Continuing our quarterly series highlighting some new releases across genres, what you’ll read about below are a few games covering a wide footprint, but that do something clever or intriguing. You already know about the recent big boys, like Vantage, YouTube favorite The Old King’s Crown, or a personal favorite, the latest printing and expansion for Space Empires 4X. The games below aren’t hidden gems, exactly, but rather some recent highlights of the hobby.
So read on, and have that want list handy.
A Sci-Fi Card Game Done Right
Card-based battlers are all over the place, ranging from your big trading card games to, uh, vampires. Compile initially came out last year with its first box, sucking us into the genre with its AI-themed lane battles, hitting both quality gameplay with on-point objectives. See, you’re not trying to obliterate life force, but instead
you, as the programs, are trying to understand basic concepts. It’s a race to grasp water, fire, and everyone’s old favorite: Plague. With simple rules, tight two-player gameplay, and a production that both fits its goal (small box, big decisions) and delivers a compelling table presence, Compile hits hard right from the gate.
And now we have its sequel set. Technically called Compile Main 2, this standalone expansion adds twelve new concepts like Fear, Mirror, and everyone’s new favorite: Chaos. You’ll start a game of Compile by picking three concepts apiece, combining their cards to form a unique deck, and then racing to victory. It’s a spin on Smash-Up, which is something we’re seeing quite a bit of lately, but Compile elevates the experience to a sublime level. The game is easy to teach, plays in a half hour, and is so easy to take anywhere that you’ll find yourself dueling all the time.
The High-Quality Dueling Makeover Continues
The modern trend of turning bigger euro games into slimmer, two-player versions while slapping Duel on the title has, on the whole, yielded strong results. Games like 7 Wonders Duel, Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth, Splendor Duel, Azul Duel, and more generally bring fun twists to their original concept while shrinking the 
form factor. You can take these battles on the road, the plane, or to the beach. I’d chalk a lot of this success up to the core game DNA, and you won’t find much stronger than The White Castle.
A game of limited actions that, increasingly, combo off of one another, The White Castle is a delightful, crunchy euro that doesn’t take too long. The White Castle Duel makes a few small tweaks here and there, but you’re largely doing the same thing: attempting to curry the Emperor’s favor through tight point salad combos. Your actions get stronger as the half-hour game goes on, so that by the end, an action that might’ve netted you a couple of birds at the start now includes training servants, working the forge, and scoring honor, all of which get you points at the end.
So far, so good. Throw in a gorgeous production, with crisp art, bright tokens, and the requisite small square box, and you have a strong contender in this space. What I’d actually say, though, is look at The White Castle Duel if you don’t own The White Castle original and want to play two players. The core White Castle game plays fine at two, and is small enough to be travel friendly on its own. Still, there’s so many duel games now, and most are good enough to warrant having a couple on your shelf for those short, sweet game nights with a partner, kid, or pal, and The White Castle Duel fits right in.
A Solo Dogfight with the Red Baron
Blame Snoopy, but I have an affinity for the dog fights of WW1, where the pilots wore scarves and goggles, the wings were huge and fragile, and the action was both close and strangely beautiful. Black Flight, from the aptly named publisher Historic Wings (and Blue Panther), brings you into this dangerous, demanding world with a solo narrative war game about those big planes and the pilots who flew them. Like similar games of this ilk, you’ll be managing a squad here, taking
them out on missions, growing their experience, and trying to get them back alive.
Black Flight isn’t a straight line story campaign with preset missions. Instead, a series of tables and dice rolls determine what missions your squad is called on to perform. These run the gamut, with enough modifiers that you’ll never feel like the game’s too repetitive. Once your squad’s in the air, dogfights use a special map emphasizing elevation and plenty of dice. Your pilots will rise up for diving attacks, escort one another, and bait the enemy into bad moves. Coupled with unique traits and vices—maybe your squad leader, dealing with the ravages of war, slammed a few drinks before getting in the cockpit, or another one, after seeing an ally damaged, turns into a raging monster with attack bonuses—your squad will take on lives of their own, telling a story unique to your game.
All the fun here comes with a special production. Blue Panther’s counters are lavish. The map and its various tables are easy to read and flush with color and sharp design. The paper map is great, while the canvas map in the deluxe edition is divine. As the table stakes for quality board game production continue to rise, Black Flight meets them with aplomb. If you’re a solitaire war gamer, or share my love of WW1 dogfights, then Black Flight should be on your list.
Marvel Champions Gets Its Versus On
To those of you giving me side-eye for putting Marvel Champions here, an absurd number of years after its original release, have patience! See, a few times a year, Fantasy Flight injects its ongoing cooperative, boss-battling card game with a bigger box campaign. Marvel Champions: Civil War is the latest, and while it includes the same snappy, deck-building strategy the game’s been doing so, so well since its start (and Tigra!), you’re going to get something fresh here.
A competitive mode.
For a game about deck construction with wildly varying heroes, getting a chance to go one on one or two on two against other players adds a whole new dimension for anyone with a big Marvel Champions collection (or who prefers competitive play). Now you can have Jubilee and Venom face off, or, for the true sickos, Magneto vs. Spider-Ham. So many playground arguments can, at last, be resolved. But really, Marvel Champions is excellent, modular, and as difficult as you want it to be. Give it a shot.
A Massive Dark Fantasy Wonder
Look, sometimes you just want a game the size of a shipping crate, okay? Kingdom’s Forlorn, whose size I exaggerated (slightly), is a giant, stuffed with story, miniatures, fancy components, and thick rules that you’ll reference several times in every session. It’s also a magnificent example of crowdfunding and designer excess done right. This hobby, much like its sister in videogames, is littered with overreach and ambition unequaled by designer skill. Into the Unknown meets their mark, and they aim high.
At first glance, you could be excused for grouping Kingdoms Forlorn in with other, often excellent, fantasy campaign games. What’s different here, beyond the size, 
is the focus. At least part of the philosophy here is set to counter the problem these big games often face: how do you get the same group around the same table often enough to play one of these through to the end? With Into the Unknown’s first big title, Aeon Trespass Odyssey, playing with more than two people seemed like an exercise in futility (or, at least, requiring scheduling ju-jitsu of legendary levels).
Here, every session follows one of your player characters and their personal quests. If Jack and his knight are on vacation this week, follow Maisy and her story instead. The game continues, and while the stories all serve to flesh out the world, it’s easier to catch others up. Nobody need play Jack’s character alongside their own, either, as simpler Squires (like Oathsworn’s easier allies) can fill in the party. That’s good, as you’ll be battling monsters, from smaller groups to big bosses, using Into the Unknown’s combat system, which tends to drive every fight to an escalating conclusion. Dice get chucked, abilities are deployed, and character synergies are fun to find.
From the outset, Kingdoms Forlorn makes clear this is a grand experience. But it also comes with a deep tutorial, and the game’s nature eases you into its many systems, ones you’ll be engaging with for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours (not including the many minis to paint, though you won’t need to assemble them). With this game, that’ll be time in a magical dark fantasy world, with immaculate story, dangerous combat, and unnerving mysteries. It’s hard to ask for more.
