. So, it certainly can't be Alfred. It's a nice little design of the solo.

>> And this is Sanctuary, which is an Ark Nova game. Um, lucky we got it early enough and we played it and we really enjoy it. And this is not an Arknova game, but in the world or universe of Ark Nova with using the Ark Nova action selection or what is it called? Action selection. the action selection and to some extent the goals feel very similar but this is ultimately a hex time placement game.

>> Yeah. >> The other one by R& games. This is the first time we play their games is a Euro game. It is really good, very satisfying combo that you can chain your combo really well. >> Yeah, it feels like the points really get rolling. It's an interesting double rondle with positive player interaction and ultimately a tile building up a tile map of your own and then scoring it versus several objectives.

Yeah. Instead of just building it and scoring it like say a sanctuary uh work uh tile placement game, >> you have to go out and use the rdle to activate the various scores and that can get quite aggressive. >> Yeah. You even have to go somewhere to actually increase your maximum scoring. >> Yes. >> Yeah, that's that works well.

>> Great. Yeah. Next one is Map Masters. I talked about this in my Gen Con vlog. This is by Captain Games and they did the unexpected fun game last time which is duck and cover that we both enjoy. It's a party game. This is also a light game. You're basically making maps um on your tableau and then trying to navigate the marker.

It's like the version that I played was the with card sleeve. So, it's going to be whiteboard marker friendly. Yep. >> So, just navigate trying to find um or collect certain treasures objective and then you also bit like deck building as well. You buy stuff and then put in your deck. It's really fun.

Map masters. I'm excited to play that with you. I think you're going to like it. >> I do enjoy maps. >> Yes. Next one is Fantasy Brewers. This is by and night Soil. Then those two games are going to be at Essence, which we're lucky enough to have played. >> Yes, we played prototypes on both of those.

Both by Gra. And they're both they have an old school Euro feel. They both have a fairly aggressive worker placement worker recovery type of mechanism. >> That's cool stuff. >> Yeah. Fantasy brewer is your old kind of uh place workers, but you can jump to the head of the queue based on your size and and how you muscle in.

And then night soil has this multi-dimensional. You have to move cubes around the board and that's what gets you your workers for the next round. >> Oh, so good. I put it here because we have not played it. So, this is part of the games that we are anticipating. Still anticipating because we haven't played it.

This is by Chili Fox Games. They've been having great asin releases like the last few years like Come Together and and some other ones as well. And this is the current Essen release. I mean the new upcoming Essen release. >> This looks like kind of like an EU Euro pirate game, but it is um sorry an >> it's kind of looks kind of like a a thematic pirate game, but it is a Euro game.

>> Thank you. I was like, yeah, it is a it is a Euro game. But so this is um one by Chili Fox game. They as release this year. >> Yes. >> There's Covenant. This is by Debbie Games. is by German Milan. >> Yep. There. >> Thank you. Like P. I was like, what's the middle name? Like I'm missing something.

P. Milan. Um, and this is a heavy game. And I've punched it and then I can't even close it. Typical Devier. >> Yeah, standard Devier. There will of course be six uh six rule books in there, I assume, which always makes it difficult to put that together. >> I think probably like six player reference or something like that.

That's why it's very thick. But yes, this should be, you know, German Milan has uh recently had games like Manfa and Toku and Bamboo. So this is the latest from him. It even has three languages at the back. So there you go. >> Maybe it's only three this time. >> Yeah. I mean, David G has been That's a bit too tall.

Maybe Teran, maybe I should take it. >> Give me it. >> Give me it. Next one is Severton. >> Yes, this is from Albi. This is from Vlada. >> Yeah, I know. >> And this is based on a uh >> novel, >> a Czech novel. So, it's a >> I mean, it's like loosely based on kind of like you don't have to know the novel and so on, but you can if you want to, but if you have read the novel, please let us know.

>> Yep. This is a cooperative game. It is It's probably got some of those features of PS. uh where it is. Yeah. It's all a cardbased actions and you're trying to achieve certain detective things. >> Yeah. And you're working together. And then there's like the multi-use cards which I usually like that sort of things.

Oliver, this is the third one from Pythagoras game, the small box game. The first one was cafe. The second one is latt sardines. >> Yes. >> Uh coffee sardines and now olives. Oliver. >> Yes. And this is a nice cafe was a cafe was almost a solo or was basically a solo game that had a multiplayer version.

L was a really uh brutal >> auction >> auction game. And this one is a >> it's another very interactive game like L. You will the actions you take will be strengthened based on the cards other players played this turn and last turn. So, very much a timing game there as you make your olive oil and sell it out into the market.

>> And Oroy, I really, really want to play it, but there's so many games I want to play right now. >> Yes, this >> life is hard. >> Indeed, this one is a uh it's got a multi-acceted rondelle worker placement and from there it is ultimately a euro build stuff type of game. Next game is Echoes of Time by Cranio Creations.

This is one of the Simony Luciani design with Roberto, which is a new designer to us, Roberto Pelle. It seems to have a kind of like a smart cart playing and movement mechanic that is really intriguing. It's beautiful as well. Yeah, this is a game. You'll be playing cards into your playerboard, into your tiles, and trying to get them moved effectively to where they score.

