Kia ora team! In the past we've had a couple of different Advent Calendars (Magic: the Gathering 30th Anniversary Secret Lair, and the Q-Workshop Dice) and this year, I've decided I'm going to give you 24 different Board Games* to consider! I also know that I need to set myself a ridiculous task like this to make sure I commit, so here we go! (evidence) Complexity Scores blatantly stolen from boardgamegeek.

*I might be loosely defining "Board Game" here. Just run with it. 

Resistance: Coup

In a future where the government is run for profit, all but a privileged few live lives of poverty and desperation. The Resistance rises out of these oppressed masses in revolt and throws the government into chaos. To take command, you must destroy the influence of your rivals and drive them into exile. Only one can survive the Coup, a standalone card game set in the universe of The Resistance.

Coup is a game I have frequently blamed owe the existence of Iron Knight Gaming to. Many, many years ago a good friend and work colleague brought this game out during a Christmas Party, I blinked and then it was suddenly 4am and my love of boardgames had been reignited.

Coup is a game of bluffing, that is perfect for a bit of "lively banter" and never outstays its welcome. Gain coins, call your opponents bluff, remove their influence and win! Just don't let them call Captain when you've got no way to protect your stash...

Perfect for: warmup before the main event, a game that is going to let you catch up with old friends while playing

Complexity: 1.4/5

If you like this, try: Citadels

The Resistance/Avalon

The Empire must fall. Our mission must succeed. By destroying their key bases, we will shatter Imperial strength and liberate our people. Yet spies have infiltrated our ranks, ready for sabotage. We must unmask them. In five nights we reshape destiny or die trying. We are the Resistance!

Many of you will have played Werewolf/Mafia - the OG Social Deduction party game that has been run the world over at sleepovers, summer camps and anywhere a Narrator can convince their friends to distrust each other! The Resistance (and its Arthurian sister Avalon) take the loosey-goosey "you look shifty and we need to lynch someone, so I'm voting for you!" gameplay of that folk game, and staple a bit more "game" to it; allowing the players more agency in their actions (and also removing the player elimination; often a gripe against Werewolf).

Perfect for: reasonably large groups who won't hold a grudge! (Or old friends who most definitely will!)

Complexity: 1.65/5

If you like this, try: Blood on the Clocktower