Best New Editions of Board Games Coming to Retail in May, 2026!

0:07 Hey, I'm Grant with Grant's Gamerecks. Welcome to the best new editions of board games coming to stores in May. These are reimplementations of older games, new additions, sort of just new printings of older games, and sometimes, you know, a a new game in an established series of games. There's a we've got 12 different ones coming to retail here in the month of May. Uh from some very big classic games uh new editions to some, you know, fairly new games getting new additions. So yeah, uh before I jump into the games, I just want to let you know I'm doing a board game comedy tour. It's a whole comedy show all about board games and then I play games with the audience afterwards. And I've announced a lot of my tour dates for that. In June, I'll be up and down the West Coast. And then in September, October, I'll be going through the Southwest, Midwest, and Mountain West. I've got, you know, almost 50 dates uh announced for that so far. So, check my website and I'd love to see you at a show. So, let's get into some games.

1:16 First up this month, 25th Century Games is releasing Three Sisters Harvest Edition. Uh, this is a new edition of the game three sisters that came out about 4 years ago. It plays 1 to four players in 30 to 60 minutes. And it is uh I would call it a mediumweight game, but on the lower end of mediumweight game. This is a rolling right, but it is a rolling right that has a lot of different options, a lot of ways to score points, a lot of combos, and so, you know, it's it's not just a light rolling right. There's some meat on this one. Um, I really like Three Sisters, the original version of it. And there are a lot of paths to victory in it. You know, I feel like in a game of three sisters, you're going to be doing onethird of the things available to you, maybe half of the things available to you. So, this three sisters harvest edition keeps some of the great uh comboy fun of the Roland Wright Three Sisters, but adds a few things. There is now a 12chapter campaign mode in the game that has new content, new gameplay, new components, all of that stuff.

2:28 There's a little bit of story with the campaign, but it's mostly just sort of playing through and unlocking content. And then once you're done with the campaign, the new content can also be used as expansion modules for an individual game of three sisters. So you can use, oh, I really like the stuff that was in chapter 4. I'm going to use that in in a regular game of three sisters. So this is essentially a standalone replacement for the first game that just has a lot of this extra content, but the base game is largely the same as the original three sisters game. So, if you like combos, if you like uh making choices about like how you want to score points, because there's a lot of different ways to score points, then three sisters is a good one. All play is releasing a new edition of the game Container. Uh this plays three to five players in 45 to 90 minutes, and it is a mediumweight game.

3:32 Uh this was on a crowdfunding campaign and is actually allplay's largest crowd crowdfunding campaign of all time. Uh so people are excited about container and if you missed the campaign now you can jump in in the the re getting it get it in retail get it through all plays website get it through your friendly local game store that sort of thing. Container originally came out in 2007 and it is considered a very very popular game by a lot of people. You know, it's it's it's on it. It was it's a Hall of Fame type of game. Uh and this new edition, you know, keeps a lot of the same gameplay as the original, but just updates the art, updates the component quality. you know, the game's 20 years old, so sort of brings it into a modern era. Um, container is a game where you will be building machines, building warehouses, um, building containers, and then filling up these ships with these containers and sailing them to the island to auction off. And so you are trying to time the market with it. you know, like any classic economic game, you want to um you know, uh buy low and sell high. And so, you're trying to time the market in this one. Uh but it, you know, it does have still a pickup and deliver aspect where you're going to be loading these container ships full of containers and then sailing them to an

5:05 island to to auction off. If you like auction games, you know, any negotiation, that sort of stuff, you might like Container. This is a, you know, a strategy euro weight game, but a solidly medium one, uh, at that. So, yeah, uh, you can check out Container if you've never had a chance to before. Aries Games is releasing the game Gclair. Uh, I hope I'm saying that right. Uh, I'm not exactly sure. This is a two-player only game. plays in 45 to 60 minutes and it is on the edge of lightweight to mediumweight game. This is a remake of the 2019 game The Rise of Blitzkrieg. Uh, and if you look at the um, you know, BG uh, listing for Gclair, it still says 2019, but this is actually the first time that Gclair under this name and stuff is available in retail here in the United States. It is a card driven war game, a two-player game, a head-to-head game that takes place um, in a historical setting. It is 1940s uh World War II, 1940 World War II with the German forces against the France forces. The Germany invaded France and uh and you know the British army was

