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It is hard to believe we are in December and 2023 is coming to an end. Christmas always seems to steal so much of the limelight at this time of year with New Year’s Eve very much being a little bit of an afterthought, after all the festivities. Here at Zatu, our team of bloggers are going to give you a bit of a helping hand in giving you a few idea’s for games to play. Whether you are hosting a party, planning a games night or perhaps having a quiet night. We have you covered.
Fuse By Favouritefoe
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1…”Happy……Saving the world!”
You thought I was going to say “Happy New Year!”, didn’t you? Well, that goes without saying – I wish you all a wonderful 2024! But I also want to wish you a fun New Year’s Eve! And I can’t think of a better way to compliment the countdowns happening all over the world than with a real-time-is-running-out-let’s-work-together game of Fuse! Published by Renegade Game Studios, Fuse is a 10 minute mad dash to disarm 20 bombs.
Each bomb is a card showing a pattern comprising colours and numbers represented on D6. Some bombs require specific shades. Others will have you towering up dice, whilst some bombs need D6 organised in specific number order. And you have got to roll and allocate those D6 in ways that that will diffuse the bomb cards in front of you. But you can’t just pick what you want or need. You’ve got to think about everyone around the table and work out who can make best use of each dice!
When I say thinking time is not given generously in this game, I am being modest. There is next to no time for thinking. Rolling. Grabbing. Stacking. Lining up. But no thinking! And the accompanying (optional) app offering pressure-adding soundtracks ramps up the intensity to eye watering levels!
We love Fuse. It’s tense and it shows what each of us is made of! Luckily for me, my husband is very cool under pressure so I know I can rely on him to keep a level head. Or I thought I could. Until we played Fuse. The panic in his eyes as he saw me going for dice he knew would result in our defeat was a moment where the composure most definitely slipped! And it definitely keeps us awake as the new year comes in!
(NB: please note that at the time of writing there is now a standalone expansion to Fuse – Fuse Countdown)
Formula D By David Ireland
You are planning a games night for your New Years Eve Party, why not make it a race night! A game for two to ten players that is fast, high intensity and constant action throughout. You do not need to be a racing fan to get into this game. I’m not, I just love board games and this is a great one.
This game is driven by chance on the roll of a dice. Once you have determined the starting grid, players plan their move by picking which gear they want to go in and roll the corresponding gear dice. First gear always at the start and is rolled on a simple D4 die, all the way up to 6th gear on a D30. The higher the gear, the faster you go. The track is made up of 3 lanes full of squares. Your first gear will only allow you one or two squares movement, your sixth gear means you are going a minimum of twenty-one squares, but potentially as many as thirty squares and you are flying now.
It is not so easy though. You will have to consider corners and this is one of the real clever parts of the game. Each corner has a minimum amount of turns to be spent within it, you have to slow down! You can happily go up one gear per turn, but potentially you may need to go down more than one pending your situation. Then there are other race elements that can detrimentally impact your race. If things go to plan on those die rolls you will seamlessly go around the track, you’ll successfully plot and navigate your route, but, how often does that really happen? When it goes wrong, you need to manage the car, the situation and it is all about damage limitation. Or ultimately you crash.
It is high stakes and intense. Not two turns play out the same because player order constantly changes. It changes as play order of a turn is determined by the race leader working back to the player at the back, it always changes because cars are always overtaking and falling behind!
The biggest question being, how much are you as a player going to push your luck and the odds for Victory?
Top Of The Pops Party Game By Pete Bartlam
“Tooooot Toot-toot to Toooot toot!
Tooooot Toot-toot to Toooot toot!”
That’s 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes played on the Kazoo! Of course you recognised it, now guess this group from one word - “Tropicana!” Yes it’s Wham! Who had a hit including the lyric “My ears are alight!” Why that’s Desmond Dekker’s The Israelite. Yes, I know that wasn’t the proper lyric but that’s the beauty of this wonderful game from Big Potato, if you can’t remember a lyric correctly just make it up!
Top of the Pops Party Game is instant fun in a box for anyone who’s ever heard a pop song and especially at New Year’s Eve, where the party spirit might be free pouring, a good laugh is guaranteed. In two teams, one volunteer from each side will compete in the Head-to-Head, calling out examples from categories like “Beatles Songs” or “Songs containing the word Day” (Author’s note “Day Tripper” would work for both!) resetting the excellent buzzer timer until one runs out.
