Namibia (Brian Robson)

A game of blatant exploitation as players race to mine the country's minerals, sell them and ship them out. A clever mechanism for the market prices means this is not straightforward. Players need to keep an eye on what everybody else is up to as well: £28.00.
 

Nations (Rustan and Nina Håkansson and Einar and Robert Rosén)

A cracking civilisation-development game with some familiar elements and some innovative mechanisms. There's real time pressure as it plays over just a few rounds and I keep wanting to play it again so that I can do better: £54.00.
 

Out of stock
 

Neanderthal (Phil Eklund)

A kind of prequel to Greenland, this is another brutal struggle for survival. This time it's tribes of proto-humans mixing it with each other and the Pleistocene megafauna. Hunting and gathering keeps your tribe alive while you try to develop a full culture. Brilliant. £22.00.
 

Out of stock
 

Nippon (Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade)

This is the game that prompted me to stock the What's Your Game? line. It's a deep, complex game of industrialising Japan. It has a clever worker-removal mechanism for taking actions, with the decision of which worker to take having wider implications than just which action is triggered. I'm struggling to work out how best to play, but am definitely addicted: £36.00
 

NMBR 9 (Peter Wichmann)

Having seen this game at the Gathering, I got a closer look at the UK Games Expo and was taken with its cleverness. The idea is to stack up the number tiles: the higher they go, the more they're worth. However, the placement restrictions make this tricky and everybody else is playing the same numbers in the same sequence. Simple and ingenious: £16.00 (German ed with English rules)
 

Out of stock
 

No Thanks! (Thorsten Gimmler)

One of my favourite little card games, this is so simple. You either take the card on offer or pay a chip to pass it on. But it's such a big decision! I find it huge fun: £9.00.
 

Nomads of Arabia (Kris Gould)

A fascinating game where players catch and herd animals across the ever-changing sands of Araby. The aim is to sell your animals for a good price – without falling off the board: £17.00.
 

Noria (Sophia Wagner)

Another monster, which I thoroughly enjoyed at Spiel. Set on and around the flying island of the title, there's an awful lot going on as players develop their production, expand their options and try to gain the best 'political' position. It's a cracker: £45.00
 

Out of stock
 

OddVille (Carlo Lavezzi)

A city-building game powered by players' worker cards. Apart from adding buildings to the city, players try to inter-connect them with roads for bonus points. The twist is the opportunity to disrupt players' plans by summoning guild members back to HQ: £18.00 (£15.00 outside the EU)
 

Oh my Goods! (Alexander Pfister)

Ingenious card game of using goods to construct buildings that use resources to produce goods that... And the same cards are used for all of that. Cracking stuff from a designer of complex games: £10.00
 

Om Nom Nom (Meelis Looveer)

A game all about munching things: om nom nom, indeed! Players position their critters secretly, hoping to eat rather than be eaten: cat eats mouse eats cheese, for example. Delightful illustrations add to the enjoyment: £15.00.
 

Out of stock
 

One Night Ultimate Werewolf (Ted Alspach and Akihisa Okui)

A clever variant on Werewolf that packs the action into just one night. What's more, everybody gets to play and nobody gets knocked out. It's fast and furious: £15.00.
 

The Oracle of Delphi (Stefan Feld)

A new Stefan Feld game has to be worth a look and this one looks interesting. It's set in Ancient Greece, of course, with the players racing to complete the tasks Zeus has set them. To do these, they've got to get round the islands, whose configuration is different each game: £38.00 (£31.67 outside the EU)
 

Outpost (James Hlavaty and Timothy Moore)

I think of Outpost as an economic development race! Players add factories to expand their colony and bid for upgrades that improve it. This leads to an accelerating increase in technology across the game. It demands concentration: £45.00.
 

The Palace of Mad King Ludwig (Ted Alspach)

The latest in Ted's series of excellent building games, this one has the players adding rooms to the ever-expanding palace. Until they run up against the surrounding moat, which completes at the same pace as the rooms, giving players some tricky decisions: £45.00
 

Palmyra (Bernd Eisenstein)

This fascinating tile-laying game sees the players expand the ancient city of Palmyra. The trick is knowing when to stop collecting tiles and start using them to score points. It's quite abstract, but I've been enjoying it: £20.00.
 