6:35 fighting with the French in France. And so one player is going to play as the German forces and they're going to sort of push hard into France. And then one player is going to play as the allies and they are organizing their defenses and counterattacking when they can. So, you know, sometimes war games are big long affairs. This is a quicker game, you know, plays in 45 to 60 minutes. So, if you like, you know, head-to-head combat games, then that might be a reason to check out Gclair. Aries Games is also releasing the game Spell. This is another two-player only game. Plays in 15 to 25 minutes and it is a mediumweight strategy game. Um, this is actually this maybe should have gone in my uh best new games coming to retail video because uh you'll notice on if you look on BG it has a 2020 listing, but in talking to Aries Games, this is actually the first time it has been available in English in North America.

7:43 It was published in other languages before, but hasn't been published and brought to the United States and North America in English until now. Uh, it is a two-player game where you both play as wizards in a duel and you are trying to um you're trying to demonstrate your intelligence by completing patterns and you want to complete more and more magical patterns than your opponent. You're going to use the creatures that you summon and their special abilities. You're going to use your power to shift things around. You're going to use the advantage of uh patterns that you complete to do more patterns. And so you're kind of shifting tiles around trying to make these patterns and do it uh better than your opponent. So yeah, that is the game spell.

8:37 Uh, Asthma in association with Go on Board is releasing The Witcher Path of Destiny Ronin. Uh, this plays one to five players in 45 to 90 minutes and it is a mediumweight game. Go on board has released a number of games in the Witcher line with the Witcher IP. So, if you if you have read the books, watched the Netflix TV series or anything like that, that might be a reason you want to check out The Witcher. Uh, The Witcher Path of Destiny came out and in the game you were playing as various different characters in the world of The Witcher and you were re revealing story cards and sort of swaying the story one way or the other. You wanted to play cards and influence what happens in the story because you're going to gain more points if you influence it the way that benefits you. Well, in this version, this is a standalone version. It sort of reimplements the pitch the the Witcher path of destiny. Now, instead of those story cards that I mentioned, they are replaced by illustrated round cards. At the end of a round, contrary to the basic version of the game, players earn victory points for the symbol they jointly collected less of and they ex earn experience points for the symbol they collected more of. So, you still want to sway things in this version of

10:09 the game, but it doesn't have the story cards like the other version did. Uh, you will still be playing as a character from The Witcher. There are seven different characters and all of them um are playable and kind of do different things. Um there is a competitive mode in this game, but there's also um you know an emphasis on cooperation in the competitive mode. Players not only try their best to draft and play cards, but also to cooperate with each neighboring player to get the best shared bonuses. So yeah, there you go. that is the Witcher path of destiny ronin. Uh asay in association with katan studios is releasing katan zip edition.

10:59 This is a portable version of the classic game of katan. Plays three to four players in you know 45 to 60 minutes and it is a mediumweight game but on the lower end of a mediumweight game. Uh, this replaces the board of katan now with sheets where you will draw on it. Like if you're building buildings or roads or things like that, you can draw on these these sheets. Uh, it also comes with uh little containers for all the components and a bag so you can kind of put the whole game of katan just into this small container and take it wherever with you. It's the same gameplay as original sort of base katan, but it's a lot more uh portable here.

11:46 So, you know, one dice shaker, one travel bag, four pens, seven storage boxes. Uh yeah. So, uh but the main thing I think the main way it accomplishes that is shrinking the board down into a map pad essentially. So, if you're a big fan of Katan, but you're like, I wish I could take this with me. Well, now you can. So, there you go. Check out Katan Zip Edition. Asthma is also releasing a new edition of the farming game. Uh, this plays two to six players in 120 minutes, and it is a lightweight game. This is a game that originally came out in 1979 and it brags that is it is the game that was invented on the seat of a tractor.