The winner then chooses 3 out of 9 random-drawn Artist cards from the game’s categories: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Pop Stars of the Future, All Time Chart Toppers and one Hit Wonders and puts one each, in the 3 boxes “One Word”, “Lyrics” and “Kazoo”. Then, against the buzzer, their team must identify them from just 1 word, a made up or real lyric or a virtuoso kazoo solo. The other team follows with 3 of the remaining 6 cards. As long as you remember Top of the Pops ran from 1964 – 2006 so those are the decades and Adele, Katie Perry and Justin Bieber etc. are “Pop Stars of the Future” you’ll love it.
“Tooooot Toot-toot to Toooot toot!”
Mario Kart 8 By Megan Knight
During the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s season, I’ll be enjoying some quality gaming time with friends and family, and our game of choice is Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart 8 seamlessly melds the beloved characters from the Mario universe with action packed racing, often leading to lively debates among our group. The game boasts awe-inspiring and lively visuals, completely immersing us in the fantastic realms where our races unfold. The result? Spirited debates and laughter all around as we compete and clash with one another.
The wide array of items and power-ups in the game injects an element of unpredictability that keeps each race fresh and, unsurprisingly, sparks passionate disagreements among us. If you ever find that everyone around you is hesitant to take part in the fun, don’t fret! Mario Kart 8 offers online play, allowing you to compete with players from all corners of the world. Additionally, the inclusion of engaging battle modes adds an extra layer of competitiveness and enjoyment, serving as a refreshing alternative if the classic races become a bit repetitive.
It’s not just about racing; it’s about creating shared memories. We cheer for each other’s victories and share in the groans of defeat. The heated arguments about that perfectly timed Blue Shell or the skilful banana placement are part of the experience, and they’ve become a cherished tradition during the holiday season.
In the end, Mario Kart 8 is more than just a game, it’s a social experience that brings us closer together, creating lasting memories that we recall during future gatherings. Whether we’re navigating the treacherous turns of Rainbow Road or competing in the fiercest battle arenas, Mario Kart 8 is the ultimate holiday entertainment, uniting us all in the spirit of fun and friendly competition.
Wavelength By Steven Gibney
In Wavelength teams take turns adjusting a dial along a spectrum, aiming to pinpoint a hidden target based on a clue from a fellow teammate. The problem is that the target is randomly set and the team member can only give a single clue based on two extreme opposites. These opposites can be simple binaries such as hot/cold or wet/dry, or they could be more difficult like “useful invention/useless invention”. After getting the clue the rest of the team discusses where to place the dial. Once the dial is set, the target is revealed. The closer the guess is to the center of the target, the more points that team earns.
It sounds complicated, but like all great games the best way to learn is to play. Whether you’re an experienced board gamer or a first-timer, it is an easy game to jump into. This makes it perfect for larger New Year’s Eve gatherings where you might have players with mixed gaming experience. The game also packs a high level of replayability, with hundreds of scenarios, and because of this I’m pushing my family to make Wavelength a regular part of your New Year’s traditions.
Every time a team mate gives you a clue you’ll end up scratching your head, questioning their sanity. This situation is made worse if anyone playing has been drinking alcohol (like we usually do as we celebrate the New Year). There is nothing quite as funny as arguing over which character is more evil: the shark from Jaws or the xenomorph from Alien. Overall, Wavelength does a brilliant job at creating a party atmosphere at the beginning of a gaming session, making it one of my go-to games as we countdown the end of one year and the beginning of another.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf By Alex Collins
New Year’s Eve – the perfect time to have friends and family over, eat too much food and, of course, play some games! I love heavy strategy games, but for New Year’s I go for something with a more social focus… and what better way to socialise than deceiving your loved ones?
One Night Ultimate Werewolf is the first in a line of One Night Ultimate games from Bezier Games where 3 to 10 players each take on a secret role, as either a villager or a werewolf. The villagers have to try and find the werewolves before they destroy the village and the werewolves have to remain hidden at all costs. The villagers have some abilities to help them of course, but all actions happen independently, so you never know if the person who says they are helping the village is really a werewolf in disguise!
