Made at Home: Tabletop Games From Our Very Own Backyard, Eh!

Summer is here, and with it comes a time to celebrate Canada. So, we thought why not take the opportunity to showcase some of our favourite studios, designers, and games from right here at home?

Studios

Plan B / Next Move Games

Part of the Asmodee Group, Plan B Games is based in Vaudreuil, Quebec. Founded in 2016, the company has a mission to bring together exceptionally talented people to create exceptionally good games.

Azul
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: 30-45 minutes

Published by Next Move Games (a Plan B Games label), Azul is a tile-laying game of aesthetics and strategy. During the game, players are challenged to decorate the Royal Palace of Evora with beautiful ornamental tiles. Score extra points by creating specific patterns or completing sets. But be careful not to lose them by wasting tiles. Fittingly, the player with the most points wins!

Hey, That’s My Fish!
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: 15-30 minutes

Also under the Next Move label, is an old favourite with new art, and new design, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! In ‘Hey! That’s My Fish’ players take turns moving one of their penguins in a straight line collecting fish. Whoever has gathered the most fish at the end of the game wins. Sounds easy, but as the ice disappears, it gets harder and harder for penguins to find fish to feed on. You’ll waddle with pleasure playing this edition of ‘Hey! That’s my Fish!

Century – Spice Road
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-5 / Duration: 30-45 minutes

Century: Spice Road is first of a series of mixable set of games about the exciting adventures of trade merchants. In Century: Spice Road, players are caravan leaders who travel the famed silk road to deliver spices to the far reaches of the continent for fame and glory. On their turn, players will establish trade routes, harvest spices, or fulfil demands for spices. Other Century titles include Century – Golem Edition, Century – Eastern Wonders, Century – Golem Edition – Eastern Wonders, and Century – A New World.

Please note that the Golem editions and “non-Golem” editions are not compatible.

Synapses Games

Founded in 2018 by Carl Brière, Synapses Games develops and publishes board games that are easy to learn, quick to explain, perfect for beginners, and challenging for more strategic gamers. Synapses Games seeks to create exciting experiences and foster connections between people.

Tanuki
Age: 7+ / Players: 3-6 / Duration: 15-30 minutes

Welcome to the vibrant world of Tanuki, where Gardeners, Geishas, Ninjas, and tons of cute, furry creatures clash in a race to cultivate the most productive bamboo garden. Will you try and get revenge or stay focused on your garden? It’s time to unleash your inner furry warrior!

Coatl – The Card Game
Age: 10+ / Players: 1-4 / Duration: 15-30 minutes

A temple in honor of the gods has just been erected in the heart of the Aztec city. The walls inside this place of worship are to be decorated with paintings of feathered snakes to pay tribute to the gods. An election will be held to determine who is the empire’s most celebrated Cóatl painter so that they may have the honor of decorating the temple walls. During the game, players must complete objectives by creating a Cóatl painting in order to accumulate more prestige points than their opponents. Each player creates their own unique Cóatl by laying down Body, Head and Tail cards.

Finding Atlantis
Age: 14+ / Players: 1-4 / Duration: 45-60 minutes

Embark on an exhilarating journey like never before! Equipped with cutting-edge technology and a state-of-the-art submarine, you stand at the precipice of a legendary discovery, that of the enigmatic city of Atlantis. The race is on to be the first to discover the elusive lost city. Finding Atlantis is a heart-pounding deduction and exploration game during which you will need to use deduction, strategic hand management and stealthy hidden movement to claim victory.

Jooky Jooky
Age: 6+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: < 15 minutes

Uninvited bugs guests, Jooky and friends are wandering around your house! 😱

Chase the little buggers away, armed with your fly swatter, your quick reflexes, problem-solving and observation skills! In Jooky Jooky you’ll face four types of challenges: maze, hide & seek, majority and alive. Be the first player to collect enough challenge cards to get Jooky and his friends out of the house and win the game!

Pyramido
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: 30-45 minutes

In this multi-level scoring game, architects must build a pyramid made up of 20 Dominos spread over 4 floors. As they build, they place jewel markers on their structure and the architect who builds the most impressive pyramid wins!

Canadian Designers

Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance

This young designer from Montreal, Quebec is responsible for hit games like Anomaly, Miller Zoo, Decrypto, and Word Traveler.

Word Traveler
Age: 14+ / Players: 2-5 / Duration: 30-45 minutes

Plan your route and pick the best clues to get around the city!

In Word Traveler, you and your friends are taking a 2-day trip to an exciting new city! Each player has a secret map of locations they want to visit, and they’ll need help from the other players to reach them.

Eric Lang

Eric Lang is a seasoned freelance game designer based in Toronto, Ontario. He has an impressive number of hit games under his belt, including Ankh, A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game – Stark VS Lannister Starter Set, Arcadia Quest, and many more.

Ankh: Gods of Egypt
Ages: 14+ / Players: 2-5 / Play Time: 90-120 minutes

For centuries, Egypt had been a polytheistic society. But now, the civilization is moving towards monotheism. Ankh is based on Egyptian lore and in the game, players take on the roles of the gods of Ancient Egypt, facing off against one another for the hearts of the population. They build up their followers, dedicate monuments, recruit monsters their side, and divide the desert in order to establish their dominance. In the end, only one will remain. Fight Over Followers – However, partway through, two gods may merge and become one, possibly giving them an edge.

Arcadia Quest
Ages: 14+ / Players: 2-5 / Play Time: 90-120 minutes

Arcadia Quest is an exciting, adventure board game for 2-4 players. During the game, each player controls a Guild, competing to be the liberator of the city of Arcadia and to become the richest and most powerful Guild in the land! Campaigns take different paths each time, so no two playthroughs are the same, and players battle both the Monsters that populate the board and the Heroes of other Guilds. Pick your fights carefully as players are never too far to come steal the glory!

Cthulhu – Death May Die
Age: 13+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: 60-120 minutes

An Elder God, a being adrift in a different dimension, has reached out into their minds, giving them the knowledge necessary to awaken it and bring it into our world, unleashing it on the unsuspecting populace. Too late did the Investigators find out about it and the final ritual has begun. But with a little luck, the god might be vulnerable for a moment after being summoned. Work together or fall together in this game of ancient gods and hellish powers.

Find out where to buy these great games with a Canadian connection, here.