We played 27 unique board games in December, including new releases and old classics. Here are our picks for the best games we played last month.

Monthly recaps are to help you know about all the games we played in the past month, share our favorite games, and give out some end-of-month awards. Not all games we play make it onto social media or the blog, so this is a fun way to show you what we have played behind the scenes and which games left an impression.

Check out our previous month’s recaps:
2022:  Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | May | June | July | Aug  | Sept | Oct  | Nov

December Games Played

Let us know which of these games you want to hear more about on our social accounts!

Kelsey’s Favorite Game: Heat: Pedal to the Metal

This game was a hit with the entire family because it nails the number one thing you need to get right in a racing game: it actually feels like a race and plays fast! While initially concerned about its higher cost ($75 as a new release) Days of Wonder loaded the box with tons of replayable content. Heat comes with four unique tracks, a campaign mode that adds new game modules, and cars for up to six players. If you are interested in racing games, you will not regret buying this game.

Adam’s Favorite Game: Long Shot: The Dice Game

This horse racing roll-and-write game is my favorite roll and write game & horse racing game of the year. And yes, that’s quite the statement coming off of our absolute love of Ready Set Bet! I love that it is a roll and write that can play up to 8 players and still have meaningful player interactions. It has a really cool quality of feeling like a board game when playing thanks to the central race track and horse markers. Long Shot also has a challenging solo mode and is easy to play, making it perfect for any gamer.

Kids’ Favorite Game: Strike

It is easy to overlook Strike as just a simple push-your-luck dice game, but you would miss out on so much fun if you didn’t try it. The thrill of emptying the arena and making the next player have to roll all their dice is a satisfying feeling that makes this party game worth trying. Our kids always ask to play this one, and since a full game takes less than 15 minutes to play, we hardly say no. 

End-of-Month Awards

Best Abstract Game: YINSH

YINSH is a two-player abstract game about controlling the board with your markers to create rows of 5 markers in your color. Players will have to be clever with their placement since whenever you pass over a marker on the board, it flips its color. I love that it’s a race to complete three rows of five rather than the first to make a single row of five. This way players can come back even if, for example, they gave their opponent a row of five by accident.

Watch our playthrough on Instagram.

Best Classic Roll & Write Game: Splitter

Our first modern roll and write game was Qwixx, and ever since then, it seems each new one we play has been getting more and more complex. Splitter feels classic since all players must use the same two D6 dice on an identical scoring sheet to score the highest points. The fun in the game comes from doing your best to give yourself multiple scoring opportunities while dealing with unpredictable dice rolls. 

Best Fast Strategy Game: Furnace

We highly recommend anyone who likes auction or engine-building games to try Furnace. Each round players take part in an open auction where players must consider immediate rewards versus long-term planning, followed by the resource management phase where you plan the best way to run your engine to generate victory points. Once you know the game, it will satisfyingly crunch your brain in less than 30 minutes!

Best Small Box Card Game: Ohanami

This simple drafting card game is about making zen gardens. Players are limited in how they can build and add to their gardens by only being able to play cards numbered higher or lower than the current cards in their garden. Players have to decide between the risk of taking a card for more points but decrease the odds of future successful plays, or taking the safer choice. 

Most Played: Exit: The Game – Advent Calendar – 24 times

The whole family had a blast playing thru our Exit Advent Calendar. It was one of best Exit: The Game experience and well worth the purchase. If you have any interested in doing this at all, we highly recommend the experience and hope we can do it again next year with a new calendar. To see an in-depth look at the experience, check out our Instagram Reels where we shared about each of the 24 days.

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