As the name suggests, in One Night Ultimate Werewolf, players have only one in-game night to perform their actions and find the werewolves. Therefore, each game only lasts around 10-15 minutes each – perfect for keeping momentum going as you stay up late to watch the fireworks.
I highly recommend the official One Night app, which does all the narration and ordering of the roles so you don’t have to – simply put it on, choose your expansion and it does all the work; so you can eat crisps and focus on your weaving your web of lies!
For those who enjoy strategic and logical thinking; this game requires a healthy dose of both to keep track of whose roles have been changed, and whose stories don’t add up… but strategy and logic alone won’t win – you need a good nose for deception, or if you’re a werewolf, the ability to think on your feet (or paws?).
Sling accusations, build a good cover, choose who to banish from the village then say the inevitable words – ‘Shall we play one more round?’.
Detective Club By Jack Oven
For me the ideal party game is one that is easy for people to get to grips with, doesn’t need too much setup time, and ideally brings a little bit of chaos to the evening. That’s why this New Year’s Eve I’ll be playing Detective Club, a game of deception, creativity and wild accusations!
The premise is fairly simple. One player chooses a word to be the theme for the round, and then writes it down on separate pieces of paper for everyone else in the game. The twist is that one person will get a blank piece of paper instead, and they’ll have no idea what on earth the theme was supposed to be. Detective Club’s deck of beautifully ambiguous and abstract picture cards are then brought into play, as the person who set the theme lays down a card that they think fits with their topic for everyone else to see. Play then continues around the circle of detectives, each trying to find a card in their hand that they can also link to the theme. Of course, one player has no clue what the topic was, and for them the game is to try and decipher it from the cards played by everybody else.
At the end of the round the theme is revealed, and then everyone takes a turn to explain why they chose the cards they did. If you’re the bluffer then you may have to do some very quick thinking, but of course there’s also plenty of times when a player did know the subject but simply couldn’t find a card that neatly fit with it in their hand. “I know the theme was falling, but I didn’t have anything for that so here’s a frog that has clearly fallen in love with this mushroom!”.
Accusations fly, justifications become increasingly tenuous, and if your group is anything like mine the whole thing gradually gets more and more abstract and absurd. If you like social deduction games and wonderful artwork then give Detective Club a try and see if you have what it takes to bluff your way to success.
Opportunity
You may use New Years eve as an opportunity to take that game out that has been waiting patiently to be played, like our blogger Rob Wright.
New Year’s Eve – a time of contemplation… of resolution… and of playing the games that you haven’t had a chance to this year. And drinks and nibbles. So, for starters, my biggest shame – American Psycho: The Board Game. This has been waiting for a play since the beginning of 2023 and should have really been played by now. It’s a trick-taking game based on the film version of the Brett Easton Ellis novel, with plenty of visual references to Christian Bale’s depiction of Patrick Bateman. It even includes a scoring system based on Business Card quality. Dark but enjoyable… surely my friends are as twisted as me?
Next, to bring balance to the force, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This is a Pandemic re-imagining set in the Star Wars universe, and rather than a play-by-play reskinning of Pandemic, this really does something different while still being Pandemic. Each player takes on the role of a Jedi from the Clone Wars era, including Anakin, Obi Wan and Yoda. Together, the players attempt to defeat the Separatist Forces and their Leader, who determine the difficulty of the game. Leaders include the villainous General Grievous and Count Dooku. This game also features some gorgeous minis, so it’s pretty easy on the eye too.
Finally, and staying very much in the co-op territory, comes the latest game in the Forbidden series and another offering from Matt Leacock, Forbidden Jungle. This time, our hapless explorers have managed to ‘land’ the rocket ship they found in Forbidden Sky on a jungle planet. The jungle appears to be populated by strange tentacled beasts that are not so big on hospitality but love the change in diet that visitors bring i.e. themselves. The tiled play area returns, but here players can turn the tiles to redirect the beasts. I think. Because… I haven’t got it yet. But… thanks Santa Mum!
Happy New Year
We hope our feature has given you some fun idea’s on how to bring the New Year in. From all the blogging team at Zatu we wish you a very happy New Year and a happy and healthy 2024.