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7 Wonders has won a huge number of awards since it was released in 2010.

It can be played by 2-7 players but probably best avoided if there are only two of you.  Games take about half an hour. 

Like most board games, the rules are a little complicated to explain in a few sentences. It's only by playing the game do you really get to understand it.

At the start of the game, you get one of the Seven Wonders of the World and seven cards. You then pass six of the cards to your neighbour.  The one you choose to keep back could be used for several purposes: for resources, to build your Wonder and to strengthen your military might. Of the six cards you receive from your neighbour, you choose one and pass the remaining ones on. It goes on like that until the initial cards are all used and that's the end of the first round or Age 1.  There are two further Ages each a little more complex.à At the end of Age 3, you tot up the points you will have received for your efforts to decide the winner.

Here is a short explanatory video:

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Two teams, the red and the blue team, try to guess the identity of their own spies.  Twenty five cards are laid out on the table.  Each card has the codename for an agent. Some of these will be red spies, some blue, some will be innocent bystanders and one will be the assassin. Each team's spymaster gives the team a single word clue.  They then have to choose which spy or spies' codename this clue relates to.  However should they choose the wrong one, they help the opponents.  Should they accidentally choose the assassin, it's game over for them.

Each game takes 15 -30 minutes.

Number one party game on Boardgame Geek, the website for avid games players.  Over 5 million copies sold.

2 - 8 players ( ideally at least 4)

Age suitability: 10+

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Dixit is a light-hearted party game that works brilliantly when played by a group of 5 or 6 creative people.  It does not work so well with competitive, analytical types.  Yes, there is scoring and a winner but this is a game where the spirit in which you play the game is more important than who won it.

The rules are quite straightforward.  You are dealt a hand of 6 cards.  The artwork on these cards is wonderful, somewhat whimsical, almost surreal.  One of the players is nominated to be the 'Story Teller'.  That person then chooses one of his cards and thinks up a clue about it.  That clue can be anything, a single word, a sentence, a short story, even just a sound.  The other players then look at their own cards and pick one for which the clue might also apply.  The Story Teller then takes each player's chosen card, shuffles them up with his own and then lays them all down face up. Players then have to guess which card is the Story Teller's.  This is where the skill of the Story Teller comes in.  If the clue is too obvious, everyone will guess correctly and the Story Teller gets no points.  If the clue is too obtuse and no one guesses correctly, again the Story Teller gets no points.  After each round, there is inevitably a post-mortem discussion and then a new round begins with a different story teller.

Games take about 30 minutes.

3 - 6 players (up to 12 with one of the expansions)

Age suitability: 8 - adult

Dobble is a modern-day classic game of observation. Each card in the tin is unique and has 8 symbols on it.à However one of these, but only one, symbols is shared with each of other cards.  You have to be the first to spot that shared symbol .  It should be easy but it's not.

Suitable for 6 years+  (younger children might stuggle with some of the symbols so try Kids Dobble which has fewer but more recognisable symbols)

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