12:38 I'm not sure why that's a selling point. Uh you invented this on a tractor. Oh, okay. Are we going to play it on a tractor? No. No, it's just invented on Okay. That's I mean that's interesting, I guess, but it doesn't I'm not a huge tractor guy. I'm not I don't often like wish that I was inventing games on the seat of a tractor. So, I don't I don't know that it impresses me that much, but it it was it's it is a unique place to invent a game, I suppose. You know, uh this is, as you can tell, you know, maybe by a game that came out in 1979, this is a roll and move game. So, not a g not not a game that you have a ton of choices and strategy. You know, with roll and move, you're essentially rolling a dice and moving a piece and then whatever happens happens. Uh, and so this is a roll and move game where you are um, you know, running a farm.

13:39 You want to run an effective farm. You want to harvest and auction your way out of debt. So, if you are like, I got to play a game that was invented on the seat of a tractor. Well, now the farming game is back uh after what I assume is a long time that it hasn't really been around. Uh so, uh but you know, it's back now with a little bit updated. It's still kind of got the old cover, but you know, it's it's been out of print for a while, and now it's back. If you want to play a tractor game, a game invented on the seat of a tractor. Hasbro is releasing Priorities Family Edition. Uh this is a new version of the great party game Priorities. Uh Priorities plays two plus players. It's a party game where you need at least two players to play, but you can kind of play it with however many people you have. I mean, I would still recommend maybe like six or eight players. It would get a little unruly if you're playing it with like 16 players. Uh, but it is a great party game, a great cooperative party game. You know, this this version still plays in 20 minutes and it is a lightweight game. Priorities is a cooperative party game where uh one player is sort of the active player.

14:56 They're going to reveal a number of cards and they're going to rank them privately. Then everybody else is going to debate and discuss how they think the active player ranks stuff. And then they're going to rank the things. And for everyone that you are right, that you are correct about, you get to keep that card versus everyone that you are incorrect about, the game keeps that card. And we are all racing to spell priorities before the game spells priorities. So that's how we win is we want to spell priorities before the game. Um, you know, the the original game, the base game version of the game isn't wildly inappropriate. You know, it's not like a after dark version or whatever, but I suppose there are some cards that might be questionable for a younger audience, you know, an 8-year-old, a 9-year-old, something like that. And so, this family edition is exactly what it sounds like. It is the same game, but just all of the cards in there are very familyfriendly. Uh, and you know, even the the original game, I would say even things that weren't inappropriate, there just were things that maybe kids didn't understand, like taxes. You know, I don't I don't know how much an 8-year-old knows about taxes. This new family edition now is appropriate for everybody. So, it is a great cooperative game. It's one of my favorite cooperative party games. So, I I definitely recommend Priorities Family

16:26 Edition. Lucky Duck Games is releasing Paper Apps Golf. Uh, this is a solo game that plays in, you know, 15 20 minutes and it is a lightweight game. Uh, I just want to let you know that it is I'm including it now in the video because it is available exclusive in Target right now. Uh, so if you want it right now, you would have to get it from Target. I know not everybody wants to buy stuff from Target. So, it will be available in friendly local game stores and a wider release in about a month. So, you just need to wait for a month, but I'm including it now because this is when it is in retail for the first time. So, just wanted to note that though. Um, Paper Apps Golf, uh, is a new game in the line of paper apps games. There was Paper App Dungeons and I don't know if there's other ones at this point. Um, there's there was Paper Apps Galaxy. Uh, so yeah, there was Paper Apps Labyrinth and now Paper Apps Golf. So all of the Paper Apps series is essentially a little notebook. It's a great game to play on an airplane or waiting in a restaurant or something like that. And uh all of the games come in a little notebook and each of them has sort of different puzzles and you're rolling a dice and using the results to mark off stuff with a pencil and trying to work your way through the game. Uh

17:58 trying to solve the puzzles of the game. This is paper apps golf that I'm talking about now. So essentially, you have three golf courses and each golf course has 18 holes in it. So again, you will be you're going to be rolling dice and then using the results to try to hit a ball into the hole on a golf course on a on a different hole and you're going to use the results to move your ball around to try to get it into the hole to, you know, and you're trying to do it in as few of strokes as possible. So, if you're a fan of golf or you just want a, you know, little puzzle game that you can kind of play solo wherever you want to, then check out Paper Apps Golf. Or if you like the sound of some of those other ones, again, there were like uh other ones with different themes and different puzzles if you'd rather have that.

