Knowing that there are quite a few board gamers here I thought I would share a couple I saw recently that got my attention.
Lift Off!
I love the aesthetic of this one a lot. It seems like a fairly light family friendly game but still has a good deal of strategy involved. You collect cards to pay for your escape from the planet but the phases of the moon (turn counter) changes the costs of lift off. You can combine resources with other people to get off the planet faster but space is limited, so eventually, someone’s aliens are going to get left behind. The player that gets the most aliens off the planet before it explodes wins.Lift Off! is a 45 minute, semi-cooperative game for 2-5 players. Race to get your aliens off the planet before it explodes!
Asteroid Miner
This one is a bit too complex for me to sum up completely but I really like the sound of the mechanics. Watch the video preview on the bottom of the kickstarter page to get a good idea how it plays.A fresh take on worker placement featuring a unique orbital mechanic. Asteroid Miner is a game of skill and strategy set in deep space.
Each person controls a mining start-up. Players must plan ahead, anticipate asteroid orbits, hire workers to leverage their skills and sell ore to make money and keep their business running. All the while trying to keep other players from taking their ore and stealing their business!
Each game is unique. Each player starts with a randomly selected specialist and workers for hire are drawn from a deck. Players can never be certain what specialists will be available and when.
The impact of luck has been deliberately limited to reward skill and planning. Asteroid Miner incorporates several self-leveling mechanisms. These serve to keep the leader on their toes and keep everyone in the game all the way to the end!