So, >> yeah, not just a simple matter of playing cards for their points, but trying to summon them in the right order and get them to the right place so they'll score. >> Yeah, I like that. >> I can see I can see some crunchy personal puzzle going on here. You know the Garfield games on the Garfield games has got that with a you know card slide movement puzzle >> by counts.

>> Yes. Thank you. Next games also by Cranio Creations called Ants. When I was little I kind of like wanted to have like an anthill ant house. >> Now it is my time. It's ant se that I can have building colonies. Um and this is by new designer to us. >> Yeah. So you'll be building out ant colonies. It's a polyomino game.

So, you'll build out your antill and you'll be uh gathering food and resources and things and battling against rival ants and antills trying to make yours the strongest. >> I do like the theme of it, right? Like I think the I'm sure like cranial games, I'm sure the mechanics would be fine as well, but the theme is like ants.

That's that's great. I don't know. What do you think? What are your anticipated essent games? By the way, let us know in the comments. I do want to know as well. Maybe I'll just pop that in my list. >> Next one is Ember Heart by Mind Clash Games. >> The theme looks amazing. Is the artwork is by Andrew Bosley.

It's about rescuing dragon and it's kind of like a worker placement but with a twist. I always enjoy worker placement with a twist. Like you can kind of like you send multiple workers or you can upgrade to a different type of workers and then you get better action. And there's track as well. And I can see that it is it is in the Mind Clash spirit.

A lot of the uh the big games that Mine Clash releases at each essence >> uh they have these actions where >> yeah you will uh you have to put something in to get something better >> but it will come with some risk or some penalty later on if you have gone too hard you know like um Septima it was if you were in the location where you could get captured >> um in some of their Yeah.

It's always a feature of their games, >> their trademarks, isn't it? So, looking forward for that one. The next one is Recall. Recall is kind of like Revive 2.0ish. It's got almost the same designer. Revive came a few years ago, and this is kind of like a It's different theme, but from what I gather, it feels a little bit like that.

>> It's somewhat of a personal worker placement. I guess you would call it a Concordia type of game as well. You'll uh you'll have your set of action markers. You move them into an action space, resolve the action on both of them, or you retrieve. So, you'll go through that cycle as you play the game.

Sounds really fun, Taran. I might even like it more than revive. Next one is Fa's Swamp. Very cute artwork. It's by one of the two designers that did Terrammystica. >> Yep. It's actually a re-implementation of uh one of his games from 20 years ago. game originally called Kaibi. Uh this is a worker placement.

It's got a big swamp of hex's. You use those actions to go out and build and fish and and use your ships and so forth. Um there are shipping or there are boat actions and there are ground actions. So yeah, many uh many interactions to play there. We haven't played the original game but interested if you have actually played the original game and then you would probably like I like I always wonder if it's being reimplemented how much of the rules have changed right is it modernized or is it like still old school Euro >> and then the last one we have is coming of age this is the newest from Danny Garcia who has had a number of games we've really enjoyed over the past couple of years >> Barcelona Windmill Valley so this >> Aboria of course you like you love Aboria Yeah, like let's not forget that this is actually um I feel like a more abstract games like thematic emotion, not emotional but like from a child you grow up to adolescence from that to adult and the theme is you represent that growing old um in the game.

So it's interesting to like find out how this kind of like slightly abstract game um implemented in the mechanics. >> Yep. And it's a dice management game using different dice. So you have dice from D4s up to D10. >> I wish that life would be that easy. Or maybe that hard. I don't know how hard this game is.

Hold on. Hold on. Hold that thought. We have two more games. I've decided future Stella decided after playing the games that we are adding two more games to this list. The games that we have played and recommending it to you them to you I should say because two. >> Yes. and they are so we actually have played now Covenant and this is a new one Kingdom Crossing.

>> Yes, Covenant is a it's Herman Milan's most recent game and this is a fairly typical modern comboicious Euro. has a nice little uh it we're playing as dwarves trying to reclaim our mountain and it has this nice little tile building placement challenge and some nice aspects of timing. So this one I think is going to be uh going to be quite good quite quite popular.

>> Yes, I love the theme dwarf and I also love the theme of these are both kind of like fantasy style theme and this one is kingdom crossing. This one is by sorry we are French. This is based on Bridge of Cornersburg. Yes, >> the the math challenge. So, there's a twist to that, but basically the turns is also simple.

You basically there are tiles and then you move the tiles to the right hand side and you basically do the actions. So, there are two different actions as well, whether you do the money action or the movement actions with, you know, buying buying things for your personal engine building. So, there's a lot of engine building in this game.

It feels really good and very satisfying. Yeah, this is a very good game. This is in the light to midweight Euro engine building type of uh type of genre, but it has some nice timing to it that keeps the game really live until the end. And so, >> yeah. >> Yeah. Hopefully this one does well. I'd certainly recommend it.

>> Yes, definitely. All right, back to the regular show. So, those are our games. It's hopefully you pick some games that you want to check out or you can just like some of these games. I think there are other videos available. um online, including some of our videos. So, please let us know the other games that we haven't mentioned it or any other games that we haven't mentioned down in the comments.

So, maybe it will get added to my list. And thank you so much for watching and hopefully I will see you at Essen. Bye.