18:50 Renegade Game Studios is releasing a new version of Lords of Water Deep. This plays two to five players in 60 to 120 minutes and it is a mediumweight game. Uh Lords of Water Deep uh originally came out in 2012 and this new edition is really just a reprint of that of that game. There is not a lot of changes here. So if you already have the original version of Lords of Water Deep and you still play it, then I don't know that you need this one. But if you've never jumped into Lords of Water Deep before, this is a great opportunity to do so. Uh Lords of Water Deep is considered one of the most popular and welcoming uh worker placement games. It is a lot of people's introduction to worker placement games because it's fairly easy to wrap your head around, but still a lot of strategy in the game.

19:45 It also brings the sort of Dungeons and Dragons theme into board games. you will be using workers to send them out. You can build buildings, you can get resources, you can use the resources to complete quests. Uh, and you know, if you I I feel like Lords of Water Deep is one of those sort of games that built the modern board game hobby. So, it's an interesting game to play just for the historical perspective of it, too. you know, it's it's sort of to worker placement a little bit like Dominion is to uh deck building and and stuff like that. So, uh again, not a lot of changes in this new version from uh Renegade Game Studios, but the game is widely available now again where maybe it hasn't been available for a while.

20:39 Steve Jackson Games is releasing Munchkin Vox Machina, a critical role game. Uh, this is bringing Munchkin into the world of Vox Machina. Plays three to six players in 60 to 120 minutes. Uh, and it is a mediumweight game, though on the lower end of medium weight. This is based on the first campaign of the critical hit uh TTRPG show Critical Role. So if you followed the first season of that show, this is a a way to relive that first season. Um I don't actually know how this game is played. Uh, there are no videos available so far about Munchkin Vox Machina, so I can't really tell you that much about the game, but I can tell you it is available in retail this month. Uh, it says, "Dive into your own episode of Critical Role, battle against foes, uh, wield items, and reach level 10." So, yeah. And then the last one I have for you this month is the OP is releasing Tacta Second Edition. Uh Tacta plays two to six players in about 20 minutes and it is a lighter weight puzzle game. Uh this is the second edition of Tacta which largely is the same game but they they shrunk the cards down a little bit and

22:09 put it all into a hanging box. So instead of, you know, a traditional sort of lid boxed, now it's in one of those hang tag boxes, so you can you can hang it in a big box store and stuff like that. So it changes the packaging of Tacta. Um, Tacta is a game where you will have your own cards, your own set of cards, and you are trying to place them down over corners and sides and uh uh and other places of cards out in these sort of jumble mess of cards. And you are trying you have different pip values on different spots of your cards. And so you're trying to cover up other people's pips while making it hard for them to cover up your pips because at the end of the game once we've all placed out our cards, you count up the pips on your color card showing and that's who wins the game. It is very puzzly. It takes up way more table space than you originally think. Even though it is a small box game, it takes up a big table and can sometimes take longer than you think as well. though it says 20 minutes. I've had games of this last an hour because people are, you know, taking a long time to make choices and stuff, but it is a very puzzly game. So, if you like puzzle games, then check out Tacta Second Edition. That is 12 different new editions coming to retail here in the month of May. Uh, I look

23:41 forward to seeing some of you at UKGE, the convention, the largest tabletop convention in the UK. I'll be there soon. Uh, and then I hope to see you at some tour date shows. Uh, thanks so much for liking, subscribing, sharing, all that great stuff. I hope you found some games that you're excited about. All right, thanks everybody. I'm Grant with Grant's Game Rex.