Panthalos (Bernd Eisenstein)

The titans are coming! Emerging from the underworld in the Ancient Greek city of Corinth, they are a threat players must counter. However, the way to win is to acquire goods and trade or export them. And manage your resources. It's good, challenging fun: £30.00.
 

Papà Paolo (Fabrice Vandenbogaerde)

I've had to wait for the second printing to stock this terrific game of pizza delivery. It gives players an awful lot to think about and plenty of decisions to make without melting any brain cells. I thoroughly enjoy it: £38.00
 

Peloponnes (Bernd Eisenstein)

I was impressed with this first game from Irongames a few years ago. Set in Ancient Greece, players expand their city-state with buildings and land. From these, they gain resources and increase their population. A balanced strategy is needed to win. It's still excellent: £32.00.
 

Peloponnes Box (of expansions) (Bernd Eisenstein)

This box brings together the expansions for Bernd's excellent Peloponnes (apart from the new one), adding up to three more players to the base game while providing all sorts of extra options and paths to victory. My favourite is still the goat: £25.00
 

Peloponnes: Heroes and Colonies (Bernd Eisenstein)

And this is a new expansion for Peloponnes, cunningly produced with a cover picture that matches up with the Box. As you'd expect it adds Heroes (with special powers) and Colonies (new starting positions). It also introduces a new threat: the Persians! Great stuff: £25.00
 

Peloponnes Card Game (Bernd Eisenstein)

Terrific development of the cracking Peloponnes, turning it into a card game. It's essentially the same game, streamlined a bit and packed into a handy box. It's just as much fun – and as challenging – to play: £15.00.
 

Peloponnes Card Game – Patronus expansion (Bernd Eisenstein)

This expansion adds three things to the base game. First, pieces and cards for a sixth player – or the cards can be used to provide more options. A second set of cards extends the game by one more round and can be used with any number of players. Finally, "Patronus" cards can be bought to provide extra protection from catastrophes. All excellent stuff: £5.00
 

Phalanxx (Bernd Eisenstein)

The latest from Herr Eisenstein is this intriguing game about the struggle for succession in Alexander the Great's empire. The game contains a board, meeples, cards and, most importantly, dice. These are key to the game as players' options depend on the combinations of dice available to them. The trick is changing your dice to get the combinations you need. Another one I'm looking forward to: £28.00
 

Photosynthesis (Hjalmar Hach)

Good-looking game of competitive trees: no, really! The aim is to spread and grow your species, taking advantage of the sun's rays and trying to keep your competitors in the shade. Clever and green: £32.00
 

Port Royal (Alexander Pfister)

Clever, tricky, quick-playing card game of piratical adventures. Players draw cards, deciding how far to push their luck as they look for the right cards. Then it's onto the high seas in search of plunder: £9.00.
 

Port Royal – ein auftrag geht noch... (Alexander Pfister)

"Just one more contract..." is the translation for this neat expansion to Port Royal. As well as extra cards, it adds contracts to the game, giving players another way of scoring points. Or the contracts can be used to make this a co-operative game where players race to get contracts completed. It's a new game as much as an expansion: £8.50
 

Port Royal Unterwegs! (Alexander Pfister)

This is a separate game, albeit one that is essentially a streamlined version of Port Royal. Paring down the game, while retaining the core mechanisms, it plays the same way, but more quickly. Key to this game is the different set of characters, which can alos be used to give a different flavour to the base game: £6.00
 

Porta Nigra (Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer)

Latest from this great design duo: a game of city building in Roman times, centred around the "Black Gate". Stacking the building pieces makes it look like a city, too: £35.00.
 

Out of stock

Power Grid deluxe (Friedemann Friese)

I've always considered Power Grid to be something of a masterpiece. This ten-year anniversary re-vamp makes a few, very subtle rule changes that add even more to the game. This is on top of a complete physical workover with new artwork. It gets 10/10 from me: £50.00.